• Home
  • About
  • Blog
  • Contact

Nancy Bailey's Education Website

Revive, Rally and Recover Public Schools

  • Activism
    • Anti-Charter Schools
    • Anti-Common Core State Standards
    • Anti-Corporatization of Schools
    • Anti-High-Stakes Testing
    • State Action Groups
    • School Buildings
  • School Curriculum
    • General Education
    • Educators
    • Parents
    • Reading
    • Writing
    • Math
    • Science
    • Social Studies
    • The Arts
    • Technology
    • Behavior
    • Diversity
    • English Language Learners
    • Special Education
      • Autism
      • Emotional and Behavioral Disabilities
      • Learning Disabilities
      • Developmental Disabilities
      • Gifted
      • Other
    • Early Childhood Education
    • Elementary School
    • Middle School
    • High School
    • Student Careers
  • Other Countries
    • England
    • Finland
    • Australia
    • New Zealand
    • Canada

How to Teach Good Students to Be Criminals

March 1, 2014 By Nancy Bailey 6 Comments

Post Views: 18

Seventeen year old Chaz Seale could have been any of us. In a hurry to get out the door he accidentally grabbed a beer instead of a can of soda out of the fridge and put it in his lunchbox. Upon arriving at school, he realized his mistake and told his teacher what happened.

Now he faces a three-day suspension and one month at a disciplinary alternative school. He originally faced two months, but his mom got the sentence reduced.

When a friend of mine first told me about this I said I could not believe it. She emailed me proof.

I don’t know why I didn’t believe it, since I wrote a book that includes a whole chapter about this kind of zero-tolerance harshness. Doing the research for this chapter was eye opening and unsettling. But I guess I believed that since the book came out last August, harsh zero-tolerance policies had improved—overreaching discipline reconsidered.

The beer incident shows I was wrong. Many school districts are still training-up criminals.

Chaz didn’t get caught drinking beer, or giving it to his friend. He didn’t even shake the can and spray the beer at the principal when he was accused of bringing the beer to school intentionally (my thought entirely).

Even if Chaz had done any of the above, it would have been more important to find out why he’d had the beer. Was alcohol a problem? Did a friend have a problem? Did he spray the principal with beer because he was angry? Or was he just impulsive? Getting to the heart of troubling behavior should be a part of schooling, not an automatic send off to boot camp.

But Chaz did nothing wrong! He made a mistake that could have happened to anyone! More importantly, Chaz had no intent to create trouble or break any rule. He is a shy kid. He wants to play football. Once he told the teacher about his slip-up it should have been forgotten.

In an alternative, normal universe, this would have been fodder for laughter in the teacher’s lounge. But instead, it’s serious business. And Chaz’s mom might want to double check her child’s records later, because such documentation of offenses (even when they are trumped-up) tend to live on…not in a good way.

Legal Analyst Jonathan Turley discusses his concern, not only about this incident, or about the false zero tolerance policies which he has written about before, but how unjustified these policies have become. Turley states:

What bothers me most about these rules is how they make a mockery out of the legal process. Blind and often senseless acts (that harm children) are defended under a false veneer of legality. Justice is supposed to be blind only in removing favoritism not blind to the merits or mitigating circumstances of cases. School administrators seem to relish the notion of rules that do not require judgment or accountability — just strict liability with no defense or deliberation.  

One thing is for certain. Until school policies change, parents and students must be vigilant. If you have a child in school, and even if your child never gets in trouble, still, pay attention to the Disciplinary Code Book sent home in the beginning of the school year. Read the book carefully and pay attention to the fine print. Share the rules with your student and help them to understand that, even if they think a silly prank is fine, it might get them into really serious hot water.

It is also important to know, that in many schools, students are not given the same rights or treated like ordinary citizens would be treated outside of school. It is unfortunate but a reality. Here is a comparison. Probe around to find out if this is the protocol your child’s school follows.

  • There may be no difference between a criminal or delinquent act.
  • The school may obtain an arrest warrant without informing students of their rights.
  • Students might not be advised that their statements (written or verbal) can be used against them in court.
  • Students might be interrogated without a parent present.
  • The school might still file criminal charges even if the victim doesn’t want charges filed, or if the parent of the victim along with the victim don’t want to prosecute.
  • Without a subpoena, parents cannot learn what was said about their child by witnesses.

This kind of immovable lawmaking in regard to student behavior in schools is frightening for many reasons. As an educator, here are a few that really worry me:

  • If you expect the worst out of students you might get it—self-fulfilling prophesy.
  • Students with real mental health problems could be pushed over the edge.
  • People begin to accept a school police-state as normal.

Disciplinary situations that arise should include careful scrutiny by the adults in the room. Common sense should rule over unrealistic inflexibility. Ideally, students might be included as a part of a behavior board for judging incidences.

But this country continues to have schools that have educators and law enforcement that demonstrate punishing, damaging rules that destroy a child’s record when it comes to discipline. There’s a long list of silly misbehaviors or innocent mistakes we have heard about in the past. Chaz’s beer incident can now be added to that list.

Filed Under: Teaching Tagged With: Chaz Seale, discipline, Jonathan Turley, records, Zero Tolerance

Comments

  1. Charlotte Vrooman says

    March 1, 2014 at 8:44 pm

    This is why zero tolerance is such a bad idea. Dialogue before punishment is a much better way togo.

    Reply
    • Nancy Bailey says

      March 2, 2014 at 10:25 am

      I agree,Charlotte. I really thought they were working on the problems surrounding zero tolerance. I guess not. Thank you!

      Reply
  2. Janna says

    March 1, 2014 at 11:19 pm

    These stories drive me crazy. If I get started ranting I may not stop. Thanks Nancy for getting Chaz’s story out!

    Reply
    • Nancy Bailey says

      March 2, 2014 at 10:26 am

      Me too, Janna. The stories just don’t seem to end. Thank you!

      Reply
  3. kara says

    March 2, 2014 at 11:10 am

    Thank you Nancy for also bringing up another very important issue that I think many parents are unaware of… The permanent records and documentation of behavior that goes on a child’s record. I have always advised my own children, that when they are being accused of any kind of misconduct not to speak until I have been notified and arrive on campus to protect my child’s rights. It is policy at our high school that cell phones are not allowed on campus, but almost every student has them. If they are seen by staff the rule is to immediately confiscate them. I have also advised my children never to hand over their cell phones. It is the only way they can communicate with us should something happen on campus. I don’t believe the school has a right to confiscate property, unless of course it is a weapon or dangerous.

    Reply
  4. Nancy Bailey says

    March 2, 2014 at 1:40 pm

    You make two excellent points, Kara. The rules about carrying cell phones in school are often blurry. And the record situation is worrisome, especially since much can wind up online these days. Thank you for posting.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

front cover

An education glossary with an attitude.

Buy Now

front cover

Do we really want an America where we no longer own our public schools?

Buy Now

front cover

This book says “no” to the reforms that fail, and challenges Americans to address the real student needs that will fix public schools and make America strong.

Buy Now

Follow me!

Enter your email address to subscribe to my blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Connect With Me!

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Nancy E. Bailey Follow

Author, Ph.D. Ed. Leadership and longtime teacher, Blogging for Kids, Teachers, Parents & Democratic Public Schools.

NancyEBailey1
Retweet on Twitter Nancy E. Bailey Retweeted
plthomasedd Paul Thomas @plthomasedd ·
1h

The Science of Scarcity and Sleep that Education Reformers (Want to) Ignore https://radicalscholarship.com/2023/03/20/the-science-of-scarcity-and-sleep-that-education-reformers-want-to-ignore/ via @plthomasEdD

Reply on Twitter 1638146543768174597 Retweet on Twitter 1638146543768174597 3 Like on Twitter 1638146543768174597 3 Twitter 1638146543768174597
Retweet on Twitter Nancy E. Bailey Retweeted
doctorsam7 Dr. Sam Bommarito @doctorsam7 ·
21h

Things to ponder about the current discussions around SOR. From ChatGPT @ChatwithGPT
https://nancyebailey.com/2023/03/19/what-does-chatgpt-say-about-the-science-of-reading-it-may-surprise-you/?fbclid=IwAR0Fhkczq46nJq8n5ob1q2xF5Q9aFc9ya04TEgYCaVTyEElEQg_UbWfoROY

Reply on Twitter 1637853806833590275 Retweet on Twitter 1637853806833590275 8 Like on Twitter 1637853806833590275 26 Twitter 1637853806833590275
Retweet on Twitter Nancy E. Bailey Retweeted
nancyebailey1 Nancy E. Bailey @nancyebailey1 ·
19 Mar

I asked ChatGPT "Is the 'science of reading' settled science that determines how reading should be taught?" Here's the response. https://nancyebailey.com/2023/03/19/what-does-chatgpt-say-about-the-science-of-reading-it-may-surprise-you/

Reply on Twitter 1637502147515351043 Retweet on Twitter 1637502147515351043 18 Like on Twitter 1637502147515351043 45 Twitter 1637502147515351043
Retweet on Twitter Nancy E. Bailey Retweeted
deguire_mike Mike DeGuire, Ph. D. @deguire_mike ·
14h

"The privatization movement has been strategically designed...by billionaires and their fellow investors for specific purposes: to lower their own tax burden, and ideologically to dismantle public education." @NPEaction @NancyEBailey1 @TheAndySpears
https://medium.com/@jfiske80/billionaires-and-their-investors-are-impacting-education-policies-in-colorado-and-especially-in-c523579674af

Reply on Twitter 1637957759751831558 Retweet on Twitter 1637957759751831558 10 Like on Twitter 1637957759751831558 10 Twitter 1637957759751831558
Retweet on Twitter Nancy E. Bailey Retweeted
nepctweet NEPC @nepctweet ·
20h

"Let’s honor our students by providing them free quality democratic public schools that reject no one." @NancyEBailey1 https://bit.ly/3FE0KFA

Reply on Twitter 1637870110840094721 Retweet on Twitter 1637870110840094721 3 Like on Twitter 1637870110840094721 2 Twitter 1637870110840094721
Load More

Archives

Tag Cloud

Arne Duncan Autism Betsy DeVos Bill Gates charter schools class size Common Core Common Core covid-19 disabilities dyslexia early childhood education Education Secretary Betsy DeVos Florida high-stakes testing kindergarten learning disabilities Online Learning parents Personalized Learning phonics preschool private schools privatization public schools reading recess retention School Choice school libraries School Privatization school reform schools Social Emotional Learning special education students Students with Disabilities Teacher Preparation teachers Teach for America teaching Technology testing the arts vouchers

Copyright © 2023 Nancy E. Bailey · Website powered by Standing Pine Media.