Monday Musings: Lethal Rejection

MONDAY MUSINGS: LETHAL REJECTION

All too often schools, even preschools, seem like courts of law; rejecting and expelling young children for challenging behaviors, strong and loud expressions of emotions, and simply behaving the way in which young children often do. We HAVE to move away from a penal system of education, from judging a child too quickly and then sentencing them to a life of rejection, depression, self-harm and God forbid, suicide or actual lifetimes of incarceration.

Our preschools and schools were meant to be institutions of education. Teaching, learning, growing, and making mistakes along the way. We have to move from the idea that some children are just bad to ideals of welcoming, embracing and nurturing each and every child to reach their positive potential, even if they cannot see it for themselves. We have to return to being actual educators who authentically care about the success of each and every child...not just the ones that make it easy for us.

I have been working with several schools now, preschool-high school, wherein we are implementing concepts of Restorative Justice, Peace Tables and more to empower young students to learn that they are worthy of inclusion, worthy of loving relationships, worthy of a future that looks promising and a future that they belong to.

Imagine a world where preschools and schools did not expel students and instead, helped guide them towards more appropriate pro-social behaviors that they could feel proud of...and Oh! what a world it could be!