More kindergartners being suspended

Modesto Bee ^ | 12/14/02 | Mary Dale

[hoosierskypilot]

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - One hit a pregnant teacher, another exposed himself and another stabbed a classmate with a pencil.

They've all been suspended from school this year. And they're all kindergartners.

In the first four months under new schools chief Paul Vallas, 33 kindergartners have been suspended from Philadelphia public schools, up from just one during the same period last year.

"The goal is to get the parents in," said Gwen Morris, who oversees alternative education for the 200,000-student district. "What it says is, we have a uniform policy that everyone will be held to."

The U.S. Department of Education does not break down school suspensions by grade level, but several researchers said they see anecdotal evidence that the youngest schoolchildren are being suspended more frequently.

Morris believes suspensions, combined with counseling and other measures, are an effective tool in the city's crackdown on school violence. None of the kindergartners has been suspended a second time, she said.

[hoosierskypilot]

At this age, it's the parent's fault. We see it all the time: parents, many of whom aren't fit to raise animals, insist upon having children. Then, they turn them over to someone else to raise, viz., day care. If you aren't going to raise your children yourself, why bother having them in the first place?

[widowithfoursons]

Why was this not a problem 30 years ago? Why does a 5 yr old feel comfortable hitting an adult? You guess.

[Terriergal]

I would think that hitting the adult isn't necessarily a sign the kid is abused or is gonna be an abuser. He may have just lashed out at that age. And who cares that the adult happened to be a PG female. The kid has no concept of that.

I am saying this with a grain of salt because so many typical kid offenses are being treated like capital crimes nowadays. My daughter once went after a daycare lady and slugged her (yes I used daycare very briefly at one time, for only a few hours every few days, and then I quit, realizing even that little amount wasn't worth it!) because she thought the lady was giving her little sister a hard candy and that her sister would choke on it. The (very impatient) daycare lady was upset but I know my daughter was not like that... the younger sister had already been taken to the hospital to have a penny removed from her esophagus a few months before, so she was a bit paranoid, but I don't think the daycare lady believed her.

We had our fair share of wild kids in elementary school 30 years ago. The teachers dealt with it head on and the parents were involved. Except in a few cases where alcohol and abuse was involved, the kids grew out of it, at least twoard adults. They were always horrible to each other though.

[Terriergal]

At this age, it's the parent's fault.

My (then)six year old and (then)four year old got caught looking at their privates with the neighbor boy (then 5) and I'm sure that would be considered "exposing themselves" if it had happened at school instead of in the neighbor's backyard. We had just started talking about the differences between boys and girls because we had moved into a neighborhood where there were boys, and that was something new. The neighbor kid's mom was visibly shaking and upset about it, and I was apologetic (they had sneaked the toddler-age book out we had bought about the subject). Eventually it all smoothed over but this is pretty typical especially if playing with members of the opposite sex is a new thing.

[HairOfTheDog]

Some kids will undoubtedly misbehave more than others, due to either strong temperments or bad parenting... BUT At this age, all kids have temper tantrums. Adults need to know how to handle it. I can't believe schools and parents both seem so frozen in fear of children that are five years old.

[HairOfTheDog]

Certainly. We played a little bit of "show me yours" that I remember. Boys and girls alike ran screaming and giggling in embarrasment.

[Dimensio]

He's got a point. After all, it is totally impossible that minority kindergarteners are misbehaving in proportion to whites.

[Biblebelter]

What is the social welfare state to do? Physical intimidation went the way of corporal punishment. Fear, shame, and guilt no longer guide people's behavior thanks in part to the likes of an unrepentant serial rapist who was once President.

[Terriergal]

:-)

[sit-rep]

I have a daughter in the first grade. Kindergarden was not bad, but 1st grade I had to finally write a letter to the teacher...

My daughter was bringing home, homework for my wife and I. It was obvious the intent, and that was to ensure parent involvement. I wrote a letter to the teacher stating that, "I am not going to school, my daughter is, please direct your curriculum toward her, not the three of us. If you give my daughter a third grade math test, you'll see I am quite involved."

The fact that I had my daughter doing addition, subtraction, multiplication and division in kindergarden, and how much she has advanced since, obviously was over looked at her school.

My daughter came home a few days later and said "Daddy, daddy look!! my teacher wanted me to give this to you!" It was a math test with add/sub/mul/div problems, 40 of them from the third grade. A big ol' red star on the top of the page(100% correct).

Sometimes, they don't know how involved the parents are...sometimes, they need to know.

SR

[VMI70]

Out of the mouthes of babes: My son (14) is sitting here wit me, and I read this post to him.
His response was: "They're kindergarteners. They'd never understand the concept of suspension. To them, it's just a day(s) off from school."

[gatex]

Senator McCain said he is going to work on the kindergarten loophole.

[redheadtoo]

I've worked in many classrooms and the problem with out of control children is a growing one. I am not talking about simple immaturity either. The children I am refering to are completely unsocialized and behave like a wild animal on a leash if you attempt to control their behavior.

I once worked with a boy named Ryan. He was a third grader when I worked with him. He disrupted the class several times a day, each and every single day. No instruction was done while he would have his tantrums.

The teacher of the class said that he was the only student who had ever received a suspension from kindergarten. The day that she had finally had enough, and gave him three days off, he was picked up by his mother. Mom then took him out to lunch so he would not feel bad about being suspended.

The boy's family was very screwed up. Dad rarely ever came home. He spent his evenings drinking and sleeping around. The mother let him get away with this and catered to his every whim because she was afraid he would leave her.

[eccentric]

What is the social welfare state to do? Physical intimidation went the way of corporal punishment. Fear, shame, and guilt no longer guide people's behavior AMEN!!!

Teachers are having discipline problem because parents are having the same problem. We've been told, even threatened, that corporal punishment must not be used. In fact, our state had a childcare agreement form that include the requirement of no discipline that would cause physical or emotional pain.

so now schools have a solution: ritalin