Discipline classroom with care, fairness
Teachers who want to bring corporal punishment back into the classroom scare me ["Bring discipline back to classrooms," Opinion, April 21]. Teachers who would tell their students things like, "This work is horrible. You should be ashamed of yourself for even handing it in," should be ashamed of themselves. There is no way that I could ever trust such teachers or believe they were capable of educating our children.
It is a huge mistake to think that the reason students do not strive is because, "They have no actual sense of the possibility of disappointment." Decades of experience as a teacher have taught me that the overwhelming number of students who do not strive actually have no sense of the possibility of success.
Now, I can understand that teachers who encounter such students often become frustrated. I understand how such frustration may make those teachers so angry that they want to strike out at, punish or humiliate those students, but that would be counterproductive. The teachers would not only be setting a bad example, but they would also be reinforcing the students' sense of defeat.
Those teachers need to channel that frustration into creativity. They need to develop strategies to help those students become "success junkies": students who have tasted success and strive to have more.
Heidi Reichel, Huntington
Editor's note: The writer is an educational consultant.
Allow me to present a more caring, dignified and effective philosophy on classroom discipline, one that has developed productive citizens. I am now retired, but as an elementary school principal in North Bellmore, I witnessed and participated in a district that believed in structure and order. Its Code of Pupil Discipline/Cooperation states: "We wish to create a safe learning environment emphasizing mutual respect for pupils, parents, teachers and school.
"Discipline should be a process which fosters responsibility and caring for self and others. The discipline process should be firm, fair, positive and respectful of the child's dignity. The concept of due process should be practiced and taught at all times, thus providing a lifetime model.
"As adults, it is our responsibility to ask why a child is able or unable to successfully follow the rules. Based on our understanding of this child, we can then make a decision to offer a consequence or action, which will benefit both the child and the school community.
"Each event is an opportunity for the child to learn right from wrong and how to be a successful member of our school community."
The teachers I observed during my 20 years in the district were able to create a warm, nurturing and challenging environment while enhancing self-discipline for all students.
Michael Wolk, South Huntington
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