Survey for highschool students and/or recently graduated

Question

I work with students who have gotten in trouble for various reasons and have been given In School Suspension. I know that copying pages out of the dictionary, or answering "role playing" questions dealing with fighting or skipping school etc. is probably not going to influence the student(s) in a positive way; it basically is "busy work". My question then would be, what would be the best way to positively influence a student with behavior issues? Maybe asking them to write an essay on what they plan to do after graduation? (Gets them to focus on what they want to be in the future, goals etc.). Or, possibly have them jot down 50 good qualities about themselves that they are proud of (Promoting self esteem). I just need - from a students point of view- ideas on what would actually "sink in".....to get these students out of ISS and back in the classroom, on the right track.

It's hard being a teen. And I feel like their opinion would be very useful. SERIOUS SUGGESTIONS ONLY PLEASE :)

Answer 1

To be honest, I really don't know what to tell you. I'm going to be a sophomore in high school this year, and I've never been in the slightest bit of trouble at school, and don't have a rebelous bone in my body. What I do know is that most of these people don't care about school, don't care about there future and probably don't care a whole lot about themselves. Not much is really going to change them. The administration at my school thinks that if they show these kids (and everyone else) these dumb videos about being a better person that it is going to help,and they are actually going to be. WRONG! They don't care. They don't watch the video for one thing and for two, even if they did, they would just make fun of it and laugh about it with their so called friends. Sorry for my babbling, I know this doesn't really concern your problem, but what I'm trying to say is that you need to actually expose these kids to what will happen to them if they don't change their lifestyle. Maybe try to take them to the jail and show them what happens to people who do bad things or share with them statistics of people like them and what happens to them after school ends, and they can no longer slack through life. Find stories of people like themsleves and share it with them. Getting them to  figure out what they would really like to do with their life probably wouldn't be a bad idea either. Figure out their interests and help them find a job that offers similar things and have them research it. Just convince them that they can't slack their way through life or something bad will happen to them. If this helps then great, if not I'm sorry. I tried. Best of Luck!