A 270-pound Florida student recently knocked a 57-year-old teacher's aide unconscious because she took away his Nintendo device. A 16-year-old in Georgia attacked her teacher and broke her leg.
Laurie Higgins of Breakthrough Ideas says these are just two of a multitude of examples of the violence that has resulted from what leftists have done "to churn out poorly educated activists who turn against authority and each other."
"Eliminating suspensions and expulsions and trying to solve these very serious disciplinary issues with restorative justice has only increased the violence in schools," she submits.
Among other things, the leftists who control the public schools have replaced conventional discipline, including suspensions and expulsions, with emphasizing relationships and reconciliation. While Higgins admits that "sounds good in theory," she reports that violence has increased in many communities.
"Raise the Age" laws have also been passed, preventing 16- and 17- year-olds from being charged as adults. Instead, they are sent to family courts, where punishments are light. Consequently, gangs now have 16- and 17-year-olds committing crimes, and both crime and recidivism have increased.
Higgins thinks the leftist ideology, which is at the root of the problem, is so deeply ingrained that it may be impossible overcome.
"Nothing can take place soon enough to help children in school now or soon-to-be in school," she laments. "All these ancillary organizations connected to education, connected to our public school system, all those organizations are controlled by leftists."
The education writer adds that teachers' unions, which blame understaffing for the problem, are failing to address the root causes.
