Baffled

I am baffled, in addition to stressed, disturbed and emotionally drained. Why? To make a long story short, due to a meeting with a parent who wanted to defend their child's egregious plagiarism, who threatened to get my principal to "force" me to change the grade despite my decision to give the zeroes for the assignment (which is in keeping with official school policy, I might add--it's not like I'm going out on a limb to do this!). Oh, and apparently I don't really want to make this experience a "teaching tool" for their child because I decided to give zeroes. Because naturally you can't teach a student not to plagiarize by giving them a stiff academic penalty. You have to coddle them and try to imagine it was all a big mistake that multiple sections of an online source magically appeared in the student's paper. It's magic because the student claims to have never visited said source. And of course if the student says they didn't do this, and denies that they plagiarized, and is fearful for the academic consequence that will come with a zero, this student MUST be treated with care and given a chance to make up the assignment! Only then will this experience become a "teaching tool!" I'm suddenly not very enthusiastic about dealing with people in this sin-sick world. At least those that question my integrity. But regardless, I'll press on. Blame it on the Patriots if you want. My shorter night of sleep could be having an impact on my life's outlook right now!