That's an assumption on your part and I think it's a flawed assumption possibly based on an idea that all schools should be like public schools and only have the same responsibilities that public schools have, and ignoring the fact that parents who choose private schools are doing so even though public schools exist and they could choose those if that's all they wanted for their kids.
I may have an advantage here that because I am a teacher and I am very interested in educational policy that I've looked into this story a bit over the last couple of weeks since I first saw it. I'm not basing my opinion on just what is in this article - I've seen other material. I'm not saying other people should have done that, nor criticising anybody for not doing so, but I've had the time and inclination so I have done it. This particular school, Catholic High School for Boys, is a high achieving school academically, with a particularly stated mission that parents who choose the school know about when they are choosing it. If this was a new policy, I think you'd have more of a point but it has been in place for years and parents choose the school knowing that the school is proactive in this regard. The parents are paying the school to do this. They are not paying for a bog standard education in the three Rs that they could get (or in some cases, unfortunately not get) at a local public school.
Their idea of the need for punishment, when by the description, indicates themselves as being judge, jury, and executioner on a topic they may not have the evidence for, is typical the liberal thinking the school systems have adopted for over 50 years.
Good Lord, no. It's exactly the opposite. This is an affirmation of conservative principles of education, not the neo-liberal ideology that pervades public schooling. The school's mission statement sums it up:
"Catholic High School is a college-preparatory high school in Little Rock, Arkansas, founded in 1930 that strives to challenge boys academically while also teaching the truths of manhood – faith, integrity, and, as Father Tribou often stressed, duty."
I am, to be honest, confused by the position you are taking. You seem to object to the liberal and progressive ideology that pervades so much modern education, but you also seem to assume that the limitations of that ideology should be assumed to apply in all schools. This school has not embraced that ideology. It's maintained older ideals of education, and it's open about them. It tells parents about them - and parents who want that for their son choose to send their sons to this school even though it would be easier and cheaper to simply send them to the local public school. And they do so because they want more than the local public school provides and they want something different from that.
And I get my information from observations, and first hand experience from my mother who was teaching during WWII on a war time credential at 18, through my sister who will be retiring this year and teaches primary education, now in high school.
And that may well give you an insight into education in general but it doesn't mean it has relevance to this specific school or what they are doing.
I'm a teacher now - my second career after over two decades in the military. Now, I don't teach in a 'normal school' myself. I teach in what is regarded as one of the two best Catholic boys' schools in Australia (the other of the two is its brother school in another state). And we do things differently too from what is considered normal. Criticisms that could fairly be applied to the government run school system often have absolutely no validity in my school, because we do things differently. It's not that we are perfect and we can't completely avoid the impact of government policies even when we don't like them, but we do things our own way. I taught in the state system before I took my current role, and it was a very different situation.
So where does it stop? Or with the info I already gave you, where does it continue? Let me raise my own. They need to stay out of it. It’s not their responsibility and don’t threaten me trying to keep mine.
But the parents who have chosen to send their sons to this school have made their own decisions as to how their sons will be raised and they have chosen this school. And you seem to think you are in a position to tell them that their decision is wrong. I do support the right of people to raise their own children as they see fit - but that to me includes the right to choose the school that matches the type of education you want for your child, if you're lucky enough that it's available. And that is what parents who are choosing this school are doing. The school doesn't hide what it's doing - and it's been run this way for decades now. Parents know what they are choosing.
I agree with you about a lot of the problems that infest public schooling policy, practice, and philosophy - but if we let those problems effect how private schools operate, we're just making things worse, not better. A school that doesn't have a liberal ideology at its core shouldn't be prevented from doing what it does, because other schools do.
‘The whole beginning of this thread was based upon a school taking upon themselves to teach something other than what they are being paid to do.
That’s an assumption on your part and I think it’s a flawed assumption possibly based on an idea that all schools should be like public schools and only have the same responsibilities that public schools have, and ignoring the fact that parents who choose private schools are doing so even though public schools exist and they could choose those if that’s all they wanted for their kids.”
This is not an assumption when the school systems throughout the US, are taking it upon themselves to do the work of parents. If a child, even at the high school level, which falls under the primary education level, has a repeated problem like the not taking items like lunches, or anything, it is not the position of the school to “punish” the child. It is the position of the school to inform the parents and allow them to correct the problem.
But the real problem is that In the United States, historically, the purpose of education has evolved according to the needs of society by their determination. Education’s primary purpose has ranged from instructing youth in religious doctrine, to preparing them to live in a democracy, to assimilating immigrants into mainstream society, to preparing workers for the industrialized 20th century workplace. And most of this should be left in the hands of the parents, not the schools. You’ll notice the word evolve. I attended schools in the US, was able to get m,y first degree, then got my second during, my military career,, and I have a credential for primary education. The evolution of the schools to teach more than give the tools to the student for secondary education is the main evolution. And as the schools changed, they also took more responsibility from the parents. It went from contacting parents for misbehavior to accepting the responsibility of delving out punishment, whether it applied or not. The child’s behavior is not their responsibility by law.It is the responsibility of the parents.
Parents are legally responsible for the behavior of their children Those who would hold parents responsible for their children’s actions might argue that values can and should be instilled. Colorado was the first state to enact parent-liability laws in 1903. Other states soon followed Colorado’s example. However, it was unusual to enforce the laws until the rise of juvenile crime in the late 80’s. Silverton, Oregon has become a model for communities that are interested in parental accountability. In Silverton, Oregon if a child is found carrying a gun, smoking cigarettes, or using illegal drugs the parents can be fined up to $1,000.
While many States have embraced the idea of holding parents responsible for the actions of their children — at least 36 States have mandated some type of responsibility provision beyond civil liability for parents or guardians of delinquent children — others are critical of the idea, fearing legal challenges and citing a dearth of empirical evidence supporting the efficacy of parental responsibility initiatives. And in all the reading, and all the talking with my family of teachers, and my studies, not one time did I find any legislation, or any decision that the school was responsible for the behavior problem of a student. So when it comes down to it, if the student sets a pattern that does not reach the goals of the school, what can they really do. And the more they do it, the more the student will rebel. And that’s been proven in our criminal justice system. And a school passing out punishment that really means nothing to the student in the long run, and does nothing but challenge the student to misbehave to fight back, and the parents, who I just indicated in 36 states are held responsible for behavior, are left out, the school becomes the villain and not the educator.
And parents being responsible for the behavior of their children should be held accountable. Just because the schools want to step in, which they didn’t prior to this “evolution” only furthers the problem. I, as a responsible parent, I raised two, would not have had my kids enter this system for the reasons I mentioned, overstepping their positions, trying to relieve the parents of theirs, and moving away from teaching the kids what they need in tools to compete in the outside world. I will make my own into adults with my morals and standards based upon what I and the law think is in their best interest. You want to be a parent, have your own. Don’t try to kidnap mine and raise them under your ideals. That’s my job.
Oh, my kids? One is married, fosters kids, and is a computer manager and trainer for a west coast warehousing company. My other is an electrical engineer working all over the states as a trouble shooter on communication stations. He is getting married shortly. Did the school teach my kids responsibility or the desire to improve themselves? Not one bit! So it can be done my way without the school stepping into the mix. You do your job, I’ll do mine.
red