Discipline in an alternative school may be top-down or collaborative.
Alternative schools serve high school students who may be pregnant, homeless, working or expelled from their regular school because of poor or disruptive behavior. Since alternative schools often serve as a last chance for troubled youth, having a clear code of discipline is imperative. Some alternative schools have an especially strict, top-down code. Others flatten the school hierarchy and treat students as nearly equal partners.
Zero Tolerance
Many students attend an alternative school because they caused problems at their regular school. Therefore, some alternative schools institute a no-nonsense discipline policy that every student receives in writing on or before the first day of school. This type of discipline policy is known as zero-tolerance because it leaves no room for interpretation or favoritism. A zero-tolerance discipline matrix lists the required punishments for each type of misbehavior. The student knows ahead of time how he will be punished for an infraction and the punishments escalate with each infraction.
Military Style
Although students may not be ready for West Point, they can benefit from a military-style code of discipline. Project ChalleNGe is an alternative institution that is sponsored by the National Guard and has branches in several states. The program aims to give high-school dropouts a second chance to finish school and develop self-discipline. The students, all of whom volunteer for the program, wear military-style fatigues, engage in daily physical fitness and face punishments for misbehavior.
Low Hierarchy
Some alternative schools take a different route. Since many alternative-school students have difficulties with authority, some schools remove most of the obvious trappings of authority to create a less-threatening atmosphere. Students and staff all are on a first-name basis. The staff eats lunch with the students and communicates with them as mentors instead of disciplinarians. The setup encourages voluntary compliance from the students, working from the premise that it's hard to be a rebel when there's not much to rebel against.
Personal Responsibility
At a low-hierarchy school, teachers and administrators try to avoid meting out punishment. Students are encouraged to self-regulate, meaning that they are free to leave the room and sit in a designated cool-off area if they think they might lose their temper. If a student does create a disturbance in class, the teacher, student and guidance counselor sit together to discuss the problem and brainstorm ideas on preventing recurrences. Sometimes the student will write a letter of apology, learning to take responsibility for his actions.
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