WHY can't teachers disclipline students anymore??

Question

There are SO MANY teachers here on the answers board saying they are not allowed to disclipline the kids anymore.

WHY??

I have heard it's because NCLB mandates that schools will get more money for less disclipline issues, so instead of schools actually making the kids behave so they can get the money,

they don't do a THING because they know if they have disclipline reports they won't get the money.

Do schools even have disclipline policies anymore??

Answer 1

Like anything else, times are a changing.  My Dad talked of getting whacks so Grandma and Grandpa wouldn't find out what he had been up to in school.  Kind of an option, pay me now, or pay Mom and Dad later.  Of course, if they found out, double jeopardy.  

Political Correctness and whiners have turned us all soft and yes, teachers can discipline, but not like in the "olden days".  Dad turned out alright, so paddling must not be all that bad of an action for misbehavior.

Answer 2

Of course teachers can discipline students.  Disciplining them is a much different kind of thing now than it was even 10 years ago, and definitely 20 years ago.  As much as teachers might want to at times, we don't slap kids around with anything anymore.  Disciplining them is about refocusing them mostly.  Stopping the chatter and text messaging and bringing them back to the topic being discussed in class.  I have to agree with Sassy on this one.  Kids today have much less personal discipline because they are not taught it at home.  Too many parents try to be their kid's friend, or believe that their child can't possibly do anything wrong and don't discipline them at home so they get away with anything.  They expect that to bleed over at school and they will pitch fits at school.  If you look at the days when teachers could use rulers or paddles, it wasn't the fact that they could use those so much as the parents backed up the teachers, mostly.  The concept of I trust the teacher to give a proper punishment is not there anymore.  People resent and often get angered at teachers for doing what the parent is too afraid, or incapable, to do at home.  And I'm sure it has nothing to do with NCLB

Answer 3

It makes teachers either have to disconnect themselves more, or it forces them to seek out some supernatural way of control.

It makes no sense.

Answer 4

Good question....my aunt lost her teaching certifications like 30 yrs ago for squirting a little soap in the students mouth after he started cussing uncontrollably at her, this student was in 7th grade.

Answer 5

I would like to know WHY also. I'm a first year teacher who was initially told that, in order to do my job well, I would have to have a firm discipline policy. Yet, the first week of school when I put two students in time out for being disruptive, admin. basically yelled at me and asked what I was doing, claiming that I was preventing students from learning! Students can do whatever they want and I can't do anything about it. I practically beg my boss (our principal) to help me and all I'm told is that I have to be patient and there is nothing else I can do!

There need to be parental and student accountablity policies in place. Don't the "higher ups" understand what is going on in all these schools? Don't they understand that we are depriving the masses of a decent education when a few students are running wild and won't be properly disciplined? We are supposed to provide students with the "least restrictive environment," supposedly, but the "bad" kids make the environment VERY restrictive for the majority and THAT'S NOT RIGHT! I have parents complaining about my students bothering their kids. All I tell them is PLEASE REPORT YOUR CONCERNS TO THE PRINCPAL. I actually have to beg them...that's the only time admin. will take me seriously, because they certainly don't back me up the rest of the time.

Answer 6

actually, the parents should be blame for this not the teachers. discipline first taught and learn inside our home not in school alone.... parents should learn how to really discipline children and it is very crucial because of the changing environment like TV, computer/games, magazines, celebrities who are now children's role model instead of his/her parents.

Answer 7

I don't think it's a matter of not being "allowed to discipline the kids" but that the students don't accept being disciplined.

Back when "getting paddled" at school was a real embarrassment the amount of pain inflicted was secondary to the social disgrace AND the anticipation of the punishment that would follow at home.

Now a kid gets in trouble and goes home, tells parents about the mean ol' teacher picking on them and everyone's in the Principal's office and teacher gets lecture from parent and principal regardless of what student did.

Then principal feels need to do something and teacher ends up reading book, attending extra seminars, etc.

After a couple of things like this teacher starts to put up with disruptive behaviors, etc.

It's really fun to be in the middle of divorced parents who are still fighting each other but are taking frustrations out on the teacher.

Yeah, BT,DT, got the high blood pressure.

And it was going on before NCLB.

And in my opinion the whole "accountability" thing is just another attempt to shift the blame.

Answer 8

Of course teachers can discipline students.  It is just that for some people, "discipline" means "corporal punishment", which they cannot do any more.  There are, however, plenty of other ways of disciplining a child.

Answer 9

Research this question. It's not based on actual facts.

Answer 10

I teach at a middle school and currently have students that do no work and are very disruptive.  Most of my students are great, but the bad apples make it tough.  At some point we got the idea that everyone gets a public school education regardless of how they behave.  I believe it needs to change for the sake of the kids who want to learn, and to retain teachers.  About half of us leave in the first five years of teaching.

Answer 11

I don't believe the lack of discipline is based on monetary reciprocation.  Rather there are laws in place now, and have been for some time, that state that corporal punishment is not allowed in schools.  This means a teacher, or any school personell cannot put their hands on a student- no spankings, no slapping, no hitting, no making a child stand in the corner, if a child is in detention they must do homework- you cannot make them do any manual labor of any kind such as cleaning or working in the school to be productive and "punished" for their behavior...thus the "discipline policies" are governed by the government...not the schools, not the district, not the teachers.  And even with the little amount the staff can do to control/punish an out of control students you have irresponsible parents that would rather complain about the minute amount of discipline going on rather than back up the teachers and add their own discipline at home when the kid comes home from school.  The parents threaten law suits and police reports if a teacher so much as raises their voice at a child or sends them to the principals office (who can do little besides in-school suspension or detiontion).  In my opinion it starts at home and so many parents are not teaching their kids respect and manners and allow them to treat people and adults so poorly without consequences.  If the parents would start children out with basic morals and respect they would enter the school system knowing how to act and respect their teachers.  Furthermore, when a kid gets into trouble in school, the parent should support the teacher and give the child consequences at home for their poor school behavior instead of complaining and further demonstrating to the child that they should be able to do and say what they want to anyone.  Just my opinion. Don't blame the teachers or the school systems for the laws that have tied their hands and allowed the kids and their parents free reign in our schools.