First by the Public Agenda Foundation and the American Teacher by the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, school discipline was listed as the number one educational concern by both teachers and the general public. This, proponents say, will allow other students to learn, and restore the public's confidence in their schools. The results sound good in theory. But before we encourage the very practices that have separated our children in the name of discipline but helped create the very prison population that many find appalling, let's consider what we are doing and what signals we are sending our youth. First, consider the facts.
Teachers are too.
Second, poll results such as those on discipline from the Public Agenda Foundation do not mean the public's perceptions are correct or that they are the basis for public policy. A recent poll by the Washington Post and the Kaiser Family Foundation showed that the public thinks there are twice the number of African Americans in the population than there actually are. It was a perfect example of popular perception outstripping reality. Besides, these poll results may reflect little more than what the public has been fed over the years about how violent urban schools are. We frame the entire discussion about school discipline as if it were a problem with the kids alone.