W.Va. School Has Started Giving Students ‘Reverse Suspensions'

Ben Graham | May 5, 2016
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Huntington East Middle School in Huntington, W.Va. turned the concept of disciplining behavior in schools on its head when they started implementing reverse suspensions.

Instead of sending kids with non-violent, non-verbally abusive behavior home, reverse suspensions give parents the option of coming into school to chaperone their children in the classroom for a day.

“Who as a parent wants to sit in class? It's embarrassing,” said parent Stephanie Powell. “It's a good motivator to not have your parents come and sit with them.”

School principal Frank Barnett said the idea was to “provide a motivator for the students rather than traditional punishments.” He also said the policy detracts students from trying to get suspended so they can skip a day of school.

The school has since seen a reduction in their suspensions by a whole two-thirds, while their total cases of misbehavior have dropped by almost half.

Some parents say the new policy is a great way to discipline their kids, while others are expressing skepticism.

“A lot of the kids who are prone to suspension are the types who are parented by the people who don’t answer the phone when the school calls,” said Scott Loring. “While this idea may work for some first-time offenders, the parents of chronic kids likely won’t make themselves available for something like this. Probably because they consider it a waste of their time.”

“My experience is … that usually the student behaves when the parent is present, but often reverts when the parent is gone again,” Carol Dial wrote.

 

 

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