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Monday, July 19, 2010
Public Schools: Part Two
As I continue my rip of the Philadelphia Public School System I recall another issue that has rubbed me the wrong way. This is the policy of the schools to send students home who come late or do not come in uniform. Many students are in single parent households and the mother is working feverishly throughout the day in order to be able to provide for her child. If the child is sent home then the chances of him or her going straight home are slim to none. This 7 hour window that would have normally been dedicated to learning and strengthening the education is now spent doing whatever the unstable teenage mind would like to do. What does the School District have to show for it? An automated phone call home (which comes around the same time everyday so the child can answer it before the parent knows) that says your child was absent/late today. I understand that certain things cant be helped such as funding for books and supplies etc. But why is the punishment for not wearing a stupid uniform being deprived of your education for the day. If you ask me thats completely unproportional because the school has no idea of what the situation is in that person's household. This issue can easily be rectified by doing something that doesnt deprive them of education such as a lunch detention or keeping them in a room where they have to do their schoolwork thats away from the rest of the school. This way they get punished but their education remains intact. Quite Frankly the current policy makes no sense to me.
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As it currently stands the school district policy states that students may not be sent home for coming out of uniform. While some schools may still practice this method it is not current policy. I do agree with you that sending a student home for a uniform violation may not be the best approach. There are other ways to punish this offense. Giving a shirt to a student and fining them or there parents could be an option, unless a valid excuse note is provided. However, I would argue that if you let students slide on this issue and write off there defiance as a minor indiscretion you have just lost a major vehicle of establishing order in a school. Ensuring that the smaller rules are followed often ensures that the larger problems don't get as bad.
ReplyDeleteGiven I am 4 years removed from being in the School district. My last day of school as a high schooler I was sent home for not being in uniform so that's the memory that sticks in my head. Excuse notes should be removed because all they do is get a friend to write the note and get a different friend to sign it. Although I disagree with the uniform policy as a whole I do not think that disobeying the policy should go by unpunished. I just dont think depriving them of their education is the best course of action to take
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