Scot-free?

June 21, 2007 11:10 pm

— Four freshmen students from Monroe County, two males and two females, will finish out a 10-day suspension when classes resume this fall, punishment for their lewd behavior following a field trip last month to Matewan.
The Monroe County Board of Education upheld those suspensions, and ordered the four juveniles to also perform 40 hours of community service after it was revealed that the quartet had, in fact, been involved in acts of oral sex on the buses during the trip home.
Disgusting, yes. The first time such a thing has taken place late at night on a school bus ride, certainly not. But these four got caught.
What bothers us is that a more severe penalty — expulsion for one year — had been recommended by Superintendent Lyn Guy and James Monroe principal Christy Parker. The school board denied that suggested penalty — a big mistake in our view.
It seems that far too often kids are getting away with a multitude of offensive acts and we can’t help but wonder if teachers and administrators are predisposed to not issuing tough disciplinary measures out of fear for potential repercussions from elected school board members or lawsuit-happy lawyers representing parents who overtly spoil their children.
We suspect those factors are all involved. What is sad is that discipline and structure are really what are needed in our schools, yet we no longer give our school personnel any avenues to institute tough options.
Paddling, a concept which those of us who are now 40 or older still remember, never actually did physical damage to anyone. It was an attention-getter and often a deterrent for misbehaving youngsters.
A movement, however, got started and then spiraled out of control. Paddling would leave emotional scars, promote violent behavior, we’ve got to do away with it. Baloney.
It was a big mistake to take corporal punishment out of the schools and now we’re seeing just where it has led us — an environment where school children have no fear of breaking the rules because they know they will either get away scot-free or endure only a slap on the wrist. And if that doesn’t work, well, Mommy and Daddy will go get an attorney and sue somebody.
Expulsion for a year, with a homebound learning program, would have been an attention-getter for the four Monroe County culprits without anyone getting their butts tanned via a molded piece of wood. But the school board decided against being tough and instead opted for a minor slap, thus paving the way for future offenders to misbehave accordingly while knowing the penalties won’t even be worth talking about.