When a school decided to tackle the problem of unruly students in a very different way, there was a quick reduction in bad behavior. The “reverse suspension” policy might just be something all schools should consider.
Huntington East Middle School in Huntington, West Virginia, had to deal with some unruly students, like many other middle schools across the country. But, they decided to take a different approach to those who were misbehaving. Administrators introduced a disciplinary policy that put a spin on traditional school suspensions in hopes it would be more effective in reforming trouble students — and it worked.
Most of us are familiar with traditional suspensions, where a child is removed from the school for a period of time for bad behavior. This practice goes back decades, but many educators believe it often increases negative student behavior. So, Huntington East Middle School decided it was time to try something different when they noticed a rise in bad behaviors, which was resulting in increased suspensions.
“When we started combining schools we had a lot of kids getting in trouble and getting suspended,” School parent partner Stephanie Powell explained.
Instead of sticking with the norm, administrators rolled out “reverse suspensions,” in which parents were invited to the school when their student misbehaved — with a few conditions, of course. The offense must involve non-violent and non-verbally abusive behavior in order for the “reverse suspension” to be offered.
In the cases that meet the specified criteria, instead of sending the child home, their parent is invited to come to school with them and spend the entire, eye-opening day by their child’s side, WOWK reported. The hope was that it would allow administrators to enforce the school rules without delaying the student’s education, and the school found that treating the problem in reverse made a positive difference.
“Let’s say a child gets suspended for 3 days. One day would be at home, then if your parent comes in and spends a day at school with you, the final day gets dropped. School officials say that since the program’s inception, suspensions have dropped dramatically since most kids do not want their parents coming to school with them. But cooperation of the parents is paramount to the success,” News Center Maine explained.
One such student who experienced the positive results of the reverse suspension policy was Justin Young. “I was suspended multiple times last year,” Justin admitted. The new policy changed that, however, as he shared how it has worked for him personally. “But this year, not once,” he said. After his mom got home from her day of reverse suspension, she and Justin had a family talk, he explained. “She wanted to know if I acted like that when she was not around, I said ‘no’ because I wanted to be good for you,” he recalled.
And, Justin isn’t alone in seeing positive results. Principal Frank Barnett said reverse suspension helped cut student suspensions by two thirds and bad behavior incidents by more than half as 30 or so families opted for the reversal suspension alternative in one year. “We found that for many students, suspension from school is a good thing, something they expected and planned for,” he said, explaining one problem with traditional suspensions is that some kids enjoy the break. “We try to avoid that at all costs,” he added.
“There are times it can not be avoided,” Principal Barnett admitted, explaining that administrators decide on the appropriate corrective actions to take for each behavior incident on a case by case basis. But, by going in reverse when they can, Barnett said their restorative justice program was working well. He also explained that the school’s revamped in-school suspension plan includes teachers to help students learn to get things done they usually would not.
“Who, as a parent, wants to sit in class?” Stephanie Howell said, praising the parent-involved policy’s effectiveness as a positive motivator for students. “It’s embarrassing, it’s a good motivator to not have your parents come and sit with them,” she added, explaining how it encourages the children to behave even when their parent isn’t present. Indeed, it’s no surprise that when parents are involved in the punishment, it’s a tremendous success.
After all, more progress is made when we all work together to do what’s best for our kids and there’s something to be said about showing a “united front” with other authority figures in our children’s lives. The only question is, would you be the parent who steps up and goes to school if the need arose? While it might not be feasible for every parent to miss work for a day, it’s definitely a plan worth considering.
Source: Tap Worthy Happenings
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