To the editor: Kudos to the Los Angeles Times for highlighting a major issue in today’s schools (“Biting, kicking, wandering: Teachers see rise in misbehavior even among the littlest kids,” Feb. 17). However, it is just the tip of the iceberg. There are other issues affiliated with student behavior that only exacerbate the problem.
Passive parenting isn’t working. Parents are not teaching their children the necessary skills to function in a school setting. On a daily basis, there are numerous students who throw tantrums and flop to the ground crying because they didn’t get what they wanted. Many are rude and disrespectful, both verbally and physically. I’m not sure when these things became acceptable behavior at home or at school, but they seem to be now.
The state has passed legislation that has taken away authority from school personnel. For example, schools can’t assign recess detention, nor can they suspend for willful defiance. Without consequences, students will continue to misbehave. If my own kids knew there wouldn’t be consequences for not cleaning their rooms, do you really think they would do it?
In addition, the state has tied suspension rates to the California Distinguished School recognition. If a school has too many suspensions, good luck trying to earn that award. It’s not about how safe kids feel, or how teachers are supported. It’s about what looks good.
Lastly, let’s stop blaming the pandemic. Kids have been back at school for five years now. It doesn’t take that long to relearn how to act at school or in a public space.
It’s time we start expecting more from our kids and hold them accountable. Until then, we should stop with the headlines that schools are failing. Schools are doing the best they can with what they are given.
Ray Herrera, Rancho Cucamonga
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To the editor: As a retired educator who now educates adults about the importance of nervous system regulation, I cringed at this article. Teachers are woefully under-educated in how to help their students bring their nervous systems back to a regulated state.
Dysregulated students cannot learn. Teaching children how to tune into their bodily sensations and then choose an activity that works for them to come back to a regulated state is the key to a calmer classroom.
Sending a child to a “calm corner” without teaching them what to do while they are there is a waste of time.
Jennifer Sweeney, Lake Elsinore
This writer is the founder of the childhood development nonprofit Take a Second Look Educational Foundation.
