"Petition" (My New Least Favorite Word)

This week, we had some MAJOR drama in the 3 gifted/talented classrooms! Some students started a petition to get rid of our rewards/consequence system, called "Penny Pinchers". The goal is to earn as many fake pennies as you can by the end of the month, which you can then spend on various rewards (candy, coupons, toys, playing cards, and even an outing with the teacher). Of course, the students who started this petition were the naughty ones...shocker, right??? Needless to say, this little petition got blown completely out of proportion. The petitioners were asking kids to sign the petition without telling them what it was, and of course, the kids signed. When we asked them about why they signed, they said they didn't even know what it was for. Some even said that the kids bullied them into signing, using threats and intimidation. Mind you, these kids were fourth graders. Then, there were the petitions which were started to keep the discipline system, as well as the crying children who liked the system who had to be comforted. As a teacher, you ALWAYS look for those "teachable moments". So, this led my class into a 30 minute discussion. Here are the things we covered: 1) Characteristics of fair and unfair petitions 2) Positive and negative ways to say "no" to someone 3) Bullying 4) Honoring others' opinions 5) Weighing both sides of a situation 6) Being aware of risks, and willing to accept consequences 7) Declaration of Independence (Was that not one of the most famous petitions, after all???) One of the other teachers on my team also had a conversation about these disruptive petitions. These were the things she covered: 1) School is not a democracy. I really admire her brevity. The truth is, school is NOT a democracy, and parenting shouldn't be a democracy either. While I believe children should have choice (which is the way I teach), I don't think that they should be allowed to have complete and total free will. That's a privilege that you have to earn and learn how to handle. Now, my kids are starting petitions to stop petitions, to stop petitions that stop petitions, to stop petitions that stop petitions that stop petitions...you get the idea. Oh, the joys of teaching the high ability kids! So, keeping with this theme, I am going to start a petition to remove the word "petition" from the English language. Any supporters???