Heck, the kid might even learn that aggressive behavior leads to a reward, if staying home is a reward for him.
I certainly wouldn't want my son to hurt another child, but keeping him home from school would not teach him impulse control!
You know they suspended Mason last year (kindergarten!) because he hit his teacher and it left a mark. He was sent home early that day and was "asked" to stay home the next day because the policy regarding violence was at least a one day suspension!
Now I understand that he needs to be punished, I wasn't expecting them to let him run around without rules etc, but what you all posted above was exactly what started happening...it got to the point that at the end of the year I was getting a phone call 1-2 times a week to come get Mason from school because he was out of control and they couldn't handle him.
I guess I'm at a loss because I don't really know what kind of "punishment" should be used for him in these cases, but again, most of the time Mason's behavior is a "cry for help" not him trying to hurt someone or be mean! Suspension isn't going to fix that!!!!!!!!!
He does something unacceptable, so they make him stay home where he gets to eat his favorite stuff for lunch and snack; work on his favorite computer games; spend time with beloved Mom; and basically enjoys a three day weekend?
Boy. Bet he never has THAT behavior again.
Duh.
Exactly NorwayMom...for Mason I took away computer and videogames from him, but I couldn't possibly lock him in his room with nothing...so to him at least being home was better than going to school!
And now the start of this next year has pretty much picked up right where we left off...so far his new school is keeping him in school, but I keep worrying that it's only a matter of time before they can't control him anymore! And then the phone calls start.
I understand your point of view hidngplace...but the problem is for us and I think there are probably a lot of other parents that go through this same thing--the schools don't provide what is needed to give our children everything they need.
I have had to fight for so much for my child so far and he is only in 1st grade! And then we barely get what we are asking for anyway! I don't think I am one of those parents that is being totally ridiculous with my requests...in my city we are offered only mainstreamed schooling...so for me to ask for an aide for my child or PT (when every doctor he has ever seen says he needs it,) doesn't seem that out of ordinary, but yet they won't provide it. I'm sorry but we are a family of 6 with one income and can't afford to be getting these service privately (because insurance won't cover anything either.)
I'm sorry to be going off on a rant here, but it's things like this that bother me so much...our children are expected to follow the same rules as NT children, but yet aren't provided the opportunities to make that successful.
I'm not saying it is ok for my son to have hit his teacher, I'm not saying he shouldn't be punished...but he didn't do it because he is a brat or mean...he did it because he was trying to communicate something and the school failed to recognize and understand that...if he had received more service earlier on we might not be dealing with this now...prevention seems to be the best bet in these situations, but that wasn't and isn't happening.
I am new to all this and really don't deal with public schools but here is my take.....I think it's ridiculous. I wonder if they've ABA implemented at the school because I think they would have approached the incident alot differently. If there was any negative consequence, the child should have lost a priviledge immediately not be penalized in an abstract rewarding way that really only punishes his parents; whom have no control over his behaviours at school.
I think the principal is a dummy.
"""I'm sorry to be going off on a rant here, but it's things like this that bother me so much...our children are expected to follow the same rules as NT children, but yet aren't provided the opportunities to make that successful."""I found the following article interresting:
http://www.fayobserver.com/article?id=272480
Child’s penalty surprises parents
By Andrew C. Martel
Barbara and Jeff Hall acknowledge that their 8-year-old son probably bit and scratched another student at E.E. Miller Elementary School.
But they question whether William, who is autistic, should have been suspended because of the incident two weeks ago. William has little control of his emotions and is unable to speak, so he can’t give his side of a story, Jeff Hall said.
“William becomes aggressive in uncomfortable and unfamiliar situations,” he said. “To punish him for exhibiting those behaviors is punishing him for his disability.”
What happened to William raises questions about how administrators discipline disabled students — and to what extent they should consider a disability when deciding punishment. Principals must ensure the safety of students and guard against disruption of learning, yet they have some discretion in deciding how to handle special needs students who get in trouble.
William was suspended for one day Aug. 30 by Principal Tonya Page after the outburst in a self-contained autism classroom. The third-grader was allowed to return to class after a parent conference last week.
The Halls said they were surprised by the suspension because William had never been disciplined before at school. They hadn’t heard about him behaving badly since classes began in July, they say.
Page said she could not discuss the case because of confidentiality rules. She said she cares about all her students.
“What I want for my child, I want for every child at E.E. Miller: an excellent education and a safe environment,” Page said.
E.E. Miller, a school of 740 students on Rim Road in western Cumberland County, has four autism classes, which is more than any other school in the county. The school system has 366 students with autism.
Page had the authority to suspend William, according to state and local school policies. Principals can decide to suspend students — disabled or not — for periods of less than 10 days, according to Wanda McPhaul, spokeswoman for Cumberland County schools. But principals also have discretion to consider a student’s disability, McPhaul said.
“It’s child-by-child, circumstance-by-circumstance,” she said. “A principal has a responsibility to do what’s best for the child.”
State policy allows schools to treat disabled students just as they would any other students for offenses that would result in suspensions of under 10 days, according to the Handbook on Parents’ Rights, published by the Exceptional Children Division of the N.C. Board of Education.
Cumberland County allows principals to suspend students for “aggressive behavior,” such as biting or scratching, according to its code of conduct.
Short-term suspensions cannot be appealed.
The Hall family enrolled three of their four children at E.E. Miller this year after moving off Fort Bragg. William’s siblings attend regular classes. Jeff Hall was hired to teach an autism class at E.E. Miller at the beginning of the year. A former sergeant first class, he received a hardship discharge from the Army because of William’s disability.
Jeff Hall’s classroom was next to his son’s. But he quit a few days into the school year after deciding that the job was too demanding and that advocating for William could pose a conflict of interest, he said.
Autism experts say students with special needs have some protection against discipline by the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 1975. The law protects students from being punished for having a disability and requires schools to educate children regardless of disabilities.
“You can say that it’s inappropriate for a school system to suspend a child because of something (that’s part of) his disability,” said Steve Kroupa.
He is the director of the Fayetteville clinic of TEACCH, a program through the University of North Carolina that helps autistic people and their families.
Kroupa, who is unfamiliar with details of the Hall case, said he thinks zero-tolerance policies against aggression and violence in school might contradict the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
“We hear cases where a child with autism will bite the teacher and the police get called, and the teacher or principal wants the kid arrested. Where’s the sense in that?” Kroupa said.
Kroupa said schools should evaluate students with autism and related disabilities to determine to what degree they understand right from wrong.
William’s parents agree. They say the whole episode might have been avoided if faculty in William’s classroom had recognized that he was about to lash out and removed him from the classroom — or found a way to calm him. They said the school planned in August to send a team of educators and counselors to E.E. Miller to study William and other special needs children. The team would see what triggers the outbursts and how to prevent them.
But those visits hadn’t been scheduled by the time William was suspended.
If William does not undergo a behavioral study, Jeff Hall worries that his son will be suspended again without warning.
“We’re talking about a nonverbal autistic child. We can’t say (to him), ‘The reason you got suspended was you bit another child. You can’t do that anymore,’” Hall said. “I told him that, but did it get through? I don’t know.”