I have decided that I must be anti-social at heart. I just don't understand the whole my space.com, friends.com, etc., etc. Why would anyone be interested in anything that I have to say? I lead a very normal life that is centered around my family and school. What's so interesting about that? I am probably anti-picture too. I see people with nothing but photos on their computers of friends and family. I don't have any pictures. I have never liked having my picture taken and I am always so busy doing whatever it is that I am doing that I never get around to actually taking any pictures. The most recent picture of me is almost always my drivers license photo! This time it is actually a pretty good one. Although I will share a secret, when I was 5 and growing up in Texas, I did the whole pageant thing and I actually almost always got Miss Photogenic! Go figure. That was just until I won Little Miss Copperas Cove, the big prize. I still remember the dress. It was a frothy pink, truly hideous creation. I looked like a walking cupcake. Maybe that's why I don't like having my picture taken.
Okay, my gripe for today is the punishments used in Secondary School. A student skips several classes so for punishment he has to spend the day in either ISS (In School Suspension) or OSS (Out of School Suspension). What is this consequence teaching them? ISS only allows them to fall further behind than they already are by missing even more class time and OSS is telling a kid that if he doesn't want to go to school the school is going to tell him that at least for one day he doesn't have to?!? So he can stay home, sleep in and play video games all day. What kind of a deterrent is that? I have come up with a plan. I say that whenever a kid skips a class he has to help the janitorial staff for however many days he was out. If he skipped only one class, too bad so sad, they still have to help for one day. This would serve as a real deterrent, hopefully help get rid of any misplaced sense of entitlement they may have, and it could help to defray the costs of upkeep by reducing the amount of janitorial staff that is needed. I can guarantee that the first time a kid has to clean up behind his peers and sees just how disgusting just the trash cans can be he will stay in class!
3 comments:
You must have enjoyed Little Miss Sunshine. I sure did...
Interesting comments about punishment at secondary schools. In classic behavioral theory, a punishment is supposed to decrease a behavior while a reinforcement is supposed to increase behavior. If you punish someone and the behavior doesn't decrease, then you are not really punishing them. In fact, getting out of even more classes by skipping school might been seen as a reward if the skipping behavior actually increases--or at least doesn't decrease.
My least favorite form of punishment is Saturday school. The punishment for missing school is MORE school? Using school as a punishment is not a very good idea, especially for someone who doesn't like it to start with. It seems like a good way to create a dropout.
Rather than examine the punishment for skipping school... why not look at the cause. Is the teen skipping school because they are struggling with the subject? Are they not being challenged enough? Or are they just bored? Like it or not, teachers are required to keep their students engaged in what they are doing in the classroom. The bottom line is this: If the students likes the class, if they feel successful when they go to the class, they will NOT skip the class. Rather than putting all of the blame on the kids (which granted some of it is due) teachers should examine their own teaching strategies to see why this particular student is opting not to attend their class.
I love it...
I agree whole heartedly, it doesn't seem right that for missing school they get another free day. And it really just makes more work for the teacher that has to catch the student back up.
There should always be consequences for the student's actions, but I also feel that teachers do need to think about the cause as well, like Sam was saying.
However there are going to be students who need the consequences to get themselves into gear. And realize that school is something they can't get out of and something they will have to work for.
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