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To the editor:
School is starting once again, and now is the perfect time for schools to review their disciplinary policies with both their students and parents.
People would be shocked at the behavior of many students today. I wonder how many realize teachers, administrators, and other school staff struggle to hold students accountable for their actions.
Teachers are in a difficult place for many reasons. One is that they get too little support from their administrators and from some parents when they try to discipline misbehaving students; if they tell a student to put their phones away or to stop talking, some students will talk back to or swear at the teacher. These students don't fear discipline because they know their parents will side with them and get them out of any real punishment. Instead of getting disciplined at home, their parents may complain to the school about the teacher. This undermines the teacher's ability to maintain classroom control and, at times, threatens their jobs. Too often, then, the misbehaving student is in charge!
Of course, this doesn't apply to most students or parents. But while it should be extremely rare for a parent to have their child excused from a school's disciplinary actions, surprisingly, it is not. Too often these days, parents threaten to sue a school district over disciplinary actions by schools. So, how can schools protect the rights of the hundreds of students who are well-behaved when they can't enforce the rules on those who disrupt?
Our students should learn about respect and discipline as part of their education, and parents should lead by example. When they blindly protect their child from due punishment, they simply are teaching them that bad behavior is acceptable, compounding the problem.
We all need to help make teaching a rewarding and desirable profession again. And parents need to raise their children to respect rules and regulations. We don't always like them, but we learn in life that they come with every job.
Lisa Haney
Marshall