Wadsworth High School
Newspaper II/III
1870 - 2016 Wadsworth City Schools: “Celebrating 146 years of Excellence in Education”
Volume XLII No. 3
The
BRUIN 625 Broad Street Wadsworth, Ohio 44281
Is school discipline policy effective? Recent events question effectiveness of approach BY AHMED DARWICH
Due to recent disciplinary events, students have begun to question the disciplinary system and its effectiveness on the student body. Most students at Wadsworth High are not familiar with the disciplinary system, but a very public display of actions that required disciplinary consequences has made students begin to question its effectiveness within the school. Statistics show that the effects of expulsions and inschool detentions often lead students down a criminal path. According to the Task Force on the Education of Maryland’s American Males, “high suspension and expulsion rates do little more than increase court referrals for minor misbehavior,” and those actions put, “a child on the path toward delinquency or accelerates his journey there.” Many students agree with this, such as Natalie Freno, 12, who said that the current system “doesn’t ‘fix’ [students], but does give them a fair punishment, most of the time, for what they have done. But, if you get expelled, you are most likely already heading down the wrong path.” Cases of permanent expulsion and long lasting suspensions can alter a student’s life, as discipline is placed on permanent record and is seen by colleges and employers. A legitimate concern to local citizens is that those who do not graduate high school due to disciplinary actions may offer little to their community. Teachers often find flaws in the system as well. “It takes a village to raise a child- a school district, a home environment, as well as friends and peers. The current disciplinary system cannot effectively reform students because students are influenced not only by their school environment but also by their home and peers,” said Mr. Singleton.
INSIDE THE BRUIN: Parking plague -Page 6
Baughman shatters records, named third team All-Ohio -Page 10
December 2016
PHOTO BY COLIN WRIGHT
Students sit in room 1206 in separated cubicles in the in-school detention room.
Studies from Advancement Project have also shown that schools with high rates of exclusionary discipline have lower academic performance and school climate rating. These schools tend to score lower on state accountability tests and rank lower in the National Assessment of Educational Progress achievement ranking in mathematics, writing, and reading compared to schools with lower suspension and expulsion rates. One of the most common forms of higher level disciplinary action is in-school detention. Students who are in in-school detention are being removed from the social aspect of the school environment. “Sometimes, it is necessary for students to be taken out of the school setting for the safety of all,” Mr. Moore stated. But many students actually like having in-school detention. Michael Callow, 12, says that “in-school is great. I get all my work done in the first hour and then mess around for the rest of the day playing games.” While students question the discipline system, most administrators have strong confidence in it. For when it was created, the system was meant
Drug testing high school athletes
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American classic comes to PAC Gift of giving
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-Page 14
to reform students and provide consequences for violent actions and rule breaking. However, the administrators do not like expelling and suspending students, according to Moore. Moore stated that the discipline system “doesn’t work for all, but most students. Most students want to follow the rules. We have this discipline to ensure that something bad doesn’t happen again.” There are different options for disciplining students that show statistically better results. Employing student government and allowing students to decide disciplinary action for their peers occurs at many colleges and is proven effective. At one middle school in Maryland, discipline referrals were cut by ninety-eight percent in one year with the use of student government. The denotation of discipline is training that reforms moral aspects of character. However, the connotation at many schools, including Wadsworth, has become “punishment” rather than “reformation.” This effectively creates the idea that students are just being punished for the sake of punishment. INDEX PAGE Editorial...............................................2 News.....................................................3 Opinion...........................................4, 6 Ads.............................................5, 7, 12 Picture Pages...................................8, 9 Sports...........................................10, 11 Features.............................................13 Entertainment..................................14 Of the Month....................................15 Speakout............................................16
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Student attacks OSU BY TORI BAKER
Abdul Razak Ali Artan drove his car into a group of students and attacked others with a knife on Ohio State University’s main campus on November 28. This attack put fear and paranoia into the lives of the students and their families. When the attack first happened, the Ohio State Police Department sent a tweet out to the students to, “Run. Fight. Hide.” This violent outbreak resulted with 11 people being hospitalized: six wounded from Artan’s car and five with knife lacerations. Ohio State police officers were at the scene within a minute from when the attack occurred. Ohio State police officer, Alan Horujko, was nearby the scene because of a gas leak. Horujko fatally shot Artan which put an end to the attack. On campus, OSU freshman and 2016 Wadsworth graduate, Alyssa Hopkins said that a girl in her class ran up to the teacher and projected the news on the board for the whole class to see. Hopkins said everyone was on their phone getting texts from their friends and family making sure that they were safe. “You always see this stuff on the news all the time but you never think it will happen to you,” Hopkins said. The lock down lasted about an hour to an hour and a half. Class resumed with a normal schedule the next day. Hopkins said that everyone was shaken up from the incident and the atmosphere on campus was odd, but no one was sad or discomfited. Tanner Reeling, OSU Freshman and 2016 Wadsworth graduate, was on campus that Monday morning near the attack. He was in class about a block away from the attack when it occurred. His dorm was about a quarter of a mile away
from where it occurred. Tanner’s younger sister, Faith Reeling, 11, said, “I was scared for his safety because he was so close to where the attack happened.” Reeling discussed how it wasn’t just that the attack was alarming, but rather the way that one person can significantly change so many people’s lives in an instant. “It was more of a reality check. You hear about shootings and attacks in the news and it makes you worry because another attack could happen at anytime,” stated Reeling. Not only did the attack scare the students at OSU and their families, but also the high school seniors who plan to attend Ohio State University. Charlie Simarro, 12, applied to OSU two weeks ago to make the early admission application. Simarro had always wanted to apply to OSU since his freshman year when he visited and saw how beautiful the campus was. “This attack has not affected my decision to attend OSU because although this was very tragic, it could happen anywhere,” Simarro said. He said that the police force was very quick to go to the scene and that OSU is still is a great school academically and an amazing place to be. “I was very sad to hear about the attack at OSU especially after hearing that a student died. This tragedy should not happen anywhere and it is awful that someone feels the need to hurt innocent people,” said Simarro. Many students at Wadsworth were shocked after the attack and it was hard for them to comprehend. They described it as a tragic incident that affected them and their families. Occurrences like these are why training for these events happens at Wadsworth.
PHOTO COURTESY OF MCT CAMPUS
Students on OSU’s campus mourn and grieve for their injured classmates.
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