Why is School Discipline Considered a Trivial Issue? Jean Johnson
Education Week, June 23, 2004 In a recent Education Week editorial, Public Agenda Senior Vice President Jean Johnson writes about their new poll, "Teaching Interrupted: Do Discipline Policies in Today's Public Schools Foster the Common Good?" The poll was commissioned by Common Good.
"Once again, new research has captured the anguish of teachers and parents over lack of discipline, cooperation, and respect in America's classrooms. ...
[N]early seven in 10 middle and high school teachers say their own schools have serious problems with students who disrupt classes. Even more say their schools have persistent troublemakers who should be removed from regular schooling. ...
Topping it off, teachers face litigation-tinged attitudes of contempt and second-guessing. Nearly eight in 10 say students are quick to remind them that they have rights and their parents can sue. Nearly half say that a parent has accused them of unfairly disciplining a child."
Johnson's concern in this editorial is the lack of attention given to school discipline. In the wake of Columbine and other tragedies, schools have been cracking down on drugs and guns, but
"[g]etting far less attention and, I believe, taking a genuine toll on American education, are more mundane matters. In the new research, teachers complain about student lateness, cheating, insolence, and bullying. 'It just amazes me,' said one New Jersey teacher we interviewed. 'The gum chewing ... the yawning aloud or putting their feet up on the desk. [It's] like they didn't know that was inappropriate.'"
Why do educators and policy makers pay so little attention to discipline?
"Some top educators seem concerned that 'more discipline' means a lurch backward to soul-crushing schools where children cower before adults and silence is the rule. But that's not what teachers and parents have in mind. Both say that sparking a child's curiosity and engendering a love of learning are absolutely essential elements of good schooling. For teachers and parents, better discipline simply means a little more order, fewer disruptions, more student cooperation and student effort, and perhaps a little more courtesy all round. It doesn't seem too much to ask.
Others worry that the focus on repeat school troublemakers means that Americans are ready to abandon these youngsters as lost causes. This is an important concern, but it's not the message we get from opinion research. Most Americans believe that nearly all youngsters can be helped, even if they have veered seriously off course as teenagers. Three-quarters say that given enough adult attention, just about all kids can learn and succeed in school. Only a handful believe most troubled teenagers 'are beyond the point where they can be helped.'"
To restore order to America's classrooms, however, we must restore to teachers the authority to make everyday disciplinary decisions, without having to worry about a lawsuit or burdensome procedural requirements. As the "Teaching Interrupted" poll demonstrates, students know their rights and the power of a legal threat. Too often, unruly students know that they can terrorize an entire classroom with few consequences.
As Johnson reports, parents and teachers are open to "all sorts of approaches" to school discipline:
"Enforcing small rules to alter school climate--the so-called 'broken windows' approach--gets a thumbs-up, as do special schools and programs for troubled kids, holding parents more accountable, improving teacher preparation, and reducing incentives for parents to sue."
It is important to note that the "broken windows" approach can work only if the legal climate changes. When anyone can sue for anything, when teachers cannot remove unruly students from the classroom because of excessive due process, a climate conducive to teaching and learning cannot be created or maintained.
Click here to read the full editorial. (Registration required).
| 
