Smart & Good High Schools - The Flippen Group

CHAPTER 3: The Ethical Learning CommunityWHAT ARE THE ELEPHANTSIN OUR LIVING ROOM?1. Trouble spots. What undesirable student or adultbehaviors is the school neglecting to deal with adequately(e.g., students’ lack of academic responsibility,faculty not challenging all students to do their best,hazing and other forms of peer cruelty, cheating,inappropriate sexual behavior, racist attitudes)?2. Mixed messages. What institutional practices are atodds with the school’s commitment to excellence andethics (e.g., adults being poor role models, inequalitiesof opportunity, inconsistent enforcement of the dresscode and other discipline policies, below-the-radar sexualharassment despite official rules against it, favoritismin treatment of students or staff, recognizing performanceexcellence but not moral excellence)?We surveyed the students on our Student Leaders Panel,asking them what character issues teens and high schoolsface and what they would do differently if they were principal.A girl in one high school (whose enrollment wasevenly divided between blacks and whites) identifiedracist attitudes as one of the elephants her school had notyet confronted:Although segregation was outlawed long ago, racism is stillpresent here. If I just walk to class with a male African-American friend of mine, there are stares not only fromwhites, but from blacks, too. There is self-segregation in ourassemblies. Programs should be enacted in our schools sothat every day students would learn something about others’backgrounds.“Although segregation was outlawedlong ago, racism is still present here.”A boy at a small private school pointed to the prevalenceof cliques in his school as being contrary to its officialemphasis on character:If I were head of my school, I would do more to try to createa social environment without cliques. Cliques have noplace in a school of character. They are inherently detrimentalto student relations; they segregate students and promotea sense of superiority and elitism. I would increase thenumber of group projects—such as a ropes course and serviceactivities—that would expose students to the widerschool community and expand their circle of friends.◆ Conduct a special survey to get data on a particularelephant.Suppose a particular issue such as hazing emerges on asurvey as a serious concern. A next step is to gather datathat would shed further light on the nature and extent ofthat problem.Hazing is widespread in colleges andgrowing in high schools.Nationwide, existing research finds hazing to be widespreadat the college level and growing at the high schoollevel. A recent study by Alfred University’s defined hazingas “any activity expected of someone joining a group thathumiliates, degrades, abuses or endangers.” Hazingoccurs in sports, marching bands, military settings, religiouscults, and many other groups and clubs (seewww.StopHazing.org).Alfred’s higher education study found that of the325,000+ athletes at more than 1,000 NCAA schools thatparticipated in intercollegiate sports during 1998-1999,more than a quarter-million experienced some form ofhazing. One in five was subjected to illegal hazing (beingkidnapped, beaten, tied up and abandoned, forced tocommit crimes); half were required to participate in alcohol-relatedhazing. Fully half of all high school studentswho belong to groups (teams, clubs, etc.) report that theyhave experienced some form of hazing.Any school should want to know: How widespread is hazinghere? How many students have experienced it, howoften, and in what ways? How did students try to deal withit? If they reported it, what happened? If they did not,what kept them from doing so? A school is wise to determinethese things proactively, before a major hazing incidentoccurs.Whether the issue is hazing, cheating, drug and alcoholuse, sexual activity, or any other problem, a school will bebetter positioned to take action once it knows the sizeand nature of the elephants in its living room.Without a struggle, there can be noprogress.—FREDERICK DOUGLASS57Smart & Good High Schools