Wells 1

Simeon Wells

Kade Parry

English 2010

April 26, 2019

Punishment Methods

Suspension and expulsion have been implemented as forms of punishment for many

years. Suspension is a form of punishment that has been enforced in a lot of schools around the

country and consists of completely removing a student from the school that they attend and

forcing them away from their peers, teachers, and others. Suspension used to be a last resort for

students that were struggling in the school environment and creating major problems for other

students, teachers, administrators, or even school grounds. In recent years however, the number

of suspensions has increased dramatically, causing more and more students to be forced away

from the learning environment. When students are completely removed from a learning

environment, it is extremely difficult for them to progress and further their education. ​Whether it

is suspension or expulsion, most people agree that there needs to be a change in the punishment

that is given to students in secondary schools. However, some people still view these

punishments as acceptable forms of discipline.There are alternative methods of punishment that

can be enforced that allow students an opportunity to learn while being disciplined in a

professional way.

There are many different reasons given which seem to justify suspending a student from

secondary school. Some of these reasons are much more severe and seemingly deserving of

some form of punishment, but in recent years it seems that students can be suspended for even
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the smallest acts of rebellion. Christine Reyna and Bernard Weiner wrote an article on a study

that was done. The study tested the legitimacy of punishments that had been given to students of

secondary schools and determined if they were really deserved or not. They found that there have

been a lot of students that have been suspended for a very wide variety of deeds. There doesn’t

seem to be a set formula as to what is deserving of suspension or not. The number of suspensions

has gone up dramatically in the last 10 years and that is because teachers are starting to suspend

students for smaller and smaller acts of rebellion. Something that used to get a student a “slap on

the wrist” is now getting them suspended for long periods of time. The results of this study

showed that often times, students are being over-punished for minor misconduct. This study

introduces the idea that there needs to be a change. (309-319) The study that Reyna and Weiner

reported on is an eye-opener in many ways. It shows that many things in the modern education

system that are slowly getting to a point that isn’t acceptable. The fact that students are getting

suspended for minor misconduct shows that there are flaws that need to be addressed and

changes that need to be made.

When a student is suspended for doing something minor, it can have a very large,

negative effect on that student. They could begin to develop an attitude that could have a spiral

effect and bring them to do even worse things. An attitude that makes them think, “it doesn’t

matter what I do wrong, I’m just going to get suspended anyways. I might as well do something

big and earn my punishment…” which would make them attempt even larger forms of rebellion.

This could lead to suspended students developing an apathetic attitude that reflects indifference

to their actions. Thoughts of engaging in more severe actions of misconduct could be justified

because they understand they’ll be punished regardless of the severity of action. They will begin
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to make bigger and bigger mistakes because they recognize that if they are a “bad kid” (which is

the mindset that will begin to form after they have been suspended from school) then they might

as well have some fun with it. This “bad kid” label develops as students are suspended from

school and allows them to justify doing something big because they are just going to get

suspended anyways. Suspending a student for a minor issue doesn’t solve anything. It only leads

to bigger problems down the road and increases that student’s likelihood of getting suspended

again.

When a student misbehaves, the solution for many teachers and administrators around the

country is to simply suspend that student and force them to leave school for a set amount of time.

This is not the most effective way to punish a student. Matt Cregor, member of the Lawyers

Committee for Civil Rights and Economic Justice addressed the problem of having so many

suspensions but not seeing an improvement of behavior. Cregor stated that, “Our reliance on

suspension is not working—it is not curbing the behavior we are trying to address. As we are

now seeing the positive impact of other ways to discipline, this really is a national conversation

that benefits all of us.” (22-27) Cregor makes it clear that the conversation that we should be

having is not how many students we can suspend, but how we can create a more effective way to

punish students so that they are allowed to improve themselves rather than just postpone bad

behavior.

The point that Matt Cregor makes is a strong one. The reason that teachers and

administrators are suspending students is because they want them to change their behavior.

However, as Cregor pointed out, that just isn’t getting them the desired results. Albert Einstein

said that, “the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting
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different results.” Obviously, the method of just suspending “bad” students and kicking them out

of school every time they do something wrong isn’t helping to solve the behavior problem.

Cregor made that very clear. It isn’t working. If we want a different result, or if we want the

behavior of these students to change, we need to change the approach that we are taking to

punish them. Simply suspending students over and over again isn’t helping.

Alternatives to suspension are being applied all over. Some of them have been very

successful and have helped a lot of students to remain in school. Claudia Hernandez-Meliz

reported about a study done in 2016. The study was the implementation of an alternative to

suspension done in high schools that made it so that the students remained in a learning

environment instead of being kicked out of school altogether. The article describes all the

positive effects that an alternative to suspension can have on the future of a student. It explains

the mental and emotional states of these students and how much healthier they were in those

aspects than those that were just kicked out of school. (252-258) This study that was done was

about in-school suspension that helped students to have an opportunity to stay in school and the

things that they did during their time of suspension was for the most part controlled by the

teachers and administrators that had punished them in the first place. The students that were part

of this study were placed in a controlled environment where they could be observed and they

could work on missing assignments and other school work. The teachers and administrators that

were disciplining the students controlled this study by implementing these new techniques. By

keeping the students in school for their period of punishment, it keeps them off the streets and

can play a huge part in keeping them from getting into even more trouble.
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Following up on the idea of keeping students in school as much as possible, Katie Cotter

Stalker wrote an article about an alternative to suspension and expulsion that gets more students

and teachers involved in the process of disciplining students. Her article discusses a lot about

peer court and getting students involved in the punishment process. She explains a lot about how

effective it has been and the positives that have come from it. Peer court has been able to help a

lot of students to be able to change the way they view rebellion and it gives them a front row seat

to the consequences of bad behavior. It also has been good to have other students have an

opinion about how a student should be disciplined because they understand them in ways that

teachers can’t relate. (17-24) It is apparent that there are alternatives out there that are intended

to keep students in school. There have been many alternatives to suspension that have shown

tremendous success and have been successfully applied to schools around the country. There is

no need to have to resort to suspension so quickly. Teachers and administrators need to be more

creative in their approach to student punishment. It isn’t necessary to resort to suspension as

easily as has been done in the past. Creativity needs to be implemented when approaching

student discipline to help students avoid the negative effects of suspension.

In-school suspension is an amazing alternative to out-of-school suspension because it

allows the child to maintain a certain standard of living. It is not just taking the students out of

school because that is hurting them in the end instead of providing help. Robert C. Morris and

Angela C. Howard observed that “in-school suspension as a method of discipline has become

widely used in schools today.” (156-159) It is becoming widely used in schools today because it

is more effective than traditional suspension techniques. Secondary schools wouldn’t be

implementing a program if it wasn’t fulfilling its purpose and contributing to the success of their
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students. In-school suspension allows the students to stay in a learning environment and maintain

that standard of living that they will be expected to live once they are permitted to return to

regular school attendance. Another reason that this is so effective is that it helps the student to

maintain their school schedule. If a student is suspended for a long period of time, they could

easily fall into a “summer-like” routine of sleeping in and wasting time. When a student that has

formed that routine tries to re-enter the school environment, they are more likely to sleep-in and

miss classes or purposely skip classes to waste time. In-school suspension helps to avoid that by

helping students maintain a healthy schedule and routine.

In some situations, in school suspension might not be the ideal solution. There are some

students that could possibly benefit from yet another alternative method that has been introduced

to discourage teachers and administrators from just kicking a student out of school for an

extended period of time in order to get rid of them. Instead of just getting rid of the problem for a

few days or for a few weeks, there are many different ideas that have surfaced that are meant to

help the students change their behavior to be good rather than just postpone their bad behavior.

Marilyn E. Gootman introduced yet another alternative to suspension which involved a

disciplined at-home curriculum that must be followed by students who are suspended from

school. Although this is less effective than in-school suspension, it is still a much healthier

option than out-of-school suspension. Gootman said,​ “​This in-house suspension model effects

long-term positive changes in students with major behavior problems by building protective

factors to enhance resilience.” (39-41) This is a great opportunity for parents to get involved in

the correctional action taken to help their child to get back on track and out of trouble. Parents

play a large part in a student’s life and this would be a great chance for them to make a
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difference and show their student children that they care and are there for them. For those

students that don’t have parents that are able to assist them, in-school suspension should still be

implemented to allow them an alternative to suspension as well.

There are some that believe that suspension is an effective form of punishment. NJ’s

Ponderings described exactly what an out-of-school suspension means and explained that

out-of-school suspensions “require the student to leave the school and remain home for one to

ten days.” (2018) They showed that this form of discipline is positive because it removes the

student that is creating a problem from the problem that they have created. Essentially they just

remove the problem altogether. Ponderings stated that suspension “removes the student from the

situation.” (2018) which is only positive under certain circumstances. Sarah W. Craun of the

Department of Justice made a point about the need of suspension for certain children. She claims

that “the immediate removal of students, through out-of-school suspension (OSS) or expulsion,

is justifiable and necessary for students who pose a danger to others.”​ (Craun, 6-14) ​If a student is

harming other students, damaging property, or causing other large problems by being a part of a

situation, then it would be most beneficial to remove them from that situation. However, a

student does not have to be sent home in order to be removed from a situation. This type of

situation is a great example of when incorporating in-school suspension would be beneficial.

This allows the student to be removed from a situation in which they were causing problems, yet

allows them to be in a learning environment. This will increase their chances of correcting that

negative behavior and changing to become a better, well-behaved student.

Some may even argue that some students deserve to be suspended because they have

been so disobedient that they deserve the most severe of punishments. However, if teachers and
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administrators truly want to help students to excel, which is what the education system is all

about, then they will try to help them rather than just give them what they feel like the students

deserve. That is when alternatives to suspension play an effective role in student discipline. It

allows the students an opportunity to change and become better, rather than just receive a

consequence that administrators feel is well deserved.

There are so many more reasons that suspension should not be used as a form of

punishment. There are studies of the mental and emotional effect that suspension has on students

that would make you feel bad for even the worst behaved students. Those effects on students

could be addressed for hours on end, but to be brief, suspension can have negative effects far

beyond that which we even realize. It would be beneficial to observe the mental and emotional

effects that suspension has on students. Because it is more of a punishment than productive

discipline to suspend students, there are negative effects that can be seen in these students.

As we can see, there are many alternatives to suspension that would be more helpful to

students than simply removing them from the equation. Suspension has been used far too often in

today’s education system and is causing more and more students to be taken out of schools each

year. Teachers and administrators everywhere should consider the results that stem from out of

school suspension and rethink their current methods. They need to apply these alternative

methods of punishment that allow students to stay in school and continue their education in a

learning environment. This will be healthier for the student and would help them to change rather

than just completely remove them from school. The more a student is in school, the higher their

chances of learning and developing into a competent adult that can help our overall society move
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forward. Therefore, alternatives to suspension should be implemented to allow students the

maximum amount of time in their respective learning environment.

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Works Cited

Craun, Sarah W., “Reducing Out-of-School Suspensions: Practice Guidelines for School Social

Workers.” ​Children & Schools,​ vol. 31, no. 1, Jan. 2009, pp. 6–14. ​EBSCOhost​,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eft&AN=508032378&site=ehost-live.

“Designing an Effective In-School Suspension Program.” ​Clearing House​, vol. 76, no. 3, Jan.

2003, pp. 156–159. ​EBSCOhost​, doi:10.1080/00098650309601994.

“Effective In-House Suspension.” ​Educational Leadership,​ vol. 56, no. 1, Sept. 1998, pp. 39–41.

​EBSCOhost​,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eft&AN=507663933&site=ehost-live.

Hernandez-Melis, Claudia, et al. “Effects of an Alternative to Suspension Intervention in a

Therapeutic High School.” ​Preventing School Failure: Alternative Education for

Children and Youth,​ vol. 60, no. 3, 2016, pp. 252–258.,​ EBSCOhost,​

doi:10.1080/1045988x.2015.1111189.

Ponderings, NJ's. “School Suspensions: Pros, Cons, and Ways to Improve.” ​WeHaveKids,​

WeHaveKids, 1 Dec. 2018,

wehavekids.com/education/School-Suspensions-Pros-Cons-and-Ways-to-Improve.

Reyna, Christine, and Bernard Weiner. “Justice and Utility in the Classroom: An Attributional

Analysis of the Goals of Teachers Punishment and Intervention Strategies.” ​Journal of

Educational Psychology​, vol. 93, no. 2, 2001, pp. 309–319., ​EBSCOhost,​

doi:10.1037//0022-0663.93.2.309.
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“School Suspension and Expulsion.” ​Principal Leadership,​ vol. 16, no. 2, Oct. 2015, pp. 22–27.

​EBSCOhost​,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eft&AN=110210932&site=ehost-live.

Stalker, Katie Cotter. “Teen Court–School Partnerships: Reducing Disproportionality in School

Discipline.” ​Children & Schools,​ vol. 40, no. 1, 2017, pp. 17–24., ​EBSCOhost,​

doi:10.1093/cs/cdx024.