Beginning in kindergarten and continuing all the way through grade 12, school is one of the chief places where youngsters learn about rules and responsibility. Many of us remember how, in second or third grade, some kid who was trying to show off repeatedly yelled out bad words in class. But if youngsters don't learn that rules are to be taken seriously for little things, pretty soon you have to deal with much bigger problems, like shouting obscenities or hitting someone, and you have a school in which very little learning can take place. And when they see that lesson reinforced time after time in school, that experience becomes a permanent part of their character. Our schools today tolerate a tremendous amount of disruption and disorder.
Kids do and say pretty much what they want, without fear of the consequences.
You can't do anything to me. There are rules against this kind of thing, but they are not being enforced because some people say that suspension or expulsion will not help the kids who are tossed out. That may be true in some cases. But it does a world of good for the majority of students, who can now enjoy an orderly and learning environment. And it's not just a question of reading and writing.