Many different groups have argued about the
convenience of expelling disruptive students from regular classes. Does it have
any positive effect? Well, it depends on the point of view, or better, on the
affected people. If you ask all the participants in the still, some will be
surely relieved whereas for others it will cause a nervous breakdown and a
truly pain in the ass. Take the other students, for example. For those only
interested in studying and benefiting from a good lesson –which will make them
study and review less hours at home–, the measure is worth an Oscar. But if you
think of those parents of the “angel”, who probably will have to seek somebody
to care for the boy, or take a day off, or just leave him alone at home,
abusing the computer, the punishment is not useful. A boy at home on a school
day certainly means problems. For the teacher, giving a class without the black
pie takes a lot of stress away. And as far as the other not very nice pupils in
the classroom are concerned, the exemplary sentence will serve them well: they
will either avoid getting into trouble or try to “suffer” the same cruel but
liberating punishment.
Some groups have doubted about the efficiency
of the measure. Sending a problematic student home is not a solution. Well, it
is for the rest of the school community, but not for him. Society thinks that
education implies making an effort, and taking the student out of school is not
precisely an attempt. Reaching that point, we all have to make ourselves a
question: is a single person more important than the collective? Do we really
have to sacrifice the whole class so as to save a unique and very special
critical person? The answer is not easy, but amplifying the scope may help. How
does society deal with criminal behaviour? Do they keep disruptive people with
the regular community, waiting something wrong to happen? Are those misbehavers
to be re-educated, listened to, consoled and comforted, and reinserted in
society without moving a single muscle of their bodies? Just as adults are
penalised with fines, prison, seizure and other ways of public rejection or
deprivation, so do students have to be punished with effective measures.
Dialogue, understanding, care and attention are first procedures to apply but
there’s a point when thumping the table with the fist is necessary and highly
recommended, not only for the disruptive pupils but also for the rest of the
academic community. Infinite patience would be the best option but, if parents
cannot provide a whole life to take care of their children, how could teachers
look after twenty minds starving for affection and understanding?
