RETURN ORDER & SAFETY TO OUR CLASSROOMS

   NP:  Another supply teacher — I’ll call her Marcia, with decades of experience in Special Ed — that I know well and can trust, has told me numerous stories of her travails with students. In one class, a violent eight-year old (!) pushed her, punched her, bit her and threw a chair at her. His “punishment” was to cool down in an office where a computer was available to play games on. The administration refused to deal further with the child, her union rep did nothing, but Marcia was given a 10-point “behaviour modification plan” — for her! “Don’t raise your voice, give him choices, don’t crowd him,” etc.
 Appeasement and fear of students by administration is a common thread in all the stories I have heard.Shop teacher Rob Ball attributed escalating discipline breakdown to Kathleen Wynne’s 2013 Progressive Discipline Policy, embraced by “equity-obsessed TDSB education director Dr. John Malloy.” So I wouldn’t have bothered writing this column if Wynne were still in office. But I am emboldened because Doug Ford’s people just might listen to my proposals, namely: i) Return authority to teachers; ii) prioritize safety for children who want to learn and teachers who want to teach over bad-apple “rights” and iii) Institute compulsory boot camps for chronic offenders.