I'm fine with increasing people's stress for the sake of not having gum on the bottom of desks/tables. WHY DO PEOPLE DO THAT?
Chewing gum in class? That'll be detention AND a fine
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I'm fine with increasing people's stress for the sake of not having gum on the bottom of desks/tables. WHY DO PEOPLE DO THAT?
IdiotsOpposite
Boom, headshot.
You're taking a test and your gum has suddenly run stale. You don't want to get up and go to the trash can, because that would disturb a lot of people who are also taking tests, but you want to get out a new piece. What do!?
Terxpahseyton
Nobody
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Put the gum where it came from - its former wrapping. Or inside a kleenex - but yeah, guys don't have those.
aimeeandbeatles
watermelon
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Swallow it.
I've swallowed gum many times. The only side effect was a weird feeling in the stomach and a slightly painful bowel movement once.
Not chew the gum to begin with because you knew it was against the rules.
Get stabbed in the face by me when I see you putting gum under the desk, because grade school tests are jokes and I finished 10 minutes in.
I think the biggest problem is that once teachers start taking money from students they lay themselves open to accusations of misconduct - note that in my experience most rules surrounding child protection aren't really to stop the adult from doing anything untoward, but rather to make sure that nobody could ever accuse him of such things - and abuse of the relationship between them and their students. Much better to stick to detentions, lines and 'verbal castigation' as it used to be called. As for whether chewing gum should be allowed because it's not disruptive, that's not the point - it's a disgusting habit, and whether or not you'll be permitted to do it in later life the school should educate you so that, should you end up in a workplace with standards which will not look kindly upon such things, you ahve the personal discipline not to chew on it.
cav scout
The Continuum
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GhostWriter16
Deity
Its common, but truth be told I do agree most of the time. Schools don't really have a lot of power to enforce detention if you choose not to show up (That's fairly common at my school) and they can theoretically enforce them for a lot of things although most of the time security just warn us for minor things.
I really think for most offenses the consequences should be "Natural" for instance, if you are late too or cut class it will negatively affect your grade, if you ignore the teacher or don't do homework it negatively affects your grade, exc. High Schoolers should learn to be responsible. Now, when it comes to outright "Bad" behavior, as opposed to merely acting like a high schooler and not taking school very seriously, I can see a more harsh punishment. But most schools try to do things they really shouldn't be doing.
I disagree with the idea of fines for misbehavior.
GhostWriter16
Deity
There's a fine line with everything. How loud the talking is is one consideration. If two kids are whispering to each other I say (At the high school level) do nothing. Allow them to be responsible or not and face the natural (Theoretical, I know I don't have to pay attention very much to do well except in Math) consequence of a failing grade. Now, if they're disrupting the whole class that's a different matter. But simply being authoritarian doesn't work.
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I pretty much agree with VRCWAgent. This just wouldn't work if implemented at a true public school (that people have to go to), as the economic impact would be too much for some families. I also dislike the idea of kids failing a grade for infractions if they're doing fine academically. They could just be bored most of the time they're flaming and trolling their classmates, and making them repeat a grade will only make that problem worse. And if they're acting up and not trying, they might fail the grade anyway - but keep the two separate.
And while fines might grab parents' attention, I don't think that it's going to make them care about the kids' education much more if they don't already - they'll only care about their kid not acting up. And not being able to pay the heating bill.
Even if there are a lot of detentions, the school district/charter school/whatever should know to budget for however much they expect, and readjust the next year if need be. If they need to offer the teachers who stay for detention some extra incentive, well, that's part of the cost of being a school. I'm pretty sure the teacher at my high school who normally did detention got som extra pay for it, and I don't have a problem with that.
And while fines might grab parents' attention, I don't think that it's going to make them care about the kids' education much more if they don't already - they'll only care about their kid not acting up. And not being able to pay the heating bill.
Even if there are a lot of detentions, the school district/charter school/whatever should know to budget for however much they expect, and readjust the next year if need be. If they need to offer the teachers who stay for detention some extra incentive, well, that's part of the cost of being a school. I'm pretty sure the teacher at my high school who normally did detention got som extra pay for it, and I don't have a problem with that.
When I was working at a school - my first civilian job, so I was understandably a bit of a fish out of water even if I was wearing green much of the time - I was taken under the wing of one of the very experienced science teachers, who essentially taught me everything I know about the fine points of working with children and young people. He had a practise of informing his classes that he was allowed by law to keep them 15 minutes after school for a detention. At one point, a student said 'but sir, I take a bus home, so I'd have to stay longer if you gave me a detention, which would be against the law' - to which he said that he would give the lad a lift home. And he did! Woe betide anyone who missed his detentions - he's the nicest man around but terrified the kids on the rare occasions that he was angry.
None of that works if the student is no longer motivated by his academic progress. If a kid is doing poorly already, whats a few more docked points for misbehavior?
GhostWriter16
Deity
Well, here's the thing, some kids don't need to do that much to pass. While I'd advise against taking that sort of attitude, and wouldn't accept it from my kid, I don't think the school has any business telling a kid they *Have* to do more work and get a better grade for it. We get the grades we earn, and that SHOULD be that.
Those who do need to try hard to pass and don't, that should, again, be on them.
Again, this applies to laziness or the whole "Not sitting up straight" thing. Behavior that disrupts the class should actually be treated differently, and not related to grade at all. That's when real discipline comes in.
Cracked says chewing gum is good for kids' smarts: http://www.cracked.com/article_19380_6-beneficial-things-they-made-you-stop-doing-in-school.html
You know people chew gum wether it's allowed or not, and most of the time they don't get caught. Same goes for texting. However, texting can't be allowed for obvious reasons.
What? You can't stealth-chew gum, unless a teacher is completely inattentive.
Maybe in Canadian classrooms you can't, or you lack the skillz. In here, at least half of the class is stealth-chewing and maybe 1 or 2 are caught during the whole day. Then they are ordered to spit it out into the trashbin and when they return to their seat, ta-daa, new one.
