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Zero tolerance policy works for most public schools, why not apply it here? If you cause or incite criminal behavior in school or around the community, you get kicked out out of school for a minimum of a 1 month duration. But take it one further: you dont return home - you get sent to juvenile hall.
Zero tolerance policy works for most public schools, why not apply it here? If you cause or incite criminal behavior in school or around the community, you get kicked out out of school for a minimum of a 1 month duration. But take it one further: you dont return home - you get sent to juvenile hall.
It's the bureaucracy behind it that makes that not work unfortunately. The paperwork that it takes to get those kids sent away usually takes months because there are some lazy incompetent individuals working in the school system. At one point when my wife was working in the schools, this boy came up and stab her (didn't puncture her though). He was a known troubled kid in that school, to the point that multiple teacher through multiple grade had issues with him. How about it took them about 6 months to get him out of her class. When my wife inquired about what was going on, she was told that the county had to finish the paperwork. Of course by the end of it, the other kids figured they could act out too since, this boy was going around yelling, screaming and hitting people and was still in school. Simply put, there are some people working in the school system that do not care about the well being and education of the kids and it trickles down to the classrooms. I have stories myself as a volunteer in the schools, but I think you get my point.
You can also blame MSDE, and not just a system's bureaucracy, for the time it takes. It wasn't noticed by many people other than those in education, but MSDE adopted rules this summer that makes it even harder to remove a kid from class.
Zero tolerance policy works for most public schools, why not apply it here? If you cause or incite criminal behavior in school or around the community, you get kicked out out of school for a minimum of a 1 month duration. But take it one further: you dont return home - you get sent to juvenile hall.
two problems with that. First the state has banned the use of zero tolerence so that cannot be used in the system. Second, according to a friend in social services, more kids are trying to get into the system(especially foster care) because they are able to do what they want. On top of that it's illegal to have a child out of school that long unless they are expelled. The other issue is money. The county gets dinged For every child that is removed from the school system. Now you would think that people pulling their kids out because the system is so flawed but I guess those numbers are not significant enough to merit.
Last edited by UrbanScholar; 09-06-2012 at 06:40 AM..
The problem with "zero tolerance" policies is that it gets kids kicked out for "nail clippers." Just the other day I read an article that somewhere an autistic kid was forced to take his football jersey off because it could be gang related. Zero tolerance. A kid draws a firearm, looks like its 5 day suspension for him. Zero tolerance doesn't fly in a liberal system.
One person told me the reason the schools are so bad is because of the "no child left behind act." Im not sure how true this is, but they said that schools got their money from having the least suspensions, expulsions and drop outs. Schools were less likely to expell or suspend psychotic criminal problem children, and what happened is they got to do whatever they want. The result is mayhem in the schools that the children attend with very little supervision.
Expulsion is a poor option. Simply put, the parents or lack thereof are to blame. Even when the supervising adult is home, very little supervising goes on. Let's say you expell, the kid basically gets to run wild on the streets daily. Unless he commits an armed robbery, the reality is he won't spend 1 day in cheltenham.
Then there's the problem with the parents. "Not my kid" you always hear or "my son is an angel." Instead of agreeing with the principal or police officer, they have to argue the facts like its a trial. I really wonder if they hosted parenting classes at the local firehouses/police stations a couple times a week how many people would show up. The opportunity to correct sociopathic deviant behavior is gone. All of the great serial killers and psychos often started young, from dalmer to gacy. They started small, often with firesetting, violence towards animals and their peers, and matured into a killing monster as an adult. Most parents don't want to see little johnny incarcerated, or have to go to counseling (its not my son philosophy).
Breaking what I call the "teeshirt heros" cycle really relies on the adults in these kids lives to do so. I call them teeshirt heros because you always see them wearing a teeshirt that says "Free Mike" or "RIP Johnny" further highlighting the fact that unless the cycle is broken, its jail or 6 feet under for them. The only thing that will save these kids is constant interaction with positive role models. Whether its a redskins player who donates his time a few times a week to help a child with their homework, a police officer or firefighter who checks on a kid regularly and interacts almost daily with a child or attorneys, politicians, nurses, whoever it might be, who takes a few hours a week to help out. It takes a community to raise a child. At this point, its the question of at what length will we go to save them before they are on a teeshirt.
This is why PG need to build amenities that help draw people without kids. The school system in PG is deeply flawed and won't change anytime soon.
The article cites the fact PG hosts the largest Hindu temple in the region. In a region with a heavy Indian American population this alone should attract a fair number of Indian Americans. My point is the amenities are not going to change anything even for those without kids. Savvy buyers know that even though they may not have kids the quality of the schools affect their resale values. Folks in PG have learned that axiom the hard way unfortunately.
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That said they need to play on strengths and not their weaknesses until they can improve their weakness. What could that be? Target those individuals (late 20s to early 40s professionals with no kids or empty nesters) who like the idea of being near a city but not in the city.
I'm sorry but this demographic is already spoken for by DC, Arlington, Tysons, Alexandria and Bethesda.
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Fewer people are having kids now so work on that in the background. The nuclear family with 2.3 kids and a dog is a dying model. They need to look at other groups where the school factor is not significant. That is a strategy that was employed by DC about a decade ago before they began transforming neighborhoods.
LOL you've been reading too many progressive outlets. The nuclear family is not going anywhere.
Zero tolerance policy works for most public schools, why not apply it here? If you cause or incite criminal behavior in school or around the community, you get kicked out out of school for a minimum of a 1 month duration. But take it one further: you dont return home - you get sent to juvenile hall.
Ah but such policies are racially discriminatory. You see Black kids are disciplined more so that of course means they are being discriminated against.
And so the Departments of Education and Justice have launched a campaign against disproportionate minority discipline rates, which show up in virtually every school district with significant numbers of black and Hispanic students. The possibility that students’ behavior, not educators’ racism, drives those rates lies outside the Obama administration’s conceptual universe. But the country will pay a high price for the feds’ blindness, as the cascade of red tape and lawsuits emanating from Washington will depress student achievement and enrich advocates and attorneys for years to come.
The problem with "zero tolerance" policies is that it gets kids kicked out for "nail clippers." Just the other day I read an article that somewhere an autistic kid was forced to take his football jersey off because it could be gang related. Zero tolerance. A kid draws a firearm, looks like its 5 day suspension for him. Zero tolerance doesn't fly in a liberal system.
One person told me the reason the schools are so bad is because of the "no child left behind act." Im not sure how true this is, but they said that schools got their money from having the least suspensions, expulsions and drop outs. Schools were less likely to expell or suspend psychotic criminal problem children, and what happened is they got to do whatever they want. The result is mayhem in the schools that the children attend with very little supervision.
Expulsion is a poor option. Simply put, the parents or lack thereof are to blame. Even when the supervising adult is home, very little supervising goes on. Let's say you expell, the kid basically gets to run wild on the streets daily. Unless he commits an armed robbery, the reality is he won't spend 1 day in cheltenham.
Then there's the problem with the parents. "Not my kid" you always hear or "my son is an angel." Instead of agreeing with the principal or police officer, they have to argue the facts like its a trial. I really wonder if they hosted parenting classes at the local firehouses/police stations a couple times a week how many people would show up. The opportunity to correct sociopathic deviant behavior is gone. All of the great serial killers and psychos often started young, from dalmer to gacy. They started small, often with firesetting, violence towards animals and their peers, and matured into a killing monster as an adult. Most parents don't want to see little johnny incarcerated, or have to go to counseling (its not my son philosophy).
Breaking what I call the "teeshirt heros" cycle really relies on the adults in these kids lives to do so. I call them teeshirt heros because you always see them wearing a teeshirt that says "Free Mike" or "RIP Johnny" further highlighting the fact that unless the cycle is broken, its jail or 6 feet under for them. The only thing that will save these kids is constant interaction with positive role models. Whether its a redskins player who donates his time a few times a week to help a child with their homework, a police officer or firefighter who checks on a kid regularly and interacts almost daily with a child or attorneys, politicians, nurses, whoever it might be, who takes a few hours a week to help out. It takes a community to raise a child. At this point, its the question of at what length will we go to save them before they are on a teeshirt.
Although I agree that it starts at home and that the quality of parenting has deminished greatly from a generation ago. There are parents who would like to address their kids needs in the home but the system will tell them that if they even look at the child wrong it would be considered abuse. Children are taught that from pre-k and use it to the nth power to get their way in the home. A kid I was mentoring at one timesaid that he was frustrated because he felt that his parents based their love on him performing well in school and behaving himself. Now this is a kid that was not passing, had multiple suspensions and a list of other felonies/pre-felonies but felt that his parents shouldn't be on his case about it. When I told them that they were probably on his case because they wanted him to be the best that he could be, he retorted and said "that's not it. If they loved me they wouldn't be on my case about it". Essentially he wanted to not face any repercussions for his actions. Bottom line, even those parents that want to turn their kids around are castrated and villinized by the system that we live in.
Although I agree that it starts at home and that the quality of parenting has deminished greatly from a generation ago. There are parents who would like to address their kids needs in the home but the system will tell them that if they even look at the child wrong it would be considered abuse. Children are taught that from pre-k and use it to the nth power to get their way in the home. A kid I was mentoring at one timesaid that he was frustrated because he felt that his parents based their love on him performing well in school and behaving himself. Now this is a kid that was not passing, had multiple suspensions and a list of other felonies/pre-felonies but felt that his parents shouldn't be on his case about it. When I told them that they were probably on his case because they wanted him to be the best that he could be, he retorted and said "that's not it. If they loved me they wouldn't be on my case about it". Essentially he wanted to not face any repercussions for his actions. Bottom line, even those parents that want to turn their kids around are castrated and villinized by the system that we live in.
So true. Parents have do have difficult time because of the standards of society, but I think that is why you are beginning to see more creative forms of punishment. Ultimately though, kids don't get to the point of thinking schools isn't for them unless it is be reinforced some where. It doesn't necessarily have to be the parents, but as a parent you have to recognize when your child is being negatively influenced and counteract it. Kids are like sponges. If you put them in a certain environment, they will pick things up pretty quickly. I could be wrong, but it sounds like the kid your were mentoring may have somebody in his ear telling him that his parents don't care about him because of xyz. Parents have to pay more attention, kids got itchy ears and the people out on the streets and in the neighborhoods who are up to no good will scratch them.
So true. Parents have do have difficult time because of the standards of society, but I think that is why you are beginning to see more creative forms of punishment. Ultimately though, kids don't get to the point of thinking schools isn't for them unless it is be reinforced some where. It doesn't necessarily have to be the parents, but as a parent you have to recognize when your child is being negatively influenced and counteract it. Kids are like sponges. If you put them in a certain environment, they will pick things up pretty quickly. I could be wrong, but it sounds like the kid your were mentoring may have somebody in his ear telling him that his parents don't care about him because of xyz. Parents have to pay more attention, kids got itchy ears and the people out on the streets and in the neighborhoods who are up to no good will scratch them.
For him it was peer pressure. He held on to the perception that in order to be accepted by his peers, he needed to under-perform and be defiant in school to build up his street credibility. Since he was a teenager, he also resented his parents being involved in his day to day at school. He had some additional challenges but that was the breadth of what was going on. While working with him, my goal was to try to make sure he didn't go too far down the wrong path and end up at a point where he couldn't turn around.
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