Sunday, June 01, 2008

A Kinda Hypothetical

Lets’s say my grandson reports he is accosted at school by an older fellow who tries to sell him hard drugs, threatens him, extorts money from him and then destroys his textbooks and other possessions.

Now, with my stellar academic background, I am involved in a political campaign as principal candidate for school superintendent.

Will it be unwise for me to “stick up” for my grandson, encourage his parents to take their complaint to the school’s bureaucracy ? Or, failing to receive proper hearing or favorable action from that bureaucracy, to take civil legal action against the school, and lodge criminal complaint against the bully with juvenile authorities ?

Should I just decide to withhold my emotional support, shirk family involvement and counsel that we should “talk” to the miscreant ? Without pre-conditions, you understand. Should I opt for a “dialogue” instead of firm response?

And, whose good and great admiration and trust am I seeking here ? Whose best self interest should I serve ?

Would it be “pandering”, or “weasel-wise” to put aside confrontation in favor of...maybe, just MAYBE...salvaging the beginning of a Thuggish career ?

I am lost in these hypothetical moral and ethical complexities when I hear and read the news these days...

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