Thursday, February 3, 2011
Education Weekly: School Misdemeanors
This article talks about how schools should be careful on how they handle school discipline and use suspensions rather than the courts. What I have noticed in the years I have been teaching is that suspensions=sleep in late, play video games and one more day away from school (a place they already don't want to be). So for some students getting suspened can appear to be a reward and not a consequence. While I believe consequences for behaviors need to start small, they also need to fit the behavior. If a student's behavior is destruction of property, then maybe the court system is where they need to go. When I was in school, the thought of suspension was enough to scare me because I knew that my consequences would continue at home with my parents. There would not be sleeping in or playing games, instead my parents would have a whole list of chores to complete for the day. So until suspensions have a different meaning for students and parents, they will continue to be ineffective.
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I think the underlying problem is twofold. First, schools have been forced into using the court system for some issues because many punishment options have been taken away from the schools. I see it in our school; we don't have much to threaten with because our consequences aren't really that bad to many students. Secondly, and you said it, for suspensions to be effective the parents need to be involved. For many of the students being suspended, the parental side of the punishment is lacking in support.
ReplyDeleteI agree. If your parent isn't on the same page as the school, and there are no consequences at home, a day of suspension is like a day at the beach. That is why some states are holding the parents accountable by fining/and or jailing them along with the student. If you want to get a parent's attention, you can either fine them or make them lose work. Then it becomes a serious matter.
ReplyDeleteMany students do not think it is fair that when someone is suspended from school, it does not count against their required attendance. Yet, if they are sick and have a doctor's note, it still counts against them. In our district, once a student reaches their 10th absence in a semester, they lose credit for that class. Some students are suspended for 5 to 10 days at a time (which is a lot like a "vacation") and yet, they still get the other 9 days. The school argues that "We can't fail a student based on attendance if we TOLD them that they cannot be here." Many students argue back with the idea that perhaps fewer students would mess up and get suspended if they knew that it would put their credits in jeopardy, thus - holding them accountable. It just seems like fewer and fewer schools have the funding for In-School suspensions these days.
ReplyDeleteInteresting topic!