Safety and Suspensions

It was Wednesday morning at my school. I arrived at my normal time but immediately upon turning on my computer checked my inbox and saw someone had sent me a link. It was an ABC news story about how school assaults on staff were on the rise. It was not the best way to start my day. Almost immediately after reading this I stepped out into the hallway where two students were fighting. A staff member and school security personnel broke up the fight but one student would not stop, and was very close to striking the school security staff that had intervened.

Some of the schools that we work in have serious safety concerns. A minority of our students come to us with issues that are not easily addressed with re-directions, consequences and incentives. As it stands, the system does not provide enough real support for these students. They are often passed between schools, pushed into transferring, or bouncing from suspension services or alternative programs.

There are many ideas and studies on how to support these students, but that is not the central focus of this post. Student and staff safety is the main focus. It may seem cynical to focus on safety over strategies for these children but bear in mind I choose to work in these schools and, on most days, I do my best to educate every student I teach.

We cannot completely fix the education of these students if they attend schools that are dangerous. The culture of schools and the consequences and systems of schools need to be all aligned behind the idea that every school should be completely safe. I am not simply talking about assaults on adults. I am talking about verbal threats, menacing, and intimidation. The culture of acceptance and the reality of these behaviors need to change in every school.

Suspension numbers be damned. While we cannot teach individual children if they are suspended, we cannot teach a classroom of children if a culture of violence prevails. Students in every school need to know that these behaviors are not acceptable. This needs to be taught and reinforced with actions. If this is done, in the best case scenario children will learn to avoid these behaviors. Worst case scenario, at least there will be consequences for such actions which is a step up from where we are now in certain schools.

Getting back to the original incident that happened the morning that I read the story. The one student that was fighting another student and attempting to strike the school security staff was not suspended. There was no real consequence or even discussion of his behavior, he remained in classes for the day. While keeping him in school may seem like a good idea, my perspective from the classroom says otherwise. This student, just two weeks prior to this, had repeatedly shoved me in my classroom and tried to forcefully steal my personal property. He was not suspended for these actions.

I do not think that suspensions or consequences are the only answer for troubled students. But in the absence of anything else, I believe strongly that my students and I deserve to be safe.

Read more from ABC 2 Baltimore: http://www.abc2news.com/dpp/news/region/baltimore_city/student-on-teacher-assaults-on-rise