Suspension is something that has always made me wonder: How is
keeping a student out of school disciplining them?
Suspension is something that has always made me wonder: How is keeping a student out of school disciplining them?
When I started to write my column, I was against suspension as a form of punishment but now after talking to Mr. Corzo, the assistant principal at Gilroy High School, I can see the need for this as a way to keep the other students safe as opposed to punishment to the offending student.
When a student breaks a rule at school that is a minor offense, the first thing he or she normally will receive is a teacher detention. If the student does not show up to the detention after school he or she will be given a work detail. This is where the student comes after school and picks up trash or cleans around the school for 45 minutes to one hour.
If the student fails to show up to that, then the next punishment is suspension. Mr. Corzo says that when it gets to suspension the punishment is more at disobeying authority rather than not showing up to the other two punishments. Maybe the rule they broke in the first place is not a big enough deal to be suspended for, but the lack of respect for not showing up to the detention and work detail warrants being suspended.
There used to be another step before suspension – Saturday school. However, that was removed because of budget cuts. The student would have to come on a Saturday to school and sit in a classroom and do homework or something to keep themselves busy for about three hours. I think that Saturday school was one of the toughest punishments because I don’t know anyone who wants to waste their weekends at school when they could be out having fun. Saturday school and work details are the most effective punishments.
In addition to being punitive, both punishments force the student to be productive. I believe to make people stop doing something wrong they have to be punished with something that is not fun and that they don’t want to do.
Students can get suspended on the first offense if they break a major rule.
For example if they fight or have a weapon or drugs on campus. This is needed for the safety of all the students.
“The school’s number one priority is safety for all the students,” said Corzo.
The school has to remove them from the campus so they don’t endanger any other students with their bad choices. Clearly, this is a great reason for suspension so that other students can learn safely and in peace without other students disrupting them.
When a student does something against the rules and they get suspended, they now just get to sleep in at home and have a little vacation while everyone who has followed the rules has to get up early and go to school. It just doesn’t seem fair to me.
Of course if the parents are disciplining their child at home, it may not seem like a very fun vacation. By the time a suspension has become necessary for a student, it is the parents’ turn to deal with how the student has acted. The school has done all it can, so suspension is a way to let the parents know they have to deal with it now on their own because the student can’t go to school.
This gives the parents a wake-up call. They have a situation with their child they need to address and they can’t just keep leaving it up to the school to handle it. As long as it’s not a safety issue I say don’t suspend, put students to work and do something productive.
