Kristy Rivera, a product of the New Britain schools, now has children in the school system, and has no problem with a five day suspension, and having a bar of soap sent home, for a first time offenders of the new foul language policy.
“ I raise my kids not to swear. And I don’t expect them to disrespect each other or any other student or teacher in school. So, I would expect that at home. So, I would think that that’s fair,” said Rivera
So, how long might it take to get kids to understand the consequences and climb aboard?
“I think it might take a couple of weeks, maybe longer. I’ve seen people respond very quickly to new expectations if they’re consistently applied,” said Kelt Cooper, Superintendent of New Britain schools.
Still, some students believe some of their peers will look at this new policy as a way to earn a vacation.
“Getting suspended for five days, it’s not a real punishment because you can just sit there (home) and watch tv and your mom’s just going to talk to you not to cuss back at a teacher,” said Juan Quinones, a New Britain High School Junior.
Most students agree that swearing at a teacher is unacceptable and disrespectful.
“It’s always made me angry at them. But, it’s just very frustrating that nothing happens to them,” noted Kayla Odom, a sophomore at New Britain High School.
Superintendent Cooper says he was actually sworn at by a high school student last year, shortly after he took over in New Britain, for telling a student to pick up his pants, which were drooping well below his waste.
“His response, I heard later on, was I didn’t know he was the Superintendent. I thought he was a teacher,” smiled Cooper.