High Expectations

My initial reaction had more to do with how Liza was treated for not turning in Sally than on gender roles, which everyone else seems to be pulling out.  First, the headmaster, Mrs. Poindexter, seems to be an old woman out of touch with students.  I find her rude, unforgiving, and consumed with money.  I make the connection of principals being consumed with high stakes test scores and losing touch of how the pressure makes students feel.  I hope I am more like Ms. Stevenson who realizes Sally’s motive for piercing ears is to in fact help fundraising.  I like that Ms. Stevenson does say Sally should know better but doesn’t make her feel like a bad person. 

Liza’s dad is also harsh and has very high expectations for Liza.  Liza’s mother is sympathetic and points out the difference in severity between Sally and Liza’s punishments stating it is unfair.  To which Liza’s father boomed, “It’s fair all right”.  He believed Liza’s leadership position held her to higher standards than Sally and sided with Mrs. Poindexter.  The following day Liza’s dad made a jab regarding earrings and asking Liza since she knows more than anyone else in the family.  Then he read an article out loud to the family about discipline problems in high schools.  Later the same evening I was relieved to see him show both Liza and her brother Chad how much he cared about them by wrapping them both in side hugs and telling Liza we all make mistakes. 

Finally, I applaud Liza for not backing down and standing up for what she believes in.  Before she was elected student body president, it was known she did not agree with the reporting rule (which required high schoolers to tattle on one another).   When asked directly about the reporting rule, Liza stated she did not agree with the rule because people in Upper School are old enough to take responsibility for their own actions.  Liza also notices Ms. Poindexter is being very sensitive about the issue because it affected Jennifer, the daughter of the publicity chairman for the fundraising campaign.  It took guts for Liza to stand up for all of the students saying Jennifer should not be treated any differently just because of her fathers position.  Liza showed why her class voted her student body president and demonstrated exemplary leadership skills.