Are all those suspensions really necessary?

Grades and class rank were extremely important to me in high school. Although I was a very good student, I really disliked school and felt that it was a big waste of my time because I spent so little time actually being productive in class. Early on in my senior year I used up my allotted number of absences that were allowed before my grades became affected. I figured the only other way I could get out of school was a suspension. I knew a lot of students that had gotten suspended and I felt that their punishments were actually rewards. I gave the idea of getting suspended serious thought but decided that it could backfire if I ended up missing an important test.

It was not just my high school that gave out a lot of suspensions. School suspension rates have been increasing over the years. Students today can be suspended for minor violations of their school’s code of conduct. For example, a student who was a leukemia survivor himself wanted to grow his hair out and donate it to charity after he found out that his friend’s sister had cancer. He was suspended for breaking the dress code that says boys’ hair cannot touch their collars or the ears. In another situation, a six-year-old was suspended for sexual harassment for singing the LMFAO song, “I’m sexy and I know it,” in the lunch line.     

When students are suspended they miss out on the lessons for all the classes that they had on those days. Studies show that when students are suspended only once their chances of dropping out double from 16% to 32%. If the student is suspended again after that, the chances go up to 49%. Studies also say that students who are suspended are more likely to have legal problems outside of school. This could be due to that fact that when they are suspended they may be alone and unsupervised.

Leaving disruptive students in the classroom is not the solution to the problem, but there are other possible alternatives other than out of school suspension. Other options could include after school or lunch detentions, Saturday school, in school suspensions, suspension from extra-curricular activities, mandatory community service, or a written apology. Out of school suspension may be necessary for students with severe offenses, but different forms of punishment should be considered for students who break minor rules. Schools should do their best to keep students in school, where they want them to be.  

 

 

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