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Looking at school discipline from a student’s view is quite different from that of the school. The five-day suspension for getting into a fight is thought of as useless by Miguel Ixta, a student from Atwater Valley Community School. “It was more like a vacation than a punishment,” says Ixta. His view differed when it came to the anger management part of the discipline. Ixta engaged in a fight and was sent to an anger management class. He found it to be useful because it helped him to understand his anger. He also learned how to get his anger out in a non-violent way. For Ixta, this would be working out.
On one of his experiences in a fight, Ixta said that he got involved because he felt disrespected. He later found out that the student whom he fought held false beliefs about him. These beliefs were what triggered the disrespect form the other student. From Ixta’s point of view, it is easy to fight and not get caught. He said the bathroom is a convenient place to fight because only the people in the room see what is going on.
[pullquote_right] The five-day suspension for getting into a fight is thought of as useless by Miguel Ixta, a student from Atwater Valley Community School. “It was more like a vacation than a punishment,” says Ixta. His view differed when it came to the anger management part of the discipline.[/pullquote_right]
School discipline doesn’t always have to be suspension and expulsion. Le Grand High School has a different discipline system in their school called restorative justice, which is supported by Building Healthy Communities. The goal of this program is to change the school’s culture from traditional discipline, such as suspensions, to alternative choices, such as amending their wrongdoings. The students make respect agreements in their classrooms and are expected to keep them. If the agreement is broken, the student is reminded of the agreement that he or she made. After that comes what is called a thinker. This is similar to a jury process but involves student peers and teachers as the jury.
One of the issues that restorative justice addresses is the relationship of teachers with students. The pro- gram aims to improve involvement of teachers with students. This allows students to bring out any issues they may have. By talking instead of fighting, students find the root of a problem and resolve it peacefully.
Andre Griggs is the coordinator of the after school program and the overseer of the restorative justice program at Le Grand High. He believes that this program helps educate kids. “It allows for students to make better choices, so when they graduate, they become a better college student, a better citizen,” says Griggs. There is a link between graduating from high school and reduced criminal activity. About 80 percent of people in to prison are high school dropouts.
