Maryland education board gives preliminary approval to student-discipline reforms (home, public school)

[UrbanScholar]

I think that this is really bad policy. Although in an ideal world using alternative situations would work there are some kids who repeatedly get in trouble need stronger messages to turn it around. Their needs to be a blended approach to handling this issue and not going to one extreme (or the other) for a solution. Hopefully after a year they will reconsider this policy because I don't see it working.

Maryland school board gives preliminary approval to student-discipline reforms - The Washington Post

[North Beach Person]

We knew this was coming so the systems already have adapted their policies to adhere to the new regulations. It will be interesting to see how they shake out, and I agree with you that there will be a lot of unintended consequences.

[MrRational]

Originally Posted by UrbanScholar

I think that this is really bad policy. Although in an ideal world using alternative situations would work there are some kids who repeatedly get in trouble need stronger messages to turn it around.

I'm against any plan or program that forces educators to be social workers.

In an ideal world... we could have acculturation camps to send that entire portion of the public school system
population who -for whatever reason- were never made to appreciate the opportunity being presented to them.

Have the social workers focus on these socialization skills along with some intensive tutoring on the
educational basics to bring them up to 1st or 4th or hopefully 8th grade levels (depending on age).
Once the chillins show suitable appreciation for the opportunity they weren't taking advantage of before
and can demonstrate capacity with the basic grammar and arithmetic they can be reintroduced into the general population. Or not.

[UrbanScholar]

Originally Posted by MrRational

I'm against any plan or program that forces educators to be social workers.

In an ideal world... we could have acculturation camps to send that entire portion of the public school system
population who -for whatever reason- were never made to appreciate the opportunity being presented to them.

Have the social workers focus on these socialization skills along with some intensive tutoring on the
educational basics to bring them up to 1st or 4th or hopefully 8th grade levels (depending on age).
Once the chillins show suitable appreciation for the opportunity they weren't taking advantage of before
and can demonstrate capacity with the basic grammar and arithmetic they can be reintroduced into the general population. Or not.

I totally agree that they should allown teachers to teach instead of being social workers, police officers, surrogate parents, etc. As for the camps, unfortunately we are not in an ideal world . That type of camp would probably amplify the existing behavior of the kids similar to what you would experience in a group home or a boy's town. They probably leave worse than when they came. There is definitely no easy solution to this issue but their reason for doing this is motivated more by money than for the good of the children.

[MrRational]

Originally Posted by UrbanScholar

I totally agree that they should allow teachers to teach instead of being social workers, police officers, surrogate parents, etc.

Which is the actual point.

A That type of camp would probably amplify the existing behavior... There is definitely no easy solution to this issue but their reason for doing this is motivated more by money than for the good of the children.

Setting aside the critiques of possible internal camp management styles the illustration was about considering policy approaches that focus on what would be for the good of the children who don't bring those social problems into the school who I believe get short shrift.

The costs of the various choices available are not an unreasonable factor to weigh those choices on.

[EdwardA]

After a series of articles from the Washington Post based on a flawed study from a liberal professor at UCLA that said Blacks were disciplined more because of racism. This was bound to happened. No one has yet to explain to me how racism explains the disparity in punishments in PG and DC schools yet.

The problem with schools is that there is no real discipline already and now these academics want less.

[North Beach Person]

Originally Posted by EdwardA

After a series of articles from the Washington Post based on a flawed study from a liberal professor at UCLA that said Blacks were disciplined more because of racism. This was bound to happened. No one has yet to explain to me how racism explains the disparity in punishments in PG and DC schools yet.

The problem with schools is that there is no real discipline already and now these academics want less.

Some may be academics but they're also political appointees chosen with an eye to representing the Governor's agenda. The only one who spent any appreciable time as a classroom teacher is Guffrie Smith from Calvert County (disclaimer: he and his wife are personal friends).

[wisedisguise]

Here's showing my age - and I ain't that old...

When I was a lad in TX, 2 hrs after school in detention hall was bad. If that didn't work they exercised corporal punishment - spanking - to discipline kids who were disruptive in class, skipped class, insisted on being a school bully or other acts before suspension or expulsion. This was a district policy and most of the districts there did so. The real kicker was the principal or vice principals called your parents that day if you were disciplined so. That was double trouble if your parents were proactive in your life as you would get it again from them. This was back when most parents cared. My schools were 75% Mexican which placed blacks/whites in the minority. There was no bias at all from what I witnessed as the majority was the most disruptive. For the record - a spanking consisted of a couple of licks from a paddle of sorts. There were no medieval torture racks and there was always a witness. I don't believe anyone was scarred mentally or physically as that was the rules of school and it was up to the student to keep his/her nose clean.
The threat of it happening was a deterrent for the most part but kids in school are that and will always cut up. I got spanked a few times but going home was worse.

Our society has taken that away from the schools - free babysitters for parents who don't train/discipline their kids - and force them to contend with what this post is about. How are the schools to deal with kids who don't know discipline?