Speech on Policies to Address Challenges of Violence and Discipline

Introduction

Generally, violence is a behavior that involves physical force with the intention of hurting, damaging or killing someone or something while imparting knowledge and skills which can mean to teach someone. It can as well be referred to as the systematic instruction given to a person or disciple. It is important to note that discipline can also mean to teach a person to follow a specific program of conduct. The purpose of the essay is therefore to investigate the policies that will address the issue of violence and discipline in the school (Kupchik, 2010).

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Policies to Be Implemented Within the School

Violence and discipline cases in schools have become a collective action in the public eye due to several deadly student strikes that have been seen in the recent past. This issue has grabbed public attention because it has been a problem both in the rural and public schools alike. This act has instilled fear in many students as well as teachers. (Kupchik, 2010) It is right to observe that threats, physical conflicts, and even harassments are prevalent. This climate created by fear makes it more difficult for the schools to provide conducive school environment. The various policies that can be used to help curb this problem include the following.

Through Beefing Up School Security

There will need to modify the physical security of the school wherever a security problem is detected. It can be done by utilizing the resource officers of the school who can be provided by the law enforcement authority and or utilize a paid, and fully trained officer hired exclusively to assist the administration and teachers in monitoring the behavior of students and the activities they carry out within the school.

Creating Strict Student Rules

These rules must be thoroughly be communicated, consistently enforced and understood. The rules should comply with the constitution. This can be done by ensuring that schools rules have a purpose that is understood clearly by the students. They are supposed to be communicated to all students in verbal as well as written formats. The rules can also be reviewed to keep tracking the changing environment.

Reporting Policies

These policies can be crafted in such a way that they create an environment that makes it easier for students, parents or guardians and teachers to report any act of violence or threat. This can be achieved by putting down proper reporting procedures by consulting the education officials and the nearby safety authorities. It is also important to train to help recognize whether these threat reports or acts of violence are false or just maliciously created rumors.

Adopting Policies on Programs for Expelled Students

The school can come up with programs like considering the length of suspension in exchange for providing community services. The school can also consider providing other alternative educative programs in a different environment. This should be provided for all the school grades.

Support for teachers and school staff

The school should collaborate with the faculty to be able to impose the school rules and regulations.

Coming up with employee screening policies

It is true that the staff, teachers, and volunteers have a significant impact on the life of children and students. Auditing should, therefore, be carried out to avoid picking potentially harmful or workers who are abusive. This can be done for example, by ensuring a criminal background check, checking fingerprints, state sex criminal registry check among others.

Establishing student Courts

This can be applied in offenses that are non-criminal where qualified adults can oversee peer courts. Proper and adequate training to the participants of the peer court is also necessary.

Policies on positive incentives

Instead of putting a focus solely on punishment measures on negative behaviors, other ways can be used to ensure that students are corrected on violence and discipline issues. It can be done by; creating recognition rewards for students who show good citizenship behaviors, inviting community leaders to discuss varying methods students through which students can achieve success.

Policies that encourage parent outreach

The school should ensure that it places measures and strategies that will enable it to access as many parents as possible. This can be achieved through ways such as by class or school newsletters, direct phone calls to parents, local newspapers, activities in the classrooms among others. It is also wise to note that by coming up with innovative ways to improve how students and their parents can easily connect with the school, staff and even faculty like having parent recommended meetings.

Policies that encourage counseling services

It should be noted that to deal with the problem of violence and discipline, and I will ensure that the school establishes relevant counseling services which will include anger management, emotional, social development, an exceptional student, psychological, family and substance abuse. This will enable students in need to get access to qualified counselors easily.

Establishing conflict resolution programs

These programs will have the effects of impacting students with peaceful ways of resolving conflicts. This I would do by ensuring that I get qualified trainers to be able to implement the program and also students will be taught conflict resolution methods using the incorporated activities within the curriculum.

Social skills training

Having subjected my students to social skills training, they would be able to have confident and humble interactions with their fellow students, teachers, parents and the staff. I will ensure that this policy is achieved by encouraging faculty to instruct and model desirable social skills.

Ensuring that anti-bullying policies are put in place. (Meyer, 2008)I would ensure that this is achieved by introducing measures through consultations that will be used to punish the offenders.

How the policies will benefit the staff

If the policies are successfully implemented, they will have the following positive benefits on the staff members. Students will be able to show self-discipline, increased respect for those in power by the students, in time and appropriate and educative action for proper learners' behavior. (Meyer, 2008) Another benefit will be stable school programs which emphasize skills, values, attitudes and even increased excellence which will motivate the staff to work even harder. It is worth to note that there will be improved interpersonal relationships between the faculty and students too.

How these policies will benefit students

Improved spirit of teamwork and cohesion between students and students will have a feeling of studying in a safe environment hence increased concentration in their studies. Generally, students will have a feeling of studying in a secure environment. (Lassen et al., 2006) Undeniably, it is worth noting that when all students adhere to the set policies, they would be able to live in harmony with the school and even in extended environments where they come from. This is because of enhanced for peers and schoolmates.

How the policies will influence the climate of the school

When desirable policies are introduced in a learning environment to deal with a problem like violence and discipline issues, its successful implementation will ensure that acceptable codes of conduct are observed both by students, teachers, and staff. There will also be a supportive and healthy school climate that is favorable to teaching and learning process. Another benefit is that there will be a positive image of our school because virtually when rules and regulations set by the school are followed to the latter, programs of the school tends to flow smoothly. (Kolanko et al., 2006) I can also admit that there will be appropriate and timely reward offerings, praise, commendation, and acknowledgment of acceptable behaviors because of the entire corporation between students, teachers, and staff. Additionally, there will be the existence of environments that is child pleasant. Lastly, another benefit is that by observing the set school policies, time management will be improved in the school environment.

Policy enforcers

As the school administrator, I would like to inform everyone present here that we shall collaborate to set a team that is going to help in enforcing these policies to ensure that discipline of the school is contained. The functions of the team will be to implement the policies through administering specifically and consequently support. The team will, therefore, comprise the following; the school administration, parents, subject teachers, the guidance team, the form teachers, and school social workers. It is true that for a team to be effective and successful, they will need to work together with other parties and convince them to implement the policies effectively. However, it remains clear that the fundamental principle is that every single teacher has the responsibility to manage learners with behavioral problems as well as enforcing the school discipline.

Consequences for Policy Violation

A student who goes against the school rules and regulations may be subjected to a punishment depending on the magnitude of the violation and history of their previous behaviors. This will be done through; firstly through verbal warning, a notice to the parent, holding parent-teacher conferences, detention, suspension within the school, long-term suspension, short-term suspension and even indefinite expulsion from the school. (Kolanko et al., 2006) Detention is where the student will be needed to report to detention before and after school as a result of violating a classroom rule. A long-term suspension is a situation that involves suspension of students for a relatively shorter period of time, and long-term suspensions or expulsion is where the school governing board has the power to suspend a student for a relatively long period. However, for parent-administrator conferences, the school administrator will meet the parent or guardian to discuss the violation of the school rule (Henry, 2009).

I would finally take this opportunity to conclude by urging all of the staff members that you should all start flexing your muscles for the task ahead because it requires incorporation of each individual effort so that we can be able to restore sanity in our school by controlling violence and discipline.

References

Henry, S. (2009). School violence beyond Columbine: A complex problem in need of an interdisciplinary analysis. American Behavioral Scientist, 52(9), 1246-1265.

Kupchik, A. (2010). Homeroom security: School discipline in an age of fear. NYU Press.

Kolanko, K. M., Clark, C., Heinrich, K. T., Olive, D., Serembus, J. F., & Sifford, K. S. (2006). Academic dishonesty, bullying, incivility, and violence: Difficult challenges facing nurse educators. Nursing Education Perspectives, 27(1), 34-43.

Lassen, S. R., Steele, M. M., & Sailor, W. (2006). The relationship of schoolwide positive behavior support to academic achievement in an urban middle school. Psychology in the Schools, 43(6), 701-712.

Meyer, E. J. (2008). Gendered harassment in secondary schools: Understanding teachers' (non) interventions. Gender and Education, 20(6), 555-570.