Step 1: Assess Your Current Reality
At County High School, we are starting to see an alarming trend that is starting to affect the success of our student’s academic achievement, a decline in moral character. In high school, we are so worried about what a student knows on a standardized state test that we forget to teach them how to be a well-rounded person. Theodore Roosevelt once said, “To educate a person in mind but not in morals is to educate a menace to society.” (Lickona, 1991, p. 4) The school has seen a 30% increase in discipline referrals about cheating, disrespect, and inappropriate behavior over the last five years. “Behaviors such as lying, stealing, not performing well in school, skipping class, or exhibiting general disruptive actions are fairly common among teens.” (Chen, 2013, p. 1) The lack of character that these students are coming in with is starting to affect all aspects of the campus; the athletic programs and the fine arts programs. In the past two years, two basketball players were suspended from school and kicked off the team for marijuana use before they entered school on a school day, two baseball players were excused from the baseball program for sneaking and drinking vodka on the school bus before a baseball game, and four girl soccer players were disciplined for leaving the school they were competing at, without permission, to go to Target to get snacks while they wait for their contest. These athletes are supposed to represent the school in a positive, leadership capacity and promote our school so that future athletes will want to attend. If our athletes are acting in this manner, one can imagine how the rest of the student population behaves on campus.
What needs to be done is to...
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...lement this program campus-wide, which will help with the cost of the program. Piloting a new program will allow us to create lessons and handouts that work and try new teaching techniques, and allow the staff to have dialogue with each other on successful lessons. Piloting a new program will be exciting, but it will take a lot of work and time to try new ideas and lessons, but if the program works like it is designed to, then the results will all be worth it.
Works Cited
Chen, G (2008). Dealing with Behavioral Issues in Middle and High School. Public School Policies. Retrieved from http://www.publicschoolreview.com/articles/49
Likona, T. (1991). Educating for Character: How schools can teach respect and responsibility. New York: Bantam Books.
Williamson, R., & Blackburn, B. R. (2010). Supporting Student Learning. Principal Leadership, 10(8), 65-67.
High school sports are approached with clashing opinions. Some of these opinions are positive, and supportive of athletics. “Athleticism, among many activities, offers teens a physical outlet to exert their troubles, anger, emotions, and other feelings” (Chen 1). This can be observed in nearly all of the football players in Friday Night Lights. This can also be noticed in the world today. “Athletics help high school students understand their own abilities and talents” (Chen 1). This piece of evidence is very accurate when describing high school athletes. Sports can make a high school student humble. As can be seen by the preceding information, high school athletics can have a positive impact on a student’s life.
1. Based on what you read in the text and viewed in the modules, what do you believe are some effective strategies for dealing with students with behavioral issues? Please be specific to information from the modules and the text. Show me what you have learned!
Within a community is a sense of unity, which for many is brought together by the young athletes of the community. In his article “High School Sports Have Turned Into Big Business,” Mark Koba of CNBC highlights that within the last thirty to forty years high school football has escalated into a highly revered tradition in which not only communities, but highly successful corporations have begun to dedicate millions of dollars towards (Koba n. pg.). This highlights the status of sports within the community and may explain part of the reason schools would favor sports over other programs. Because sports programs can often turn over big profits for schools, they tend to dedicate most of their excess funds towards sports, and rely on sports programs to create large profits for the school. When school administrators see how much sports unite, excite, and benefit the school, they develop a respect for sports and consider it a necessity to provide a good sports program for their students and community. Also in his article, Koba quotes an interviewee named Mark Conrad who is the associate professor of legal and ethical studies at Fordham University 's school of...
Weber, G. (2014, January 23). How can we bring respect back into our schools. Retrieved February 25, 2014, from Crisis Prevention website: http://www.crisisprevention.com/Blogs/The-Empathic-Educator/February-2014/How-Can-We-Bring-Respect-Back-Into-Our-Schools
Lickona, T. (1991). Educating for character: How our schools can teach respect and responsibility. New York, NY: Bantam Books.
But, there needs to be more done than just funding. Therefore, to establish a nurturing academic environment, “families, schools, and communities all need to work together to create an environment that is healthy for the youths” (Center for Disease Control and Prevention 2009). This means that the parents, community, and school needs to impact the at-risk youths’ life positively. As a result, one method that can provide this positive impact is the restorative justice disciplinary strategy. Restorative Justice is the act of not punishing students through harsh methods, but in four different ways (London 2017). First, “administration needs to address all the needs and concerns the school has” (London 2017). Secondly, school faculties and students need to have a healthy bond where conversations are able to happen safely (London 2017). Thirdly, instead of punishing the students for breaking the rules, faculties need to sit down with the students to discuss about what happened and how to prevent the situation from repeating (London 2017). Lastly, faculties need to put in the effort to help the youths repair broken friendships and develop a safe space where students can enjoy learning (London 2017). Through this, at-risk or misbehaved youths can learn how to problem solve, practice proper social behavior, and spend more time in an academic
Some of these students are star athletes and recreation becomes the primary factor in their lives. It has been set into their minds when they were young by their parents and piers. Early in their lives the child is taught the importance of being the best and nothing else matters. The school system now comes to realize how important this athlete has become to the school team and grades are given to keep the student on the team, and problems are just pushed aside.
Over the past few decades, the need for character education programs in United States’ schools has been widely debated and become increasingly popular particularly at the elementary level. However, the root of character education in the United States extends back to Horace Mann in the 1840’s who advocated that “character development was as important as academics in American schools” (USDE, 2011, para. 1). In response to the more recent realization of the importance of character education, the U.S. Congress authorized the Partnerships in Character Education Program in 1994; and character education was re-emphasized again in 2001 in the No Child Left Behind Act (USDE, 2011). As a result of the U.S. Department of Education’s goals to “promote strong character and citizenship among our nation’s youth” and increase student achievement, numerous federal resources as well as grants at the state and local levels have been established to assist in the design, implementation, and sustainment of “high-quality opportunities for students to learn and understand the importance of strong character in their lives” (USDE, 2011, para. 9). In addition, President Bush increased funding for character education program implementation in 2003 from $8 million to $25 million following a White House conference including “nationally recognized experts” who met to discuss “the need for and effectiveness of character education programs” (USDE, 2003, pg.1).
Martin, G., & Pear, J. (1999). Behavior Modification: What it is and How to do it. Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey.
Sports can help many at- risk youths. In order to participate in sports you need to be committed and willing to work hard. You also have to learn to respect others and accept that winning isn’t the only measure of success. Losing can build character as well. When youth participate in a sports they enjoy, they are less likely to engage in behaviors that are harmful or dangerous to themselves and others. It is for these reasons schools should strive to maintain athletic programs for their students.
As a teacher managing problem behavior in your classroom can be one of the most challenging tasks. Behavior problems can range from disruption of lessons to acts of violence against fellow students and teachers. Children’s emotional setbacks and life challenges can also contribute to behavior issues at school. A study done by the Justice Center and the Public Policy Research Institute found that six out of ten students suffered from an “emotional disturbance” and were expelled or suspended between seventh and twelfth grade (Firke, 2011). This same study showed that discipline varied greatly between schools. This report also revealed the urgent need for a more thoughtful technique in school discipline policies. In many cases teachers have exhausted their classroom management strategies without success. Behavior Modification is aimed at improving school and classroom behavior, and can give teachers additional tools to help them to deal proactively and effectively with behaviors that are disruptive to students and teachers in the classroom. When children are disruptive in the classroom it can cause a lot of problems for their classmates and their teacher. Yet, in the long run, it's the disruptive child themselves who is most impacted, on both a social and educational level (Epstein, Atkins, Cullinan, Kutash, & Weaver, 2008). Behavior modification techniques should be used in school, to change the negative behaviors, and increase the positive behaviors seen in these children.
The basis of good character involves being respectful, honest, hardworking, responsible, caring, and understanding. Parents and teachers alike wish for their students to possess good character; but what does “character” mean in the realm of education; and whose responsibility is it to ensure that students do in fact develop good character? The Character Education Partnership (2003, pg. 1), defines good character as involving “understanding, caring about, and acting upon core ethical values”, and thus takes a holistic approach to the development of character in students by developing the “cognitive, emotional, and behavioral aspects of moral life.” Through character education, students can grow to understand core values, learn to develop caring relationships, and grow in self-motivation; thus students grow in character as their understanding and subsequent commitment deepens through varied opportunities to apply values through everyday interactions (CEP, 2003). In theory, a student who possesses good character is a more productive, responsible, respectful, and caring student; yet the question as to whether a student with good character is a better student academically remains.
Yell, Mitchell L., and Michael E. Rozalski. "The Impact of Legislation and Litigation on Discipline and Student Behavior in the Classroom." Preventing School Failure 52.3 (2008): 7-16. EBSCO MegaFILE. EBSCO. Web. 19 Nov. 2010.
In a society with a vast array of different beliefs and mediums through which these beliefs are presented, children can get lost in an overwhelming sea of influential ideas and concepts not necessarily intended for their eyes and ears. Character education is a concept that calls for teachers and school curriculums to guide students in learning what Edward F. DeRoche and Mary M. Williams (2001, p. 25) described as “core values held sacred by a democratic society.” Parents are generally considered the teachers of morals, but if values like sharing, compassion, and honesty are never enforced or addressed outside the home, these values may never be established as a stable foundation in the child’s mind. Character education’s purpose is to help children choose to be well-mannered, stable, cooperative individuals. Character education is not in every school system, but its support is growing along with the amount of research evidence increasing in its favor (Viadero, 2003). The teaching of values in education has evolved into character education, and today there are different studies, designs, and resources for character education programs in schools to foster moral growth and citizenship in children.
It is said that “Character education promotes core ethical values as the basis of good character.” This means that some values which include caring, honesty, fairness, responsibility, and respect for self and others are all essential to building character education. The hope is that schools that implement character education programs look at these values as obligations for the student to uphold.