Posts Tagged ‘School Rules’
June 25, 2012
What kind of policy prevents young children from applying sun block? How on earth can schools proclaim to be looking after the welfare of their students when they would rather see them burn in the sun than let them apply lotion?
Two young girls had to go to the hospital with severe sunburns after a Washington state school forbid the sisters from applying sunscreen during an outdoor field day.
Jesse Michener said she was horrified when her two daughters, Violet, 11, and Zoe, 9, came home from school Tuesday sporting “hurts-to-look-at” burns after spending five hours outdoors with no protection, according to a post on the mom’s blog.
Michener said she didn’t rub sunscreen on her kids because it was raining when they left for school. She argued that even if she did apply the much-needed block, the school wouldn’t have let the girls reapply to maintain protection due to a “deeply flawed” school policy.
Children in all states except for California are not allowed to apply or bring the product to school, ABC News reports, partially because it is considered a medication.
Sunblock – a medication? So let me get this straight. The same school system that is going berserk when it comes to recommending children be prescribed ADHD drugs such as dexamphetamine and methylphenidate, prevent children from applying sun protection on the grounds that it’s a medication?
If I taught under such twisted logic I would risk my job over this issue. I would seek parental information regarding allergies and written permission from them to allow their children to put on sun block. No doctors certificate, no consultation with policy makers and hopefully, no sun cancers on innocent children raised under a stupid, incoherent and irrational system.
Tags:ADHD Drugs, albinism, Child Welfare, Education, Jesse Michener, Parenting, School Rules, Sun block a medication, Sun block policy, Sunscreen school policy, Tacoma, Tacoma Public School, Two young girls sunburnt, Violet and Zoe Michener, Washington state school sunburn
Posted in Child Welfare, School Rules | Leave a Comment »
June 15, 2012
As a teacher it distresses me greatly that schools are becoming less progressive, less inviting and less humane. Problems are dealt with in nonsensical extreme measures. The political correct police have all but taken over and the fear of lawsuits prevails in place of a desire to accommodate the true needs of its student population.
Introducing a no-contact rule as a means to prevent schoolyard injuries isn’t just reactionary, it’s insane!
Guess what? Children hurt themselves. It’s a fact of life! To ban contact sports, hugging and high fives as a result of incidental knocks and bruises reduces the playground atmosphere to that of a doctor’s waiting room. Is that what we want for our children?
Parents claim they were not told directly of the new rule, which extended a ban on contact sports to a ban on any physical contact at all, such as playing “tiggy”, hugging or giving each other high-fives.
They claim the new rule was explained to pupils over the public address system, and students were left to tell their parents.
One parent, Tracey, said her son was winded on the playground yesterday and, when his friend tried to console him by putting his arm around his shoulder, the friend was told his actions were against the rules.
The friend then had to walk around with the teacher on playground duty for the rest of lunch as punishment, Tracey told radio 3AW.
“I’m just a bit outraged that it has come to this. There must be other ways,” Tracey said.
Another parent, John, said his children were told they could not high-five each other.
“I have a couple of children, and they have been told that if they high-five one another that’s instant detention, and if they do it three times they will be expelled,” John said.
“I mean, what are they actually trying to teach?”
One child was reportedly told that if students wanted to high-five, it would have to be an “air high-five”.
Principal Judy Beckworth said it was “not actually a policy, it’s a practice that we’ve adopted in the short-term as a no-contact games week”.
She said the new practice was introduced yesterday after students suffered a number of injuries on the playground in recent weeks, and the new no-touching rule was only due to last for one week.
However one parent, Nicole, claimed that the school was backpedalling because some parents were told by the school that the new rule would be in place for a minimum of three weeks, which would be extended if the children did not behave themselves.
What’s next? Soon schools will ban chairs because students sometimes lean back dangerously. Staples and scissors will have to go, as will monkeybars, sharp pencils, bunsen burners, glass bottles, electrical sockets, polls, doors and polished floors. Soon the only activity that students will be allowed to engage in is high fiving each other. No, wait! That’s banned too.
Tags:Education, high-fives, Hugging, Judy Beckworth, life, Mornington Peninsula primary school, Mount Martha Primary School, News, No-contact rule, No-touching rule, Parenting, Parents, physical contact, Political Correctness, principal, Protest, School Rules, tiggy
Posted in Political Correctness, School Rules | 4 Comments »
June 7, 2012
I am vehemently opposed to politically correct rules instituted in softening the reality of a non-performing child. If a child doesn’t deserve any more than an “F” grade it is ludicrous and disingenuous to give that child any higher grade. Preventing teachers from giving a mark they feel is reflective of their students’ achievement is outrageous.
Lynden Dorval is not the person you should be firing. It is the very people who concocted a stupid rule that prohibits giving students a zero grading, who should face the chop. David Staples is right to call Dorval a hero:
Lynden Dorval, 61, has been a teacher for 35 years. He’d be in in the class room again today, except he’s suspended.
Why?
Because Dorval can’t in good conscience go along with a misguided new scheme cooked up by educational theorists and school administrators.
Under this scheme, it’s no longer possible for high school teachers at Ross Sheppard and numerous other Edmonton schools to give a student a mark of zero on a test or an assignment, even if the student refuses to hand in the assignment or write the test. Instead, students are given a mark based on the work they do complete.
This policy has been in place at Edmonton junior high schools for decades, Dorval says, but it is now making its way into local high schools.
Ross Sheppard’s principal brought it in last year. Dorval refused to go along with it then and was reprimanded. He again refused this year. He was reprimanded some more.
Finally, on May 18, after a meeting with Edmonton Public School Board superintendent Edgar Schmidt, Dorval was suspended.
In his letter to Dorval, Schmidt said it was mandatory for Dorval to follow the instructions of his principal. “You chose to disregard the requirements and thus repeatedly behaved unprofessionally and blatantly undermined the authority and responsibility of the Principal.
“You must turn in your school keys … You are not allowed entry into Ross Sheppard School or its grounds without your Principal’s permission. If you defy this directive, you will be considered a trespasser and charged …”
If Dorval doesn’t buckle under and go along with the new way of marking students who don’t do their work, he says he will lose his job.
I met with Dorval on Thursday and immediately thanked him. It’s not often any of us see real heroes, people who put their reputations and jobs on the line to uphold a righteous principle. Dorval fits that category. By refusing to accept lower standards in our schools, even if it cost him his job, he’s standing up for all parents and students.
I should say that Dorval is a reluctant hero. When I ask how he’s handling his suspension, his eyes fill with tears.
“It’s been pretty tough. … I didn’t expect to end my career in such a dramatic and sudden way.”
Education needs people of principle. It needs people prepared to go against the trend and fight for transparency and fairness.
Firing Dorval would be typical yet extremely damaging.
Tags:Edgar Schmidt, Edmonton, Edmonton Public School Board, Education, educational theorists, Inspirational Teachers, Lynden Dorval, News, Political Correctness, Ross Sheppard, School Rules
Posted in Inspirational Teachers, Political Correctness, School Rules | 5 Comments »
May 9, 2012
There was a time there when suspensions actually meant something. If you were given a suspension, you knew it was for something major and you dreaded the inevitable grilling by your parents when they reluctantly turned up at your school. Whenever I was sent to the Principal’s office, I was on edge that my misdemeanor might lead to a suspension. The fact that I am still alive to write this post tells you that I never got one.
But today, for whatever reason, schools find it necessary to cheapen and make mockery of the very punishment that was a proven success over many years. Nowadays, you can get a suspension for scratching your head or making snorting sounds when you laugh.
You don’t believe me? Well then read this:
A school north-west of Melbourne has been forced to apologise to a student with a learning disability after he was suspended because his parents failed to attend a parent-teacher interview.
Brendan Mason was allowed to return to classes at Sunbury Downs College in Sunbury today, the Herald Sun reports.
Brendan’s father Andrew Mason said the meeting was one of many they had throughout the year with his teachers, integration aides and pathways teachers to discuss his progress.
Principal Brett Moore said Brendan was wrongly issued two detentions after his parents missed the meeting, and this was increased to a one-day suspension after Brendan failed to turn up to either punishment.
Mr Moore said the staff member who issued the detentions made a mistake. The staff member did not understand that Brendan’s parents were not required to go to the meeting because they had already attended a group session with his aides, Mr Moore said.
“I’ll investigate this matter … I’ll unreservedly apologise — I have to the father and I will in person.”
But Brendan’s father said his son would struggle to make up classes he had missed.
“I don’t think he can go back today — he’s not up to it, part of his problem is he gets affected by stress … he definitely can’t go back today,” he said.
In Australia, it is the politicians that are accused of being reactive and low on conviction. However, in my opinion, there is no better current day example of a ‘turncoat’ than schools. They seem to make these incredibly big mistakes. Mistakes that they would happily continue making, until someone gathers the courage to stand up for themselves and notifies the media. Then, without a moments hesitation, they do a complete 180 degree turn and blame their mistake on an errant staff member.
Schools come across as fickle, naive, incompetent and asleep at the wheel. They are quick to blame Governments, parents and students, but are almost never blameless themselves.
It’s time our schools woke up to their failing and got there acts together. Restoring confidence in our schools is pivotal to the hopes and aspirations we have for our children.
Tags:Andrew Mason, Brendan Mason, Brett Moore, Education, life, News, parent-teacher interview, Parenting, School Rules, Sunbury, Sunbury Downs College, suspended
Posted in School Rules | Leave a Comment »
May 4, 2012
If you ever wanted proof that:
a. Schools have gone mad with over-regulation;
b. Political correctness is a form of sickness;
c. Free speech is not part of the modern day educational charter; and
d. You can be suspended nowadays for absolutely anything.
A Christian student suspended from a high school in Nova Scotia for sporting a T-shirt with the slogan “Life is wasted without Jesus” vows to wear it when he returns to class next week.
William Swinimer, who’s in Grade 12, was suspended from Forest Heights Community School in Chester Basin in Lunenburg County for five days. He’s due to return to class on Monday.
The devout Christian says the T-shirt is an expression of his beliefs, and he won’t stop wearing it.
“I believe there are things that are bigger than me. And I think that I need to stand up for the rights of people in this country, and religious rights and freedom of speech,” he told CBC.
Officials with the South Shore Regional School Board plan to meet with Swinimer to hopefully reach a compromise.
Nancy Pynch-Worthylake, board superintendent, said some students and teachers found the T-shirt offensive.
“When one is able or others are able to interpret it as, ‘If you don’t share my belief then your life is wasted,’ that can be interpreted by some as being inappropriate,” she said.
So the school have just suspended him for 5 days for his horrendous crime (note sarcasm) and what is their first reaction on his return?
Officials with the South Shore Regional School Board plan to meet with Swinimer to hopefully reach a compromise.
Wow! Who gives a significant punishment and then seeks a compromise when that punishment has been shown up to be utterly useless? Shouldn’t it be the other way around? First you seek to compromise, then if nothing eventuates, you consider a punishment.
I don’t endorse the message of this boys’ t-shirt, but I fully stand up for his right to wear it. Free speech is a hallmark of a working democracy. Free speech entitles this child to wear his t-shirt, even if others feel a bit uncomfortable with the message. Sure, the Prinsipal can ask him to stop wearing it, but should not be able to force him.
We have got to stop getting tangled under the oppression of political correctness. Instead, we must leave suspensions for real behavioural offences and do everything in our powers to ensure that free speech and the other tenets of our democratic systems are alive and well in the schoolyard.
Tags:Christian, Education, Forest Heights Community School, Life is wasted without Jesus, Nancy Pynch-Worthylake, News, Nova Scotia, Parenting, Political Correctness, School Rules, South Shore Regional School Board, T-shirt, William Swinimer
Posted in Political Correctness, School Rules | 4 Comments »
April 23, 2012
Our children have been unfairly dealt with thanks to the rise in litigation. No longer are they able to climb on outdoor equipment, play ball games with balls made of anything more substantial than felt or even do cartwheels in the playground. Occupational Health and Safety in schools has gone from responsible to absolutely over the top! This not only causes great stress to Principals and staff but it clearly diminishes the few freedoms our children have been known to enjoy at school.
Why has there been such a significant upgrading of Occupational Health and Safety requirements in our schools? Perhaps this example explains it:
A 13-YEAR-OLD schoolgirl is being sued by a classmate over a tennis court mishap at one of Queensland’s top private schools in the latest blow to playground fun.
The legal claim, over a bruised eye, has raised concerns that “litigation-crazy” parents could threaten the future of school sport by forcing up insurance costs.
It may also force parents to take out third-party accident insurance for their children.
Several Queensland schools have already banned activities including tiggy, red rover and cartwheels because of injury fears.
The legal stoush has embroiled the daughters of a leading Gold Coast cardiologist and an architect, and the prestigious Somerset College.
Cardiologist Guy Wright-Smith said he was “gobsmacked” to receive the damages claim, addressed to his 13-year-old daughter Julia, at his rooms on Friday.
The claim alleges Julia had hit classmate Finley Enright-Burns in the eye with a tennis ball during a tennis lesson at the Mudgeeraba school last October. It alleges Julia was “smashing” balls back to Finley on the baseline when the incident happened.
Finley did not go to hospital but is alleged to have suffered an eye injury which needed medical treatment.
The claim, filed on behalf of Finley by her architect father Paul Burns, also names Somerset College and its Jay Deacon’s Tennis School as defendants.
“It’s bizarre … beyond belief,” Dr Wright-Smith told The Courier-Mail yesterday.
The claim says the tennis school failed to provide adequate supervision or protective eyewear and allowed Julia and Finley to stand too close together and Julia to hit two balls at once.
Somerset College also breached its duty of care, the claim alleges.
Damages have not been specified but the Wright-Smiths are required to respond within 30 days.
“I couldn’t believe it when I opened this legal letter addressed to my 13-year-old daughter,” Dr Wright-Smith said yesterday
Tags:Education, Education Policy, Guy Wright-Smith, Insurance, Jay Deacon, Law, litigation-crazy, Mudgeeraba, Parenting, Paul Burn, Political Correctness, Queensland, red rover, School Rules, Somerset College, tennis, third-party accident insurance, tiggy
Posted in Education Policy, Political Correctness, School Rules | 1 Comment »
April 22, 2012
Whatever used to work when it comes to behaviour management methods (including the awful practice of corporal punishment) no longer does. Suspensions are distributed like handouts and are becoming increasingly meaningless. Detentions have never successfully changed attitudes or reformed students.
I have argued for a while that schools need to address their culture. They need to become more interested in the types of offences their student body commits both within and outside of school. They need to work with the parents and support them, even when the problem is not considered a school responsibility. This shows that the school really does care about the welfare of its students and has a desire to see that its children are making healthy lifestyle choices at school and at home.
It is sad that when a school does take these steps, they are often met with a “a tsunami’’ of outrage:
A new school policy that would hold students accountable for their actions year-round has generated a storm of opposition, according to Dedham officials, and has been put on ice until it can be reviewed and possibly rewritten by a newly established subcommittee.
The policy, which was approved in late March by a majority of Dedham School Committee members, spells out school penalties for violence and drug or alcohol use, even if the actions occur off school property when school is not in session.
It also calls for punishing youths who are at the scene of, but not participating in, such activities. Selectman Paul Reynolds said his board was in the dark about that aspect of the new policy until selectmen were overwhelmed by “a tsunami’’ of outrage.
“I sympathize with these parents,’’ said Reynolds, who will sit on the subcommittee that examines the document with Selectman Carmen Dello Iaccono, Police Chief Michael d’Entremont, and several School Committee members.
“Holding a club over kids’ heads 52 weeks a year with increasingly punitive sanctions sends the message that we suspect the worst of them, instead of expecting the very best from them,’’ said Reynolds.
Actually, I think it’s the parents that try to block this sensible policy that are sending the message that they suspect the worst of their children, instead of expecting the very best from them.
Tags:alcohol, American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts, Carmen Dello Iaccono, Classroom Management, Dave Roberts, Dedham, Drugs, Education, June Doe, Paul Reynolds, Police Chief Michael d’Entremont, Sarah Wunsch, school policy, School Rules, Violence
Posted in Classroom Management, School Rules | Leave a Comment »
April 12, 2012
I believe that religious schools, within reason, should be allowed to enforce extra regulations on their staff as they see fit. This is of course provided that the staff are made fully aware of the rules before they are employed.
The question still remains. Is it reasonable to fire teachers for falling pregnant outside of marriage?
A teacher and coach at a private Christian school in Texas fired for an unwed pregnancy wants to set the record straight about who she is for those who question her fitness as a “Christian role model.”
“I’m not just some teacher that went out to a bar and go pregnant and went back to school saying it’s okay,” Cathy Samford told ABCNews.com today. “I was in a committed relationship the whole time and probably would have been married if things had gone differently and this would be a non-situation.”
Samford, 29, was in her third year as a volleyball coach at Heritage Christian Academy in Rockwall, Tex., and her first year as a middle school science teacher when she discovered she was pregnant in the fall of 2011.
She and her fiance had been planning to get married at the end of the summer, but a series of events had delayed the wedding.
Samford said she never dreamed she would be fired for her pregnancy and went into her conversations with the school thinking their biggest concern would be her missing part of the basketball season since she was supposed to coach.
When she was told she was being terminated, Samford was “totally shocked.”
“I didn’t think I would lose my job,” Samford said. “I was in shock and devastated and that’s when I said, ‘If this is the problem, I’m willing, and so is my fiancé, to go ahead and get married. That wasn’t the issue. We were going to get married regardless.”
The school denied her offer.
Tags:Archdiocese of Cincinnati, Cathy Samford, Christa Dias, Christian, Christianity, Dr. Ron Taylor, Education, Heritage Christian Academy, Jarretta Hamilton, Marriage, News, Pregnancy, religion, School Rules, Schools, Teacher, unwed pregnancy
Posted in School Rules | Leave a Comment »
November 18, 2011
Last week I wrote about the difficulties teachers face in finding punishments that work. Probably the most popular consequence for breaking a school law is the “apology”. Teachers have traditionally required students to apologise to them or a classmate before that child can reclaim their privileges.
My problem with this, is it’s very rarely an honest, authentic apology. Usually it is said under duress and the child has no alternative but give the teacher what they want to hear.
It’s just like the fight we used to have with our siblings when growing up:
“Go on! Apologise to your sister!”
How many times did we actually mean it when we said sorry?
And that’s what teachers face on a daily basis. It’s like pulling teeth!
“Sorry …”
“What are you sorry for?”
“I don’t know.”
“Well you can’t say you’re sorry and not know what you’re sorry about.”
For even worse infringements the apology is ramped up to a public apology. This is when the student is made a spectacle over so as to show the others that there is a penalty to be paid for overstepping the mark. Again, is it really worthwhile if the student’s apology isn’t genuine?
Sometimes I feel like we impose the apology so we can close the chapter and get on with life. The chid has made the apology, I dealt with it and now we can move on. It’s more about seeming to do something rather than actually doing something.
The problem with this is that mistakes that haven’t been learnt from get repeated. Chances are, the apology will not mean much weeks later when the child breaks the same rule again.
Whilst I understand the “apology method” and have personally subscribed to it more times than I feel comfortable admitting to, perhaps it should be the last step in a more extensive response.
For example, in the case of an argument between two students, perhaps we should spend more time mediating the kids and letting them exchange view and clearing the air. Some do this already, others are reluctant to use the time (and go for a quick apology instead). Only when it seems that both sides can appreciate the other’s point of view, should we request the apology. That way it will be genuine and longer lasting.
Elton John once sang that “Sorry seems to be the hardest word.”
It’s only hard when the person saying it, actually means it.
Tags:Apology, Classroom Management, Consequences, Education, Elton John, Parenting, Punishments, School Rules, Teachers, Teaching
Posted in Classroom Management | 3 Comments »
November 18, 2011
I can’t stand knee-jerk reactions that result in banning something which enriches the lives and experiences of many. Banning balls from the schoolyard is a sure-fire way of taking the one thing most children enjoy doing at school and expecting them to just go along with it. When you take away a child’s right to let off some steam at recess through the healthy pursuit of a football game, you are potentially ruining that child’s day.
I sympathise with teachers and parents that have been hit by a stray ball. I was once hit so hard that I was on all fours during yard duty. It is an extremely unpleasant experience. But it’s still not a good reason for banning balls:
Earl Beatty Public School’s decision to ban the use of hard balls on their playground because of safety concerns has prompted an outcry from the little people in the line of fire.
Students who wish to play games like soccer and football are having to make due with foam substitutes, and they don’t like it. Some in this elementary school near Coxwell and Danforth have gone as far as creating signs and petitions to express their frustration.
“I think it’s great. They absolutely see the ridiculousness of this situation – it’s straight from the heart,” said parent Diana Symonds, who has three children in grades 4 and 5.
“It’s like kicking around a sponge,” said Joey McDermott, a Grade 8 student. “They’re expecting all the little kids to get hurt. We got hurt when we were younger and we’re fine now.”
Foam balls are no substitute. They squash under your feet and cannot be played with if the ground is even slightly wet. I know we live in a litigious society and schools are afraid of lawsuits.
That’s why I think politicians should step in and legislate to allow schools to look after their students without the fear of having to go to court because of it.
Tags:Alicia Fernandez, Balls, Ban, Bans, Coxwell, Danforth, Earl Beatty Public School, Education, hard balls, life, News, Parenting, Playground, Safety, School Rules, Sport
Posted in School Rules | 3 Comments »
Topical Teaching 