I realize that the situation is a bit more complicated than it seems at first blush (apparently, there was some foul language used at one point), but still . . . don't school districts have PR people to tell them how very much they don't want to end up on the wrong end of a story like this?

A high school student was suspended for 10 days for refusing to end a mobile phone call with his mother, a soldier serving in Iraq, school officials said.

The 10-day suspension was issued because Kevin Francois was "defiant and disorderly" and was imposed in lieu of an arrest, Spencer High School assistant principal Alfred Parham said.

The confrontation Wednesday began after the 17-year-old junior got a call at lunchtime from his mother, Sgt. 1st Class Monique Bates, who left in January for a one-year tour with the 203rd Forward Support Battalion.

Mobile phones are allowed on campus but may not be used during school hours. When a teacher told him to hang up, he refused. He said he told the teacher, "This is my mom in Iraq. I'm not about to hang up on my mom."

Hmmm. Maybe for his next trick, the principal could find a cuddlesome, doe-eyed Labrador retriever puppy to kick. . . .