Tuesday, June 13, 2006
Tooth. And. Nail.
So a week and a half or so ago after an epidemic of fighting throughout the school, Ms. Oldman, the principal of Underwood High called all the freshmen into the auditorium after lunch for a lengthy discussion on the importance of taking education seriously. Because I have lunch at a different time than the freshmen (one of the benefits of teaching both juniors and freshmen), I was not present to hear her speak, but a reliable observer tells me that it was a riveting hour, typified by her customary repetition.
"You are here in school to get an education, children," she is reported to have said. "To get an education! But you are fighting your teachers tooth and nail. Tooth. And. Nail."
In between tautologies, she also apparently mentioned how too many Underwood students end up in retail or food service because they refuse to make education a priority. She discussed how foolish it was to fight with another student based merely on the neighborhood in which they live. She reminded the kids that the school year was not over.
And then she made a bold statement, namely that if any students were seriously disrupting classroom instruction during the final weeks of the school year then they could and would be suspended until next September. She even asked teachers in attendance to make a list of disruptive kids who would be booted out by the weekend.
To exhausted teachers at the end of the school year, this was like a gift from above. A few teachers went nuts, listing 15 to 20 kids they wanted suspended. The rest of us selected the worst handful, the terrible tenth of each class, if you will. And slowly but surely, the nutsos and morons began to disappear.
I can understand the delay early on. It can be tricky to compile a list, find a kid who does not want to be found, and tell them that their school year is over. It can be even trickier to keep them from coming to school. But it should be doable.
So when the dean of students tells me if I see a particular student to kick her out, I figure things are working as planned.
But what if that student has family members who work at the school, perhaps in the cafeteria or as a noon-time aid? And what if those relatives decide that this girl, whose profanity, disrespectful behavior to teachers and students, and overall rudeness has been deemed sufficient by multiple teachers to get her kicked out of school until September should not be punished for her actions? Or at the very least they don't feel like babysitting her. And what if these relatives decide to contact the school and complain that it is simply not possible for the school to inflict this punishment...
In a logical world, the student would pay the price for her poor attitude in the classroom and would not be coming back.
At Underwood, I get a phone call from the dean explaining that powers beyond his control have made it necessary to let the girl back into school, reaffirming yet again that there is no consistency in our discipline system. I doubt she will be the only exception. There are so many that our school's discipline office ought to install a revolving door. There is no consistency, there is no consequence, there is no impact. And how do I know this? Well, how's this for empirical evidence? Within five minutes of the student in question's return to my classroom, I had to intervene to prevent a fight. All the classic signs were there, students yelling at each other, getting in each others faces..the profanity-laden taunting and overturned desks. I've seen enough of these, I know the warning signals. The subject of the fight? Apparently there was a misunderstanding as to who was supposed to sit where. This was all it took on a hot day in June to start something...at least so far as those students were concerned.
Fortunately before things could get too serious, my last period class was interrupted by another assembly. But that is a tale for another time.
I told the dean of students later on about the fight that nearly happened. He thanked me, but I doubt anything will come of it. After all, if that girl (or any other student) doesn't like it, she can just complain loudly enough and the school will look the other way. What lessons are these kids getting about the system? What are they really learning at Underwood? How to graph a line? How to write a five paragraph essay? How to balance chemical equations?
No.
They are learning to work the system...how to complain and finagle and bluff their way in life. They are cultivating a sense of entitlement and a disrespect for any rules or regulations that run counter to what they want to do. Kids who are going to summer school for academic subjects are getting A-plusses in manipulating authority figures. Who knows what preparation that will give them for later on in life. Frankly, the thought makes me sick.
In the end, Ms. Oldman was right...they are fighting us. The students are fighting us. Fighting tooth and nail to get what they want when they want and how they want it.
Tooth.
And.
Nail.
And they are winning.
So a week and a half or so ago after an epidemic of fighting throughout the school, Ms. Oldman, the principal of Underwood High called all the freshmen into the auditorium after lunch for a lengthy discussion on the importance of taking education seriously. Because I have lunch at a different time than the freshmen (one of the benefits of teaching both juniors and freshmen), I was not present to hear her speak, but a reliable observer tells me that it was a riveting hour, typified by her customary repetition.
"You are here in school to get an education, children," she is reported to have said. "To get an education! But you are fighting your teachers tooth and nail. Tooth. And. Nail."
In between tautologies, she also apparently mentioned how too many Underwood students end up in retail or food service because they refuse to make education a priority. She discussed how foolish it was to fight with another student based merely on the neighborhood in which they live. She reminded the kids that the school year was not over.
And then she made a bold statement, namely that if any students were seriously disrupting classroom instruction during the final weeks of the school year then they could and would be suspended until next September. She even asked teachers in attendance to make a list of disruptive kids who would be booted out by the weekend.
To exhausted teachers at the end of the school year, this was like a gift from above. A few teachers went nuts, listing 15 to 20 kids they wanted suspended. The rest of us selected the worst handful, the terrible tenth of each class, if you will. And slowly but surely, the nutsos and morons began to disappear.
I can understand the delay early on. It can be tricky to compile a list, find a kid who does not want to be found, and tell them that their school year is over. It can be even trickier to keep them from coming to school. But it should be doable.
So when the dean of students tells me if I see a particular student to kick her out, I figure things are working as planned.
But what if that student has family members who work at the school, perhaps in the cafeteria or as a noon-time aid? And what if those relatives decide that this girl, whose profanity, disrespectful behavior to teachers and students, and overall rudeness has been deemed sufficient by multiple teachers to get her kicked out of school until September should not be punished for her actions? Or at the very least they don't feel like babysitting her. And what if these relatives decide to contact the school and complain that it is simply not possible for the school to inflict this punishment...
In a logical world, the student would pay the price for her poor attitude in the classroom and would not be coming back.
At Underwood, I get a phone call from the dean explaining that powers beyond his control have made it necessary to let the girl back into school, reaffirming yet again that there is no consistency in our discipline system. I doubt she will be the only exception. There are so many that our school's discipline office ought to install a revolving door. There is no consistency, there is no consequence, there is no impact. And how do I know this? Well, how's this for empirical evidence? Within five minutes of the student in question's return to my classroom, I had to intervene to prevent a fight. All the classic signs were there, students yelling at each other, getting in each others faces..the profanity-laden taunting and overturned desks. I've seen enough of these, I know the warning signals. The subject of the fight? Apparently there was a misunderstanding as to who was supposed to sit where. This was all it took on a hot day in June to start something...at least so far as those students were concerned.
Fortunately before things could get too serious, my last period class was interrupted by another assembly. But that is a tale for another time.
I told the dean of students later on about the fight that nearly happened. He thanked me, but I doubt anything will come of it. After all, if that girl (or any other student) doesn't like it, she can just complain loudly enough and the school will look the other way. What lessons are these kids getting about the system? What are they really learning at Underwood? How to graph a line? How to write a five paragraph essay? How to balance chemical equations?
No.
They are learning to work the system...how to complain and finagle and bluff their way in life. They are cultivating a sense of entitlement and a disrespect for any rules or regulations that run counter to what they want to do. Kids who are going to summer school for academic subjects are getting A-plusses in manipulating authority figures. Who knows what preparation that will give them for later on in life. Frankly, the thought makes me sick.
In the end, Ms. Oldman was right...they are fighting us. The students are fighting us. Fighting tooth and nail to get what they want when they want and how they want it.
Tooth.
And.
Nail.
And they are winning.
