I’m usually not one to harp on the negativity the media chucks on teachers. “I don’ get no respect.” Seems kinda whiny to me. But lately, I’ve begun to identify with the Rodney Dangerfield crowd.
Case in point: supposedly, in Lynwood High School, there is a huge tardiness problem. The bell rings to start the day at 8a.m, and there are a gaggle of students outside, loafing to class on their own time, slow as Molasses in December. According to one teacher, there aren’t just 10 or 20 of these students, but around 200.
So the principal decided to crack down. He instituted a “tardy sweep” where tardy students were, uhh, swept up and put in a detention center for the whole block (119 minutes). Some students complained and notified the media. ABC news came to the rescue.
Here is the clip ABC news did. Very entertaining. Seems to me that they made the powers that be at Lynwood out to be a bunch of out of control authoritarian nutjobs that are close to violating student rights.
Herein lies my association with the whiners. According to most media reports about schools I’ve seen, we are either total wussbags with no spine, or we are idiotic dictators with “little man” syndrome. The media hits us with both hammers. Can’t they just choose one and go with it? Ya just can’t win.
I think the tardy sweep is a great idea. Hey, it’s not like it’s just a few poor stragglers–it’s an epidemic at this campus (and my campus…more on that in a minute). Desperate times demand desperate measures. Tardy students should be thankful that standing is all they had to do.
Some additional thoughts:
1) Were the students’ rights violated? Maybe, but not by the principal..they were violated by the students themselves. I know that doesn’t make much sense, but follow me on this one: I understand that everyone gets to where they are going late every now and then, but the situation at Lynwood is different. We’re talking rampant, chronic tardiness here. When its at that level, when a student is tardy, he is sending a message to adults: I do not care about education. Do what you wish with me. The adults at the school are merely taking that student at his word. A student forfeits the “right” to be in class by being tardy. He is trampling on his own privileges.
2) Similarly: hey students, there is a very simple way you can solve this problem–get to class on time. Period. In my class, I hold late students after the bell during the passing period (there is no after school detention or Saturday school, and any tardy sweep that happens is done haphazardly. Students do not show up for lunch detention, so I just administer consequences while I have them in my room. If they leave without me administering a consequence right then, chances are they won’t come back…that’s the way it operates in my school). When they would much rather be outside talking to friends, they are staring at my goofy noggin. I bore them….to tears. They constantly complain: “but Mr. B, we’re gonna be late to our next class!” Well, first off, you are showing me by your actions that you don’t care much about being on time anyway, so I don’t understand why you are suddenly so concerned. The complaint reeks of hypocrisy. Secondly, their next class is literally a 20 second stroll away. Lastly, I always say to them: “there is one simple way you can solve this problem–stop coming to my class tardy.”
3) I have no sympathy for these kids. In the real world, standing for two hours will be the least of their worries if they show the same disregard for time.
4) Looks like the tardy sweep is producing results. I hope the principal hangs his hat on that when the temperature gets hot in his office, because heat is bound to come. It already has with the ABC news report. In my high school alma mater in Missouri, administrators instituted a tardy sweep a few years ago after things got bad. Parents and students raised quite a ruckus. “My son can’t go from A to B in four minutes! He needs more time!” Granted, the distance between classes was often large and the crowds to negotiate were often hard to handle, but administrators held the line and refused to backdown. Then, the results came in: there was an astounding reduction in tardiness (I forget the exact percentages, but they were impressive). The parents and students shut up.
If done improperly, tardy sweeps are a waste of time. From what I hear, near 100% buy in is needed from the teachers, and the administrators must conduct the sweeps with draconian consistency for a long period of time. If the sweeps aren’t conducted like that, students won’t take them seriously, but if they are conducted like that, the sweeps can produce astounding results.
I hope the principal is prepared to be consistent for the long haul.
5) At my school, things are considerably further down the road. We have, not 200, but 400-500 students tardy every morning. The amount is a bit lower in between periods, but reaches the same heights after lunch.
At this point, some might be tempted to wax eloquent about different culture’s conception of time. “Time is more elastic in urban culture. Strict adherence to a schedule is a white, suburban thing. Besides, these kids have tough lives, and many of them simply cannot get there on time. It is out of their hands.”
Bullfeathers. If you ask me, though the culture has contributed to the phenomenon, it is us adults at the school that have created the problem.
No matter what culture you come from, you get absolutely nothing done with a group of folks that has no regard for time and no regard for others (really, being tardy shows a disregard for others. It screams, “your day, time, and resources are no concern of mine. I march by my own clock, thank you…so screw you.). As the teacher I linked to above said, “you just can’t run a great operation if people think they can show up whenever they want.”
Plus, continue preaching the “cultural difference” view to the students. Lets see how it goes for them when they try to say that to their boss in the future.
Lastly, how do I know the “they have tough lives and its out of their hands” excuse is bogus? Simple: observe their pace after they get to school. A typical kid at my school can get to his class in about 30 seconds, but he takes about 8 minutes. I observe it every day outside my door: just loungin’ around, hangin with the homies in the hallway. I often try to suss these folks on to class once the bell rings, but I often get outright ignored and many times get laughed at. Moreover, look at the results the consistent tardy sweeps have produced: students stop whining and they get to class on time.
Trust me: the problem is NOT “out of their hands.”
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