Going to the Principal's office.... *yawn*

Recently I did a stint as a substitute teacher. I like doing this part time job as it nurishes my appetite to be a teacher and to do something different once in a while. It is also a lot of fun and 99% of the kids I meet are great kids! However, there is that pesky 1% still left out there, and I am going to talk about them for a bit.

While subbing, I encountered a couple, no three kids, all boys who were somewhat considered troublemakers or unruly, or just lacking respect or discipline. One boy just seemed to thrive on disrupting class and the attention it got him, and so, he was removed from class, oldly enough at the request of many of the other students. Off he went to the prinicpal's office. I saw him later, no worse for wear...

The second boy, while struggling in school, seems to be able to cope with the class work, seems to be a victim to his own inablity to ignore outside stimuli and reacts, or more accurately, overreacts to it. I was present when he and others were called out for taking a test in private room without teacher supervision. One thing led to another and he started to yell, hit the wall and otherwise over react to the situation. Off he went to the prinicpal's office, with me escorting him. While walking I tried to tell him that it was not the fact that he was not to take the test without a teacher present, but his actions that followed that got him a visit to the office. I think it made sense to him and he seemed to understand, a bit. (Later he was about to over react and he stopped and looked at me and said, "Oh, right!" "I remember!" and he stopped and just sat back down!) After his visit, he was back at class, able to finish the test and looking like it was just another day at school.

The third boy, had a direct confrontation with me and I decided that if I did not act immediately, I would loose respect and give this boy more confidence to act out again in the future. This kid seemed to think that he was better than just about anyone else and held other in contempt. It is a good thing that our local school kids are nice, because this kid is pretty small and nerdy and stands a good chance of getting a pounding if things in the make up of the school kids was different. Anyway, I took him to the office and went in to the meeting with the Dean of Students while he was made to explain while he was there. He basically stalled, hem-hawed and ignored the Dean and as I was leaving, the principal was filling out a disciplinary report. I looked a the boy and he seemed to not care at all. And why should he? All he was getting was a report form and maybe a after school detention. (Don't know for sure, though)

None of these kids seemed to be in the least bit intimidated about going to the office. Maybe it was because they have been there so many times, they don't care, or maybe it is not a big deal at home and so they don't worry. I do know that in my time and that was not that long ago, a trip to the office was a thing of dread! I even remember getting spanked! In grade school! (so much for that now) Punishments were real then, it seemed. Long after school detentions, extra homework, extra physical work, and even expulsion. Doesn't seem to be the case now. Maybe that is a good thing. Maybe my school district doesn't really have really bad students like I hear about in other places, but I think they have made the "OFFICE" a very un-intimitating place. I remember at my school it being a place to fear. Not so now it seems. That is too bad. I don't have a solution, but I would think that making it a more scary place might make it a less often visited place too!

Your thoughts?

Later!