Discipline !

There is growing concern at the number of school children being suspended from classes for misbehaviour.  Last year this punishment was inflicted on 2337 primary kids and it is fast increasing in our high schools.  In 2008 high school suspensions totalled 10,514 and this increased in 2012 to 12,922.

Suspension from classes range from five to twenty days - and the reason given is usually " persistent misbehaviour ".   Students who refuse to follow the class rules and obey the teacher's instructions disrupt the orderly class routine and make it near impossible for others in the class  to progress.   Usually suspension is a last resort - after numerous warnings have been given.

The education system sees suspension as a punishment, but to the offenders it is often viewed as a reward.  Those that do not want to be in school quickly learn that disruptive behaviour will inevitably result in them being set free - to do what they please, free of the burdensome rules that they have no intention of following.

If this tactic succeeds in primary school it is likely to persist through the entire schooling years and the student will eventually face his or her adult years without the skills to attract employment.  In many cases, this causes resentment at what they consider the " system " that failed them - and rarely do they attribute the blame to their own anti-social behaviour.

The problem seems to be that the " system " has no weapons to use to curb disruptive behaviour - except suspension.   The days of sending an offender to the headmaster for " six of the best " are long gone.  Corporal punishment is no longer an option and the old standby of ordering " detention " requires supervision by a teacher - and will probably be ignored.

Clearly, the starting point of this disruptive behaviour starts in the home.   If children learn and obey simple house rules that apply to eating meals at regular times,  keeping their room tidy and going to bed at a regular hour they are unlikely to have problems in the classroom.   Many parents are now utterly confused by the rules that society imposes when it comes to the disciplining of children.   It seems that administering a slight smack on the leg of a naughty child is now considered in the same league as capital punishment.   Even lecturing a naughty child in a supermarket brings frowns and displeasure from members of the general public.
There seems an ever growing number of " experts " who lecture constantly on the evils of punishment and the benefits of rewards for good behaviour, but when these fail to deliver - they have no answer on how to cope !

The meat in the sandwich - is the school teacher.   Gaining a position in a " good " school in a " good " suburb in which the majority of students will be civilized and well behaved allows their career to prosper.   Those allocated a position on " the wrong side of the tracks " face an ongoing battle with kids that don't want to learn - and parents that are unhelpful in solving problems.    Their teaching track record will as a consequence - not attract promotion.

So far, nobody has solved the problem of those who refuse schooling.   At least the option of suspension removes the source of the disruption and allows the remainder of the class to progress, but we are creating a vast underclass which will cling like some tumour on the dark side of society.   For some, being shut out of earning a decent living because of lack of education  leaves only the option of survival by joining the criminal classes - and operating on the other side of the law.

Sadly, the children of migrants who risked their lives to get here form a minuscule proportion of problem children.    Getting a good education is almost fanatical in the minds of their parents and consequently this rejection of schooling is concentrated almost exclusively on those who term themselves " old Australians ". If it continues to persist - it will result in many becoming outcasts in their own country !