“Enforcing rules should not be confused with being uncompassionate”
Lichvod “Your Frum Student” amush who asked why principals wait until their students are at-risk before reaching out,
I wanted to share with you a perspective from the other side of the desk. I’ve been a Bais Yaakov principal for almost 20 years. I appreciate the point you are making, but feel your perspective needs to be reframed.
From an educational standpoint, a school that doesn’t follow through with consequences for broken rules is doing their students a disservice. The chinuch a student gets from a school system isn’t simply from the content given over in the classroom, but from making commitments and taking responsibility. A system that doesn’t enforce its rules is cheating their students of these very important muscles.
Actually, the lessons of commitment, conformity, responsibility, and consequence are likely some of the most important lessons learned during one’s years of schooling. Most of what students learn in math and science class will be irrelevant in ten years’ time. But the lessons learned from being part of a system and the necessity to keep its rules, even if they’re unpleasant or annoying, are lessons in derech eretz and respect for others that will serve the student forever.
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