Disciplinary Issues and Violence in School System Essay

Disciplinary Issues and Violence in School System Throughout the nations, disciplinary issue and violence in the school systems has been a controversial matter. These issues have been an argumentum dated back before our time. Since then, schools worldwide especially public schools has implemented different types of tragedies to discipline students and reduced the violence in the schools. These problems have placed students, teachers, administrators, and staffs in constant fear, and they have retarded the educational process, undermining a generation of students, therefore school violence is not a new phenomenon (Adams 2000). Discipline is, after all, a crucial aspect of education and a central component of teachers’ work. As educators, families, and community members turned to the district to intervene in matters of discipline, they also turned to other external agencies-including professional associations, state house, and even the courts- to intervene in other realms of education that had traditionally been controlled at the school site (Kafka 2008). The discipline and punishment of students has become particular harsh- a trend that mirrors the mounting punitiveness in the criminal justice system (Welch and Payne 2010). Sources Adams, A. T. (2000). The status of school discipline and violence. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science-School Violence, 567, 140-156. Retrieved from http://www. jstor. org/stable/1049499 Kafka, J. (2008). â€Å"sitting on a tinderbox†: Racial conflict, teacher discretion, and the centralization of disciplinary authority. American Journal of Education, 114(3), 247-270. Retrieved from http://www. jstor. org/stable/10. 1086/529501 Welch, K. , & Payne, A. A. (2010). Racial threat and punitive school discipline. Social Problems, 57(1), 25-48. Retrieved from http://www. jstor. org/stable/10. 525/sp. 2010. 57. 1. 25 Throughout the nations, disciplinary issue and violence in the school systems has been a controversial matter. These issues have been an argumentum dated back before our time. Since then, schools worldwide especially public schools has implemented different types of tragedies to discipline students and reduced the violence in the schools. Th ese problems have placed students, teachers, administrators, and staffs in constant fear, and they have retarded the educational process, undermining a generation of students, therefore school violence is not a new phenomenon (Adams 2000). School violence and discipline are not the same concept, but they are related (Adams 2000). Adams (2000) mentions some of the practices for discipline in school such as suspension and expulsion, in school suspension (ISS), and zero tolerance. He also brought up an interesting factor about students who are on medication (s) for different type’s disorders such as ADD or ADHD sometimes used an excuse for the misbehaving (Adams 2000). Discipline is, after all, a crucial aspect of education and a central component of teachers’ work. As educators, families, and community members turned to the district to intervene in matters of discipline, they also turned to other external agencies-including professional associations, state house, and even the courts- to intervene in other realms of education that had traditionally been controlled at the school site (Kafka 2008). Therefore, throughout most of the American history, students discipline was largely decentralized: local educators were responsible for determining appropriate classroom behavior and for meting out punishments as they saw fit (Kafka 2008). Today, teachers and the public remain ambivalent about the location of disciplinary authority (Kafka 2008). There are researches and studies that have been done to see if tragedies such as some listed were effective or ineffective since implemented. Research has shown that certain student socio-demographic qualities are related to harsh school discipline. Statistic indicate that poorer students are, in fact, more likely to be targeted by harsh school practices, while wealthier students more often receive mild to moderate consequences (Welch and Payne 2010). In addition, various school characteristics have found to affect the social control of students. Discipline policies are more likely to be effectively improve student behavior and accountability in school with strong principal leadership which consists support of teachers, consistent supervision and the use of feedback, high visibility and presence, and effective planning and problem- solving (Welch and Payne 2010). Another thing that research found is racial status- consistently related to student punitiveness, with inority students receiving harsher treatment more often than white students. This is general given more frequently and more punitive for less serious offenses such as suspensions, expulsions, even corporal punishment, and zero tolerance violations (Welch and Payne 2010). Putting it all together, the effects of student race on discipline is that it is actually socioeconomic status that influences school punitiveness (Welch and Payne 2010). Discipline is both an antecedent and an expected outcome or predictable behavior. Discipline is sometimes used to measure violence. School violence and discipline are mutually constitutive of the problem and need to be considered in relationship to each other (Adams 2000). There are pros and cons on some of the tragedies that have been implemented for disciplinary in the school exclusions such as suspension and expulsion. The pros for exclusion are 1) it is and an effective way for administrators to handle large numbers of disruptive youths 2) it offered protection to a larger student body and 3) provide administrators with a sense of control over the uncontrollable (Adams 2000). In the other hand, there are negative sides to this exclusion 1) students who are routinely disciplined by being suspended are more likely to drop out of school which in turn causes derailment 2) it also sends the wrong message- students loses respect for authority figures when excluded from school for truancy and 3) it has the potential to predispose unsupervised children to become individuals who are asocial, with the likelihood of increased delinquency as well- it simply displaces the offending student from the school to the street (Adams 2000). Furthermore, in-school suspension better known as ISS has it positive and negative outcome as well. ISS is use in substituting for exclusions for 1) teachers, administrators, and school districts didn’t have to deal with lengthy hearings and counsel from school-appointed attorneys 2) the programs kept disruptive students on campus- the same student would be less likely to pose an immediate threat to their local communities and would be under supervision and 3) it kept disruptive student from coming into contact with students who were likely to engage in asocial behaviors during school operating hours (Adams 2000). Furthermore, ISS can be seen as 1) a holding ground for incorrigible students who lack motivation and who are generally inspired by institutional schooling- typically supervised by paraprofessional who lack training to work effectively with at-risk students and 2) the program lacks resources including pedagogic equipment, manipulative, and other learning devices-however there are certified teacher that masterfully run the program and facilitate the learning (Adams 2000). Many students who are placed in ISS programs are there because their teachers lack appropriate mediation skills – as a result, students often find themselves skidding into ISS because of the inability of their teachers to cope with students from diverse social background that often are at variance with the background of middle-class teachers (Adams 2000). Another policy that’s implemented is zero tolerance- it has the approach taken off in response to more violent nature of school disruption. It too has its advantages and disadvantages in the school system- it has two advantages as follows 1) detection aspect- which involved surveillance throughout the school except in the restroom, dressing room and classroom. It’s to help mobilize school security and have the proactive approach and 2) punishment- a return version of exclusion, when proof is there to expelled student with certain offenses (Adams 2000). On the opposite side, zero tolerance has it disadvantages 1) Students who are kicked out of school are the one that need education the most and mostly are from low income families and are at risk 2) tends to violates students’ right to due process 3) it absolved schools of their responsibility to provide nurturing, caring, and mentoring relations that prepare students for democratic society 4) it also has the unintended consequence of being racist- it disproportionately punishes minority students 5) often remove students from the educational process for minor offenses such as being tardy, class cutting, and insubordination and 6) it has no appreciable effects on reducing violence in the school (Adams 2000). With that all put together, some studies have found that the relation between school violence and discipline is more complex than they think. By constructing orderly school environments with reduced level of violence will help provide alternatives conflict resolution and pe aceful school movements (Adams 2000).