Reader Response

SOCIAL CLIMATE

I agree with several of the points made in the School Climate article, however I would argue that while competition may hinder student connectedness, it also sometimes promotes motivation and success in others. I believe it depends on the type of competition being presented, whether it's academic, athletic or for other reasons.

Also, if a school has a violence problem and the students feel unsafe that is one thing, but promoting anti-violence when there is none to begin with seems to draw attention to that factor too much. School should be a sanctum, not a prison, so increased security might be necessary but should not be obvious.

Increasing student-based decisions seems like the best solution/suggestion out of all of those. By discussing options students can hear others out and through that get to know one and other better. It also promotes fairness moderated by the students themselves, and if they feel more in control they are likely to feel more comfortable in their environment.

Q; How does the school identify and address those individuals who do feel lonely, worthless and other powerless emotions?

SCHOOL VIOLENCE

Wow. Just Wow. I would never have guessed how many weapons were brought on campus, how gangs are prevalent in schools to that extent or even how many students felt unsafe in their school environment. Imagine the fear that overwhelms and consumes these students every day when they think about school, and how that can affect their academics! Anyone would feel it hard to concentrate if they felt their life was at stake.

All of the prevention suggestions seemed well thought-out, however it still made me feel powerless as a teacher, and even as a person. I want to feel proactive in this topic and while the suggestions proposed were helpful, and might lower the percentages stated on the previous page, it still seemed like there was more that could be done to help solve the problem. I like that they included parents and communities in their attempts to rectify the situation.

Q; Where has this 4 step program been put in place and the suggested solution been successful?

I was in elementary school when the Columbine shooting happened. My school system in Massachusetts went into an official lock-down approximately 17 times before I transferred after sophomore year. We had guns on campus, bullets, bomb threats and others, and we were stuck in a classroom for over six and a half hours. Because of this, that school now has the highest security, and there are still threats. Nothing was done to address the students, as far as I know the faculty was not spoken to, instead they hired security guards with dogs who patrolled the hallways and sniffed out a girl who got her period early, and didn't have any tampons. This, in my opinion, was the exact opposite way the school should have handled the situation.

TWO WRONGS DON'T MAKE A RIGHT

While the government continues to update the laws on bullying, the schools need to handle the preventative side. However such big changes are hard to implement, and many of the laws and bills are not having as big an impact as the schools and communities would like, as much as I would like. This article seems like a great time to mention the punitive but educational part to reprimanding students; the school to prison pipeline suggest the punitive part is put in place, but not the educational part. If students do not understand what they did wrong and how to rectify it they will never cease doing it. The article (in so many words) states that we don't necessary give students a chance to redeem themselves if we punish them without room for growth and redemption.

Sending kids out of school does no good. You need to educate them to understand, not dismiss them because they don't. The administration is actually making the problem worse by sending the students home as punishment!  While the laws and recommendations at the bottom of the article make sense, we must also make use of them. Until that happens we have little chance of improving the pipeline.