DBHS’s current punishment system reflects GLCs’ judicious discretion and does not deserve student complaints.
With so much power ranging from writing recommendation letters to creating class schedules, GLCs are easy targets for anything and everything that goes wrong around campus. One such criticism has been the “unequal” punishment that GLCs hand out to different students making the GLCs the target of much scrutiny at Diamond Bar High School.
Every time a student is given a consequence by his GLC, the student proceeds to tell his friends what he did and what his punishment is. The next time a student is punished for a similar offense, he might discover that he was given a harsher punishment than the former student creating frustration and confusion. This proceeds to create a controversy on how the GLCs are “unfair” and “biased” toward particular students. However, the student’s judgment of the situation could not be more misguided.
A GLC’s job is to push his student in the right direction so the student can achieve his full potential; it is also at the GLC’s discretion as to how hard he should push individual students.
In life outside the bubble we know as DBHS, a repeat offender will undoubtedly be given a much harsher punishment than a person with no history of past crimes. Is it so unreasonable that our GLCs do the same? Is it so unreasonable that a student who has been caught ditching a class with a history of similar offenses be given a S.W.A.P., yet a student who has been caught ditching for the first time be given a detention? If this is how punishment is given in the real world, this is how it should also be given at DBHS.
Content of a student’s character similarly plays a significant role in how the GLCs dole out punishment to students. This is why the impression a student makes with their GLC is so important. GLCs have been known to be lenient toward certain students if they know that the students’ wrongdoing was a one-time occurrence. A history of upstanding behavior and good grades have also been known to be a student’s greatest voucher.
Similarly, GLCs try to stay as consistent as possible when handing out referrals for tardy sweep and dress code. Most of the time when a student is given a referral for such an offense, it is by a GLC who is not his own. Therefore, they have to be impartial and cite you for the offense to be fair to other students.
GLCs try their hardest to help their students. To blame them for seemingly “unequal” punishment is unfair. Most of the GLCs at DBHS are speaking from years of experience when they say that they have your best interest at heart.
Alejandro
Apr 22, 2013 at 1:59 pm
Very valid, pithy, succinct, and on point. GJ.