This report is designed to address an issue related to a school administrator acting in an ethical and fair manner. For the sake of maintaining confidentiality in this report, I will use a false name for the school administrator. I will also use a false school district. However, the policies outlined in the report are directly from the state and school district.
Interview
On Monday, February 29, 2016, I interviewed Dr. K. Wallace, District Administrator for Millbrook Public School District. The interview was on the topic of ethical fairness in education. Dr. Wallace discussed the issue of disciplinary infractions for high school students. He pointed out that bullying and acts of violence are becoming a major problem for administrators. According to Dr. Wallace, administrators must learn how to strike a balance in respecting the rights of children and eradicating acts of bullying and violence.
According to Dr. Wallace, two students at Millbrook High School were scheduled a due process hearing for bullying. He revealed that the two students had made threats on social media and brought weapons to school. However, the two students alleged that they were the ones being bullied and only brought the weapons to protect themselves from a gang of girls and their parents. The two young ladies are academic scholars and have no prior disciplinary history.
Dr. Wallace maintained that there is a need to adopt common sense policies that adequately address bullying and consequences
This paper will discuss the various ethical dilemmas facing school resource officers (SRO). This will include problems with 4th amendment protections of students, interviews and interrogations of juveniles, as well as, privacy issues expected by students and faculty. Other issues to be will also address two sociological theories, the Self Efficacy and the Modeling theory. I will also discuss how school discipline is being reclassified in to criminal behavior resulting in many children being classified as criminals due to minor behavior problems. Finally this paper will discuss the SROs role, should it be public servant, or crime fighter.
There are many ethical dilemmas within schools in the United States that require constant attention in the hopes that someday, they may be eliminated in the best interest of the students. One of the most prominent dilemmas schools in society face is that of proper disciplinary action and student conduct codes. Finding a fair punishment for certain prohibited conduct within schools is difficult because what is far to some, may not be fair to others. These discrepancies can be based on, but are not limited to: cultural background, ethnicity, gender, sex and religion. Many progressive age school districts are beginning to adopt strict disciplinary policies to hold their students accountable and prevent various behaviors that are not acceptable within our modern society. The most profound of these conduct codes are districts that employ “Zero Tolerance” policies. School systems with these strict rules are in the heat of a debate regarding which disciplinary actions are beneficial to students and which are actually harmful. There is a fine line when it comes to disciplinary enforcement. An overreaction and an unnecessary punishment may set students up for failure, recidivism, and even has the power to ruin their lives. Conversely, a restorative approach to discipline that allows for learning the difference between right and wrong through a customized program for each individual will be the most beneficial to students around the world.
This case brings up to the administrators who are known as a legal representation that strive to create positive changes in educational policy and processes, that they have rights and power protected by law, but also have a duty to comply with the laws established by the district.
A part of my job as administrator is to work with students on keeping ethical standards throughout their lives. I work with others at my school to instill character building skills. We have a character word for the month that is posted in every classroom and other parts of the school. Part of my job as an administrator will be to work with teachers and how they relate to the students. During my Successful School Observation I was able to pick up on the teachers’ attitudes about teaching with the way they spoke to the students and about the students. Most of the teachers were working really well with the students. There were two or three who, if I was their administrator, would be placed on probation or written up because of the way they talk to the students. Belittling students is a big NO! NO! All students deserve to be treated with respect even on our worst days as
In the case study Appropriate Punishment Versus Political Expediency, nine African American male teenagers were severely punished for their involvement in a violent altercation at a high school football game. Some people in the local community; especially the African American population became outraged by the school board’s ruling. Other community members, including many white residents, and school board officials thought the punishment was just. This situation exposes many controversial issues occurring within the educational system. Topics such as race relations and appropriateness in student discipline were prominent. With strong political and social context associated with these subject matters, there are complexities in addressing these types of situations. In any event, educational leaders and district representatives should aim to handle matters by considering the child’s best interest. They should also use the principle of subsidiarity to deal with challenges that may arise. School executives ought to implement effective solutions
A new superintendent in an urban school district believes educators are trained to run schools and should do so with the least amount of interference possible. For this reason, an ethical crisis arises when the district decides whether or not to close a local high school. While public relations officers want district administration to be as transparent as possible to remain honest and open, the superintendent and other schoolboard members want to hold meetings with no media present. This facts of this case will become clear through explication.
TORTS laws offer compensation to individuals harmed by the unreasonable actions of others. TORTS claims are based on the legal premise that a person(s) is liable for the consequences of their conduct if it results in injury to others. In education-related cases, the most common TORT is negligence. Recently, several cases have occurred whereby negligence and bullying are interconnected with students suing their schools for failing to enforce anti-bullying policies and causing injury to their well being. A current case includes Maya Williams suing her former high school for negligence in regards to the enforcement of their anti-bullying policy. By looking into a precedent case, elements of negligence, and how bullying affects a student, we
This paper addresses a situation in which a student notified this author that she was being subjected to bullying through another classmate’s Facebook page. A discussion of steps required by Oregon’s statutes, the Lake Oswego School District 's board policies and the student handbook, will provide a basis for examining any First Amendment arguments that the bullying has raised, with a discussion of the author 's First Amendment responses consistent with applicable Supreme Court cases.
In addition, we used the 2015 Florida School Laws book and the Florida State Statutes to review the K-20 Education Code. The major topics of the summary paper were bullying, due process, and FERPA. To complete the summary, I read through many legal documents, such as the Duval County School Board Policy Manual Chapter 10, Duval County Code of Conduct, Fla. Stat. §1006, §1002, §1003, and the U. S. Constitution. According to the state statutes, every school district must have a student code of conduct that includes a bullying and harassment policy. This document provides the foundation for student expectations and responsibilities at school, school-related activities, and situations that affect school culture. The state statutes specify the responsibilities and obligations of teachers regarding supervision and discipline of students. Teachers must make all decisions in the best interest of students in academics and safety. Due process of law and equality are guaranteed in the Fourteenth Amendment and forbid the basic rights of life, liberty, and property from being unfairly taken away. Substantive due process refers to government guidelines and rules that deny students of their fundamental rights. Procedural due process is a way of making sure the school system provides fair and appropriate measures to
At a public high school assembly of roughly 600 high school students, Matthew Fraser made a speech nominating a fellow student for elective office. Fraser had discussed the subject matter of his speech before the assembly to two teachers. Fraser’s teachers had informed Fraser that the speech should not be delivered because the speech was inappropriate and that it could lead to severe consequences. In his speech, Fraser used what some students believed was a graphic sexual image to promote the candidacy of Fraser’s friend. Bethel High School had a disciplinary code that enforced a rule prohibiting conduct that substantially interfered with the educational process
The Alaska Code of Ethics for teachers contain many points that deal with normative and applied ethics. I drew this conclusion because many of the topics within the code lead to things that explain how things should be done or if situations arise, it explains how they should be handled. These more general ideas provide a framework, which grounds these ethics (Moral Philosophy, 2009). From there the Alaska Code of Ethics spirals down to more specific terms and situations. This is when the code gets into more applied ethics (Moral Philosophy, 2009). The Alaska Code of Ethics seems to speak to the personal values and morals of those for whom they are intended. This can be seen in many of the codes such as, ?The educator may not engage in physical abuse of a student or sexual conduct with a student and shall report to the commission knowledge of such an act by an educator? (Alaska Department of Education & Early Learning, 2000). This is just one example of how Alaska?s code asks educators to abide not only by the professional code of ethics, but to also base their actions and judgments on their personal values and ethics. Teachers, in their responsibility to society, must work in order to not betray that trust (Nelson, Palonsky, & McCarthy, 2010). The knowledge of this responsibility is obvious throughout the Alaska Code of Ethics.
Second, Starratt (2004) suggests that the moral challenge presented to all educational leaders is embodied in the two sides of moral responsibility: avoid the bad, but perhaps more importantly, do the good. Indeed, educational leaders are granted the power and authority to do either or both, yet I do not believe they fully recognize the impact of the power and authority that they are permitted to wield. Throughout my career,
we ensure that equality, diversity and inclusion are ensured in the setting. We do this by making sure practitioners go on training days to make sure that they give children and young people equal opportunities, and include all children and young people in activities. It is important that when dealing with bullying in a setting that practitioners don’t take children and young people differences into account when dealing with the situation. When dealing with bullying we must give both parts an equal chance to tell their part of what happened practitioners should also read the bullying policy and procedure of what steps they take and they should follow them. It’s important that all members of staff must follow the equal rights of children and
Throughout the last 30 years, bullying cases of various types (physical and verbal) and situations (cyber and social) are growing rampant; and as a result, we’re now accustomed to hearing daily of the turmoil. A young victim, abused and embarrassed, suffers another attack and a bully walks away with a few days of suspension doled out by a useless disciplinary policy, useless to inhibit it from reoccurring. Whether it’s sexual harassment, self-defense, or defense of another, a bullied victim should defend themselves from any physical attack without fear of repercussion.
Student behavior and discipline in the classroom have been impacted by legislation and litigation as was discussed in an article written by Mitchell Yell and Michael Rozalski, The Impact of Legislation and Litigation on Disciple and Student Behavior in the Classroom. The authors believe that all students should receive their education in safe, orderly, and well-disciplined schools but maintaining these environments has become a major challenge for educators (Yell, M & Rozalski, M, 2008). Most states have laws that govern discipline in schools which also protect the rights of students in public education (Yell, et.al, 2008). These state laws control the actions of school officials when they carry out certain discipline-related functions, such as gathering evidence (e.g., searching students, their lockers, or their personal property), seizing contraband from students’ backpacks, or conducting any administrative actions that restrict a student’s property interest to attend school (e.g., suspension, expulsion) (Yell, et.al, 2008). A student’s entitlement under state law to a public education is