Taylor Connard

Education 650

Standard Activity 2.7

For this standard, I met with my 9th grade Link Up students at Clay County High School.

During this meeting, we discussed ethical practices in the school and classrooms. I ensured the

students that during this conversation they could be as honest and open as they wanted to be.

Students have an amazing ability to be forward and blunt about things, so during this meeting I

gained insight into their true feelings about Clay County High School.

The first step of this meeting was ensuring that the students understood what it meant to

be ethical. I gave them examples and we discussed right verse wrong and also how there are grey

areas. The students had conversations with each other about scenarios where I asked them to

discuss whether they were ethical or not. After ensuring that they completely understood ethics,

we moved on and began to discuss the school.

One of the first issues we discussed was ethics from teachers towards students. Many

students felt as though certain teachers have favorites and that also your last name makes a

difference in the school. Many students in the discussion felt that if you play sports, you are less

likely to get in trouble for something major. They also pointed out that “teachers’ kids” can get

away with a lot more than other students. The students elaborated that not all teachers in the

building are like this and that they felt more comfortable being in those classrooms because they

knew they were being treated equally.

The next issue relating to ethics was related to students breaking school rules and whether

or not they should be told on. To explain this more, it is important that you understand the
current discipline issues we are having. The school has had a surge in smoking related offences.

The newest trend of vaping has increased our discipline issues significantly. During our meeting,

students felt frustrated by the people who do vape in the school bathrooms because it has caused

teachers to crack down on letting people go. They do not like going in the bathroom to a crowd

of people and a wall of smoke. Some students do not feel as though it is right to tell on anyone,

but others argued that if something makes you uncomfortable and it is against school rules, you

should definitely tell.

The last topic that we discussed was drama in school between students. These students

are freshman and I believe that with that comes a certain level of more drama than usual. The

discussion morphed into bullying and how girls especially lie on students or target them for the

way they dress, who they hang out with, etc. They feel that it is unethical to lie on someone or to

create unnecessary drama.

My recommendation for teachers to be more ethical with their students is increased

professional development on consistency in the classroom. I think it would also be beneficial for

teachers to be more self-aware and document moments that they could have been more fair or

harder on a student. Another suggestion is to station more teachers in high risk areas so that they

can monitor student behavior. By having teachers monitor student behavior, you are taking the

pressure off of students feeling like they have to tell. Lastly, I recommend the school introducing

more relationship building with students that helps build self-esteem so that they will not feel the

need to have to bully.