Chronically Misbehaving Kids Suffer Mental and Social Disease
Posted by Julia Steiny in Uncategorized on August 26, 2016
Published by EducationNews.org — Sometimes these students get a chance to shake off the ‘bad kid’ self-image. Too often not. Naturally, Faina Davis, a lawyer and head of Restorative Justice for Oakland Youth (RJOY), would have a happy-ish story about what happens when troubled kids connect with adults who practice Restorative Justice. Far more often, kids […]
College Campus Discipline That Works
Posted by Julia Steiny in Uncategorized on August 18, 2016
Published by EducationNews.org — Revenge may be satisfying, but it rarely leads to positive change. Here’s a clear, real-life illustration of the use of Restorative Justice (RJ). Skidmore professor David Karp tells the story of how the college handled two virtually identical incidents before and after the implementation of a RJ campus discipline system. Karp literally […]
Rhode Island’s New Law Mandates Recess for Kids
Posted by Julia Steiny in Uncategorized on August 4, 2016
Published by EducationNews.org — Apparently we need the states to step in to prevent the disappearance of playtime in school. Ask adults what their favorite subject in grade school was and often you’ll get “recess.” Yes of course, they also liked the science of erupting volcanoes, reading intriguing stories, and hopefully much more. But young bodies needs […]
Little Kids Need Cool Places to Explore, Not Classroom Time
Posted by Julia Steiny in Uncategorized on July 21, 2016
Published by EducationNews.org — Doesn’t anyone worry that pre-school can teach kids to hate school earlier? Early childhood education has become this year’s education-fix obsession. From the President of the United States to the President of the Rhode Island Senate, we’re now pinning our hopes for improved academic achievement on more for schooling low-income, urban […]
Always Model Kindness, Especially to Children
Posted by Julia Steiny in Uncategorized on July 14, 2016
Published by EducationNews.org — The kindest response to unwanted behavior is to ask good questions. The trim, tall elementary teacher, whom we’ll call Ms. Larch, paused before answering the question that had been posed to everyone in the circle. Larch was among a group of teachers from all levels in a Restorative Practices (RP) training. RP, in […]
Winning the Discipline Wars Takes Restoration
Posted by Julia Steiny in Uncategorized on June 9, 2016
Published by EducationNews.org — Kicking the kid out doesn’t really hold the kid accountable or teach him how to behave. In Fordham Institute’s weekly Flypaper blog, David Griffith offers a tantalizing hope in a piece called “How to end the discipline wars.” He asks, “Is there a more annoying manifestation of our political and cultural […]
Online Interactions Are Cultivating Anti-Social Boys
Posted by Julia Steiny in Uncategorized on May 26, 2016
Published by EducationNews.org — How do we help a kid whose social life is mainly with his screens? The boy shrugs off a question for maybe the 10th time that afternoon. He seems incapable of simple human interaction. Mom tries to talk for him as he wriggles and writhes at the table in her impeccable kitchen. No, she’s […]
Only America Refuses to Sign the Children’s Rights Treaty
Posted by Julia Steiny in Uncategorized on May 12, 2016
Published by EducationNews.org — Seriously? Are we so divided that we can’t even agree on taking care of the kids? I can’t imagine a clearer set of ideals for the modern world than those set forth in the United Nations’ 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child. The document’s 41 Articles are the conditions of […]
Without Strong Communities, Schools Will Fail
Posted by Julia Steiny in Uncategorized on May 5, 2016
Published by EducationNews.org — Chaotic families can wreck their kids’ lives despite a school’s best efforts. So what can rescue the family? In the world of school reform, there are two ways of thinking about kids’ families and backgrounds. A 2013 movie called In The Hive shows why we need a third. Approach #1: Focus all […]
How Governments Abuse and Neglect Kids
Posted by Julia Steiny in Uncategorized on April 8, 2016
Published by EducationNews.org — Once again, adults battling to force cutbacks in charter schools are ignoring what’s best for students. When still young and blissfully naive, I was appointed to the Providence School Board. I was sure my clever, well-informed interview with the outgoing Mayor had knocked it out of the park. I later discovered I […]
