The good and holy Sisters of Mercy, who instilled, quite literally, the fear of God into me in my tender years, accomplished their mission by employing a combination of encouragement and terror in their instruction. Ruler knuckle-rapping, what we now know as the “Gibbs slap,” and the occasional open-handed slap across the face (the “Chief Brody slap”) were not uncommon means of discipline.
All done with love, of course.
But in California, doling out corporal punishment is illegal. It’s probably a good thing since kids these days wouldn’t think twice about hitting a nun right back.
The problem isn’t corporal punishment. The problem is not being able to give a kid who talks back, mouths off, or refuses to obey any punishment at all.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed a bill that bans a student being suspended for “willful defiance.” Students can still be suspended for assaulting a teacher, using or selling drugs, theft, or bullying. But considering how hard it is already to keep minimal control of a classroom full of kids who don’t want to be there and don’t care about learning, you have to wonder “What are they thinking in California?”
“Instead of kicking them out of school, we owe it to students to figure out what’s causing them to act out and help them fix it,” Sen. Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley), author of the bill, said in July. “The punishment for missing school should not be to miss more school. Students, especially those with behavioral issues, need to be in school where teachers and counselors can help them succeed.”
What planet is this person from? Is she really serious about kids with “behavioral issues” needing to be “in school where teachers and counselors can help them succeed?”
Kids with behavioral issues do not belong in the same classroom as kids who want to learn. If you want to “figure out what’s causing them to act out,” why can’t it be done in a therapeutic setting and not a learning situation where other kids are affected?
Former Gov. Jerry Brown in 2012 vetoed a similar legislation, noting that teachers and school officials should be able to “retain discretion” to set the tone of their classroom.
“I cannot support limiting the authority of local school leaders, especially at a time when budget cuts have greatly increased class sizes and reduced the number of school personnel,” Brown said in 2012.
Over the last decade, the number of total suspensions for all offenses for students has dropped by 58%, according to California Department of Education data. The number of willful defiance suspensions dropped 94% over the same period.
Naturally, according to the Times, “Supporters of the bill say Black and Latino students are disproportionately affected by these suspensions. Research shows that these students are often the ones who suffer a reduced loss of learning and experience higher drop-out rates.”
So the answer is to bring all students down to their level, impeding the learning progress of students of all colors? Is it any wonder parents — especially minority parents — are desperate to get their children out of these rat holes and into a school where they have a fighting chance to learn?
Related: Teacher Says His Students Are Severely Delayed, but No One Admits How Much
Los Angeles County Unified School District (LACUSD) has seen a catastrophic fall in enrollment, losing 100,000 students since 2016. It’s not a secret why this is happening.
“Enrollment declines in LAUSD can be attributed to people enrolling in charter schools, which LAUSD is one of the top largest charter sectors in the nation,” said Morgan Polikoff, education associate professor at the University of Southern California.
The LAUSD trend of declining enrollment is also a result of families leaving California because of the rising cost of living in the state and a declining birth rate.
COVID also accelerated the decline, Polikoff said.
For the 2015-2016 school year, LAUSD enrollment numbers stood at 639,337. For the 2022-2023 school year, enrollment numbers hit only 538,295 — more than a 15% decline and a loss of about 100,000 students.
Instead of seeing behavioral problems as a racial issue, perhaps the racialists in California should see “willful defiance” as a mental health concern that affects a small number of children.
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