With all the school violence reports across the country today, the question often arises: “What about bad kids in school?” Should they be there at all? This question also raises a great deal of controversy, especially where it concerns special needs students or others with certain medical or mental disabilities or diagnoses in which they may have tendencies for violent or inappropriate behavior. So what is the solution? Before we offer an idea, we must analyze the various factors at work to determine what is best for everyone involved.
What Is A Bad Kid?
The first problem inherent in this question is what determines “a bad kid.” The term is so general and steeped with layman’s terminology that it hardly elicits a response at times. Saying that a kid is “bad” carries with it the idea that there is no hope for them or that Who should remove them from the general population. Is that what we believe? If so, why do we have drug programs, counselors, rehabilitation facilities and clinics, and other resources to help kids do better?
Kids With A Criminal Record
What about kids with a criminal record? Is this a good criterion for determining who the “bad kids” are? What if it’s a girl who has perfect grades, is out with her friends one night, and steals something from a store? Is she a “bad kid” from this one incident, or does it take a series of arrests to get to the “bad status?” The problem with the “bad kid” terminology is that it is highly judgmental and cannot be evident through any one act. Terminology aside, should kids with a criminal record be banned from school, expelled, or sent away?
What About Special Needs Kids?
And what about kids with special needs? If a child attends special education classes in the United States, they have specific protections that prevent schools from isolating them or barring them from participating in the general group. Should this standard be dropped in favor of the “bad kid rule?” There is no doubt that if special needs kids were asked to leave the public schools due to their disability, the lawsuits would be so numerous that the courts could not keep up with them, and rightfully so. It’s wrong to exclude kids from their right to free public education, whether they are considered bad or not. You may temporarily remove a special needs student (up to 10 days at a time in most states) until it can be determined what to do next to help them. But this cannot be permanent unless it is shown he is an imminent danger to others.
Is Situation Ethics Applicable In Some Cases?
Situation ethics does apply in some cases when kids have demonstrated that they cannot handle being in the larger group. In some cases with special education students, parent meetings have been held to determine if the child needs further interventions and helps to function in the larger group. If They cannot accomplish this reasonably, the parent/teacher committee may decide to transition the student to another location. In some cases, this may be necessary, but this must be handled with care to not discriminate against a child or deny him his right to an education in the public school setting. In most cases with special needs students, the school must prove that the disciplinary problem is NOT due to their disability, which is beyond their control.
Who Determines When A Student Is An Imminent Danger?
The biggest issue facing schools today is determining when a child is an imminent threat to others. This has come to the forefront lately due to all of the school shootings and the ease by which the shooter could access innocent kids and take their lives. Equally disturbing is that somehow these kids got past the radar when they were students, and no one noticed they had a serious problem to warrant attention. Many times, when a student has made a threat of violence toward others in a public school setting, law enforcement has gotten involved. The student can certainly be (and should be) removed from the public school setting until it can be determined if the child will continue to be a danger to others. Suppose it is shown by board-certified psychologists or even law enforcement officials that he is. In that case, the school has a right to ask him to be detained in an institutional setting or another facility to avoid possible tragedy and to reduce the risk to innocent children.
What About Kids Who Disrupt But Who Are Not Dangerous?
The problem often comes up due to a ‘slippery slope’ scenario when school administrators decide to use this removal method for disruptive students. It should note that students who are only a discipline problem and not an inherent danger to themselves or others cannot be removed from the school without a valid reason. These removal criteria for dangerous kids who pose an imminent threat provide schools a valid reason to do so, but this cannot be overused and applied to any kid with behavior issues, so They must use it with due diligence.
What Will The Criteria Be?
Perhaps the biggest challenge in all of this regarding “bad kids in school” is that it leaves it up primarily to people in the school to decide who is a “bad kid.” This sets up a negative, judgmental system that can backfire on schools in the worst way. Schools should never tolerate bullying among kids, violence, or aggression. But there needs to be a way for them to communicate that they care about the bully or aggressor and want to work together to find a solution so that the school is safe for everyone.
The Best Solution
The best idea for schools is the “do right rule.” If parents, community, administrators, teachers, and students can all work together for the greater good to help ALL kids, then we will create a win-win situation for everyone. Schools are safer when we care about the bully, the kid with the criminal record, the disturbed young person, and the drug addict just as much as the innocent, high-performing kids who always comply and never rock the boat. We have to change how we think about the bully to consider them someone to help rather than dismiss. Because if we dismiss them to society without help, then we are part of the problem that will continue to repeat itself time and time again.
Take Action Now
As individuals, parents, and educators, we must stand together against bullying but consider the bully not as a “bad kid,” not as someone to dismiss or forget about, but as someone to help. By working with school counselors and others, the bully can regain self-confidence and hope in himself and his future, and this may be the way that bullying will stop once and for all. Together, we can make a difference with bullying, one kid at a time.
What Is The Question?
So, in closing, the question should not be what to do with bad kids in school, but what to do for all children, to provide an atmosphere of positive change and kinship of spirit so that every child has the chance to learn and grow. We must foster this attitude in our schools and at home. We should teach children to be kind to kids who have special needs or are isolated. We should look to ourselves, as well as to the kids with problems, to see if there is something we can do or something that we can teach our children to make the world a better place for everyone. Where do we start? We start with our kids and in our schools and communities.
The Parents’ Role
Parents should realize their role is perhaps the most important of all-to communicate to their kids that bullying and aggression are wrong no matter what form it comes in, and They must avoid it at all costs. Who must pay stronger attention to “red flags” about the violence that kids give us at an early age and more involvement with mental health to prevent further tragedies and bullying incidents? Stricter laws against bullying are being sought in several political circles across the country, and more kids will ultimately be in legal trouble if they continue to bully others. We must provide opportunities for bullies to learn from their errors and have a chance to do the right thing while also keeping schools safe from those who ignore the rules and responsibilities they have to treat others right.
