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Some things that some people view as mistakes are not necessarily large mistakes. For example, people swear all the time, and yet some schools might expel or su

Some things that some people view as mistakes are not necessarily large mistakes. For example, people swear all the time, and yet some schools might expel or suspend the child if the child is caught swearing. Having such a reaction to something so minor is a problem.

II2II 5y ago
> Having such a reaction to something so minor is a problem. Swearing is one of those things that ranges from not being a problem to being a big problem. Kids using words because they are forbidden is not a problem. A kid swearing in front of teachers to signal disrespect is something that needs to be addressed. A child swearing at another child in anger, then it may be necessary to unwind what's going on and that may determine if harsh consequences are necessary. While I have never heard of a child being suspended/expelled over swearing, yet if it did happen it was probably due to something else going on. Part of the problem with this surveillance is, at best, we can flag conversations that correlate with certain outcomes. Things like understanding context and motivation take discourse, yet understanding context and motivation are essential when considering a course of action. (Of course the other part of the problem are the privacy implications, which is horrific if even a tiny fraction of what the article claims is true.)
- kps 5y ago
  > A kid swearing in front of teachers to signal disrespect is something that needs to be addressed. … because an early understanding of the educational system might lead to incorrect voting later in life, with potentially serious consequences for said system's tax revenues.
  - LocalH 5y ago
    "incorrect voting" Are you mad?
    - kps 5y ago
      Mad? No, I just forgot that I'm on American VC News, so it's necessary to assume a stuffed-shirt stick-up-the-arse inability to grasp any literary device.
dumptruk 5y ago
Likely anecdotal, but I recall doing a bad behavior (throwing another kids binder over the school fence), that absolutely mortified me in second grade. Another one was me kicking an exit door of a school when a friend was deliberately holding the exit door closed. Looking back, the punishments felt arbitrary based on some random factor that I didn’t understand as a kid. Throwing a binder meant monetary compensation (described by the principal). Kicking the door didn’t have a definitive reason, but I assumed general “rambunctiousness” was to blame. Maybe I’m passing the buck here, but I didn’t completely understand the result of my actions, and felt, as an adult, was an obvious opportunity to teach a kid something enlightening but instead just got passed to my parents who were happy to punish me without context. I’m 38
- itronitron 5y ago
  One data point for you to add to the arbitrary column... One of my children chucked their school laptop out of their bedroom window which then landed on concrete fifty feet below. The display was shattered, so I emailed the school and informed them that the laptop had been dropped and damaged, and can we order a replacement. They let us know the replacement cost, and we picked up the new laptop a few weeks later but were never billed for the expense :)
  - TedDoesntTalk 5y ago
    Out of curiosity, how did you discipline your child? What were the consequences?
    - itronitron 5y ago
      They owned up to it and were so upset about having done it that the discipline/consequences imposed were pretty mild. I made the point several times to them that they were incredibly lucky that no one was hit by it on the way down, and that they absolutely can't do it again. I'm pretty sure they hadn't thought that through.

II2II 5y ago

> Having such a reaction to something so minor is a problem. Swearing is one of those things that ranges from not being a problem to being a big problem. Kids using words because they are forbidden is not a problem. A kid swearing in front of teachers to signal disrespect is something that needs to be addressed. A child swearing at another child in anger, then it may be necessary to unwind what's going on and that may determine if harsh consequences are necessary. While I have never heard of a child being suspended/expelled over swearing, yet if it did happen it was probably due to something else going on. Part of the problem with this surveillance is, at best, we can flag conversations that correlate with certain outcomes. Things like understanding context and motivation take discourse, yet understanding context and motivation are essential when considering a course of action. (Of course the other part of the problem are the privacy implications, which is horrific if even a tiny fraction of what the article claims is true.)

kps 5y ago
> A kid swearing in front of teachers to signal disrespect is something that needs to be addressed. … because an early understanding of the educational system might lead to incorrect voting later in life, with potentially serious consequences for said system's tax revenues.
- LocalH 5y ago
  "incorrect voting" Are you mad?
  - kps 5y ago
    Mad? No, I just forgot that I'm on American VC News, so it's necessary to assume a stuffed-shirt stick-up-the-arse inability to grasp any literary device.

dumptruk 5y ago

Likely anecdotal, but I recall doing a bad behavior (throwing another kids binder over the school fence), that absolutely mortified me in second grade. Another one was me kicking an exit door of a school when a friend was deliberately holding the exit door closed. Looking back, the punishments felt arbitrary based on some random factor that I didn’t understand as a kid. Throwing a binder meant monetary compensation (described by the principal). Kicking the door didn’t have a definitive reason, but I assumed general “rambunctiousness” was to blame. Maybe I’m passing the buck here, but I didn’t completely understand the result of my actions, and felt, as an adult, was an obvious opportunity to teach a kid something enlightening but instead just got passed to my parents who were happy to punish me without context. I’m 38

itronitron 5y ago
One data point for you to add to the arbitrary column... One of my children chucked their school laptop out of their bedroom window which then landed on concrete fifty feet below. The display was shattered, so I emailed the school and informed them that the laptop had been dropped and damaged, and can we order a replacement. They let us know the replacement cost, and we picked up the new laptop a few weeks later but were never billed for the expense :)
- TedDoesntTalk 5y ago
  Out of curiosity, how did you discipline your child? What were the consequences?
  - itronitron 5y ago
    They owned up to it and were so upset about having done it that the discipline/consequences imposed were pretty mild. I made the point several times to them that they were incredibly lucky that no one was hit by it on the way down, and that they absolutely can't do it again. I'm pretty sure they hadn't thought that through.