Suspension

One of my students was suspended for engaging in gang activity at school. What gang activity can an 11 year old engage in? What does that look like? I wasn't given any of the details, and thus I am left with a burning curiosity. How do I handle that as a teacher? This is a quiet, though often unproductive, student of mine who typically sits in the back of the class and bothers no one. What could he have done? I am sure the answer would shock me, and I am equally sure that I don't really want to know. But, what can a teacher do when a student comes in with a predisposition for particular behaviors? How do I convince my students of the dangers, physical and mental, of gang membership? I don't have a good answer for that, but that doesn't mean I am not going to try some things out.

Twice since he came back I have sat next to him trying to catch him up from his week long absence. He is polite, respectful, and complacent. What could this boy, not even 5 feet tall, have done to be suspended for gang activity? I sit next to him and want to ask, What did you do to get suspended? Or more importantly still, What did you do while you were suspended? Who was at home with you? Who looked after you? I am fairly certain that I would not like the answers I got to any of these questions.

What I am left with then is why at-home suspension? How is sending a student suspended for gang related activity home with little to no supervision the best option for the student? Isn't that what it should come down to? What is best for the student? Why, then, are we subjecting him to the high likelihood of the influence of the gang he was suspended for engaging in? I can not be the only one who sees the flaw in this plan. A child is suspended from school for 6 whole days for reflecting the behaviors he most likely sees at or around his home? I do not see the logic of this plan. My school has an in-school suspension plan, but his crime was considered too severe to stay in school. What message is that sending? We don't want to deal with you. We can't deal with you. We are at a loss as to how to deal with you. We've given up.

I haven't. I haven't given up. This student, whether he wants it or not, has just gotten himself signed up for Miss Blanchard's covert special attention list. Can I make a difference? All I know is I can't if I given up.