Introduction
Detentions, Suspensions and Expulsions, when considering disciplinary actions within schools, these three outcomes typical come to mind. From countless TV shows and movies, we have learned that if you behave inappropriately in schools, these are the options for punishment. However, Ontario schools have expanded their take on punishment to try to create an approach that will support both victims and perpetrators, without impeding the educational development of either student (Ontario Ministry of Education 2012). Ontario’s Progressive Discipline and Promoting Positive Student Behaviour Policies, as outlines in Policy/Program Memorandum No. 145, as found on the Ontario Ministry of Education website, outlines this altered approach
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Prior to the Safe Schools Act in 2008, the disciplinary standards in schools followed “zero tolerance” policies, which enforced rigid punishments, standardized for all offenses and frequently lead to the discrimination of men and racialized groups (Milne & Aurini 2015). Progressive discipline on the other hand allows principles and teachers to use their discretion and consider a student’s circumstances when responding to inappropriate behavior (Milne & Aurini 2015). Progressive discipline utilizes intervention strategies to discipline students on a gradually increasing scale, proportional to each students needs (Ontario Ministry of Education 2012). Although this approach to discipline and intervention in schools appears ideal, researchers have raised questions about the effectiveness of these policies. Some researchers have criticized progressive discipline, stating that this approach still makes minorities vulnerable to discrimination due to teacher bias and others have criticized how these policies have grouped social justice issues in with bullying. This paper will evaluate the philosophy behind the policy and these two criticism to access areas for improvement and in particular how it relates to …show more content…
Although school treat bullying motivated by racism more severally, they still combine the intervention strategies for social justice issues with other bullying prevention strategies (Ontario Ministry of Education 2014). By ignoring the existence and significance of racism and how it relates to bullying and the overall climate of schools, this policy is contributing to its invisibility (Solomon et al. 2016). This then ignores the root causes of racism and fails to address them in it’s preventative measures (Solomon et al. 2016). By equating social justice issues like racism with bullying, it undermines the issue and ignores the victim’s rights against harassment (Lyn Mikel Brown 2009). Racism is not the same as bullying and points to a much deeper kind a hatred, that won’t be solved in the same way as other forms of bullying (Lyn Mikel Brown 2009). Instances of bullying based on hate, need to be treated differently through the use of open conversations and education that can bring light to these types of prejudice (Editorial: Queering schools 2014). When I was working as a Residence Assistant, the consequences for hate within residence were directly related to the issue at hand. If a student was using racial slurs or harassing a student because of their background,
This decision makes it clear the most important thing for a school to do is to protect the students. It also states that the board of education, whose role is to oversee the schools, must make sure that the staff of the schools is protecting those children. This case highlights that long-term abuse can happen in schools if there are not clear policies or, if there are, that there is no one ensuring that those policies are
Another major reason why juveniles are ending up in the juvenile justice system is because many schools have incorporate the zero tolerance policy and other extreme school disciplinary rules. In response to violent incidents in schools, such as the Columbine High School massacre, school disciplinary policies have become increasingly grave. These policies have been enacted at the school, district and state levels with the hopes of ensuring the safety of students and educators. These policies all rely on the zero tolerance policy. While it is understandable that protecting children and teachers is a priority, it is not clear that these strict policies are succeeding in improving the safety in schools.
Following the Columbine tragedy in 1999, “school systems across the nation introduced the zero-tolerance policies aimed at the curtailment of harmful student behaviors” (Noll, 2014, p. 295). The original focus of the policies was to eliminate the use/carrying of weapons but soon after spread to restricting drugs and medication (2014). By 2006 95% of the U.S. public schools had adopted the zero-tolerance policies and more than half of them reported taking significant action against students, many of which resulted in expulsion (2014). While the zero-tolerance polices were originally welcomed by all members of a community as a means of promoting and keeping a safer environment-- as of late many individuals are questioning the relevance of some actions and some school officials (2014).
The zero tolerance policy has become a national controversy in regards to the solid proven facts that it criminalizes children and seems to catch kids who have no intention of doing harm. Although, there has been substantial evidence to prove that the policies enforced in many schools have gone far beyond the extreme to convict children of their wrongdoing. The punishments for the act of misconduct have reached a devastating high, and have pointed students in the wrong direction. Despite the opinions of administrators and parents, as well as evidence that zero tolerance policies have deterred violence in many public and private schools, the rules of conviction and punishment are unreasonable and should be modified.
Schools inevitably must deal with disciplinary action when it comes to misconduct in students. However, at what point should the courts and law enforcement intervene? “Zero tolerance” policies started as a trend in the school setting during the 1990s in “response to the widespread perception that juvenile violence was increasing and school officials needed to take desperate measures to address the problem” (Aull 2012:182-183). However, national statistics indicated a decrease in juvenile’s share of crime during the influx of zero tolerance policies in schools (National Crime Justice Reference Service 2005).
Over the last decade, bullying has really been a worldwide issue. Bullying is affecting children all over the world and has grown into a huge epidemic. According to the National Education Association, “160,000 kids stay home from school each day to ...
Kolbert, Crothers, Bundick, Wells, Buzgon, Berbary and Senko (2015) explore bullying of LBGTQ youth from teachers' perspectives. It is acknowledged that bullying is a concern for many children and teens, but as an LBGTQ youth, the odds increase dramatically. It is crucial to get educators' perspectives according to Kolbert et al. (2015) because school environments are shaped by adults. A multitude of LBGTQ students report bullying to educators and do not see action, which creates a fear of confiding. A shocking fact in the article is how uncomfortable most teachers are dealing with LBGTQ based bullying, due to the fear of losing their jobs or reactions of the parents. Teachers also feel unequipped to deal with LBGTQ subjects and lack training. This article will provide evidence for LBGTQ bullying in school systems within the theme of LBGTQ youth being viewed as other. It examines how teachers see conflict and how students feel approaching authority with
Bullying in Schools has caused a host of negative physiological effects on the black child. It affects their academic performance and alters their perception of school. Sadly, the societal norms and stereotypes make schools unsafe for black children. This challenge has been discovered to be rooted in the presence of racism in the society rather than being a peculiar reserve of what obtains in most schools.
Neimen, Samantha, Brandon Robers, and Simon Robers. “Bullying: A State of Affairs.” Journal of Law & Education (n.d.):n. pag. Print.
Bullying has been around for decades and yet it is still a reoccurring problem, and it is only getting worse. The National Center for Educational Statistics, in 2009, said nearly 1 in 3 students between the ages of 12 and 18 reported being bullied in school. Eight years earlier, only 14 percent of that population said they had experienced bullying(Ollove,2014). There are two types of bullying the direct form and indirect form, in the direct form the victim receives physical harm example kicking pushing shoving. In the indirect form the victim receives emotional or mental harm by name-calling, rejection, gossip, threats, or insults(Green,2007). It doesn’t matter which way the victim was bullied it still causes
Yell, Mitchell L., and Michael E. Rozalski. "The Impact of Legislation and Litigation on Discipline and Student Behavior in the Classroom." Preventing School Failure 52.3 (2008): 7-16. EBSCO MegaFILE. EBSCO. Web. 19 Nov. 2010.
In recent times bullying has become a national issue, notwithstanding the fact that it has been in existence for many years. Traditionally, bullying has been seen as horseplay, but with the increase of harassment in schools and suicides; parents and schools are now forced to take action to prevent bullying in schools. Bullying is an unwanted, aggressive behavior that involves a real or perceived power imbalance which has the potential to be repeated over time. Strategies to prevent bullying in schools are grouped into identifying the causes of bullying, creating policies and rules, building a safe environment and educating students and staff.
On the afternoon of April 9, 2010 I found myself in a meeting with Kerri Evans, the assistant principal of Pleasant Ridge Middle School, and my son Nicholas. I was there because my son had become a victim of verbal abuse. It was shocking to learn that bullying has become such an epidemic in our school system. “Nearly 1 in 3 students is involved in bullying” (Hertzog, 2010). In a perfect world there would be no bullying. Kids wouldn’t get shoved into lockers, and they wouldn’t be beat up in the hallway. Students wouldn’t talk about another student behind their back because of their shape, size, race, or religion. In a perfect world this wouldn’t happen, but at that moment in our imperfect world it was happening to my son. The question is, why does it happen and what can we do to stop it? “According to a 2009 federal survey of school crime and safety, 32 percent of middle and high school students said they'd been victimized during the academic year, compared with 14 percent in 2001” (Tyre, 2010). Bullying was making its way into my home and affecting my life. It was then that I realized that bullying was a problem that needed to stop. Bullying in schools is escalating and becoming a bigger and bigger issue, and we must take action to eliminate it.
Bullying has always been present within the United States. Although the issue has been around for a long time, it continues to grow and become more of problem. It is said that about 160,000 children within the United States are refusing to go to school because of bullying. Another statistic is that within American schools alone, there are an estimated 2.1 billion bullies and 2.7 billion victims (Dan Olewus, MBNBD). The numbers presented here are outrageous and although there are organizations to stop bullying, obviously there needs to be a new set of solutions. Any type of bullying presents problems to children, “Suicide, depression, anxiety, substance abuse, trouble with the law, poor performance in school and work, and lack of involvement in socially accepted activities are some of the difficulties resulting from bullying (Austin, Reynolds, Barnes, Shirley). Of course, there is more than just a single type of bullying. Feeding ground for bullies can range anywhere from text-message or cyberbullying to physical bullying in schools. Also, bullies can begin to strike at a young age and could also be; teenage, middle-age, or even the elderly. Even though there are these many versions of problematic bullies, the largest bullying problems take place within the school setting: a place that is supposed to be safe for children rather than harmful. Although it seems impossible to completely get rid of bullying, these are a few suggested solutions; making the school informed on bullying issues, schools implementing rules on bullying, and having students positively use electronics to stop bullying.
Bullying is something that is not something new and is actually something that society continues to face. Over the years, bullying has been looked at as being so ordinary in schools that it is continuously overlooked as an emanate threat to students and has been lowered to a belief that bullying is a part of the developmental stage that most young children will experience then overcome (Allebeck, 2005, p. 129). Not everyone gets over the extreme hurt that can come as an effect from bullying, for both the bully and the victim. Because of this, we now see bullying affecting places such as the workplace, social events and even the home. The issue of bullying is not only experienced in schools, but the school environment is one of the best places