Is a lack of discipline in schools the real cause of the problems with our educational system?

Question

Our educational system is in crisis. We have fewer kids graduating High School as a percentage, than we have had in 40 years, yet we are currently spending more on education than ever before. Is the real problem a lack of discipline? Teachers seem to be unable to control their classrooms anymore. Parents seem to always feel their kid is not a trouble maker. What is the the real problem here?

Answer 1

The problem with the education system is the lack of good bible based teaching that used to be in schools.  Lets look at the pattern.  When this country was founded, it was based on biblical standings. Education was good.  The more we allowed God, the ten commandments and the bible to be taken out, common sense tells us the outcome. Put 2 and 2 together. As those things were taken out, more imagination and false teachings being brought in, no wonder why out kids are turning out the way they are.  Less discipline at home. Parents not taking their responsibility seriously and pawning it off on someone else.  If we as parents don't take the right action then we are allowing someone else to take the wrong action. If our children can't look to us for the right information then they will find the wrong information from a bad source. Use common sense and do what's right in Jesus name. Amen

Answer 2

The lack of a parent-teacher alliance.

Now-a-days parents are against teachers....undermining teachers.

Seriously, you got parents suing school systems for expelling their child for cheating. WTH is that all about??

You have parents who sit-in with their child, then you have the parent who does the child's work for them and we can't forget about the cultural barriers. Some parents and teachers can't build an alliance because the parent is working 2 jobs just to make ends meet or you can have the parent who doesn't understand a l**k of English.

It all falls back on  the parents. They are either not doing enough or doing to much.

*edit: I live in a state where certain schools still have a right to spank or discipline the child....I'm all for it.  We had the problem way before the NCLB law, now with it it's just getting worse.

Teachers have their hands tied when it comes to dishing out discipline...heck, they can't even make recommendations w/o stepping on someones toes. It's getting to the point that most teachers are now required to have liability insurance, just in case, God forbid, they tell a child what to do and the parent feels threatened by it.

Answer 3

I think a huge part of the problem is NCLB, and another issue is that parents are not speaking to their children. Across the board, parents are too busy, too stressed out, too unavailable, to have real conversations with their kids. They aren't reading to them and they aren't teaching them anything. Then when the kids come to school, they have no idea how to learn, because it hasn't been set up. I see parents all the time whose idea of talking to their child is to tell him to shut up. Then they wonder why he can't behave in school.

I work with problem kids, so I am a bit biased, but I see it in the general ed schools too. The kids have no base for building knowledge on - they take in information and have no idea how to process it. Then they end up 15, in 8th grade, with no clue how to read. But we jack up their grades enough to pass them, and tell them they're special and can be whatever they want to be.

Discipline is huge, too, because when kids are acting up, they can't possibly be learning. I do discipline all day but it means nothing if it doesn't continue at home. I have kids who will curse at me, beat up another kid, spit at the bus driver, and then when I call his mother, she tells me "Well, you guys are the experts, you deal with him." Then next week that kid has new sneakers and a PSP. If his mother is not going to take the PSP away when he's bad in school, where's his motivation to do well?

And lastly, I blame video games and that whole culture as well. My kids are so overstimulated that they have no patience for any lesson or discussion that takes more than 3 minutes. We need to adjust our teaching styles somewhat, but we also need to remind kids that it is not their god-given right to be entertained 24-7. We can make learning as fun as possible, but we can't put blinky lights into everything, it's just not possible.

wow that was long. I am one stressed teacher, it is definitely June!

Answer 4

I want to piggy back on what TechTeach03 said. NCLB is the biggest problem of all. If no child gets ahead, then no child is left behind, right?

My school has this "wonderful" no 0 policy. That means that if a child doesn't do their work, you give them a 60. Not a 0, a 60. This is "so that if they change their mind and want to succeed they aren't doomed to fail." So does that mean if I don't do any of my work at the school I will still get 60% of my pay?? NO. This is what we are teaching these kids....its actually frightening!

Answer 5

Parents!! Lack of discipline at home,that's just it you said it parents think that their kid is perfect!

Answer 6

The system itself, which stifles both teachers and students.

Here is a link to a  talk by John Gatto, former NY State and NYC Teacher Of The Year.http://hometown.aol.com/tma68/7lesson.ht...

Answer 7

no too much parenting and not enough education going on in our schools.

Answer 8

It's not tat the teachers can't control the classrooms, it's that they are severely limited in what they can do in it.  Also people make lots of excuses to why their children misbehave, there is little persdonal responsibility anymore.  I worked in a school that wouldn't let you put the children in detention during recess, couldn't make them eat lunch silently, and you had better not send them to the office, because you were the failure then.  I had no options for discipline, and really had a hard time.  I eventually developed a reward system that kept most kids inb line, but you felt like you were bribing them to behave then.

Answer 9

No, it is the lack of discipline in the home. You get your education at home and your training at school.

Answer 10

Ultimately each student makes the choices he or she does--behavior, effort put into school, whether to graduate. The problem starts at home. Some children are just uncontrollable no matter what a parent does, but still the parent is blamed. What if the child is a sociopath? Is that the parent's fault? I think a majority of the problem is that many kids come from divorced homes or both parents are working and don't have time for the kids. Where are kids going to learn their values? TV? Their peers who might be learning from siblings? Lack of direction and low self esteem probably play a big role. The school system is lousy, though. Unless you have the type of personality that needs all that formality and structure then your creativity is squelched and your intellect stifled. School is akin to a juvenile correction facility. Basically, the school system is failing the students (not meeting their needs, not challenging them, not helping those who need help), the parents are failing them (because they can't or won't be there for their kids), and the kids are failing themselves because they don't know who they are, have an "I don't care attitude," or lack self esteem or direction.

As for the educational system, it does need an overhaul. If taxpayers are paying for education, education should be more hands-on and explorative like Goddard, Montessori, and magnet schools.

Answer 11

discipline is a root of the problem but not the only cause...we have more students coming into school with fewer basic skills...too much time has to be spent catching kids up to where they should be...i have 8th graders in my math class who don't know the 3X tables...some can't identify division signs, nor know the difference between positive and negative #s...the biggest problem is the NCLB (no child left behind) Act and how it handcuffs teachers from actually assessing their students...

ex: i have a kid who missed 77 days of school this year and failed every class...yet because he showed up on the days when they gave the state math and english tests and he was able to eke out a 2 out of 4 i am told he has to be promoted, although he has no knowledge of what was taught this year and was able to achieve 50% on a test that is so watered down it doesn't even truly measure academic levels anymore...

administrators are threatened with failing ratings or having funding withheld because they don't meet the magic number that was selected for this year...my friend works in a school that the city rated as an A but the state found to be severely negligent in its practices and rated as an F...many school districts are pushing kids through until the point comes where it is realized these kids have no marketable skills whatsoever...as part of my class i have kids fill out job applications from local chain and stores, most of them can't even do this successfully...

Answer 12

The real problem is parents not taking responsibility for their children.

Answer 13

One major problem  is the NCLB law. This law SUPPOSE to guarantee all students reading on grade level.

But the reality is, schools get money if the kids do good on the reading tests.

SO, schools now ONLY teach what is on these tests, so the kids can pass, so the schools can get more money.

It's boring, kid can't learn anymore, just sit there and be spoon fed by teachers to MEMORIZE and not LEARN information so they can pass the tests so the school can get that money.

Another problem is, NCLB law mandates that schools with the less disclipline issues gets MORE MONEY.

So, WHY is there STILL so much more bad behavior than ever before?

The ONLY way that the 'powers that be' can know if schools have disclipline issues or not is by the schools written disclipline records.

Schools don't WANT disclipline records so they can get that money. SO, instead of schools actually discliplining the kids to get the money, they don't disclipline them AT ALL.

THIS is why tehre is bullying, fighting, KILLING in schools.

There are LOTS of teachers here on answers who are desperately seeking help for disclipline issues and I always wonder why they dont' follow the schools disclipline plan?

Some have told me it's because when they DO, the principal and others ABOVE them don't follow the  policy themselves!

So the principal does NOT allow suspensions, detention, etc so there will be no proof so they can GET THAT MONEY.

Answer 14

I see the problem as twofold:

(1) Lack of parental involvement in every aspect of their school-age children, all the way from discipline and accountability to being actually involved in their child's schooling; and

(2) anything run by the government will always be inferior to something run by the private sector.  I'm not talking about private schools; I'm talking about too much governmental bureaucracy in our educational system.