In School Suspension :: Discipline Punishment Education Essays

In School Suspension On my first day at Dunn Middle School, I learned that I had the gifted and talented classes, and assumed that discipline would be no problem for me. There was minimal chatter and the students seemed eager to learn. When I walked in on the second day, my co-op handed me a sheet of paper with the suspensions listed. This floored me, the infractions included fighting and sexual harassment. Over the next few weeks I saw that both out of school and in school suspensions were given a lot. Students who are disruptive in class and refused to do their work were sent down to discipline where they received the consequences for their actions. More often than not, in school suspension was the end result. The concept of in school suspension was new to me because it was not something that I had seen when I was growing up. Discipline has always been an issue that has plagued education. Troublesome students have always been a source of disturbances and distractions. Many school have implemented an in school suspension (ISS) program to combat the disruptiveness of problem students. These programs aim to remove students from the classroom while keeping them in an educational setting. By keeping the students within the school they are still able to be monitored to ensure that they are still getting their work done and keeping up with the class. Also, by having them out of the class, the environment becomes more learning friendly to the students who do not cause trouble. According to Claiborne Winborne, a writer for Educational Leadership, â€Å"Keeping suspended students at school – but isolated from other students - makes more sense and is more effective than giving them a ‘vacation’ away from school.† (King William County, 466) By definition, in school suspension is â€Å"a program to which a student is assigned because of disruptive behavior for a specific amount of time.† (Effective Program, 156) Many schools that have in school suspension programs have a zero-tolerance policy. This deters bad behavior by having swift and serious consequences for breaking school rules.