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AMERICA
NEEDS SAFER SCHOOLS
Written
by Elderine Wyrick 2001
After several
years of students killing students on school property, many Americans
understand the need for safer schools. Academic performances
plunge downward when the classroom atmosphere is frightening, hostile
and/or chaotic. Although some object to isolating troubled
children from peers, student selection is imperative for a secure
educational setting. Firm boundaries and consistently enforced
rules help to maintain order. These rules should include training
children to respect and honor their classmates, and to consider one
another's feelings. As American educators and parents work
together to bring safety back to the schools, academic performance
will drastically improve.
Getting a free
public education for each child is an American right. This
statement is true, but nothing is totally free. Someone always
has to pay. Property owners pay school taxes, and business
owners pay to re-train students who leave high school unprepared
to become responsible, productive citizens. In fact, our whole
society pays by reaping young adults who expect everything to be
given to them without carrying any responsibility for the gift. Cause
and effect is a reality. Much of the cause of social problems--workers
that do not work and parents that do not parent and students that
do not obey--is the philosophy of rights rather than responsibilities.
It is time that
schools limit their student body to those who follow the rules. Students
who refuse to follow the rules, to honor their teachers and classmates,
or to respect school property should lose the privilege (or right)
to attend the mainstream free public system. Peer pressure
is powerful. The mix of the group affects academic performance. For
the good of the whole, problem students should be placed in alternative
educational settings. Students with a long history of behavior
problems do not become good by being around well-behaved students. Instead,
many formerly well-behaved students will begin to act out if the
bully is allowed to influence them. However, students with
behavior difficulties are not to be discarded. They should
be isolated in small groups and given behavior modification training
for the purpose of salvaging them as citizens before they become
hardened in their ways.
An organization
called Tough Love has tremendous success
stories of reclaiming out-of-control kids by setting strong boundaries
and enforcing promised consequences. Life is not a “bowl
of cherries.” It is tough. Educators need to take
a stand for the children who want to learn and give them a safe and
peaceful school by removing students who hinder the learning process.
“The American
Justice Department says that this month one out of every four kids
will be abused by another youth (Noll 1993).” That abuse
includes the following:
- PHYSICAL
ABUSE: pushing, tripping, slapping, hitting, wrestling, choking,
kicking, biting, stealing, and breaking things.
- EMOTIONAL
ABUSE: making someone feel small, self-conscious, embarrassed,
confused, or emotionally hurt
- VERBAL ABUSE: name
calling, twisting someone's words, making jokes at other's expense.
- MENTAL ABUSE: control
tactics, entrapment, mocking (Noll 1993).
Negative
peer treatment can be curtailed greatly by implementing a school-wide
discipline policy with predetermined consequences. The policy
must be easily understood and consistently enforced. Teamwork
between administrators, teachers, and parents can affect student's
lives with the positive message, “It pays to do what is right. Negative
consequences are not worth the fun of doing wrong.” Rules
will work if the policy is implemented and enforced throughout the
school. Students who refuse to follow the rules should lose
the privilege of attending mainstream classes until their behavior
is under control. Teachers cannot concentrate on teaching if
their classrooms are out of control, and students cannot concentrate
on education if they are constantly trying to protect themselves
from bullies. It is time to take our schools back from poorly
behaved students.
There
are two important rules that need to be included in a school-wide
discipline policy. The first rule should state that both teachers
and students should respect one another. The second rule declares
that put-downs and bullying will not be tolerated. Put
downs and bullying are rude and unkind. Society as a whole
should train children not to be rude or unkind. These two rules
enforce common courtesy and good citizenship.
Teachers
should also be encouraged to watch their words. Negative words
are detrimental. Today's society has learned rudeness from
television, leaders, classmates, and families. Schools need
to set limits on what is appropriate and not appropriate to say in
school for both teachers and students. Schools should not imprison
students in classrooms and hallways filled with verbal and physical
abuse. It is time that administrators and educators take control
of the bullies and move schools out of the war zone into a learning
zone free from chaos and name calling.
Character
can be learned at any age. Students can be taught to respect
and honor their fellowman even when they do not completely agree
with one another. Respect for life and diversity allows students
to study together and grow together. It also prepares them
to work as team members in the adult world. Students need to
learn how to care about people even when they disagree with that
person's opinions. Learning to prefer the other person brings
harmony to society. Character is maturing past the self-centeredness
of childhood into a caring, concerned, and involved citizen.
Our
society longs for better schools and safer campuses. These
goals are not unattainable if schools are willing to reconsider some
regulations and policies. Without the privilege of selecting
students who cooperate and are willing to learn, the classroom becomes
a battlefield where the teachers are outnumbered and often don't
win. Until school systems seriously implement strong discipline
codes and consistently enforce them, our children's achievement scores
will continue to decline. It is time to set limits on what
can and cannot be said in school. It is time to correct the
bullies, and to free their victims. When administrators, teachers
and parents become united in the purpose of teaching responsibility
instead of rights, schools will become a safer place and academic
performance will increase.
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