Reply to Thoughts on supsending preschool students

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[quote=Anonymous][quote]I am in disbelief in what I'm reading. This article is about the disproportionate number of black kids suspended vs white kids (and all the research shows that this injustice continues on with more black young adults headed for jail).

How in the world are you blaming the the child or the adult? First, all children need to be treated EQUALLY. If that happened, we wouldn't have to discuss whether or not preschoolers should be suspended - they wouldn't.

The white parents and their children did not have to experience the same put downs and punishment as the black parents and their children. This stuff is internalized.

I see it everyday. It's very sad when you see two children who have the exact same behavior - one is punished severely and the other one is given a slap on the wrist. This is ever so present in the criminal justice system.

The prejudices are there clear as day. I have so many stories I could tell where I witnessed the turning point of a great child with a bright future being labelled "bad" due to underlying prejudices. I don't think the people involved had any idea of their prejudices. And even though the adults were different races, classes, etc. - the boys were predominately black.

If you don't know this happens everyday and is a problem, please educate yourselves. AND be aware of your prejudices... we all have them.[/quote]

And I'm kind of in disbelief that you think this is what the article is about. Everyone knows that there is a disproportionate number of black kids disciplined more harshly than their white counterparts. This has been a sad problem for decades that I still hope we will find a comprehensive solution to. But, this article doesn't discuss any solutions. It doesn't discuss alternatives to suspension and it doesn't examine the phenomenon. The author brings up the stats in order to do one thing only...excuse the obvious troubled and bad behavior by both her sons. Eight suspensions in a year? That is a troubled kid. She'd like you to believe her kids are targeted....but offers nothing to substantiate. Her response to her troubled children? She doesn't condone their behavior, but she disagrees with suspension. OK, but what does she think SHOULD happen?

The problem I have with your post, PP is that you seem to be using the problem of disproportionate punishment to excuse bad behavior. Think about it. Pushing the focus on the punishment takes the focus off the crime. In this case, the crime is very dangerous behavior...throwing a chair. That needs to be, full stop, unacceptable. Once that happens, and the responsibility for the behavior accepted by the parent, support systems can be designed and put in place.

Yes, the responsibility for bad behavior is firmly on the parent. It is an educator's job to educate. If your child enters a classroom displaying dangerous behavior, they are not ready to learn and that is the parent's problem. The parent needs to be motivated to address the behavioral issue (which is why suspensions may not be so bad) and identify and put into place a plan to remedy their child's issues and send a child who is ready to learn to school. Should the school be a partner and be invested in any plan to remedy issues with a student? Absolutely. But it isn't the school's responsibility to parent and it isn't the teacher's fault your kid thinks throwing a chair is a good choice. That's a parent fail.[/quote]

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