I sat in the back row of Mr. Patterson’s Juniors English class a long, long time ago. He announced that he was going to let us set the rules for such things as being late , submitting work, taking tests and punishment for miscellaneous offenses. We set some pretty low standards and before long the class deteriorated into near anarchy.
He simply refused to punish anyone for anything and I sat thinking to myself, where will this end ? I suspected he would be dismissed soon but it did not happen. Kids would throw erasers and talk over anyone . Misbehavior became the rule rather than the exception and cutting class was so common that I suspected he made up his daily attendance roster.
The puzzle was that the administration never dealt with him and he was on the faculty a long time after I left.
But I did learn one thing, indelibly and forever. When discipline goes away chaos enters at once.
that
