BY: Mike DiMatteo
How We Got Here
Discipline.
Even the word sounds harsh, fostering images of drill instructors yelling in a fresh recruit’s face, or the stereotypical sports coach yelling something about getting one’s “ass in gear,” belittling the hapless player relentlessly, all in the name of that ten-letter word.
When applied to schools—school discipline—some of the same images spring forth, along with Saturday morning detentions, suspensions, and for the worst offenders—expulsion—the scarlet letter of school discipline policies, and one most school districts across the nation are loath to implement in this new millennium.
These are the big-ticket issues facing education, and increasingly, becoming a bigger problem for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the failure to remove such students is creating school environments not conducive to learning.
Further, these environments are causing a record number of teachers to quit in ever-increasing numbers nationwide.
To wit:
• 2020-21: 7.3%
• 2021-22: 8.0%
• 2022-23: 12.0%
Some of these can be attributed to teacher retirement, but more and more, lack of administrative support is being cited. In one survey, 71% of teachers said they experienced physical violence directed against them at least once. 60% said they feel “afraid to go to school,” and 63% said they’ve considered quitting because of the threat of physical violence. Further, 32% of public school teachers said student misbehavior interfered with their teaching, while 37% said tardiness and class cutting was also a major factor in interfering with the learning process.
We can’t implement punitive measures, the omnipresent they told us, for it would damage self esteem, make kids feel bad, or maybe even engender guilt among the teacher or administrator parsing out such discipline. Studies have shown students who are suspended from school do worse academically than those that are not suspended, and expulsion, once the extreme but sometimes necessary measure to keep the school itself violent and drug-free, is now almost non-existent, school board policy along with some state laws all but banning it, even for those who exhibit some of the worst behaviors.
The preferred method is referred to as Restorative Justice. More about that later.
Illinois, for example, restricts expulsion significantly, with schools mandated to show that other methods have been exhausted (SB 100). Expulsion is a last resort. For grades K-3, expulsions are 2 virtually banned as the emphasis on positive behavioral interventions is preferred. In California, expulsion is restricted for “non-violent” infractions. Similar policies are in place in Connecticut as well as Colorado.
In short, it’s rather difficult to remove a problematic student from a public classroom or public school environment, even more so when parents refuse to admit that their student is the issue, blaming everyone else but the student or themselves. Lost in all of this are the students who wish to learn, who are there to be educated. Their right to an education seems placed on the back burner as the education system in its entirety seems geared toward catering to those who would rather not be there than those that do.
The system is backwards, resulting in discipline policies with a little bark but no bite. Programs like Restorative Justice are little more than a joke to students, touchy-feely programs devised by professors of education who profess, often with very little to no background in an actual challenging modern classroom.
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But, what if some of those problems could be alleviated before anything got to that stage? What if there was a way to mitigate some of these issues before they occur, especially at the grade and middle school level? There is…enacting classroom and school-wide disciplinary policies that work: suspension and expulsion for the most egregious offenders. It’s how it used to be, and should be again, rather than what so many school districts and classrooms have now—lax discipline procedures, policies, and standards for student behavior not only inside the classroom but the school itself.
One of the things that has gone by the wayside over the last twenty years or so is holding students accountable for their poor behavior. Stories of classrooms overrun by disorderly students, classrooms having to be evacuated as a student is having a “meltdown,” and there can be no interference, no touching them on any level, have rendered classroom discipline moot in many cases. Softer approaches, less intrusive and more inclusive, were attempted, most under the guise of DEI initiatives. Restorative Justice, Non-suspension Policies, and non-expulsion policies, along with the 3 introduction of things like Trauma Informed Learning became the buzzwords of the day over the 4 last dozen or so years of my career (one that ended in 2022), with some success, but muted.
While such initiatives may have helped here and there, the fact is, most of the time, they don’t; students laugh about them knowing little will happen, and shortly after the intervention, the behavior resumes. As a classroom teacher for my entire career, I can attest to the laughter as I’ve heard it more than once, students telling me directly how “comical” such procedures are. “I just played the game, Mr. D,” was a familiar refrain. In one case, a historically troubled student with whom I’d made inroads told me when I asked him to go to the Dean, “And what’s he gonna do? They never do anything anyway.” I looked that student directly in the eyes, laughed, and said, “I can’t argue with you on that one, but you’re going to go anyway.” He did.
Policy Failures
The effects of such policies are nothing short of destructive, with teachers leaving the profession in droves, not because of money, but the fact that they are attacked daily physically and mentally. Those having spent zero time in a classroom do not understand the debilitating effect this has on teachers over time. They don’t understand it, and never will. This is not speculation, but fact.
During the course of my career, I’ve seen teachers threatened with violence, had actual violence toward them, laughed at, and ridiculed all while administration did little to nothing about it, taking the student’s side almost every time. Instructional time is also impacted with students acting out and the teacher either unwilling or unable to control their classroom for fear that if they do, they’ll be branded as “mean,” “nasty,” or worse yet, belittled themselves by students who fear nothing the school might do as a remediation. Often, they don’t fear the punishment of their parents either, who, in many instances, take their side anyway. The result? Students who are there and wish to learn, cannot, the classroom disruptions too much. Teachers, unwilling to get involved, simply allow the behaviors to occur, not caring as they do not wish to risk their paychecks or their jobs. Administrators, often completely disconnected from the classroom, do very little to change the situation. If they do, they face parent phone calls, office meetings often turning into screaming matches, or other such nonsense that render the school atmosphere toxic.
In short, many public schools become little more than baby-sitting centers with some teachers throwing in the towel, not caring about any of it as long as their corner of the world works. Who can blame them? I’ve been in such toxic environments, both as a classroom teacher and coach. I’ve had parents confront me for discipline publicly and privately. I’ve had them threaten me, with one parent threatening to physically assault me. It’s not a lot of fun.
What Can Be Done?
First, discipline begins at the administrative and board level. Enacting common-sense policies that hold students and parents accountable for their poor behavior and actions. Without the Board and the upper admin, little can be done on a macro level. This is where parents come in, electing board members that care and are willing to create measures that will hold students with poor behavior accountable.
Second, state law must be amended in some cases to allow greater discretion in removing problematic students. This is not to say “throw them out,” because they were chewing gum or because a first grader pointed his finger as a gun and said “pew.” Common sense should dictate actions there, although it’s becoming more and more true that common sense isn’t so common. If we cannot remove chronic violent and disruptive students, nothing written here will matter, and schools will continually backslide.
Third, teacher training must include discipline practices and procedures. Today, from what my former student teachers told me, college education classrooms are inundated with social justice initiatives and little else. Prospective teachers are bombarded with tropes of “no student should be told they’re wrong,” or “everyone can achieve,” or “never say a negative word to a student.” My scientific analysis of such teaching is one word: horse-hockey. Prospective teachers need to be taught how to handle such problems and told what the consequences are if they don’t. They need to be taught how to create rules in a classroom and stick to them. How to write referrals, speak with students directly, as well as facilitate a classroom that is not only inviting but also structured. They need proper training by college professors who know what they’re doing and have had actual teaching experience in classrooms rather than sitting in the collegiate atmosphere with their case studies and “best practices” papers. We need people who were/are in the trenches each day to teach prospective teachers how to actually teach, and classroom management is part of that process.
Fourth, we need to ditch all of the touchy-feely, restorative justice gobbledygook, and go back to the way it used to be. Do something disruptive? There’s a penalty. Period. The fact is programs like restorative justice are little more than dreams…kids laugh out loud about them, make fun of it, and generally don’t care. There must be teeth to the punishment. They are kids—not adults—and they need structure…lots of it. These are just a few things we can do on a macro level, but until the mentality of touchy-feely is quashed, we will continue to get poor results overall, and our students are the ones who will suffer.
Why? There won’t be any teachers left.
Notes:
Expulsion should not be a hair-trigger response, but with all the roadblocks, often, the damage 2 has been done to the classroom and the teacher by the time it does occur.
Restorative Justice: A system of school discipline that focuses on repairing harm by the process 3 of dialogue, recognition of accountability, and healing. Trauma Informed Learning: an educational approach that recognizes and responds to the 4 impact of trauma on students, creating a safe, supportive environment that fosters healing, resilience, and academic success.
About the Author:
Michael DiMatteo, a retired high school history and political science educator, spent 35 years teaching at various levels of high schools, including developing the curriculum for AP European History at two institutions. Throughout his career, he encountered diverse teaching environments, ranging from low-income schools to high-performing institutions.
In recognition of his contributions, Mr. DiMatteo received numerous awards, notably being named a Golden Apple Teacher of Distinction in Illinois in 2010.
Currently residing in East Tennessee with his wife of 33 years and their Bernadoodle, Ranger, Mr. DiMatteo has transitioned into full-time writing. He has authored five books, including a historical fiction series titled “Flavius Fettotempi,” set in the 14th-century Mediterranean Sea; a collection of short stories titled “Falling Leaves”; and a memoir of his tenure as a high school head football coach entitled “Confessions of a High School Football Coach.”
His literary works are accessible through his websites: Mikedimatteo.
