Most schools have little tolerance for substance abuse, on-campus violence or weapons and cyber-bullying. In such cases they resort to immediate disciplinary measures like suspension and expulsion. These shortsighted and draconian forms of punishment ultimately fail to discourage unethical behavior because they do more harm than good.

Teenagers are in a period of rapid growth and change. They are likely to find themselves in an environment of drugs, alcohol and possibly even violence-inducing emotional stress. The idea that a young adult will never come across these situations, much less experiment when they have the chance, is more idealistic than realistic. Many people make mistakes, and hopefully learn from them, much like a young child learns to ride a bike. Each time the child falls, the parent shouldn’t chastise the child and forbid him or her from bicycling due to the scrape he or she got. The parent knows his or her child needs that experience to learn. Like children learning to pick themselves up after a fall, students will learn to use alternatives to drugs and alcohol for social activity or coping with life’s hardships. Similarly, school administrators cannot hover and overreact to every student’s infractions. In their fear of volatile, self-destructive behavior, school officials unfortunately generalize young adults into a stereotype that dictates high school students lack maturity and self-responsibility. Not every student who has tried alcohol or drugs will go on to live their lives as addicts.

In addition, suspended students struggling with personal issues are likely to continue involvement with criminal activity and kicking them out of school does not help. Also, using fear instead of positive reinforcement to discipline students can augment the bridge of distrust between students and teachers. Students in their loyal code of silence would only be encouraged to keep secrets and withdraw from adults. That is counterproductive; schools should try to improve communication within the community.

It is without question that illicit behavior should be discouraged. However, schools should seek to reform, rather than punish. Gunn’s method of discipline is effective because it includes requiring additional counseling and offering second chances with strict warnings. Our method emulates the court system, where form of punishment is based on each individual case and the severity of the crime.

Harsh punishments cause suffering that defy common sense. They disrespect students in general, assuming they aren’t self-disciplined enough to learn. The minorities of students that need guidance are actually punished. And finally, the school community suffers as students refuse to speak against their peers, despite the potentially insidious long-term effects. Harsh consequences for illicit behavior have their own set of consequences, and it is dangerous to implement them without serious and sensitive consideration.