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Which is really pretty remarkable when you think about it.
Over the weekend I sent all concerned a copy of my board attorney friend's explanation of group punishment, an exegesis so clear, and so obviously composed by a real live attorney, that it would certainly strike fear in my heart if I were a principal planning a three-grade group punishment in a town filled to overflowing with attorneys.
But, no.
The group punishment proceeded as planned.
Why?
Because it wasn't a group punishment.
It was a group reflection. So many of the students had been "inappropriate" that the principal felt they needed to reflect on their actions.
At the time that this characterization arrived (I figured that's what it would be, group punishment masked as character ed), I just so happened to be visiting with a friend who is a clinical psychologist.
This is what she had to say:
Whether or not Mr. W. defines a “group reflection” as punishment, most people would recognize that keeping children from any portion of their recess is experienced as a punishment by the child. The technical term for this is time out from reinforcement. The fact that Mr. W. does not recognize his action as a punishment calls into question his judgment. If he does recognize his action as a punishment, but has chosen to call it a “reflection,” this calls into question his honesty.
Furthermore, the decision to pair a behavior the school wants to increase, i.e. writing, with a negative consequence will only serve to make the first behavior less frequent.
Finally, transparency in disciplinary matters is as important to managing children as it is to managing a school district. Trust fails when authority figures say one thing and mean another.
So: group punishment, bad.
Group reflection, also bad.
At this point, the character ed situation around here is fast becoming an emergency. It has to go.
Scenes from the group reflection:
- One student, handed the Problem Solving sheet by a teacher, said politely, "No thank you" and continued walking. Teacher didn't follow.
- Another student filled in the various sections of the Problem Solving sheet with random terms. Egg was one, as I recall. Also global warming.
- One of my favorite kids in the school wrote, under the section where the kids were supposed to come up with ways to prevent inappropriate behavior at an assembly from happening again, "Stop having guest speakers."
- C.'s picks: "Set up torture chambers" and "Have disruptive students fight each other to the death."
- My favorite of the lot: "Extend the poetry section in ELA."
When that last kid showed his answer to the math teacher, the math teacher laughed.
I love Irvington kids (I love some of the teachers, too). If I had to run a school full of Irvington kids - or any middle school kids anywhere on Earth - they'd chew me up and spit me out. But I love them.
Back when we all did our middle school survey (was that just a month ago??) I had to fill in a section tell some things I liked about the school.
I wrote, "the peers."
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profiles in courage
new talent at the forum
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character education emergency
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