Judge Vining

Well, we've been having a lot of trouble in the classroom with the following:

toy cars

food

and money...

The boys have been bringing in one toy car after the next, which I have to take up. The food and money are intertwined. These last 2 items, which I'm sure the students' parents send WITH their children and FOR their children only, have become bartering items among my students. What happens is one student will eyeball another student's Lemon Heads. They find the Lemon Heads to be far more attractive and appetizing to their taste buds than the dollar bill in their pocket. So, trading ensues. I'm not opposed to this fair trading process. It's later in the day, when one students wants their Lemon Heads back but also wants to keep the dollar. Argument and fighting is inevitable and is quickly followed by "MRS. VINING!!!!...."

For these 2 cases (toy cars and money/food trading), I decided to educate the children about the courtroom. I became Judge Vining and I called the guilty up to the front of the classroom. Those not involved became the jury. First, I brought up the 2 children caught in the trading scandal. We explained the rule that we don't trade our food and money because thats not what our parents intended the items be used for. Each child had the opportunity to tell their side of the story. We worked together to come up with a solid story and concluded that it was not a good idea to trade unless we were going to be fair about it. I told them that I don't get to return something to Walmart and then keep the money too.

Then came the case of the toy cars. Six boys had to stand in a row at the front of the classroom. They were read their rights, they each had a moment to speak before the judge and jury, and they were also told the rule that they broke. I then decided that I would let the jury decide on how to handle this situation. I had taken up a car from each boy. My rule is that they don't get the car back until the end of the school year. I placed the decision in the hands of the jury to either allow the boys to receive their cars back today and never bring them again....OR...to keep to my rule and not receive them back until the end of the school year.

The jury met together at one table, whispering amongst each other. As I waited with the guilty, I noticed that the jury was using a system of raising hands to vote (which I was glad to see..because there were some pretty bossy jury members). The jury came to a conclusion and one jury member stated their decision: "We the jury have decided that they may receive their cars back today. HOWEVER, if they bring the cars back to school...Mrs. Vining is allowed to keep the cars forever."

No cars have been seen since then.

Case closed.