Discipline With Our Children in Mind
Have you ever said, did, or been something that got you in trouble? If not as an adult perhaps, at the age of four you hugged a teacher. Might that be a crime? Surely, this act merits a school suspension. It is so cruel. But it cannot compare with what is unbearable – a two-year-old violated a school rule. How dare the child’s father, father Randy Murray give his daughter a cheese sandwich to eat before daycare. Did he not anticipate a three-day suspension? Probably not. At times, we cannot imagine what goes on in our children’s schools.
Even the students who spend most of their daytime hours navigating the halls and immersed in reminders of classroom rules find themselves in contention…Ten-year-old Nathan Entingh doesn’t understand why he was suspended. The fifth-grader was in science class, admittedly “goofing around” and then it happened, the teacher took him out of the classroom, saying he would be suspended from school. The educator, school administrators, and the state adhere to zero-tolerance policies. Raising one’s thumb, while pointing a forefinger, cannot be forgiven. Making any motion that is reminiscent of a gun, results in a three-day suspension from school. That is for a first offense. Do not do another.
Be alerted. Violations are not few. Consider the current dress codes. Piercings, large belt buckles, untucked shirts, different colored jackets a T-shirt with words that might be deemed offensive. You too could be among the More Than 160 Texas Students Suspended For Dress Code Violations. And don’t be More Than 160 Texas Students Suspended For Dress Code Violations >tardy. That too may qualify as grounds for suspension. The question is, what is a child to do? Perhaps our youth can do nothing. Every thing they do seems to take them out of their school. Thus, we have to answer another question. What might adults do to encourage discipline practices that ameliorate the punitive policies?
By Donna St. George E-mail the writer | Originally Published at Washington Post. June 2 | Updated: Tuesday, June 3, 12:01 AMA national report described as a first-of-its-kind road map for improving discipline practices in U.S. public empathyeducates – Discipline With Our Children in Mind:
