In response to the article published in the Amboy Guardian, Wednesday, July 25th, 2012 Perth Amboy teachers argue discipline data, I Natalia Dunyak, a sixth grader and spending all my years in the Perth Amboy public school system, would like to give you my point of view on the discipline data. I believe the discipline data shows no proof of what really is going on within our schools.
To begin with, school is nothing like what the discipline data shows. This year was the most chaotic year out of all my experience in the William C. McGinnis School. Most of the kids in my class really didn’t care about school, therefore they cause trouble for their own amusement. However, since it was so often, it seemed to blend into a daily thing. For this reason, kids like me who cared about their education, lost bits of it because the unruly kids weren’t dealt with. That’s why the suspension went down because kids aren’t dealt with, so they are hardly ever punished.
Furthermore, teachers and staff are affected because of the lack of discipline. There usually was only order when we were being taught by a teacher that would punish them for their bad behavior. As I said in the last paragraph, these kids have horrible behavior, and since it was most of the time , the teachers hardly ever wrote them up or sent them to the office. So they can’t even get suspended. Later during the year I was really fed up and frustrated, I spoke to a teacher that I was very close to, she had stated to me in confidence, “Teachers don’t write kids up that much anymore because when they are written up, nothing changes.” So basically teachers are fed up as well.
Additionally, we can’t be happy with what we have right now. Because all we have right now is a little glitter of hope for a better year. William C. McGinnis School has barely improved. In fact, a teacher had even said to me that this year was the worst year in the sixth grade out if all her years of teaching. Likewise, another student named Penelope said, “It’s horrible,” about the behavior in our school. We all can’t simply celebrate, it would be just like burying our heads in the sand.
Moreover, I simply can’t see how school suspensions can drop so rapidly. How can 338 drop to 75 within a year difference? That all just means 263 kids didn’t get reported. For instance, some teachers give way too many chances to these kids. Once a teacher threatens to send a kid to the office, the undisciplined child says, “No Mrs.!” And when this happens they are giving the child another chance, or they just send them to the office. Plus also haven’t we all realized that some kids see a suspension as no school? After all, they don’t care if they miss anything that benefits their education, some might care about missing a talent show, but not school.
In conclusion, the discipline data shows nothing on what’s really going on in our public schools. I really wish I could be happy, but I can’t. Please all readers out there listen to what I wrote and realize the truth. Also a special thanks to all the teachers that gave me the ability to write this and helped me open my eyes to the truth. An education should never be wasted – it sets you free. Thank you for reading my comments.
Proud to be Perth Amboyan,
Natalia Lynn Dunyak, age 12
Thanks you for speaking up miss. You have great courage and I hope your statements are heard.
At this moment I’m ashamed to say I’m from Perth Amboy! Let this letter serve as a slap in the face wakeup call to not only the members and administration of the Perth Amboy Bd of Ed but to the city as a whole. I applaud this young lady for having the courage to stand up and point out to the so called “professionals” that a serious problem does exist in our schools, and that by turning a blind eye and denying it does exist, hoping it will just go away is no way to deal with it. We as a community are failing the students of Perth Amboy by not instilling proper discipline in our schools and seeing that it is enforced. It’s shameful that students like this young lady are made to suffer because the administrators or the Bd of Ed refuse to do anything. But the problem can’t be solely placed on the system, a major part of the problem also lays with the community, more specifically the parents. To many parents in this city think of the school system as a “free baby sitting service”, and don’t care enough about their children or their futures to want to get involved, having worked in the system for many years I saw it first hand. The only parents that ever showed up were the ones who’s children weren’t the problem or needed help, the parents of the problematic students were never anywhere to be found. So residents of Perth Amboy I ask you, are we going to continue to sit ideally by and continue to doom our children to failure, or are we going to get involved and see to it that these problems are addressed and fixed so that the children of our community can go on to be the leaders of our community.
Kudos to you, Natalia, for speaking up – and writing so well!
What the public doesn’t know is the cause behind the lack of disciplinary measures. District administration doesn’t want to report negative data to the state out of fear of takeover, loss of funding, bad press, etc. They then put pressure on school administrators not to suspend, etc. The administrators then pressure the teachers to “take care of things in the classroom” which actually works in a civil environment where perhaps 2-3 students are disruptive, but when 1/3 or more of the class (“critical mass”) goes “off the rails” (something you have to experience to believe), it’s literally impossible to manage, and they feed off each other as it spirals out of control. Also, following the written rules and actually referring deviants to the office results in blowback and retribution from building administration, including getting an intolerable schedule the following year, denied an increment (raise), or, if you’re not tenured, non-renewal of your contract. McGinnis had, a few years ago, staff turnover in excess of 30%. So, every incentive is in place to only report fights and the most extreme behavior issues.
I know a teacher who had a male student who would sexually molest female students for his own amusement. Security would remove the student, and return him to the classroom a few minutes or a couple of days later. Over and over and over again. Fights and cursing were common. One female student called a female teacher a “f*****g white bitch!” just because that teacher told her to be quiet during mandatory state testing.
Students are so unruly in the hallways that even 8th graders (ages 14-17) have to be escorted to lunch, music, etc., because they can’t stop disrupting other classes in session by banging on lockers, doors, windows, each other, etc.
The biggest tragedy of this environment is not that the disruptive students, who are hell-bent on dragging others down with them, aren’t educated – Jesus Christ Himself couldn’t teach some of these kids. It’s that they deprive students like Natalia of theirs. I consider it a crime! If the most disruptive students were removed – PERMANENTLY – from the classrooms, their meek followers would tone down big-time and the great kids like Natalia would blossom like desert flowers after a rain. Any teacher lucky enough to have the 4 or 5 biggest problems removed for a day immediately sees it’s a different class, and 10x the learning can take place on those days.
District- and school-level administrators/management need to suck it up and have the…strength…to support the teachers in their quest for a positive learning environment in the classroom, even if it means suspensions or investing in alternative schools for those intent on living an unrealistic MTV lifestyle. Honestly, the core of the problem lies at home, where basic morals and ethics (like not telling an adult – or anyone else, really – to go f**k herself, showing up on time, at least attempting all work, respect, and taking an interest in bettering one’s self) should be taking place.
By the way, these problems are not unique to McGinnis or Perth Amboy. Having taught in several schools in rich, poor, and in-between schools/towns over the last decade, but I must say McGinnis was, by far, the worst. However, these problems exist in may suburban schools and even the “rich, white schools” although to a lesser degree.
Stop sweeping the problems under the rug and DEAL with them! Those on the front lines – the teachers and the aides – deserve the support from their superiors so that the cooperative students can get the truly excellent education they deserve. Stop blaming the teachers, many of whom I would not hesitate to have teach my own children! Kids need to be taught that all choices have consequences – good or bad – and choosing to learn (and let others learn) is the right choice to make.
Some parents of disruptive students care – they just don’t know what to do. Had one [28-yr-old] father of a 13-yr-old girl beg me for advice because he could not get her to come home until 2am or 3am some nights. Yet I was held accountable for her failing to do any work, learn, or stop making cat noises in the back of my classroom for an hour-plus a day.
Perhaps we need to get the parents in on Saturdays for community service, parenting lessons, etc.
Here’s a thought: find a superintendent with the stones to send out something like this…
http://www.teach4real.com/2012/04/18/an-overdue-letter-to-parents/
Excellent point Natalia ! Let nobody deprive you of your right to education. Discipline should start at home, dysfunctional families leave it up to educators but their hands are tied by legalities demanded by the very same parents. The teachers deal with these problems daily which only distacts from the time needed to teach. The need for ZERO tolerance, enforced by administration, and upheld by the PTA is now!