Lock Them Up! Lock Them Up!

A Facebook post in response to an article on how troubled children (especially black troubled boys) face excessive and extreme consequences for behavior which needs to be treated more than punished.

 America’s war on our children continues. We’re making progress. We’re hurting more and more children more and more times.

Behavior which was once praised in boys as “manly” now results in being suspended, expelled, and/or arrested.

I remember fighting the suspension battle with the rest of the school district. I was not against suspension; in fact, at one point I expelled more students than any other principal. My point was simple though. You have to do what actually works with that child. Expulsion is an extreme to be taken only when you absolutely must and there is no legal alternative.

I recall a news report from years ago in which at graduation a student sprayed silly string at the principal who charged him with assault. I know exactly how I would’ve handled that because once at graduation one of my six grade students shook my hand with a joke buzzer in it. I thought it was funny. If somebody sprayed silly string at me at an upper level graduation I would’ve sternly demanded the can, then it turned around and sprayed him back. I would not return the bottle to him though because I know how hard it is for custodians to clean the mess up. I would have insisted that he clean the mess up and I would’ve helped him because I sprayed some it too.

When I knew I had to retire because of my illness I tried to get two things through the school board. One was to restructure our front gate so that you could not enter the campus without passing through the office or climbing a fence. That was successful.

I also tried to get the district to adopt a program, perfectly legal and provided for the education code, which would place disruptive students at a special program. It kept them away from other students while still providing an education.  I argued it that would pay for itself. The board was not interested.

I trace the problem all the way back to our Puritan origins. People are inherently evil but the magic punishment will make everything better. If we just punish enough and in exactly the correct way, everyone will be forced to reform.  Conform?