Discipline

Today a parent came into school. The teacher had called the father because his child was continuously truant. The matter was brought up to the deputy principal whose response was to first criticize the child’s appearance- “get your hands out of your pockets, tuck in your shirt, why aren’t you wearing shoes?” She then went on to tell the child she going to have him expelled if he didn’t start behaving. I saw a number of fallacies in this whole exchange:

More than likely the child doesn’t have shoes because he can’t afford them. Telling a child we are embarrassed by his appearance probably doesn’t accomplish much other than further antagonizing him from the educational system. Many of these children have no real control over their appearance- they don’t have the money to look how we would like them to look.

Never once was the child asked why he wasn’t coming to school or what he wanted to do when he was older. To me, emphasizing the importance of school takes precedent over provoking a child further.

One of the things I have never understood is the idea of suspending or expelling a truant child. This seems to be a further reward for the child. Expelling the child will only kill his chance for any type of education and will lead him to be a problem for the community.

In the end, why don’t we take more interest in our children; exert more effort? Why not discover the root of the problem and try to solve it instead of just making it try to disappear as a momentary solution?