The Zero Sum Game is a wonderful solution in math but when it comes to the human development field, zero is the problem. Research indicates that Zero Tolerance is a pathway to prison and common sense indicates that Zero Rejection would create more entitlement and endanger teachers.
Conversations like this are often argued based on all or nothing; black or white thinking. While the prudent course is often the middle path that says:
a) We need to do more to educate children socially and emotionally.
b) And, we realize that some are beyond our reach and that's why we created the social net.
a) We need to do more to educate children socially and emotionally.
b) And, we realize that some are beyond our reach and that's why we created the social net.
I like the RTI model which identifies 80-90% of young people as socially aware and can be taught new skills rather easily, while 5-15% struggle socially and need additional help, and 1-3% who need a lot of work when it comes to interacting with others and honestly may never get there.
We currently have over 2.5 millions Americans in prison which is about 7% of our population. That's way out of line with the numbers identified by RTI. What that means to me is that we're pushing this problem down the road, either thru zero tolerance or zero rejection. We aren't teaching kids how to get along. We're trying to train them with edgy signs and moving assemblies.
We need to be actively teaching and encouraging social emotional literacy in our schools, while at the same time, identifying those who need additional help and make it available immediately. These problems don't go away on their own. This is not a zero sum game.
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