A big part of the problem comes from the aversion to punishment. I’m not talking about physical punishment, but loss of privileges that really ARE a loss. Sitting and having a long, boring talk with some creepy, caring professional isn’t cutting it. Kids blow that off. In elementary school, losing field trips was a really big deal. Teachers took all kinds of really fun field trips at my school, and could use it as incentive for kids to keep it together for weeks. Then, our SJW principal decided that was too mean, and we had to have “full inclusion” field trips. There goes a great lever teachers had, plus, as field trips became more and more untenable due to behavior problems, they took fewer and fewer and now take only rare ones. This is a microcosm of the problem as a whole.
Punishment could also involve real work- weeding garden, shoveling mulch, cleaning playground- and that might help some kids who just have a ton of energy and school is hard for them to deal with.
A big part of the problem comes from the aversion to punishment. I’m not talking about physical punishment, but loss of privileges that really ARE a loss. Sitting and having a long, boring talk with some creepy, caring professional isn’t cutting it. Kids blow that off. In elementary school, losing field trips was a really big deal. Teachers took all kinds of really fun field trips at my school, and could use it as incentive for kids to keep it together for weeks. Then, our SJW principal decided that was too mean, and we had to have “full inclusion” field trips. There goes a great lever teachers had, plus, as field trips became more and more untenable due to behavior problems, they took fewer and fewer and now take only rare ones. This is a microcosm of the problem as a whole.
Punishment could also involve real work- weeding garden, shoveling mulch, cleaning playground- and that might help some kids who just have a ton of energy and school is hard for them to deal with.
Well received. Public EDU has taken a nosedive. I feel for those who believe we can right the ship when it is evident the system is not working.