Did liberal Social policy of NOT DISCIPLINING and having CONSEQUENCES for our kids lead to school violence?

Question

D
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=601170

• Dozens of teachers, administrators and staff are getting attacked. In the first semester of this school year alone, at least 127 MPS employees reported being physically assaulted by students or outsiders coming to campus.

• Elementary school teachers are falling victim to physical or verbal assaults nearly as much as those in high schools. Close to half the teachers assaulted this year work at elementary or K-8 schools.

• Far more Milwaukee students were expelled for bringing firearms to school last year than in all of the Chicago Public Schools, a district more than four times the size of MPS. In Chicago, unlike Milwaukee, high school students walk through weapons scanners every day, and handguns have virtually disappeared from the schools.

• The number of students expelled and suspended for drugs, violence and weaponshas nearly doubled in the past five years, and many are simply transferred to other schools.

Answer 1

I NEVER see this issue raised here - GREAT question!

I don't think the kids are the problem, the parents are. I'm a cop and whenever we have to deal with problem kids in school, the parents are ALWAYS UNinvolved in their kids lives - and it's not just poor kids either. The problem with schools today is that too many parents look at them as day-care centers and reinforce the idea the kids can act any way they want as long as they don't misbehave around mom.

It's only going to get worse because society's twentysomethings have grown up in a country with eroded standards where education and public behavior are concerned.

They're response to any criticism is "YOU DON'T KNOW ME!" as if I need to know someone to tell them that pushing an old lady out of the way to get on the subway is bad behavior. As if I have to know someone to tell them that BRINGING A GUN TO SCHOOL IS BAD BEHAVIOR?!?

Honestly, 50 years of liberal foolishness has caused this.

Answer 2

...you have to look at every side to the situation. First it's not a liberal problem it is every bodies problem. It's so much more than political. Discipline is fine as long as the adults that are enforcing it have sound judgment and it is done in the right way which is just not the case anymore. Laws had to be made because of the low-lifes that were abusing their children and calling it their right to discipline. Social Services couldn't do their jobs to stop it because of always having funding cuts that I must say were done by conservatives. More money should have been used long ago instead of less to help support these at risk families. But there you go checks and balances.
Also how long have we heard of teachers selling drugs to students. Our high school just busted a coach this year selling meth in our school. Makes me wonder how many of the teachers knew or are even users. Students are being ridiculed, molested, raped and drugged by the very people we send them to everyday to get an education. I know it's not all teachers but it is a growing problem. We have to be the example but what example are kids seeing these days. The teachers have problems and thus so do the students. No I don't want some drugged up teacher with a hangover disciplining my child.

Answer 3

I read the article and there are so many things this can be blamed on; single parent homes, lack of discipline, etc. My question is why does it have to be Liberal social policy of not disciplining??? It seems as if you want to blame a group for this problem. That will solve nothing.
I think this article shows that a number of children are being left behind. So much for Bush's "No Child Left Behind" program. Guess it got lost in the shuffle but I don't think any blame goes to him, does it?
There are also a large number of Conservative parents who don't discipline. They put their children in private schools and when their children get into trouble, the parents use their money and influence to make the problem go away. Sometimes, these parents are in complete denial of their children's problems
Schools function on the assumption that children have parents who teach them right and wrong. They are there to provide an education, not be the parent. A teacher never had to put his or her hands on me because my parents taught me what was acceptable and unacceptable behavior. There were consequences at home for misbehavior and poor performance.
I tutor homeless children and most of them enjoy school and are very well behaved. They are also anxious to please. I work with one girl who fears making mistakes. It took me two months to convince her that it is "OK to make mistakes because it is how we learn". I have never been hit but I have gotten a lot of hugs.
Ask yourself, do you really want to help fix the problem or do you just want to blame it on a group that you don't like???

Answer 4

I don't believe it is due to liberal policies. It is probably due to both parents working and ignoring their children. Too bad in most families both parents usually have to work these days. What else are you people going to blame politics on? I can assure you, I never was for a lack of discipline in the schools. That started from lawsuits I would imagine.

Parents sometimes feel guilty that they work and show their loyalty to their children by complaining to the school about their poor little baby getting in trouble. People on here are not able to take responsibility for the things that go on in the community so they blame Liberals. I live in a very republican state and the discipline sucks in the schools here too. How do you explain that?

I suspect much of it has to do with our media. Nobody is there to keep the kids from watching all the violence, sex, etc. That is driven by capitalism. No, I'm not against capitalism which will be your next accusation.

Answer 5

Boy do I agree. I however do not know if I would go as far as to call it a liberal social policy as much as I would just call it bad parenting. Discipline has nothing to do with violence as some people have misconstrued it. Consequences do not necessarily mean spanking or slapping or whatever. My parents never laid a hand on I or my siblings yet we were extremely well behaved. We knew there were consequences to our actions. My parents stuck to there guns and when they said no it meant no. If we were grounded for a week we were grounded for a week not 3 hours until they caved in.
Most people are just way in over there heads with children when they are nowhere near ready for them. Add in the amount of divorced couples who then go on and use there children as pawns against each other it it is no suprise to see kids so out of control. I could go on and on in this subject but I will stop here.

Answer 6

Actually, repression causes kids to act out, not freedom. The Columbine kids were all from conservative households. The VT shooter was from a strict, but not necessarily conservative home.

I am liberal and I discipline my child (not with violence, though). He understands that actions have consequences.

The problem is with parents who are too busy to raise their children. I talk to my child's teacher at least once a month. I know what he does in school every day. I have met the parents of every child in his class and socialize with some of them regularly. I know what my son watches on TV, what games he plays, and who he talks to on the phone. I take the time to LISTEN, not just talk. How many "conservative" parents do the same?

Answer 7

No.
It is poor parenting and the lack of "family".
Family can mean be things, but it must include a learning, nurturing environment where children learn right from wrong. With an explanation why it is right or wrong, this is very important as all children ask "WHY".

As I understand it, your daughter is in College now, you must have done it right. As diametrically opposed as our political philosophies are, I think you would agree that parents are number one in raising children. It is bad that many do not have the time, or worse, care enough to teach their children.
I think we can agree on that point also.

Answer 8

I guess the violence perpetrated in the homes by people who don't believe in sparing the rod would never lead to violence outside of the home. BZZZZ...wrong. It does lead to violence. As someone who evaluated and worked with teens in violent situations for 12 years I can tell you that violence begets violence. Quality of discipline is more important than anything else but there is absolutely no such thing as a liberal (politically speaking) society advocating no discipline in the home. This notion is bred by ignorant people who simply are not intelligent enough to deal with a society that romanticizes violence through some very conservative attitudes. The death penalty, the NRA, useless war mongering and profiteering all contribute to a culture of violence as a solution. That is the problem, not some crazy fantasy by right-wing ignoramuses that like to pretend that they have not spawned any of the evils in this country.

Answer 9

Ec 8:11 Because punishment for an evil work comes not quickly, the minds of the sons of men are fully given to doing evil.

Lack of effective punishment is swiftly plunging our nations schools into anarchy. When I went to school we feared, if not respected our teachers. Parents supported the teachers in disiplinary actions if we got out of line. Now, nothing is anyone's fault. Personal responsibility is a dirty word.

And we have a "C" student for President...........

Answer 10

Hey lady, while you were wasting your time and energy posting yet another idiotic thought, one of the students in your classroom to which your not paying attention to just committed an act of violence. Maybe the real problem with the growing violence in our school system is the fact that apparently our tax dollars go towards school teachers who would rather plague the internet with ill-informed opinions than to pay five minutes attention to a kid.

Answer 11

yes, but the media tending to glorify tragedies such as Columbine and the Virginia Tech shootings doesn't help either. I had easy access to guns growing up, and was allowed to target shoot or hunt at will (in season). I would never have let a thought like that cross my mind. I'm 32. hunters safety was required in 7th grade (boys and girls) and 90 percent of it had already been taught to me by my elders. kids need limits; they need consequences. they need to know that there is an effect for every cause. they need to learn to respect in order to be a respectable person. No One should be beaten, but if my kid kicked the dog, you better believe he'll get a whack on HIS butt!

food for thought on how bad we've let our society get: when I was 10, just about every boy carried a pocket knive everywhere....