TNS Tuesday - The Case of the Spitter

So my husband had this idea that I might consider setting aside one day a week to write a little something about the school my kids attend or something about 'Democratic Education' in general. Since we're currently hosting a house guest who is here for a couple of days 'checking out' The New School, and some of the stories we've been sharing are fresh in my mind, I figured today was the day to start Tuesday TNS. It's maybe the first installment, maybe the last (I'm dedicated like that), but I'll try to give you a glimpse into what life is like with two kids learning how to:

• learn responsibility through self-reliance.

• be free to explore without the constraints that smother interest and breed mediocrity.

• develop individualized curricula, including group and independent study, hands-on exploration, travel, correspondence, experiment, and major projects, limited only by their imaginations and ambition.

• be accepted for who they are and gain insight and toleration of others by working in a community composed of empowered individuals, without age or other imposed segregation.

• learn the arts of liberty by participating in the student administered judicial process and using the tools of the participatory democracy of the School Meeting which govern and manage The New School.

• use the close, supportive community of The New School as a base from which to explore local, regional and global communities, through trips, personal contacts, and telecommunications..

• reflect on their growth to adulthood, while preparing the written arguments and public defense of their belief that they are ready to be responsible and productive adults. Proof of this, to the satisfaction of the school community of students, staff, and parents, is the requirement for graduation from The New School.

So did you make it through all that? It's how The New School is run, and until you have a student who actually attends the school, you might find it difficult to understand exactly how it all works, thus my reasoning behind TNS Tuesday.

In today's installment of TNS Tuesday, I'd like to address the topic of the JC... Or what's better known as the 'Judicial Committee' of The New School. You see, in a democratic school, the school is run by the students. The students, utilizing the democratic process make decisions regarding school rules, staff members, budget and disciplinary issues, by a majority vote... Which brings me to my story...

This event happened years ago, I think my son was around 10 yrs. old. I just received his permission to tell this story, which is.... My son spit on someone at school.... (funny, I didn't know he was a spitter?) Because he spit on this person, she 'wrote him up' and took him to the JC. The process takes a few days, in the same way being summoned for a court case can take a few months. When my son went before the JC (a group of his fellow students) he was found guilty of the crime of spitting. After deliberation, a judgment was handed down. My sons sentence? In order to understand how really disgusting spitting is, he was given a bottle and sentenced to fill it to a certain point with his own spit. Now, my son, being a squeamish sort was filled with horror at the notion of seeing his spit collected in a bottle. He 'neglected' to carry out his sentence. Refusal to carry out a sentence results in 'Exile' (a number of days decided upon, in which the student may not attend school.)

Now it's important to understand at this point that the parents of a New School student are NOT made aware of what their kids DO or DON'T DO at school. A Democratic Education is based on the idea that the student is given the responsibility to be in command of their own education. Therefore, if they make a mistake, they suffer the result. In turn they can be proud of all THEY achieve because THEY are the ones who've achieved it, as a direct result of their own choices. No helicopter parenting takes place at The New School.

So, I discover that my son has 2 exile days from school... The parents are informed (of course) that their kid has been given an exile, in order to make plans for them being home instead of in school, but they are told nothing more than that. It's up to the student whether or not to share the reason with his/her parents. In this incident, I didn't ask... (this story came out a year or so later from his sister.) I simply told my son that since he was going to be home, it would be an opportune time for me to get some help painting his and his sisters room. This was not a punishment, it was merely a matter of, "Oh hey, you're gonna be home? Cool, you can help me paint!"... We ended up having a really good time doing the project together and he learned some painting skills, so it turned out to be a win-win situation. As a result of the entire affair I can proudly say, my son never spit on anyone ever again... Because through his given sentence, he was able to grasp just what a disgusting habit spitting at people really is.... Wait 'til I tell you about the kid (not my own), who was found guilty of slamming doors.