Texas schools using police to ticket elementary kids

[TexasGal]

I came across this article and my first thought was; "That is outrageous!" Seems Texas schools have grown tired of disciplining even elementary kids and now are increasingly ticketing them with Class C misdemeanors so their parents have to actually go to court to settle it. I guess I could see that for a seriously out of control kid who has endangered his/her classmates, but these tickets are given for a lot more than that and even to kids as young as six.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookou ... as-schools

[7075-T7]

Well, since any shred of "discipline" in the classroom is gone because we can't have kids singled out anymore. And since it's the teachers fault for their grades and advancement (not the Students, parents, School board, etc) I don't blame them for getting the Police involved. The kids know they arent culpable for their actions, and if they don't want to do anything, then they won't because it will only reflect negatively on the teacher. Even if eachers call the parents, most of the time the parents don't care or say "well, what are you going to do about it?". They also know that the threat of real discipline is gone, and a trip to the princpals office and an imaginary slap on the wrist will be all that they get.

If the police are called because a child is being a continual terror, then it is the parents fault.

/rant

[Purplehood]

Based on today's realities, I think it is probably a good idea. It forces the parent to assume a little responsibility for a child's behavior at school. If you don't want the Teacher or the Principal to discipline the child, who do you want to do it?

My elementary school teacher always stuck me out in the hall.
My elementary school prinicipal whipped my butt and called my Mom.
My Dad whipped my butt again when I got home.
My Jr High Asst Principal whipped my butt.
My Dad whipped my butt again when I got home.

I turned out great.

[OldCannon]

My ex is a middle school teacher who has taught at a school that has deteriorated from a middle class neighborhood to a poverty-stricken neighborhood in the last 10 years (thank you, Section 8 housing). The resulting drop in tax revenues has had an impact on the schools (larger class sizes) and on the students (more culturally aggressive, less respect for teachers/authorities/etc.). Add on top of this a collection of parents that now see the school as a money piñata if their "baby" gets disciplined, and I can see why schools would quickly delegate this to the courts. The trajectory will only get worse.

[Abraham]

And some people wonder why home schooling is ever increasing in popularity...

Public schooling needs a complete overhaul and until that happens public school education in every category will steadily erode.

[Oldgringo]

Based on today's realities, I think it is probably a good idea. It forces the parent to assume a little responsibility for a child's behavior at school. If you don't want the Teacher or the Principal to discipline the child, who do you want to do it?

My elementary school teacher always stuck me out in the hall.
My elementary school prinicipal whipped my butt and called my Mom.
My Dad whipped my butt again when I got home.
My Jr High Asst Principal whipped my butt.
My Dad whipped my butt again when I got home.

I turned out great.

Me too.

The only "spanking" I got in school was in my senior year of high school. I probably could have taken the principal but that would have meant going "down town" for an extended duration. The really bad guys were "down town" and I didn't want no part of that.

BTW, I agree with you in calling the law on the little miscreants.

[Jasonw560]

Down here, the kid gets so many truancies, and the kids and their parents have to go to court. The parents are fined for the kids not showing up for school.

My kids are great students. Maybe it's that we discipline them at home. And not ONCE has CPS been called.

[surprise_i'm_armed]

It's a sad state of affairs when most schools, even in "better" suburban
cities, have permanent SRO's (School Resource Officers) on campus.
These are LEO's who are posted at the schools every day.

I can remember when a trip to the principal's office was something
scary and undesirable.

SIA

[Purplehood]

It's a sad state of affairs when most schools, even in "better" suburban
cities, have permanent SRO's (School Resource Officers) on campus.
These are LEO's who are posted at the schools every day.

I can remember when a trip to the principal's office was something
scary and undesirable.

SIA

...and daily. /sigh

[flintknapper]

I just have to laugh at this and at the same wonder...how we got to this point.

Its been a long time since I was in grade school (1960's), but you didn't "act up" then (and get away with it).

Additionally, I went to a private Catholic School....and BELIEVE ME.......punishment was swift and sure. Not saying that no one ever misbehaved, but it didn't last long and was rarely repeated.

One trip to see Mother Superior was all anyone needed to be "scared straight".

About parenting, back then....any punishment dealt out at school usually paled in comparison to what you received at HOME....as a result of misconduct. I suppose these days....a "spanking" would be tantamount to child abuse, sheeeeesh!

[Jasonw560]

I was told my old HS had a seat outside the principals' office with a plaque saying "Jason W-- Memorial Detention Seat".

[DONT TREAD ON ME]

Based on today's realities, I think it is probably a good idea. It forces the parent to assume a little responsibility for a child's behavior at school. If you don't want the Teacher or the Principal to discipline the child, who do you want to do it?

My elementary school teacher always stuck me out in the hall.
My elementary school prinicipal whipped my butt and called my Mom.
My Dad whipped my butt again when I got home.
My Jr High Asst Principal whipped my butt.
My Dad whipped my butt again when I got home.

I turned out great.

How dare you hint that a parent should be responsible for their children. They are supposed to be friends with them, bros if you will. To be a parent you have to be uncool, uptight and a disciplinarian

I have said for a long time now that the problem is not the kids its the parents. It all starts at home. Parents do not want to be parents. They want to be friends with their children and in doing that they do not teach them responsibility, discipline, manners or anything else for that matter. They let them get away with their little "whoa is me" attitude at home and the little jerks think that they can do that everywhere.

[gigag04]

Let's reign this in just a bit. The author is taking some creative license with his facts. In Texas you aren't even capable of commiting a crime until you are 10 yoa. The tickets are written to the parents for under 10. 10-16 yoa and you go to juvi court - which isn't really a criminal court, it's more like a civil court that addresses criminal charges for juvs.

Hope this helps.

[Pawpaw]

It takes a village to raise a child!

(Where is that puke icon?)

[Ameer]

"Disrupting class, using profanity, misbehaving on a school bus, student fights, and truancy once meant a trip to the principal's office. Today, such misbehavior results in a Class C misdemeanor ticket and a trip to court for thousands of Texas students and their families each year,"

Disrupting class, using profanity, misbehaving on a school bus
It sounds extreme but is this the punishment for the first offense? If they were sent to the principal's office many times before and didn't learn to behave, and their parents were informed and they didn't teach their child to behave, maybe the class C ticket is the way to make parents accountable. Sometimes you need a big stick to get the donkey's attention.

Fights.
Maybe a class C misdemeanor ticket is not right. Maybe they should be charged with a class A misdemeanor for assaulting another student. (Texas Penal Code 22.01) That would be a new way to deal with bullies.

Truancy.
It makes sense to give a ticket. It is a parents job to know where there child is. If the child is supposed to go to school, but doesn't go, then it makes sense to hold them and their parents responsible.