"Once your name is called," Principal Jackson baritone voice spoke with authority into the school PA system, his knowing smile showing slightly under his greying moustache, "I want you to immediately stand up and walk to the side of the stage. Mr. Chavez will meet you there and take you to learn more about the experiment."
Principal Jackson held the papers in his hand, scanning the names briefly before he said them. The students were silent, just as he liked them. In his early years as a school administrator, he'd been a lot more lenient. His approach had been to be friends with the students, let them know that someone cared, reaching out to them whenever he could. That got old real quick.
Discipline was the name of the game these days. Students fell into line, or they fell out of favour. It was as simple as that. The aging principal had a toolbox of punishments that he enjoyed dealing out, ranging from a simple detention, to an afternoon of hard labour helping out the school caretakers.
The change in the student body had been dramatic. No more talking back, no more issues with fighting, no more thefts. Students, as they should, learned.
This "social experiment" that the school was going to partake in couldn't do anything but help his cause. The fact that the students were chosen randomly, the fact that nobody would know what the experiment involved (with the exception of the participants), would keep the hormone-riddled teenagers on their toes. He couldn't wait to see how it all turned out. Straightening his tie, he opened his mouth and began to read names.
"Jon Gibson," he began, watching the nervous looking boy stand up, look uneasily at his blonde, large-breasted friend, then make his way to the front. Principal Jackson had only had one incident with Jon, with the boy showing up late for school one day. A stern look and threat of a phone-call home had taken care of that little problem before it became a habit.
"Tiffany Saunders," he continued, watching as the ditzy girl bounce to her feet and play with her pig-tails as she pranced to the front.
"Biff Meadows," the principal said with some satisfaction. Maybe the experiment would have a positive influence on the football player. In recent years, as the boy had gotten bigger, he'd developed a problem bullying the smaller students. Probably a problem at home. Probably a discipline problem.
"Song Hee," the booming voice said. The leggy Korean girl stood up, smoothed her skirt, picked up her purse, and swayed to the front. The girl was a mystery to the principal, having transferred to the school only a month earlier, under unusual circumstances. To his educated eyes, she looked too old to be a high-school student, but wore the current fashions, and spoke all the lingo. Sometimes he wondered...
"Sarah McMillan," Principal Jackson finished the list, surprised that two of the participants, Biff and Sarah, as far as he knew, were dating. What were the chances?
He watched as all five students gathered at the front. Mr. Chavez instructed them to follow him, and they were led out of the room in single file. The students were still silent. He allowed them to sit and watch the students leave, letting the vision sink in. Then, as soon as the doors closed with a sense of finality, he leaned into the microphone and said, "Thank-you. You are dismissed. Back to classes."
With another small smile, Principal Jackson stepped away from the podium and watched the students file out, uneasy hushed voices talking about what they had seen. Yes, the principal couldn't see anything but good coming out of this social experiment.
