SOUTHWORDS
March 1983
Editor looks for end to reassignment
Reassignment, in-school suspension, is a practiced policy at Maine South that must end.
Under the reassignment system, the student is taken out of his regular classes and put into one room for a day. He is allowed two washroom passes and a lunch period for the entire day. Generally a student can take five detentions or one day reassignment. Some students have signed their lives away to reassignment.
I don't like making this broad generalization, but for the most part there are good and bad students in reassignment.
I would like to refer to myself as one of the good kids. I recently had the pleasure of attending one day of this reassignment.
I was locked up for trying to leave school after forgetting a book at home. My day began as I received assignments from my regular teachers that would last me about two periods. The rest of the day was spent writing notes to my friends and writing this article.
It was great! What a perfect time to catch up on homework, and get some sleep when the monitor isn't looking.
The responsible me says, "You're missing out on an education. Never let this happen again." The irresponsible me says, "If they want to take me out of class, fine. I'll enjoy it. If I ever get the chance at reassignment again, count me in." Reassignment might almost work if all students wanted to get a great education. Everyone would be good because they didn't want to miss class.
What really upsets me is that to my left is a freshman who I know. I guess he is lucky because he has found out that if you cut a bunch of classes, the deans call you in and sent you to a place where you can miss some more. This kid needs one-on-one contact with teachers the most, but he is in here. The crime is the freshman or sophomore doesn't know enough to care about his education.
He figures "why not?" and the deans play along with the game.
"In loco parentis" is a phrase that means school officials take the place of the parent in school. That means even though the student says "I want to mess around and forget about learning," the school officials say, "You're all wrong! You need an education and we are going to give it to you." Well, they are giving us an education all right.
The fact of the matter is that there isn't a real discipline problem at Maine South. Everyday only ten or twelve kids have to be locked up so that they won't interfere with the educative process. One important factor to keep in mind at Maine South is the quality of the teachers. We have the best--grade A, number one. They can keep their classrooms under control. The teachers could teach if the deans would let them.
Some students unjustly lose a day of education for making a dumb mistake. They know enough not to let it happen again. The crime is the freshman or sophomore that doesn't know enough to care about his education.
So this system is ineffective and wrong. What are you going to do? I don't know, do something. Call, write a letter, form a committee.
Leo