On last night's Channel 4 News, Stuart Dyson presented a segment about some kids who got their skateboards confiscated by Van Buren Middle School in Albuquerque. The school has a policy -- no skateboarding on school grounds. I agree with the policy because it makes a lot of sense. Schools have high pedestrian density.
But the way the school enforces this policy doesn't make sense. These 7th graders didn't offend. They weren't riding on school grounds. An 8th grader was. Yet everyone got punished by having their skateboards confiscated. Why? What possible motive could the school principal have for punishing kids who are following the rules? Confiscating only the offender's skateboard seems to me to be the right, and also the easiest, action to take.
I want to talk about the punishment meted out, a form of discipline the military used to use. To see it in action, watch the movie Full Metal Jacket.
This sort of discipline can work in the military, where the individual isn't as important as the objective. Where the objective comes from the group's superiors and is shared by everyone. But it's a bad way to train kids. Especially kids who are supposed to think for themselves, and someday become creative and productive members of a society that values the individual.
I think the most sinister thing about this form of discipline, especially when used on children, is that it's delegated. The only way this form of discipline works, is if the group metes out whatever punishment is required to achieve order. Yet isn't maintaining order supposed to be the principal's job?
I think the most sinister thing about this form of discipline, especially when used on children, is that it's delegated. The only way this form of discipline works, is if the group metes out whatever punishment is required to achieve order. Yet isn't maintaining order supposed to be the principal's job?
These kids are being taught that the group is more important than the individual. They're learning that doing right is not going to be rewarded, and that doing wrong doesn't carry individual consequences. That's a poor lesson.
I wonder how many times the phrase, "Skateboarding is not a right. It's a privilege" was used when these students' skateboards were being confiscated. It aggravates me when people who get off on pushing other people around are given power over other people. Especially when those other people are children.
I provide software development consulting services. Please give this link a look if you're interested.
I provide software development consulting services. Please give this link a look if you're interested.
No comments:
Post a Comment