In theory, I love rules. Rules make life easy. There’s right. There’s wrong. None of my limited energy is wasted on unneeded thinking. I’ve come to realize, however, as most people do, that this love of mine is on a macro level only. On a case by case basis, we often want a splash of common sense and sometimes even a dab of decency to color the thinking of those charged with enforcing the rules we live by.
Take, for instance, the case of Kevin, my best friend’s son. The rules say that Kevin will earn a credit in physical education in order to graduate from high school in the state of North Carolina. Kevin is 15 and has never walked. He has used a wheelchair since the age of 2. He has spinal muscular atrophy, a progressive nerve disorder that leaves him heartbreakingly weaker by the year.
Shocking but true is the fact that, so far, Wake County school officials are insisting that Kevin will complete this requirement. It might take a special one-on-one class in which Kevin will be able to do, um, nothing, but the county will fulfill its legal obligation to accommodate Kevin’s needs, even if he and his mother are adamantly opposed to his being forced to waste his and a teacher’s time this way. Kevin has broken his leg multiple times (just from running his wheelchair into obstacles!) because his nonweight-bearing bones are so brittle, so there is a safety issue involved here as well.
It’s somewhat difficult to find exactly the right adjective to describe this situation. Ridiculous? Asinine? Wasteful?
How about ironic?
Kevin also is an actor. He was a delightful King Oberon in Martin Middle’s production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” last year. As a freshman in an acting elective at Enloe, he’s found a community of kids he loves. There’s one acting elective available to him next year, but the theater teachers recently had to tell him that there is basically no way he can take it because the requirements in the syllabus are simply beyond his physical capabilities.
So, we have school rules that will force a young man in a wheelchair who can barely lift a spoon to his mouth to take PE but no rules that say he has to be accommodated in an area he loves.
Today starts the period in which rising sophomores at Enloe must sign up for classes for next year. Right now, the PE requirement for Kevin is still up in the air. Someone with some sense needs to shoot it on down.
(Read more about Kevin at www.thesuitelifeoflucyandethel.blogspot.com/.)
