The Demerit System of Constitution High school
One morning I was late to school and I was rushing. When I arrived at school I was slapped with 10 demerits because I wasn’t wearing a collared shirt. I was so mad because last year the collar rule wasn’t enforced and now the school wants to punish students for one little mistake.
Constitution High School’s science teacher Ms. Morson was promoted to the Dean of Students at the start of this school year. While in her position as the Dean she started a Demerit system. This system consists of a handful of rules that will punish students with demerits if broken.
Are there more ways to gain demerits than merits? It turns out that students think the demerit student system is highly irrelevant. From the students’ point of view, the demerit system and the teachers who enforce it are biased. S. H. 2011 said, “The demerit system is so ridiculous. We get in trouble for everything and the teachers are abusing this new system.” She is not the only one who feels this way.
Does the demerit system effectively keep Constitution High School in order? There is a large amount of students who dislike the demerits but what do the educators think about the new system? The teachers seem to think that the system is the best thing to happen to Con High since the appointment of Ms. Morson to Dean of Students. One teacher, who wanted to remain anonymous, said, “The demerit system is a good way to allow the kids a chance to gain privileges and also be rewarded for their citizenship and behavior, but if the children don’t behave themselves they will be penalized and this will most likely help them learn from their mistakes.”
There will always be people who like and dislike the demerit system, but is there anyone who is willing to work to change the system? In pursuit of an answer, I discovered that a few students like the demerit system but they think it needs a couple of adjustments. A majority of the students that want to make changes said they would make the system more lenient. Instead of being penalized the students should be given strikes. F.J 2011 said, “ If it were up to me I would make demerit cards and if your whole card gets filled out then you would be punished.”
The Entire Constitution High School has opinions about the demerit system some people like it, some hate it, and others just want to make changes. But the question is, will the administrators change the system to suit everyone?
Ishmael Johnson
