Kids should determine school punishments, Commissioner says

The state’s Child Commissioner has suggested students be drafted in to shape school discipline to tackle an overreliance on suspensions and expulsions. VOTE IN THE POLL

Students should be drafted in to shape school discipline as teachers move away from an overreliance on suspensions, according to Queensland’s top child advocate.

Queensland Family and Child Commissioner Natalie Lewis has outlined alternatives Education Queensland should investigate as it reviews suspension, expulsion and exclusion policies in the wake of shock figures showing vulnerable children are up to six times more likely to be booted from the classroom.

Ms Lewis’s suggestions follow a successful anti-gang program she worked on in California, where at-risk kids from Years 2 to 4 were targeted to stop their later recruitment, as advocates argue Queensland’s high suspension rates are pushing disengaged kids into the youth justice system.

Queensland Children's Commissioner Natalie Lewis. Picture: David Clark

Ms Lewis told The Courier-Mail student panels could be used to dole out punishments more likely to educate kids about acceptable behaviour.

“Some of that is simply about involving children and young people in setting the rules for the school,” she said.

“What’s acceptable behaviour and what are the consequences for that behaviour?

“Having young people involved in setting those terms means they’ve got a stake in maintaining that safe environment.”

She said US schools often used such practices, and student panels were more likely to set a penalty aimed at helping and supporting, rather than “condemning them or kicking them out of school”.

“So the kids that normally would underperform, that are the subject of exclusions or suspensions, actually become part of that cohort that is experiencing success … and the impact that has on changing someone’s behaviour is incredible.”

She said mediation should be used more in situations of bullying so that bullies might understand and stop their behaviour and victims may feel empowered and learn resilience.

“A zero-tolerance policy can exist outside of school disciplinary absences as being the only type of consequence,” she said.

“So it is far more beneficial for the young person who might be bullying and young person who has been bullied to actually be supported to have safe dialogue and to actually move beyond that.

“I think the lessons that are learned … are lifelong whereas just removing a child from a particular situation actually harms both.”

She said adults underestimated children’s capacity to learn skills needed in adulthood to face difficult situations or difficult people.

Advocates say Queensland state schools are overused suspensions and expulsions.

Meanwhile, Children and Youth Justice Minister Leanne Linard recognised education was a “key protective factor” for traumatised and disadvantaged children.

“My department works closely with the Department of Education to reduce suspensions, exclusions, and expulsions, and to see the supported return of children to the school setting where possible and appropriate,” Ms Linard said.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships Minister Craig Crawford said it was “far from ideal to have children excluded from school, but every student has a right to learn safely without disruption, and suspension is usually a last resort”.