The futility of expulsion and suspension from schools

So I hear that every now and then students are expelled from schools for some gross insubordination, and I wonder, how at all expulsion or suspension transforms a person to be good?

Let's ask ourselves some very pertinent questions:

• Which of these is likely to be disciplined, a school of stringent rules or one of barely any rules?

• Who controls the "beast" you send away from your camp for deviation from the standing norms; is it the free society in disguise?

• Is it not rather probable that he, the beast is just likely to be a nuisance to society?

Very well, the issues of expulsion and suspension are just some very unfriendly and failed tools of punishment meted to students. It baffles me however how our law makers have not realised the futility of these 'beasts'. A deviant student rather than retained in school and tutored to be a better person is sent away, all in the name of punishment. So what at all is the purpose of education? Is it only teaching us how to solve the arithmetic? Or how to construct good sentences of a language imposed on us? Is it not better to rather keep these students and try to have them reformed?

Only last week, the news of the expulsion of some University of Cape Coast (UCC) students flooded the media; both the front pages of newspapers and on television headlines. Should the debate have even been struck? Trying to ascertain whether or not the action was justified taking into consideration the gravity of the crime is in its very inception a failed step. We seem to have reached a stage where we think that expelling students from our schools would make them better their attitudes. How tragic! I would not even delve into justifying or otherwise the action of the authorities of UCC since the whole phenomenon is not sound and valid. It would only be inconsistent!

It is true that we have to punish miscreants or deviants to deter others from following in their steps. However, how we do it must be very sensible and rational.

With the status quo where students are expelled or suspended, we would only be causing the students an intermission of studies. This is not helpful in our situation. Just take an average student as a sample of this system of punishment. Wouldn't such a student struggle to catch up with what has been taught already and what was taught in his/her absence? What good then would this have on the student? Even though a punishment is meant to let the actor regret their actions, it should not be a hindrance to their purpose of schooling.

The punishment of expulsion is what has even wronged the right the most. So a student is expelled for dealing in drugs whilst in school. And I ask, how would expelling such a student let him reform?

These are the very people that equip themselves better, intercept and ambush us on the lonely roads we travel on. So you expel a drug addict. He goes home and would have to struggle to get money to buy the drugs. Remember it is an addiction. He becomes better at stealing since that's what he is obviously left with. Most drug addicts end up being thieves and armed robbers. This is undeniable! So being adept at robbing, he robs you off your property whilst you are on your voyage. Is this what we want? Let us change the system!

Actually, sometimes we make decisions basing our judgement only on the immediate effects whilst becoming completely oblivious of the long term effects. Indeed, our society is marred with several problems that we have to conquer some of these problems in the guise of solutions. Let's stop expulsion and suspension in our schools!