11-04-2009, 03:30 PM
Dick, I agree the military shouldn't be the dumping grounds for these kids, but they should be one of the authorities for release. They serve their full time in jail unless they are willing to enter military service. If they do well and change their life, that's good for society. But if they screw up, back to jail.
Blake, the school is taking action. They are suspending those involved. They are working with the police to identify everyone involved so arrest can continue to be made. Unfortunately, school procedures and policies (often crafted by parents) makes it difficult for schools to just throw a student out. All sorts of rules apply to schools before they can legally deny education to a student.
If it were up to me, I would make school attendance a mandatory function with a schedule of suspension, expulsion, and penalties for infractions that doesn’t require administrators to jump through so many hoops. Schools and teachers are there to educate. If a student wants to engage in disruptive behavior, let's stop trying to force it upon them at the expense of all the others who do want to learn. They don't want school, put an orange reflective vest of them and during school hours they are cleaning streets, beaches, public toilets, and washing public buildings. Make it an offense to skip, disrupt, or otherwise engage in disorderly conduct as a student in school. And it’s not some pleasant hand holding event.
I am also outright against suspensions and expulsions where the kid has no requirement to do something during that time. All they do is sit at home or go out and get into more trouble. So, if it takes correctional education for some, so be it.
I also believe that parents need to stop defending their kids and start teaching responsibility. If the kids don’t learn that there are serious consequences for violent actions, they are doomed to continue until someone does. Schools need to get out of the business of parenting and social work and get back to the business of Education! But so long as parents blame everyone else for their kids failures, and everyone expects schools to substitute for parenting, the outrageous cost and staffing for non educational purposes will have to be high and people have nobody to blame but themselves.