Customer Reviews

Judging School Discipline: The Crisis of Moral Authority

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If there is, it suits this book. An absolute must read, eye opener for anyone entering the profession of teaching. For those of us who have been there and done that, who have felt the craziness creeping closer everyday as we viewed one failed plan after another trumpeted in and wheeled out, for those of us who believed we were the only ones who saw what was happening, who were disparagingly called "Old School", who sometimes felt totally alone wondering if we were the ones who were crazy, treat yourself to this book and enjoy a wonderful balm and tonic as you immerse yourself in some long needed support.

This book should have been dedicated to all of us who ever wondered what happened to the joy of teaching, and who have hung in there hoping someone would listen to us as we fought to bring it back. Judging School Discipline should be required reading for every administrator, school board member, policy maker, and politician, as well as everyone in our legal system.

To the authors I can only say "Thank you, Thank you, Thank you. Perhaps your book will help decision makers finally realize they have been dancing us around a camp fire of futility, and also enlighten them to the fact they can not avoid the real problem by trying to reinvent the wheel of education.

TEACHERS, GRAB THIS BOOK.

Arum's critique of the court system being utilizing for student redress is more than troubling in light of the extreme abuse of authority that takes place in every public school in America. The threat of lawsuit is the only potential avenue for justice for most youth. Since recent court rulings have come increasingly closer to defining minors as property, the implication of being denied access to courts pushes American society to the brink of forging a new form of slavery. Arum might be noble in his rejection of Zero Tolerance (which hardly is a profound insight), but with the "get tough" spirit that pervades schools and society, it is much more likely that children will be barred from fighting injustices in courts long before they will be afforded respect or leniency in school. Arum unwittingly has a produced fodder for fascists who will embrace his complaints, which would apply in an ideal society.