Suspending suspension

Hosein rose above his own anguished situation to ask a very basic question that the rest of us have seemingly simply been content to turn a blind eye towards for years on end: Does suspension work? A compassionate Hosein mulled the fate of his son’s assailant. “What will he sit down home and do for seven days?” he asked. “He needs a place where he can get guidance and counselling.

He needs therapy and should not be deprived of his education. We have to give him support so he can realise what he did was wrong.” Hosein’s insight and compassion are an example to our school and educational authorities.

In a school crisis, a school principal may quickly isolate a pupil off the school compound, as a “punishment” and to give things time and space to cool down.

Yet, that said, what actually happens from the pupil’s point of view? Firstly, the pupil misses a week’s worth of lessons for which there may be zero chance of ever catching up.

Even if by some miracle the dean supplied the pupil with a transcript of work from every lesson of every day, the pupil will miss the benefit of the class interaction – teacher explanation, pupil query and class problem- solving.

In reality, the pupil won’t ever get such notes which are beyond the typical school’s staffing and photocopying resources.

A missed week of work leaves a gap in the pupil’s progressive accrual of knowledge, with a deleterious knock-on effect for upcoming lessons.

Further, the pupil will hardly see suspension as a punishment, as he or she lounges at home aimlessly playing video games, or indulging in unsavoury activities.

National Parent Teachers Association (NPTA) head Zena Ramatali recently said, “If students are left unsupervised for long periods of time, obviously the devil will find work for idle hands.” We observe that many crises arise if a school allows things to fester – such as teacher absenteeism – “incidents” for which the pupil is blamed and suspended.

Ramatali rightly said that to head off such crises, schools must better fulfil their duty of care to pupils by crafting a positive environment of peace programme, conflict resolution, anger management and proper supervision.

Meanwhile, the United States (US) and United Kingdom (UK) both have notable initiatives to rethink the efficacy of school suspension/exclusion.

A 2012 Time magazine article, “Does suspending students work?” by Christopher Ferguson, says suspensions may do more harm than good by exacerbating behavioural and academic problems, while not addressing any underlying issues.

Suspension simply “kicks the societal cost down the road” as it may lead to academic failure and occupational and legal problems as an adult, he said.

A 2015 Cambridge University (UK) conference, “Keeping young people in school – alternatives to exclusion,” said five percent of pupils account for 90 percent of suspensions, suggesting that a tiny cohort can be targetted for help.

Connecticut-based (US) website, Education World, urged that “at-school” suspensions be run by a teacher who can assess pupils for unidentified learning difficulties and help with assignments, and by a counsellor to explore root causes of problems, meet parents and find specialist help.

We urge that suspension must not be a cop-out, especially for minor infractions such as a poorly-ironed collar, lateness or lack of equipment, all likely the parent’s fault.

Yes, protect victims from bullies, but beware that an over-use of suspension could breach child rights under the TT Constitution and United Nations framework, especially for victimless offences and where the miscreant poses no risk to other pupils