Tampa schools have long recognized that students attending middle schools tend to have more discipline problems than those in primary or high schools. When an incident occurs in Tampa schools, the usual policy is to have the individual teacher deal with it. The teacher may choose to speak to the student individually about the problem, send them to a different class room for a cooling-off period, or the student may be sent to the office. If the student is sent to the office, then the incident becomes part of that student’s permanent record, which will follow them whether they continue to attend Tampa schools or not.

Tampa Schools Need a Uniform Code for Student Behavior

Allowing teachers at Tampa schools to determine the appropriate consequences for certain behaviors may not be the best course of action. Unless there is a uniform code of conduct that applies equally to all students attending Tampa schools, then how do we know how to evaluate a student’s behavior or the overall atmosphere at those schools?

What constitutes “unacceptable behavior” is a matter of opinion. We are talking about students attending Tampa schools who are between the ages of 11 and 14.

They have the right to drop out of school when they are 16 years old. Long gone are the days when a person could drop out of school without a high-school diploma and be able to get a decent-paying job. Instead of cracking down on these students attending Tampa schools and allowing individual teachers to subjectively decide how to deal with behavior issues, a uniform code of conduct needs to be put into place outlining what constitutes unacceptable behavior and what discipline matches the offense. Each student and their parents should then be made aware of what standard of behavior is expected of students attending Tampa schools and what the consequences of a violation or repeat violations will be.

If a student breaks the rules regarding behavior, then the consequences are clear and enforcement is unquestioned and expected. This is the key to an effective plan – to have clear and precise definitions unacceptable behavior and to have a clear and precise course of discipline in place to correct or address and discipline student behavioral issues. Best yet the rules outlined apply equally to all students.

Tampa Schools May be Part of the Problem

One of the problems reported is that students in this age group attending Tampa schools have trouble sitting still and are restless. Perhaps instead of expecting the children to change attention span and ability to sit for long periods of time, the school curriculum should be rewritten to reflect the reality of being in this age group.

It’s not that these students attending Tampa schools don’t want to sit and listen – they can’t do it. The combination of hormones, physical changes, and the drive to assert their independence makes it impossible. Let’s accept these students attending Tampa schools the way they are and let them know exactly what we expect from them.

Author Bio: Patricia Hawke is a staff writer for Schools K-12, providing free, in-depth reports on all U.S. public and private K-12 schools. For more information please visit Tampa Florida School Ratings – Private and Public

Category: Education
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