Is suspension really a punishment?

[ZebraAutismo]

The best one was congratulations you skieved school as a punishment have some more time of school.

I never skieved or did anything naughty. As it made me to anxious to break the rules. The worst I ever did was get my friend to forge my Mums sighniture in my planner.

I did sometimes think if I got detention it would get out of doing stuff I didn't want to do but I never did anything.

 

[Mr Allen]

I couldn't wag, although I did one day, purely because it was very windy this day, and Mum thought I wouldn't be strong enough to deal with banging doors in the wind at school so she kept me off!

The next day I was bullied like heck for "skiving" for no apparent reason because they all had to go to school on that very same windy day.

Mainly though, I couldn't stay home as I had to go to school by Taxi, and if Mum had cancelled without good reason, school would've found out, and me not wanting to spend yet another day under the "care" of Mrs Freeman, the "Dragon Lady", wasn't a good reason apparently.

 

[SchrodingersMeerkat]

Yuk, did the kid taste bad? I was way to little to body slam anyone and too picky an eater to bite.

I honestly don't remember tasting him or the teacher when I bit her to make her let go of my arm. I used my teeth, not my tongue. Supposedly I made the kid bleed. But he kept putting his fingers in my face and egging me on and following me when I tried to get away and eventually I couldn't take it anymore so I bit him to make him leave me alone. I kinda panicked with the teacher because she was physically hurting me.

 

[paloftoon]

I would do more than just "smack". One boy kept putting his fingers in my face and saying, "Bite me! Bite me!" and when I tried to get away from him, he would just follow me, so I obliged him. He then ran to the teacher, making it into a bigger deal than it actually was about how I bit him. I got suspended for a few weeks and missed the last few weeks of school. It honestly did feel like a vacation and I think I even stopped wetting the bed for a while. When I came back the next year, that kid avoided me like the plague. The next year, I heard a kid talking about me behind my back and body slammed him against a wall, the teacher grabbed my arm to escort me to the principal's office. She gripped so tight, she practically cut off circulation. I begged her to let go and she wouldn't. I panicked and bit her. It turns out she left a bruise. I got suspended for body slamming the boy, but the teacher almost lost her job for leaving a bruise. But then I lived in a Rust Belt hick down where it was impossible to get a union worker like a school teacher fired.

In this situation, it's not just a matter of the teacher should or shouldn't get fired. By initiating a physical attack on a student, it is okay to imply that you could hurt others or run away from someone escorting you otherwise. Were you not easily compliant when the teacher was leading you down the hallway? Also, everything happened so quickly that there wasn't time for people to necessarily pick "the perfect reactions."

When you initiate getting physical like that, you can arguable lose rights that you might normally have in such an extentuating circumstance. Physicalness should be your last resort, not your first. Just because someone talks about you behind you back doesn't mean you should get physical with them at all. It is human nature to talk behind others' backs for better or worse. Some people don't handle that kind of openness well if even the person was direct.

Concentrate on yourself and being part of a wonderful representation of how the aspie popuiation can continue to positively contribute to society instead.

 

[SchrodingersMeerkat]

In this situation, it's not just a matter of the teacher should or shouldn't get fired. By initiating a physical attack on a student, it is okay to imply that you could hurt others or run away from someone escorting you otherwise. Were you not easily compliant when the teacher was leading you down the hallway? Also, everything happened so quickly that there wasn't time for people to necessarily pick "the perfect reactions."

When you initiate getting physical like that, you can arguable lose rights that you might normally have in such an extentuating circumstance. Physicalness should be your last resort, not your first. Just because someone talks about you behind you back doesn't mean you should get physical with them at all. It is human nature to talk behind others' backs for better or worse. Some people don't handle that kind of openness well if even the person was direct.

Concentrate on yourself and being part of a wonderful representation of how the aspie popuiation can continue to positively contribute to society instead.

I DID ask her to let go. She did after I bit her and I had no problem going to the principal's office. BTW, I was only 10 or 11 years old at the time.

 

[Ragnahawk]

Once I was being bullied by this kid and we were alone in the classroom because we were the first two to make it to class. He was on the opposite side with tons of desks on the other side. I told him I was sick of his crap, and then he started to literally push through all of the desks to get to me. I still had some anger in me and a water bottle. I unscrewed the bottle slightly so the cap would come off and tossed it at this bully's head so that it hit him three times and spilled the water on him in mid air. I've never seen a bully start crying before. We both got suspended, and when I went back to school this Mexican kid that was the bully's friend started to tell me he was going to kill me. It was close to end of lower school, I left and they never got a chance to seek revenge. The end.

 

[Ambi]

I don't think it's a punishment in terms of the kid is out of school - the seriousness of what that conveys should result in parental and future repercussions that are very serious. I don't think it's really about punishment - detention would be a punishment, as you're doing something you don't like. But suspension is beyond the punishment stage - it's making a permanent mark on your school record that you exhibited a serious behavioral issue - it is more about long-term marking of your record, as colleges would see that (if they told us correctly). Parents who care about that would be forced to take it more seriously, also having to deal with their kids outside of school - essentially, the school is saying, "your turn - you need to take over and get through to your kid", as opposed to detention, where the school deals with it. I went to a prestigious college prep school, though (not bragging, just a fact), so the whole reason for why we were there was to shine academically and get into excellent colleges - it involved a lot of money invested by our parents and a lot of time and work invested by us....to have that marred by a suspension, to detract from our long-term goal.....yeah, that would have really sucked. But outside of that environment/motivation for the parents and students, I'm not sure suspension would be of any benefit - other than as a nice break teachers would have from classroom difficulties.

 

[SchrodingersMeerkat]

I don't think it's a punishment in terms of the kid is out of school - the seriousness of what that conveys should result in parental and future repercussions that are very serious. I don't think it's really about punishment - detention would be a punishment, as you're doing something you don't like. But suspension is beyond the punishment stage - it's making a permanent mark on your school record that you exhibited a serious behavioral issue - it is more about long-term marking of your record, as colleges would see that (if they told us correctly). Parents who care about that would be forced to take it more seriously, also having to deal with their kids outside of school - essentially, the school is saying, "your turn - you need to take over and get through to your kid", as opposed to detention, where the school deals with it. I went to a prestigious college prep school, though (not bragging, just a fact), so the whole reason for why we were there was to shine academically and get into excellent colleges - it involved a lot of money invested by our parents and a lot of time and work invested by us....to have that marred by a suspension, to detract from our long-term goal.....yeah, that would have really sucked. But outside of that environment/motivation for the parents and students, I'm not sure suspension would be of any benefit - other than as a nice break teachers would have from classroom difficulties.

Does the permanent record thing actually apply to grade school age kids?

 

[Judge]

Does the permanent record thing actually apply to grade school age kids?

FERPA regulations (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) don't seem to make any distinction I see between grammar school, middle school and high school. So I'd say "yes" to your question.

It appears parents and guardians do have a certain leeway in amending anything in such records they might object to. Not really sure how this would play out with disciplinary action as a matter of record.

Though I'd think any information pertinent on a tangent to the juvenile justice system would be heavily censored. Hard to say how they handle that situation given the legal aspect of "sealed records".

Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)

Your Child’s School Record: What’s In It, How to Get It, and How to Change It - Lawyers.com

 

[SchrodingersMeerkat]

FERPA regulations (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) don't seem to make any distinction I see between grammar school, middle school and high school. So I'd say "yes" to your question.

It appears parents and guardians do have a certain leeway in amending anything in such records they might object to. Not really sure how this would play out with disciplinary action as a matter of record.

Though I'd think any information pertinent on a tangent to the juvenile justice system would be heavily censored. Hard to say how they handle that situation given the legal aspect of "sealed records".

Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)

Your Child’s School Record: What’s In It, How to Get It, and How to Change It - Lawyers.com

So you could get turned down from an elite university because you were suspended for a few days in kindergarten?

 

[Judge]

So you could get turned down from an elite university because you were suspended for a few days in kindergarten?

Better to ponder why any university would even care about what happens to much of anyone in their very first exposure to public education. Answer: They probably wouldn't.

Though if someone had disciplinary issues throughout their public school education, it wouldn't likely help.

I suspect those sort of decisions take a lot into consideration on a cumulative basis. To consider one's scholastic record over time, with the latter most years carrying the most weight in such a subjective analysis.

 

[SchrodingersMeerkat]

Better to ponder why any university would even care about what happens to much of anyone in their very first exposure to public education. Answer: They probably wouldn't.

Though if someone had disciplinary issues throughout their public school education, it wouldn't likely help.

I suspect those sort of decisions take a lot into consideration on a cumulative basis. To consider one's scholastic record over time, with the latter most years carrying the most weight in such a subjective analysis.

What if someone was suspended very often from third to fourth grade but they went to another school and was a model student there until graduation? Is suspension really only looked into during high school?

 

[Judge]

What if someone was suspended very often from third to fourth grade but they went to another school and was a model student there until graduation? Is suspension really only looked into during high school?

I can only quote you my own common sense. Not recite any protocols an institution of higher education may or may not apply in such inquiries. Though in my own opinion, I'd think if such disciplinary concerns ended at the fourth grade that it wouldn't be of a further concern.

I can only say that legally I saw nothing to preclude them from doing so. But that doesn't mean they necessarily do, either. Frankly I think it's "reaching" for any college entrance process to seriously be considering such things that far back into one's education unless there's a pattern of behavior that spans their entire educational experience to graduating from high school.