Seniors...do you think school boards need to reinstitute "reform" schools?

At one time Georgia had boot camps for hard core youthful offenders.I say we need to revive them.

Children need to fear authority figures.Nothing is any more intimidating than a drill instructor serving as an alarm clock at 5 a.m. and forcing these incorrigibles to perform hard physical labor all day.

Maybe after six months of this form of punishment then they would have their attitudes in a learning mode.

I know a high school teacher who teaches in the worst school in Oklahoma City. He said that school is basically a baby-sitter for those kids until they reach the legal age of dropping out. If he tries to fail someone for not learning anything in his class all year, their parent(s) will come to the school and threaten to make a lawsuit. The parents are the biggest problem from what he has heard & seen. If they aren't going to learn anything, why spend the money on them? The school district already has money problems, there aren't enough textbooks to pass out to each student (not that they would be used for any good purpose anyway) and the old textbooks he has for the classroom are checked out to students who might want to read them, 10 for the whole class. Most cannot do basic addition, subtracting and multiplication much less algebra. Much of his time is used to write required reports for incidents such as using the f-word or making idle threats. Many of the girls get pregnant by the time they are 16, they are deliberately trying to do so in order to move out of their homes and get welfare benefits. Why not test these kids and take the ones who have attempted to make progress, spend the school money on them and release the rest?

Not really - I think believe that the idea of "Trade" schools & apprenticeships should be considered by more schjool districts. As we all know, not everyone is interested in going to college. FOR EXAMPLE :When I traveled through Germany - I was very surprised to learn that waiters & waitresses received schooled training & certification for providing proper service before employment. Why is it that we fail to consider that in the USA? Some schools have begun to provide better instruction in culinary skill training which would lead to gaining employment in the restaurant industry. We have entry level work in many fields but our children do not even qualify to be presentable or have basic skills to be considered. I would suggest reading some of the questions in the YA employment category & even Fast Food to understand what I am implying. I actually believe that many "reform" types are kids who know that the schools do not provide them with the skills for employment - that needs to be changed..

That responsiblity falls on the parents, not the education system. Not all school districts are full of hoodlums, tungs, and gangs... Most non-inner city schools are quite the opposite. You as a parent need to be aware of the school district you are in... if you are in one of those bad districts, enroll them in a better district.

As you mention, we are already spending enormous amounts of money on what is.... why would you suggest spending even more? This country is slowly choking itself out due to uncontrolled government spending... throwing more money at the problem only lets the problem get worse. We don't need more government spending.

In this day and age, we have youth correctional facilities (a nice term for prisons for kids under 21 incarcerated as a minor.) There are also numerous pilot programs in place for alternative schools for problems children. What we need is to give the authority to raise children BACK to the parent. Most folks I know are scared to discipline the little monsters they raised.

They call them continuation schools. I don't know if this learning program allows the student to live on the premises.

The problems with the schools today are the teachers, the kids' parents,a nd the government.

You should feel sorry for the kids, instead of badgering them. Look what we have in the White House, that's just one indication of where we've sunken to.

We don't have that anymore, dispite how much counseling, they could have a learning disability such as ADHD, and if that happens you start disadvantaging a student that needs every little bit of help they can get. I think it's disgusting to even think of a reform school.

Yes, and put the parents in them. That's the trouble, parents who won't discipline their kids and teach them to respect authority.

More political correctness..