Two kids joked about shooting down their school on social media. School took the preventative measures by reaching out to the police and closing the school the next day. Graduation ceremony and the year-end celebration were postponed. People were in limbo with mixed feelings.
The careless and cruel joke impacted every one in such a way that was beyond these kids’ imagination. Discipline was the solution and the end of the incident.
But does discipline alone really work?
What if school use this opportunity to reflect and figure out a better way to create a culture for the community? A place where kids depend on each other to connect, learn, and thrive; where they love to go every day and are eager to contribute; where hurting the others is an unbearable thought let alone joke about; where they might disagree with the others but respect people enough to listen.
Discipline only goes as far as the incident. Changing the culture goes a long way for the whole.
