Ruth M. Wilson
This unit addresses school law and how it can work for or against a student or faculty member. The unit will discuss the reasons for having such laws in our schools.
There are short selections of various laws that are paraphrased so that any remedial student in grade eight can understand the lessons. In doing this unit, students will be able to discuss with intelligence the reasons and rationale for decisions, be they popular or unpopular.
The unit also takes into account the influences of the neighborhood on the behavior of students. Some discussion questions to be asked are: What are the similarities between neighborhood violence and school violence? How do they both disrupt the learning atmosphere in a school? How can we (students and faculty) be prepared mentally to cope with stressful situations? Also, this unit will look into discipline and its effect on students’ performance and behavior in school. Why are rules and regulations important? Can a teacher bar a student from class because of a personal dislike of a particular fad? Does the student have the right to wear some particular article of clothing in protest of an event? These and other questions are discussed in this unit.
Specific cases are cited and a selected book list is provided. Some samples of skill lessons are found in the back of the unit. These lessons contain worksheets for the students consisting of the main idea, topic sentence, abc order, true or false, word match, and word scramble.
(Recommended for Remedial Reading and Remedial Social Studies, grade 8)
Key Words
Civil Rights American Public School Students Education School Discipline Law Supreme Court Students’ Rights
