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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]GDS is worse than Landon, Sidwell, NCS or STA for AA kids.  [/quote]

Why? What are the school's motivations or what factors contribute to it? Is class another facet to the problem or are AA kids of all classes treated poorly?[/quote]

"Why?" is a real question -- and answering it accurately requires an honest and thorough investigation of previous incidents and cases which, frankly, seems unlikely to happen.  The administration is in "move along, nothing to see here" mode, hoping that a combination of attrition and intimidation will quiet things down.

WRT discipline, the all-boy schools don't face all the same disciplinary issues that co-ed schools face (e.g. allegations of sexual misconduct/harassment/hostile environment made by female students).  GDS's 24/7 policy inherently leads to selective enforcement under conditions where the school generally can't reliably determine what happened.  It also means that who gets punished depends on who complains about whom and whose complaints are taken seriously.  Some of it is a failure of leadership -- there's no will or process for ensuring fair and consistent administration of relatively clearly defined rules.  So we get harsh and arbitrary reactions to individual kids or incidents instead.  Basically, the school writes itself a blank check wrt discipline, then routinely winks and looks the other way.  Except when it doesn't.  Not an approach that breeds trust.

There's probably a broader cultural issue as well.  How many families are still committed to GDS's original mission? Does GDS's current approach to diversity education backfire?  Is the focus on oppression and identity an ineffective way to foster a culture of mutual respect?  Does the curriculum on sexuality actually provide a framework for making good choices (vs. it's all good -- just remember to use a condom)?

No to mention such mundane stuff as the existence of spaces/situations where supervision is reliably lax. And big-picture questions about the school's role in helping the kids deal with stress and mental health issues.

On one level, these are problems/issues that every school has to address, so it's not particularly surprising or damning that GDS is struggling with them.  The real test is in how the school deals with them -- can GDS be as candid and critical in addressing its own failures and shortcomings as it is in pointing out others'?  I'm not optimistic, but I'd love to be proven wrong.  [/quote]

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