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Thread: Are these five school punishments unacceptable?

  1. #1
    DiscoMick Guest

    Are these five school punishments unacceptable?

    Read an interesting article from America about what were described as 'five outrageous school punishments that should not happen'. As someone who works in a school in Oz., I can see both sides of this argument. Parents might think these punishments are outrageous, and I wouldn't support all of them myself, but parents don't see the way some kids behave at school, so I can see it from the viewpoint of the schools too. Anyway, I wondered what you'all think about it:


    5 Outrageous School Punishments That Should Not Happen










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    We all recognize the tough job schools face in creating a nurturing education environment for their pupils. We also understand that appropriate discipline is vital to fostering a fair and respectful climate within schools — however, sometimes schools go too far.
    Below are five recent news stories ranging from the ill-judged to the outrageous about when school discipline goes terribly wrong.

    1) Using same-sex hand-holding as a punishment — Two male students caught fighting at Westwood High in Mesa, Arizona, were told they could either face suspension or hold hands for 15 minutes in the school courtyard. They chose the latter. The two unnamed high school kids were then pictured shielding their faces during this punishment as a group of kids taunted them with anti-gay language. The punishment provoked an angry reaction from some at the school who said it was reinforcing negative attitudes about being gay by making same-sex contact into a punishment.
    The school district responded swiftly, saying in a statement that “the district does not condone the choice of in-school discipline given these students, regardless of their acceptance or willingness to participate. District leadership will address this matter with the school principal and review district protocol regarding student discipline with all administrators.”
    The principal of the school has received substantial support from within the school however, with a campaign in his favor saying the punishment was never meant to be anti-gay. They also point out this was elective — the boys could have chosen suspension.
    However, critics say that, while recognizing this situation was not brought about by anti-gay animus, it allowed for a climate in which the two boys were then subjected to anti-gay taunts. This, whether intentional or not, demonstrates how ill-judged the punishment was. It also may have exposed other students, perhaps struggling with their sexuality, to a display of anti-gay treatment that could have a greater impact on their well-being.

    2) Paddling – When 19-year old Taylor Santos, a high-achieving student and athlete at Springtown High School near Fort Worth, Texas, was accused in September of letting another kid copy her homework, she got to choose her punishment: two days of suspension or being paddled.
    Due to the fact that she didn’t want to miss a day of school, she chose paddling. When Santos’ mom later learned the school’s male vice-principal carried out the punishment, she was livid. She also questioned the punishment, which she said left her daughter bruised and her skin “fire-engine red.” You can read the full story here.
    In 19 states in the U.S., spanking children using a wooden or fiberglass paddle is still entirely legal. This is despite the fact that according to ABC News, up to 20,000 public school students each year seek medical treatment after they have been paddled. There is also research that says school kids who are subjected to this form of corporal punishment are likely to become more aggressive. Many mainstream medical bodies are also against the practice. Why, then, is corporal punishment still legal, and why is it part of the Texas Republican party’s platform?

    3) Placing kids in padded isolation rooms — When outraged mother Ana Bate discovered that Mint Valley Elementary School in Longview, Washington, was using a padded isolation chamber to deal with her child and other students who they deemed had “behavioral disabilities,” she took pictures of the padded cell — or “therapeutic booth” as the school termed it — and posted them to Facebook. Like Bate, this policy was not something other parents were aware of and they reacted angrily to the news.
    There are also reports of a teacher at Washington Elementary in Caldwell who forgot she had isolated a child in this manner, leaving the child in the room for a protracted length of time, despite the policy saying that an adult must be present to “de-escalate” the situation. Another report has also emerged from Idaho of a father who was angered when his 5-year-old son was put in an isolation room and then also forgotten about for over an hour.
    To be clear, separating one child from other children may be necessary in specific circumstances where the child’s behavior reaches a point where they become unmanageable and a potential danger to themselves or others, but that certainly does not mean that solitary confinement is the only option. Furthermore, the use of isolation as a form of punishment has been shown to be very distressing to kids both young and older. There is also evidence to suggest that solitary confinement actually can increase aggressive behavior rather than calm child behavior.
    You can see a video of the “isolation booths” here.

    4) Withholding food from underprivileged children – A school in Michigan hit the headlines recently when, as a response to a large-scale food-fight in the school’s cafeteria, the administration decided to stop serving lunch to sixth through eighth graders for a week. They sent a letter home saying kids would simply have to bring their own food. However, parents were outraged.
    The school, Bethune Elementary-Middle school, is part of the Educational Achievement Authority, a statewide school district that includes the state’s worst-performing schools.
    Many of the district’s pupils are under-privileged and rely on the federal Community Eligibility Option program which states that all EAA schools are expected to provide students with a free breakfast, lunch and dinner.
    In depriving sixth through eighth graders of their school lunches, there was a very real possibility that many children simply would not have a replacement meal available that day.
    Again, this was a case of poor judgment that should not have happened. Fortunately, on learning about the school’s threat to withhold lunches, the EAA spoke with the school’s administration and had the decision reversed.

    5) Kids being arrested for minor school infractions — In August, the Department of Justice sent a letter to Lauderdale County, Mississippi, accusing it of operating what was in effect a “school-to-prison pipeline.” It says students — a disproportionate number of whom were African-American or had disabilities — were arrested and incarcerated for offenses that, in many cases, were minor levels of disobedience like wearing the wrong colored socks.
    The DOJ was hoping to negotiate a solution and gave Lauderdale County 60 days to respond. Since no meaningful talks were had, the County is now the subject of a lawsuit in which the DOJ says that not only are students having their rights infringed by incidents like these, but that the County is actively planning for involving law authorities in the disciplining of the County’s school children.
    “For example, some Behavior Intervention Plans prepared by the district for students with disabilities have listed ‘Juvenile Detention Center’ as a consequence for student misbehavior,” the lawsuit says.

    Putting School Behavior Problems in Perspective
    To be absolutely clear, it is important to stress that on the whole teachers and school administrators do an admirable and even exemplary job of educating America’s young people, and that the above incidents are not reflective of the wider behavioral management in schools.
    However, these incidents, and their alarming frequency, have raised concerns that certain districts across the country are not acting appropriately or even lawfully when disciplining the children in their care.

    Related Stories
    Every 23 Seconds A Child Is Beaten At School (Video)
    Care2 Success: Jacksonville Public Schools Must Stop Handcuffing For Non-Crimes
    The 5 Craziest Policies In Texas Republicans’ 2012 Platform

    Read more: behavioral management schools, corporal punishment in schools, education, paddling, paddling in schools, school discipline, spanking in schools
    Image credit: Thinkstock.


  2. #2
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    Not yet a teacher but I can tell you that they are all bad.
    The same sex holding hands might be ok at first but the chance that they will get teased and feel humiliated is very high, so there for wrong.

  3. #3
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    I made a class group of year 8's that wouldn't behave on the walk to a school assembly walk like Preppies. Side by Side and holding hands to the Hall.
    Mind you, I took them the back way so they were not seen by the other kids.
    Not a peep was heard from them, they were very well behaved and they still talk about it years after.

  4. #4
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    holding hands - no. i think humiliation is a good treatment but in our gay friendlys society, it isnt ok


    paddling - yes.

    isolation room - yes

    remove food - yes, they abuse it, they lose it

    arresting - no

  5. #5
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    Its all pretty crook. I can't see the problem with a good paddling tho if its deserved and carried out properly not over bored like I have heard stories from the old timers

  6. #6
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    Ooh! I must be old, at primary school (Qld) if you played up slightly it was anything from 100 written lines to 500,and if it was a bad offence it was the cane,from Yr4 up Yr8,2-4-or 6, and at highschool,it was the cane or suspension,I can only remember one student being expelled,(he brought a .22 pistol to school) we went shooting in the local water filled quarrie at lunch time locals heard the shooting and called the Plods result was his expulsion,and 6 cuts(strokes) of the cane each morning for a week

    NB. all caning teachers were licensed to do so.

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by schmierer LR at singleton View Post
    Not yet a teacher but I can tell you that they are all bad.
    The same sex holding hands might be ok at first but the chance that they will get teased and feel humiliated is very high, so there for wrong.
    The word is 'therefore'. For someone working on becoming a teacher, focus on details such as spelling and grammar.

    As for the punishments -

    1. Big deal, its imaginative and done as an embarrassment strategy, rather than being anti-gay. How many teenage boys can you think of that would like to hold hands?

    2. Paddling? Not a problem. I was paddled at school once and once only. It is not a licence to beat someone, in this situation, a female staff member ought to have been present at least.

    3. Isolation rooms, don't know about how they are being used there. Isolation can be very confronting and for some, damaging. Naughty corner is probably more appropriate.

    4. Withholding food for those without another option is not on but cause and effect needs to be reinforced. Perhaps a better way to deal with that one would be for the students to be placed onto a cleaning roster for the canteen.

    5. A waste of police resources but if they want to put some fear into them about the potential path, organise tours by class or targeted groups of the process, including correctional facilities.

  8. #8
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    I do not believe in physical punishment to an extent such as the cane-unacceptable, picking up papers and writing lines-acceptable
    something that is very apparent is that something needs to be done drastically more in the high schools.
    The one thing that always annoyed me was when people would truant and those who would smoke especially at school.
    I use to get detention a lot for talking in class, yes i should have got in trouble but I always thought why should I get in trouble when those who are smoking under age in a non-smoking zone get off without anything.
    I asked the teachers this, their response was what can you do and that there was too much paperwork.
    Now I am not a teacher yet so I don't know how they feel, but i know how i felt and how i feel now and that is, you have a responsibility for those kids while they are under your care/at school and something like paperwork is not an excuse.
    ok just realised getting offtrack sorry

  9. #9
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    The cane was administered on the palm of the hands,6=3 left 3 right, and the canes in the cane cupboard were of various sizes,thin to thick (8mm) or so,depending on the age and size of the child, it was quite an achievement to get 6 and not tear-up as a primary schooler, grade 8 was about 14 year olds

  10. #10
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    If the information won't sink in, we will belt it in..

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