Here's a model for preventing bullying and a whole lot of other problems: a school that promotes social literacy not zero tolerance. At the Boston area's Charlestown High School, "where many students come from high-crime neighborhoods, an innovative program employs a surprising method to help keep teens in school and out of trouble with the law: Encouraging them to talk to each other," reports NBC … [Read more...] about Restorative justice eclipsing zero tolerance in US schools
zero tolerance
Help for parents of kids dealing with bullying
"When a child mentions schoolyard dialog that sounds almost surreal, or reveals an eyebrow raising text message and asks, 'ok, so what would you say to THIS?' I want to be able to apply calm, social emotional learning rather than have analysis paralysis with stunned, kneejerk reactions to blunt, crude one-liners, thinking 'wth? did they really just say that? Yougawdabekiddinme' More often than not … [Read more...] about Help for parents of kids dealing with bullying
What school suspension ‘accomplishes’: Study
I hope school administrators will think about this when they're dealing with cyberbullying: suspending students is only effective as "a school-to-prison pipeline." That's a conclusion from "a study of nearly a million Texas children described as an unprecedented look at discipline," according to the Washington Post. The study analyzed 6.6 million records of every Texas 7th grader 2000-'02, … [Read more...] about What school suspension ‘accomplishes’: Study
Schools rethinking zero tolerance
Now, this is good news: "Nearly two decades after a zero-tolerance culture took hold in American schools, a growing number of educators and elected leaders are scaling back discipline policies that led to lengthy suspensions and ousters for such mistakes as carrying toy guns or Advil," the Washington Post reports. Launched by the Gun-Free Schools Act of 1994, during a period when being tough on … [Read more...] about Schools rethinking zero tolerance