One Middle School has found a unique way to reduce bad behavior dramatically. Invite parents to school when students misbehave.
Administrators at one West Virginia middle school have introduced a new disciplinary alternative to a traditional suspension that they believe could be more effective in reforming troubled students.
At Huntington East Middle School, non-violent, non-verbally abusive behavior is handled by offering parents the option of a “reverse suspension.”
In a reverse suspension, instead of sending a child home, the student’s parent is invited to come to school and spend the entire day by his side.
Huntington East Middle School student Justin Young said the policy worked for him. He told WOWK “I was suspended multiple times last year. But this year, not once,”
Justin explained that when he and his mother got home from their day of reverse suspension, they had a family talk.
“She wanted to know if I acted like that when she was not around, I said, ‘No because I wanted to be good for you.’”
Parent Stephanie Howell added “Who as a parent wants to sit in class? It’s embarrassing. It’s a good motivator to not have your parents come and sit with them.”
Principal Frank Barnett said the approach has helped the school reduce student suspensions by two thirds and bad behavior incidents by more than half. The school discovered that, for many students, suspensions were seen as a break from school, something they planned for.