How can behavioral problems in schools be dealt with? A big question which needs input from educational experts. People who are on the job and know what they are doing say it is an important part of the educational process, and their suggestion for dealing with these problems is to be more open with students, encourage discussion and expression, flexibility and understanding.
If the cases are very serious, then different measures will have to be adopted. That would be the ideal way to deal with students “violations”. But the new guidelines recently issued by the Ministry of Education suggest other measures for tackling the problem.
The pamphlet which has been distributed in schools for parents to sign contains a list of unacceptable behavior and the punishment suggested for that behavior. The punishment ranges from deducting marks from the student to expulsion.
As I looked at the list, I had the vague impression that we are developing our own version of George Orwell’s Big Brother. As a writer in Al-Madinah newspaper said, the list seems to have come from regulations for prisons and courts rather than from an educational body.
The only thing to do is to have a look. In a preface, there is an entire page explaining the behavior expected from schoolgirls: A student should apply whatever she learns at school in her life. She must depend first on God and then on herself to do her school duties. She should be cheerful and greet her colleagues with a smile, and she should choose good friends.
Now, how on earth can such things be evaluated or even enforced? To move on, however, to the important section of the regulations which deal with different violations and punishments. Absence, tardiness, rudeness and defying the teachers are there of course as in any normal school system.
But there are also violations that make no sense at all. In fact they are, as the mother of a high school student said to me, “ridiculous.”
To list a few: plucking eyebrows, wearing unacceptable abayas, wearing make-up and perfume, carrying mobile phones, not covering their faces when going out of school.
All these are very arbitrary and certainly should not be punishable offenses. How can we expect teenagers, who are rebellious by nature, to conform to such strict rules? How are they supposed to feel when they are not allowed to use perfume when their teachers have the privilege? It gets even stranger in the section for grave crimes. Punishment in this section is usually expulsion. The offenses include some of the vaguest and most poorly-defined I have ever heard.
For example, “to have destructive and dangerous ideas and beliefs”. There is also a general statement saying a student may be expelled if “her presence in school becomes a danger to others.”
How do you measure destructive thoughts? Who decides what is destructive and dangerous? A boys’ school principal told me that the list reflected a desire for punishment instead of reform.
He said: “This shows the utmost inflexibility. As educators you should know that your job is to deal with problems rather than providing punishment for everything.
“All schools have problems with students, but the way to deal with them, if they are treated as problems and not just excuses for punishment, is through psychologists and social workers. Dialogue and understanding are the keys.”
A mother said: “I am glad my daughter is in her final year; she does not have to deal with this nonsense. The list eliminates the human bond between teacher and student.” So it seems we are back to the old way of thinking — if it offends, ban and punish. These seem to be the only way we can imagine solving problems.
When has banning anything ever resulted in a genuine solution? When are we going to think of more positive and realistic ways to solve our problems? Looking at the pamphlet, I sadly say that we still have a very long way to go.
