The problems start at home for many students
I think the biggest challenge is that far too many students are coming from dysfunctional, chaotic homes, and they bring that baggage with them to school, which makes it very difficult for them to learn. I’m not sure what DPS can do about it, as much as it’s something for the community as a whole.
I think it’s really important that teachers be able to recognize when children are acting out because of trauma in their lives, and deal with that in the appropriate way. A 5-year old who can’t sit still, for example, may be acting out the fact that they were up all night the night before with something terrible going on their household. If the teacher does not realize a child is under stress, that child is not going to be able to deal with whatever is going on his or her life. Unfortunately, too many kids are coming to school with those kinds of problems.
I think the community at large can really put pressure on the school system and the Legislature to provide the mental-health services to our schools that we need to help these kids to deal with this, and require that teachers get professional development to help them understand how to deal with social and emotional issues.
In Ohio last year, we expelled or suspended over 35,000 kids under the age of 8. That’s an incredible thing when you think about it; those are babies, basically — somebody sent them back to an environment that wasn’t providing them what they needed in the first place.