DayeTime: Punish or rehabilitate; how to deal with 'bad kids'

There has always been a debate when it comes to how society should handle its wrong-doers.

Do we punish them or do we rehabilitate them?

Do we make their habitat so unpleasant that they do not want to return or do we provide services and equipment necessary to change their behavior so they will not return?

When we talk about facilities for our criminals, there are prisons, penitentiaries, correctional centers and detention centers.

I remember when the juvenile facilities were called reform school or reformatories. Then they became juvenile detention centers, juvenile correctional centers and now the trend is to just call them “centers for youth.”

In those public school systems enlightened enough to have a program for those students who commit major infractions the most common term has been “alternative school.”

But still the question is, “Do we make it so tough they will do whatever it takes not to come back” or “Do we address the behavior that sent them here and not the offense that landed them here?”

The Avoyelles Virtual Alternative Program is this public school district’s instructional program for those students who have been expelled or sentenced to a long-term suspension due to violation of rules and policies.

Some may say the district can save money by just sending the “bad kids” home and let their parents deal with them.

Of course, if someone refers to these students as “bad kids” they are showing a flawed outlook on life from the outset. They are not “bad kids,” but rather kids that did bad things.

There is a difference. Treat a child as a “bad kid” and that’s what you get. If you treat him as a child that made a mistake, well, mistakes can be corrected. That’s why we have erasers.

AVAP incorporates online resources -- hence the “virtual” in its name -- but also has teacher-led classes. It hits the academic requirements so the students do not fall behind for when they return to their zoned school.

It also has a component aimed at “fixing” the behavior that led to the student committing the act that resulted in the expulsion/suspension.

For its first four years, AVAP has operated on two half-day programs meant to accommodate 60-70 students per day.

With a student-teacher ratio of about 7 to 1, there is a lot of individual attention possible. The half-day school day was also appreciated by students.

There have been parents who said they wished their child could stay at AVAP because he was doing better than he had ever done before and really enjoyed being at the school.

In short, the alternative school was not a deterrent to misbehavior. A School Board member recently raised the possibility that it might actually cause former AVAP students to act up so they could return to the alternative school. AVAP officials told the board there will be some changes in the next school year to address some concerns and comply with new regulations.

The big difference will be the end of half-day sessions. There will be one all-day session.

Teaching staff will be increased and the number of students in the program will be limited to 50. The student-teacher ratio will remain about the same.

AVAP will spend about 4.5 hours on academics and 1.5 hours on the social/behavioral aspect of the program.

The contract with Ombudsman, a company that operates this type of alternative program across the state and country, comes up for renewal this spring.

Board members listened to a presentation on the program at its Feb. 5 meeting and indicated they will look at all options for the alternative program.

Board member Van Kojis told his fellow-board members that without AVAP, the district would have a bunch of “lost souls” in its students expelled from school.

Kojis noted that this kind of program comes with a cost, “but I don’t know what other alternative we would have.”

The potential danger that I hope does not materialize is that board members see dollar signs instead of children’s lives.

It might sound tough to say things like “Do the crime, do the time” -- and that is pretty close to my philosophy when it comes to the judicial system. However, when it comes to violations of school rules, the school district still has to stay true to its mission and purpose, which is to educate every child.

Actions must have consequences, but expelling a child to go home and play video games and watch TV and get further behind in his academic studies just sets in motion a cycle of failure.

Some suggest the district have a “boot camp” type of program, imposing military-style discipline to put the wayward students back on the straight and narrow.

Sending those students to “boot camp” might work for a few, but I don’t believe it would have a lasting effect on most.

Teaching the student that he is responsible for his own behavior and that his behavior bears consequences is the kind of lesson that can become part of a person’s life.

I won’t say AVAP’s contract should be renewed, nor will I say it shouldn’t. That’s the board members’ call.

I will say that as a parent and an observer of schools, school systems and education programs for over 40 years, an alternative program must be different enough to redirect the student -- capture his attention, if you will -- and then be able to send him back to the traditional classroom he came from. It should not be punitive, because nobody learns out of fear or force. It should not coddle, because that rewards negative behavior.

It should focus first and foremost on the academic courses and make sure the students are at least up to date with their peers when they return to their school.

There also needs to be some serious soul-searching by that student as to why he acted the way he did and how he can change those behaviors so he will be a better student, better classmate and, eventually, better citizen of his community.

Kicking them out of school with a “good riddance and don’t come back” attitude condemns those students to failure -- not only in school, but in life.

We should always remember, if you close the school door now, it is much more likely the jail door will open later.