Why don't punishments work in changing student behavior?
I feel that punishment like detention and suspensions from school are not really punishing students, unless students have a positive role in school. If a student is active and involved in their school in a manner that is productive, they may consider it a punishment, however, in schools like mine, it's really just an opportunity to take a day off.
Continuity in education is few and far between. Many students cut classes and for no other reason than because they're seniors and think they can do whatever the fuck they want. I hate that mentality of senior invincibility. It just plays along with the fact that students make these assumptions that they have infinite numbers of second chances. I hate second chances, they just set these kids up for future failures because they never learn to get things done right the first time.
Also, students who constantly get into trouble fail to learn from their mistakes. They make so many mistakes that they don't even react to positive feedback or criticism. I could tell my students every little thing they need to get an A in the class, but they are just that ignorant to ignore all my little tips that they'll just fail just because. There's the slim possibility that students are just not capable of the work, but there are just students who sit there expecting to advance by doing nothing. And they don't care if they fail and they don't care if they barely pass. So how the hell are they motivated to succeed? They aren't.
The next generation of American citizens scares me. They're lazy, they're not academically resilient, they're just complacent. They're gullible and incapable of thinking beyond the material they are presented. They treat their classes like it's just a formality when they are really just hurting themselves in the long run.
Most of my students want to go to college. And yet they are unwilling to put forth the effort to make the grade and earn the recommendations and credentials necessary for a solid application.
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1 comment:
I figured after school detentions worked as a deterrent, mostly because you're keeping students in school longer than they really desire, particularly if you impose very strict rules (no talking, only homework to be done, etc.).
Suspensions, like you said, only scare those that care about their education.
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