YOUTH AND NIGHT CURFEWS

Many cities are having problems with youth out on the streets after dark.  Too many reported cases of youth causing trouble at night have also made the news.  Many city governments have instituted curfews for youth to be off the streets.  Then the city begin to discuss a manner in which the community can service the youth after dark so the youth have something to do.  I think the youth should do community service, the community serving the youth.  If a community keeps a child busy during the daylight then the child will be more tired and stay home to sleep at night.  This is the natural pattern of life.  Work hard during the day at required chores and then a restful sleep is the reward.  This is the lesson for the youth to learn.

WAIT NO MORE

Society must start to take notice of the youth.  If youth rule the daytime, the youth will rule the nighttime.  In school if a youth talks dirty or demeaning, dresses inappropriately and just hangs around not doing the work, these infractions are only looked upon as a ‘slap on the wrist.’  The school is not taking enough disciplinary steps to redirect behavior while making each youth behave better and abide by the rules.  At night and after school, inappropriate dress, nasty, demeaning and disparaging language and just hanging around and not doing work are a major cause for ‘youth flash mobs’ and youth misbehavior.  Like I said, if the youth get by with no discipline during the day, they think they will get by with no discipline during the night.  Schools must enforce dress uniforms, proper usage of all language and not negotiable finishing and comprehension of all subject assignments.  Who ensures all this is followed?  The adults must take the leadership role to redirect all youth in school so they behave proper and not just hang around.  In short, each youth does work each day.  Change adults so they are more restrictive to the youth, more straightforward in directing inappropriate behavior and dress and discipline harsh enough so each youth is redirected to stay within expectations.  But teachers wait for administrators to be the first adult to enforce a rule.  The administrator waits for the teacher to be the first adult to enforce a rule.  The parent waits for the police or school to contact them to say their child is acting inappropriately.  The police is waiting for the parent to monitor and discipline their child for acting or dressing inappropriately.  So why the wait?  Each adult must act as an adult and redirect and take charge in changing the youth.  Wait no more. 

SCHOOL POLICIES ON CELL PHONES

The school district I am involved has a collective goal for the students to reach when they take the ACT college entrance test.  The collective composite score for the school should be 21.  Some of the students in  the surrounding schools have reached and surpassed this composite score goal for their school.  The teachers in my school, for the most part, would like to have cell phones and electronic items banned from the school building.  But the policy is students can use their ipods and cell phones in the hallway, common areas and lunchroom.  This is no matter if class is on or not.  Once a student is out of a classroom, electronic items can be used, no matter the time of the school day.  I reviewed the student discipline policies for the surrounding schools which had met our set goal for the composite ACT goal.  Their cell phone and electronic policy is zero tolerance.  No cell phone or ipod is to be visible or used during the school day, period.  When I related this information the comment came forth that unless further survey and data was collected there could be no correlation made between policy and the results for the ACT test.  That was not my intention.  My comment in return says my thought on the matter, 'if you wish to eat like a cheetah, run like a cheetah after cheetah food.'