School Principal Discipline Leadership

School principals are called upon increasingly to use alternatives to punitive discipline in situations like these. By claiming that they were just fooling around, the students demonstrate that they do understand the severity of the act of knife fighting and are trying to avoid suffering the consequences. What needs to change here is the school culture, to discourage students from egging on their classmates and for encouraging accountability and nonviolent solutions to conflict. Restorative justice and emotional intelligence training would become top priorities to respond to this violent incident.
Suspension should be used sparingly, if at all. According to the Education Commission of the United States (2018), punitive measures like suspension are counterproductive, leading to increased absenteeism, truancy, and dropout rates. Suspensions can also fuel the school-to-prison pipeline (Dominus, 2016). Moreover, punitive discipline is often disproportionately meted out to non-white students (Dominus, 2016; Education Commission of the United States, 2018; NASSP, 2018). My plan of action in this situation would not be to use punitive measures like suspension but to use this as an opportunity to start a dialogue on school culture. I would first address the specific situation, speaking individually with each of the students who were involved in the fight. If possible, I would also ask that each of the students speak with the counselor.
One potentially constructive means of dealing with the situation is via the process of restorative justice. Restorative justice means something different in each situation. In this case, I would want to hold a meeting not just with the students who were involved in the fight but also the six bystanders who were egging them on. The bystanders are contributing to the normative culture of violence, instead of encouraging their classmates to use non-violent means of constructive conflict resolution. I would hold several meetings with these students to uncover the reasons for their behavior and for their condoning of the use of violence, pointing out the value of respect for their peers and constructive conflict resolution.
Restorative justice would also entail creating opportunities whereby different people can vocalize their concerns and discuss their feelings using a mediator, in a safe and supportive environment. Peer mediators have also proven effective in restorative justice interventions (Dominus, 2016). Students may open up to their peers, especially those who have had a history of violence but who have since learned anger management techniques. A peer mediation technique would also help the students to open up in what they might perceive of as a safer forum than with the oversight of principal or teacher.
For restorative justice to work, I would need the full support of all teachers. Showing teachers the importance of restorative justice, I would hold regular meetings and encourage participation in professional development programs that focus on restorative justice. Teacher training in restorative justice ensures that this approach will work. If our budget allows, I would hire emotional intelligence specialists who would offer mindfulness training programs or other methods of increasing student self-awareness, learning conflict resolution and other social skills that will be instrumental in the long term success of all students.
While fighting with a knife is a serious and potentially fatal infraction, overreacting to the situation can cause problems and only inflame the students’ passions. Students need to feel supported by their administration, listened to, understood, and acknowledged. Listening to each student’s grievances and point of view, and holding a restorative justice session with both parties would inculcate in them communication styles and habits that they can carry with them after they graduate.




References

Dominus, S. (2016). An effective but exhausting alternative to high school suspensions. The New York Times Magazine. Sept 7, 2016. https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/11/magazine/an-effective-ut-exhausting-alternative-to-high-school-suspensions.html
Education Commission of the United States (2018). Alternative school discipline strategies. https://www.ecs.org/wp-content/uploads/Alternative_School_Discipline_Strategies.pdf
NASSP (2018). School discipline. https://www.nassp.org/policy-advocacy-center/nassp-position-statements/school-discipline/