“Responsibility” Training

Written by Caden Baker

Edited by Rima Al-Eisa

 

 

The majority of schools all over the world, including our school, disciplines students by using detentions, suspensions, and expulsions. This way of discipline has been used for many years and is still very popular today, but many studies around the world have shown that this method of discipline can be ineffective, and in several cases, counter productive.

 

A study by several students in The University of Texas have been observing a school that disciplined students with simple detentions, suspensions and expulsions the year before and then switched to a different method that they call a ‘restorative discipline system’. They compared the numbers of suspensions given in both years. The year that used the restorative discipline system had an 84% drop in suspensions from the year before.

 

The National Association of School Psychologists explain what the restorative discipline system is, or the positive discipline system. The main focus is for the student to not feel punished, but to be helped with the issues they have by talking to each other and discussing solutions. This would involve the student and his/her teacher, counselor, principal, and maybe parents. This would only have to be used for students with serious problems (problems that would get you suspended or expelled).

 

RT (responsibility training) started this year at AIS-R and was set up by Mr. Leonas, Mrs. Cope, and Mrs. Jenkins, (Middle school principal, dean of students, and high school principal). Mr. Leonas stated that, “The current 9th grade teachers thought that this year the students in 9th grade were not ready for the responsibility of HS”.

 

When you receive RT, you are sent to a room that you go to during lunch or after school. You are instructed to sit down and not say a word. You also have the choice to do homework or any work if you would like to. There is also a principal or a teacher is supervising.

Since this started in the second semester, the number of students receiving RT has went from around 40 a day to about 2-3 a day. Mr. Leonas thinks that a positive discipline system would work in AIS-R, but RT has been effective, “The RT system reduced tardies by more that 60 percent, increased work completion and helped overall with behavior so it's working.”

 

Farris Alqalam doesn’t think it would work in AIS-R, saying, “No, because half of the people in our school don't have serious problems and if there is easy consequences the students won’t care”. Both Mr. Leonas and Farris both don’t think it would work in AIS-R or at least won’t be as effective

 

RT’s objective is to prepare us for high school and teachers are hoping that this system is doing it’s job. “RT is new this year so I'm not sure about the long term results”.

 

Eighth grade student Salma El-Fouly doesn’t agree that RT is going to help us with high school but students aren’t getting anything out of it. She explains this by telling us “if you're just getting punished and then nothing else is happening, then you don't learn from your mistakes.”

 

The numbers are very low for the students receiving RT a day and I asked a several amount of students during break if they feel it’s necessary for RT to continue and they all replied with a simple “no”. Not one 8th grade student was with RT continuing.

 

I asked the same question to Mr. Leonas and he replied, “I have asked myself this question and would be interested in discussing an end to RT. I think most students have received the point. I need to think about it.”

 

Salma had different thoughts about stopping RT and said, “No I think RT should continue until no student is put on RT a few days in a row, to show that no student is going to misbehave again.”

 

Farris Alqalam had different thoughts saying, “No I think it’s useless because everyone is disciplined.”

 

An end to RT is plausible according to Mr. Leonas and the ¾ of the students I interviewed are against RT continuing. Half of these students are students who rarely get RT and are well behaved in school.