Student Discipline news release---
David L. Hill, Community Development Specialist

The Discipline Challenge-- It Goes With The Territory.

Let me reflect a little about a recent conversation with my former high school principal. I've been acquainted with this man as a teacher, coach, principal, school superintendent, county commissioner and Sunday school teacher since I was eight years old. I was at his final principalship interview over the hood of a pickup truck in our barnlot in the early 50's.

My recent conversation, however, was almost peer to peer, in spite of our age differences. His concerns as a former public servant that day however dealt with the increasing challenges schools face in the area of student discipline. I don't know what it's like in your local school system but I'll share some of the conversation as food for thought at community hangout breeze shooting time.

In the one-room schoolhouse of years gone by, a teacher approached the matter of discipline the old fashioned way. "The master of district school" as the old poem goes, was brisk wielder of the birch and rule." I'm certain most of you have memories of yardstick, pointer, ruler and paddle as well. Time has passed and school in many places have grown to industrial size on campuses where trees are few and out of reach of frustrated teachers and miscreant students.

Advances have been dramatic. Computers are bringing the world into the classroom. The "3 R's" have expanded to a whole alphabet of curriculum offerings, in some schools, from astronomy to zoology. Millions of dollars have been spent on research and hardware. But the concern shared by this multi-experience educator was that the old problem of discipline remains the same. "what's so tough about keeping discipline in school?" The first problem involves definition, as I recall our conversation. Webster says it's "training that develops self-control, character or efficiency." That's clear enough. But what is "self-control" and whose definition of "character" is going to be used?

When developing answers to this line of questioning we get all tangled up in things called "values". A lot of people think that schools should not teach values, he commented, but it's unavoidable. The school itself represents a value. The fact that public law requires children to be enrolled in school represents a value, doesn't it, he said. The way teachers dress and treat the students in the classroom, lunchroom and hallways reflects their own values.

Students should report to class on time, behave responsibly, respect others and cooperate with those in authority, stated this veteran of public service. We will expect no less of them in the world of work. These are all values and most members of the community expect the school to uphold them.

But therein lies the rub, he pointed out. It's easy enough to write a code of student conduct or employee personnel policy. The theory is great. The application is a bit knotty. The problem today, he observed, is that we are living in the age of the great "individual." Everyone is special in some certain way. Each person is an exception to the rules. There seems to be a different "reason" for every incidence of misconduct.

School administrators, he said, are caught in a Catch-22, for those of you who remember that book or movie. Teachers demand "action" when students are sent to the office. Parents want strong discipline for every child except their own, who, of course, is a special case. Superintendents and school boards he observed, from experience, just want to stay out of it, often wondering why incidents ever leave the classroom and get to the principal's office. Why can't the teachers handle their classrooms, meaning the students, is too frequent a comment. We need time to focus on important, but relatively simple things like budgets and teacher contracts. Curriculum considerations are enough of a challenge when they need adjusting.

I pity the poor administrator, he reflected, whose outer office is filled each day with students ejected from the classroom for everything from gum chewing to selling dope. He or she must administer justice quickly, for others are waiting a hearing. This justice must be perfectly fair. Otherwise, there will be a disgruntled teacher or parent to deal with. The verdict must be wise and legal, lest an attorney get wind of it. It must stand up against the scrutiny of public opinion, too, or the school board will come calling.

He even compared a recent visit to a school as a county commissioner to give a classroom presentation. He was told to meet the teacher at the door in front of the "holding area" outside the principal's office. There he found several students fidgeting and fuming, awaiting their chance to spill out indignation to the boss. Those who recognized him as a county official of some sort, did not wait their turn with the principal and started in on him, apparently hoping he had the same party affiliation as the principal. Without exception, each, had been sent to the office for an outrageously trumped-up reason by a teacher who was insanely unreasonable and who has been harboring a grudge against this individual. My friend joked that he had heard, without quite so much drama, similar accusations, during county commission meetings, against the county road department regarding bridge repairs, road maintenance as well as the sheriff because the county jail did not have cable TV.

The word "discipline" I was told as he shifted back into his teacher mode goes back to the Latin "discern" which means "to learn" I was told. As long as students are expected to learn, this sage commented, schools will face the discipline challenge. It goes with the territory.

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