"Community Service" discipline is being used in public schools! Is this a good thing?

Ralphy1

Ralphy1

Well-known Member
It seems that this approach of having kids do such things as light cleaning for their misbehavior was slowly catching on until some parents started to complain. I spent a lot of time after school for my misbehavior and only did have to do some cleaning up after dumping a trash can out of a window in junior high. I say the punishment should fit the "crime" and, thus, I am OK with the concept of "Community Service" as opposed to just sitting quietly in detention. Your thoughts are encouraged but I can't guarantee that they won't be disparaged...
 

gday Ralphy,
I dont think community service should be used as punishment as this devalues it in the students eyes. "Enlightened" school in Australia and even in America make community service a "hurdle" requirement for passing high school the International baccalaureate requires all students to perform 150 hours of community service in their last year of high school.
Bailey and Holly are well and send their regards and G is doctoring now...scary thought but he is loving it. I hope you are well and have survived the winter. I see you have been chatting with a mutual friend ...I hope her horse is well.
 
Community service is a misnomer in my estimation as it usually refers to students doing all kinds of things and not as a result of misbehavior. Glad to hear you have a doctor in the family as it should cut down on office visits and he could serve as a vet, too. The winter is relentless here with no end in sight for cold weather, but my adult beverage is keeping me going. The horse and owner are well. The team was glad to hear from you, even Lisa, and hopes to hear from you more often...:love_heart:
 

Ralphy1 said:
It seems that this approach of having kids do such things as light cleaning for their misbehavior was slowly catching on until some parents started to complain. I spent a lot of time after school for my misbehavior and only did have to do some cleaning up after dumping a trash can out of a window in junior high. I say the punishment should fit the "crime" and, thus, I am OK with the concept of "Community Service" as opposed to just sitting quietly in detention. Your thoughts are encouraged but I can't guarantee that they won't be disparaged...
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We called it yard duty - picking up papers and other litter at lunch time. Another penalty was chewing gum removal from under the classroom desks and chairs. We never called this community service. It was detention, pure and simple but with some practical purpose. I'm surprised that it is not a common punishment in the US as well as in Oz.

We once kept a couple of miscreants back after school until 5pm. They had scratched something into a wooden trophy case in one of the school foyers. The handyman went to the hardware shop and bought sandpaper and varnish etc. The girls had to sand the timber to remove the scratches and their parents were asked to collect them at 5 o'clock when they were presented with the bill for the supplies. We didn't have a lot of trouble with this kind of thing after that.

For community service the girls volunteered to spend time in aged care homes or similar. It was an honour to be allowed to go.
 
Sounds like you got it right. It seems that a lot of parents today cannot believe that their "little darlings" could do anything wrong...
 
So, if we can't do anything about the global warming, can we at least facilitate the relocation of the islanders to America and Australia where presumably there will be plenty of dry land? You'll have more of it because Oz is rather flat.

Oops. How did this post find its way to this thread?
 
I am fine with students helping out around the school, however student labor shouldn't be used to replace janitorial services and put people out of jobs. I see this happening here in the States, with so many politicians with anti-worker, anti-union sentiments. Particularly now, with the Right wing push to abolish public education in favor of privatized corporate, for profit, schools, this could be used as a cost saving method. Slave labor is not something I think we should revisit, particularly at the expense of working men and women.
 
I think that they were just supplementing custodial work, not replacing it, and just on a limited basis...
 
Ralphy1 said:
I think that they were just supplementing custodial work, not replacing it, and just on a limited basis...
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That may be the case, however, supplementing can expand into job cuts for custodians.. ie... cutting out one position to use unpaid student labor.. so that one person cut gets the shaft. I can see for profit private schools using this as a cost savings..

Not to mention, and I think it was brought up in one of our presidential campaigns by Newt Gingrich. Use this as a way to pay poor students a pittance .. or a way to have them earn a free lunch. Sounds good.. unless you are the poor student seen pushing the broom down the hall past the better off students. Kids have a way marginalizing and bullying anyway.. This would give them even more reason to ostracize or bully others.. Can't you just hear the taunting?
 
Doubt this is an employment threat to the custodians as their unions would have something to say about it. Also, it is just used in indidual situations for a particular misdeed...
 
Ralphy1 said:
Doubt this is an employment threat to the custodians as their unions would have something to say about it. Also, it is just used in indidual situations for a particular misdeed...
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Yes.. because it's not like corporations want unions busted and contribute to politicians willing to do that.. and it's not like corporations look to find any method to cut costs and increase profits.. nope.. doesn't happen..
 
Well, I don't think that this a conspiracy to break the public schools or their custodial unions. It was just a way to try to discipline kids in a more effective manner...
 
Fully agree, Ralphy. The high school where I worked had just one elderly handyman/janitor whose job title was General Assistant and we had three or four ladies who cleaned the school after hours. The kids had to maintain tidy classrooms and empty waste paper bins on a daily basis. Before the school was carpeted they would run the polisher over the floors at the end of every term and clean and polish their desks. The kids did develop pride in their school and graffiti/vandalism was pretty infrequent.
 
Ralphy1 said:
It seems that this approach of having kids do such things as light cleaning for their misbehavior was slowly catching on until some parents started to complain. I spent a lot of time after school for my misbehavior and only did have to do some cleaning up after dumping a trash can out of a window in junior high. I say the punishment should fit the "crime" and, thus, I am OK with the concept of "Community Service" as opposed to just sitting quietly in detention. Your thoughts are encouraged but I can't guarantee that they won't be disparaged...
Click to expand...

With the examples you described, yes, I'd think it's a good idea. If a kid seriously violates rules or is a real jerk, I think "Here- do some work!" could be a useful way to start the kid thinking about his behavior.

When I saw "community service" in the title, though, I thought you meant at a food pantry or something like that- and I don't think that'd be a good approach, because it should be done willingly.
 
A popular punishment when I was in high school (back in the cave...) was having to chip petrified chewing gum off the bottom of the bleachers, the auditorium seats and the sidewalks. It wasn't something you wanted to have to do twice. I'm all for the miscreants having to work, rather than sit in detention twiddling their thumbs and mulling on something else bad to do.
 
Community Service required for misbehavior should be re-named to distinguish it from volunteer community service done because you are demonstrating good citizenship. One should be done with pride, the other with if not shame, at least embarrassment. Not being able to distinguish purpose is unfair to those who volunteer.
 

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