Pubdate: Fri, 26 Jul 2002 Source: Intelligencer, The (CN ON) Copyright: 2002, OSPREY MEDIA GROUP INC. Contact: http://www.intelligencer.ca/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2332 SUSPENSIONS IN EARLY GRADES GOING TOO FAR Editorial - The number of students being expelled from schools in Ontario is on the rise due to legislation passed a year ago that makes suspensions mandatory for certain infractions. The Safe Schools Act took effect last September. Statistics from Toronto alone show suspensions have increased from 17,371 in the 2000-2001 year to 24,238 in the 2001-2002 school year. That is a 40 per cent increase. Reaction has been mixed, with proponents saying the law is working while its detractors say it is too heavy-handed and at least one even blames the law for causing some students to drop out of school. The Safe Schools Act makes suspensions mandatory for swearing at teachers or being in possession of, or under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Those are pretty big infractions and it seems to us that students should be suspended for those offences. One alarming fact of the matter however, is that more suspensions are being handed out to younger children than in the past. The law covers children from kindergarten through high school. We can understand suspending high school students for swearing at a teacher or being under the influence of alcohol or drugs, but suspending Grade 3 and 4 students for swearing at a teacher is simply isolating a child who most likely has larger problems. Dr. Otto Weininger is a psychologist who specializes in youth behaviour. 'Often children hear these words and don't know what they mean, other than they know you say them when you're angry,' said Weininger. 'When we expel or suspend (children), we are saying to the child, 'You have the personal resources to get yourself out of this problem.' I don't think children have that capacity. They need adult support,' he said. It seems unnecessary to treat all children the same, regardless of age, when adults know young children mimic adults' behaviour. Instead of swearing, children need to be taught how to express their feelings, including anger, without becoming physically or verbally abusive. But suspending students in the very early grades may be missing an opportunity to nip a problem in the bud. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom