Providence Public School District Code of Conduct Research Paper

Background Information

In order to fully understand this text, there are some ideas one must know and understand. Unlike the Providence School District's Code of Conduct, the content of this research will attempt to be thorough and clear. First and foremost, what a school code of conduct is must be established. A school code of conduct, or code of ethics by some districts, is a set of rules, expectations, guidelines, policies, and sometimes rights, all set forth by the corresponding school district for all members to follow; moreover, its purpose is to ensure maximum cooperation amongst all school personnel in order to provide a safe, comfortable learning space and to keep order in schools. It should also be fully understood and clear to everyone in the school.

The next concept is a "ghost policy." This is a policy or rule that is supposedly enacted; however, it remains unwritten within an official code of conduct. This may be acceptable if a said school board planned on revising its handbook, but other than that, unwritten rules may lead to confusion and rule breaking. Even teachers may be affected by ghost policies. For example, if the code of conduct does not state a teacher cannot use physical force to restrain students who are fighting, and the teacher breaks up a fight. The next thing they know the principal is telling them that is not allowed, even though it was never mentioned until that moment.

It is unfair when someone gets in trouble for violating a supposed rule, and most of the time, those rules were never enacted by the school board, but by the principal's and teachers on the spot, this is why a clear code of conduct is needed, that way if a teacher or other authority school figure disagrees with something, they cannot punish a pupil for it simply because they think they can.

Of course, one must understand the limitations of this paper. A student cannot single-handedly publish and set forth into action a brand new and revised Providence Public School Code of Conduct; a student simply does not have that authority. Also, a student cannot review, read, analyze, nor sit through every single school district's code of conduct across American schools.