Dear Readers,

Last week's question concerned a student theft of another student's property. Judging from the number of comments this column received, this question clearly struck a nerve with parents. Debate among readers ranged from blaming the incident on the student for bringing a forbidden cell phone to school, to the school's not having the personnel to adjudicate incidents.

To be fair, it can take many hours of a teacher's or guidance counselor's time to resolve incidents like this, to the detriment of other work. And yes, cell phones are banned from school, although some schools turn a blind eye to the rule. But my bottom line is this: it is the schools' responsibility to respond to parents' concerns. Schools may not be technically guilty in cases of theft, but they are guilty of ignoring or dismissing parents' and students' problems. Schools should develop a specific routine and designate personnel to handle such incidents, the routine should be included in the safety plan, and the safety plan should be given out to all parents. The Parents Association must be part of the team that sets up the plan.

An even more important question not mentioned by commenters is, how can the school establish a climate that engenders respect for the school community and reduces student-to-student crime, bullying, and other discipline problems? My answer: spend a lot of time working toward that goal. Here are some ways to do that:<!--more-->

  • Students and staff develop a mutually agreed upon code of conduct,
  • institute a behavior intervention system to reward kids for good deeds, cooperation, and other positive actions;
  • train upper graders or older kids from other schools to act as peer mediators who intervene to resolve issues;
  • build into the schedule regularly scheduled advisory groups to serve as a forum to air and help resolve school problems;
  • include character education classes that teach respect for others and the consequences of bad behavior choices.

Finally, with these programs implemented, staff should carry out swift and predictable responses to bad behavior.

There are outside groups to help establish such programs, including Morningside Center for Teaching Social Responsibility, Center for Social and Emotional Education and Effective Alternatives in Reconciliation services, known as EARS.

Now is the time to start planning next year's climate-building. Parents Associations might want to take the lead and start to plan at your next meeting.

Judy