Last year, this kid was suspended more than he was actually in school. Sexual harassment. Bullying. Harassment that crossed every line a kid should know not to cross.
This year, he's back in the classroom. And now there's a special, cool chair with his name on it. Prizes he's earning for good behavior — prizes the other kids can't earn.
Meanwhile, the kids he hurt? The kids who show up every day and do the right thing? They get nothing. Not an acknowledgment. Not a reward. Nothing.
This is what schools call behavior management now.
We are teaching kids that if you act out enough, you get prizes. And if you just quietly behave? You're invisible.
Here's the thing — it is not a school's job to discipline our children. That's on us, as parents. It's the school's job to teach. But when they reward the behavior instead of correcting it, they're not managing the problem. They're creating the next one.
And the kids who lived through last year already know how this story goes. They're just waiting to see if any adult in that building proves them wrong.