I agree that school is not a "social club," as you put it. However, as I've stated before in previous posts about this topic, school is an important arena for developing one's social skills. Surely you can see that from the other posts. Just look back into your own past. It's a simple (and easy to determine) fact that schools are critical to social development.
No, your friends won't be there to pay the bills in the long run. No, schools aren't there to cater to the personal needs of any student. Yes, it's the school's job to teach the students. However, there's only so much that a person can learn from the actual cirriculum. The important aspects of going to school are to *learn how to learn on your own*. To go beyond the presented cirriculum. Part of that is social development. More specifically, how to interact with a group of vastly different people.
Ever hear of foriegn exchange students? Again, the same goal. The "book-learning" comes secondary to the education received from learning about a different culture.
Since it's been a few years since I went to high school, I've tried to generate a balanced view of the bullies and the bullied. I was one of the kids that got picked on in school (as most of you reading this probably were, too), but I learned how to deal with those situations in a constructive manner. The high school that I went to was far from perfect, but I get the general impression that it was more tolerable than the other schools in the area. I actually got along with some of the "jocks". Regardless, there were just some people that chose to pick on other students.
There was no action against any of these kids. I didn't threaten violence. There weren't any metal detectors at the doors and halls. There *were*, on the other hand, a few bomb threats (conveniently called in around a test or two). Nobody got hurt. It was all a social "dance", if you will.
Now, I'm not condoning the action of the bullies, nor am I defending the victim. It's the administrators that need to get a clue. There has always been social differences between groups for as long as anyone can remember. Confrontation is a part of life and needs to be dealt with. It's a "life-lesson" that everyone needs to learn at some point. Instead of suspending kids for being bullies or threatening retaliation to those bullies, it would be far more productive to send each of these kids to a camp/seminar/etc. where these skills are focused on. It may take a few trips for some people, but eventually it should all work.
That's my take on the whole thing. It's long winded, but I still can't stand to see these things happening day after day. Thanks for letting me vent, all!
...but isn't school a place to learn what you need to learn in order to find your place in the world? And isn't the social interaction that is forced upon students supposed to be a way to figure out how to deal with the many different (and sometimes difficult) social situations one might encounter later in life?
Realize that these are kids that are still developing their skills, social behavior, and trying to figure out how they fit in with the rest of the planet's population. What these kids need to understand is that it's ok to be different. That's what makes the world a stronger place. What the school administrators need to understand is that these are kids that need guidance in their lives. Easier said than done, I know.
Things like this won't get better, though. Most HS administrations are politically based, not focusing on helping future generations develop into functional members of society.
And, yes, threats of all kinds have been a part of growing up for almost everyone. Of course it needs to be dealt with. But I don't think that it's the administration's duty to shelter each and every student from each other. That would be counter-productive in their social development.
Despite what many people (espeically many school administrators) would like to believe, kids don't change from generation to generation. Kids will always form social groups that clash with other social groups. That's just human nature. You need to keep the individual acts of violence in check so that things don't get out of hand. But these kids really need to learn how to deal with their peers without too much outside interference. It's all part of the learning process.
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I agree that school is not a "social club," as you put it. However, as I've stated before in previous posts about this topic, school is an important arena for developing one's social skills. Surely you can see that from the other posts. Just look back into your own past. It's a simple (and easy to determine) fact that schools are critical to social development. No, your friends won't be there to pay the bills in the long run. No, schools aren't there to cater to the personal needs of any student. Yes, it's the school's job to teach the students. However, there's only so much that a person can learn from the actual cirriculum. The important aspects of going to school are to *learn how to learn on your own*. To go beyond the presented cirriculum. Part of that is social development. More specifically, how to interact with a group of vastly different people. Ever hear of foriegn exchange students? Again, the same goal. The "book-learning" comes secondary to the education received from learning about a different culture. Since it's been a few years since I went to high school, I've tried to generate a balanced view of the bullies and the bullied. I was one of the kids that got picked on in school (as most of you reading this probably were, too), but I learned how to deal with those situations in a constructive manner. The high school that I went to was far from perfect, but I get the general impression that it was more tolerable than the other schools in the area. I actually got along with some of the "jocks". Regardless, there were just some people that chose to pick on other students. There was no action against any of these kids. I didn't threaten violence. There weren't any metal detectors at the doors and halls. There *were*, on the other hand, a few bomb threats (conveniently called in around a test or two). Nobody got hurt. It was all a social "dance", if you will. Now, I'm not condoning the action of the bullies, nor am I defending the victim. It's the administrators that need to get a clue. There has always been social differences between groups for as long as anyone can remember. Confrontation is a part of life and needs to be dealt with. It's a "life-lesson" that everyone needs to learn at some point. Instead of suspending kids for being bullies or threatening retaliation to those bullies, it would be far more productive to send each of these kids to a camp/seminar/etc. where these skills are focused on. It may take a few trips for some people, but eventually it should all work. That's my take on the whole thing. It's long winded, but I still can't stand to see these things happening day after day. Thanks for letting me vent, all!
...but isn't school a place to learn what you need to learn in order to find your place in the world? And isn't the social interaction that is forced upon students supposed to be a way to figure out how to deal with the many different (and sometimes difficult) social situations one might encounter later in life?
Realize that these are kids that are still developing their skills, social behavior, and trying to figure out how they fit in with the rest of the planet's population. What these kids need to understand is that it's ok to be different. That's what makes the world a stronger place. What the school administrators need to understand is that these are kids that need guidance in their lives. Easier said than done, I know.
Things like this won't get better, though. Most HS administrations are politically based, not focusing on helping future generations develop into functional members of society.
And, yes, threats of all kinds have been a part of growing up for almost everyone. Of course it needs to be dealt with. But I don't think that it's the administration's duty to shelter each and every student from each other. That would be counter-productive in their social development.
Despite what many people (espeically many school administrators) would like to believe, kids don't change from generation to generation. Kids will always form social groups that clash with other social groups. That's just human nature. You need to keep the individual acts of violence in check so that things don't get out of hand. But these kids really need to learn how to deal with their peers without too much outside interference. It's all part of the learning process.