This week, Dallas Independent School District trustee Miguel Solis proposed a new disciplinary approach that would all but eliminate suspension as a punishment for the elementary grades. He’s right to do so. Suspension rates in Dallas and around the state are much too high, especially for black students. However, for this culture shift to succeed, it is imperative that the trustees give new supports to teachers, administrators and students to better handle difficult situations.
Solis’s proposal acknowledges that suspension is rarely the right option, especially for young children. Often, kids interpret excessive punishment as a sign that adults are out of control as well. Not only are these feelings and stressors too big for me to handle, they think, but they’re also too big for the adults in my life. And for many educators, suspension already represents an option issued only when they have tried all else. Without suspension on the table, teachers may feel more powerless to control their classrooms and create a positive learning environment.
Look what happened with the many zero-tolerance policies adopted in the past 25 years. Administrators meant well, but since they failed to provide a range of options, or to take context into account, many unintended consequences ensued. A single suspension or expulsion, for instance, could double the risk that students would repeat a grade.
If Dallas ISD restricts the use of suspension, leaders should adopt three well-researched approaches thare have proven successful elsewhere.
1. All teachers need training to recognize the impact of trauma and toxic stress on children’s brains and children’s ability to manage their behavior. Often what looks like defiance is actually a reaction to trauma; what seems like disengagement is a child’s fight-flight-or-freeze reflex provoked by chronic, toxic stressors.
Researchers now understand that childhood adversity is far more prevalent than imagined. A recent study revealed that nearly half of Texas children experience one or more adverse childhood experiences, such as economic hardship, divorce or living with a parent who has a substance abuse problem or mental illness. A tragic 12 percent of children have experienced three or more adverse life events. Without intervention, these events can result in levels of stress that can literally change a child’s brain and disguise themselves as intentional misbehavior.
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