School Suspension Policy NOT Working

The logic behind school suspensions is flawed for obvious reasons. Suspending a child from school sets the child behind in schoolwork and socially ostracizes the child from his peer group. For many children, this will lower their confidence level and fuel any already anger issues they may have inside. Basically, suspension is a form of social exclusion as means of punishment for socially unacceptable behavior.

Though suspension is used as a deterrent to disruptive behavior in schools, and have been for many years, there are alternative means to punish students for being unruly. The number one method and the one with the most sense is to report the child's behavior to their parents and let them deal with the child. However, many believe the parents do not take proper measures of discipline themselves.

At the National School Boards Association (NSBA) Annual Conference this weekend, thousands of school board members from across the country voted to adopt a resolution to prevent the use of out-of-school suspensions and encourage districts to implement positive discipline policies that keep students in the classroom and learning. - Stop Suspensions.com

One of the most crucial tools to use on the local level is being released today: the OTL Campaign's brand new policy guide, developed with the NSBA and other national partners.

Solution: keep the child in school and deal with the parents. Since school authorities continue to blame parents for unruly children, then do not punish the child, reprimand the parents. Mandate meetings, or mediation sessions between the school official, teacher, child, and parent(s). If the child continues to be unruly, after two meetings, send the child and parent to a professional counselor, assign community service for the child and parent, assign the child to clean the school, inside and out, take extra credit classes, or an extra curricula activity such as a club or sports.

If all the above fail, then we know we have a troubled child and more drastic measures are needed. Using this method will narrow down the true troubled children and separate them from the children who want to learn and the parents who may need help themselves. The concept behind the mediation sessions are to completely eliminate suspension as a form of punishment.