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EXTENDING Narrative, Challenge Points, Choices and Review Scene 6 – The Doomsday Chronicle For the next three weeks, the program appeared to be running smoothly at Eagle Elementary. Janet Peters had mailed a newsletter to participating parents, further introducing them to Cooperative Discipline practices, updating them on results of ongoing class meetings, and noting other progress children were making in self-directing their own behaviors. In the newsletter she also invited them to the next scheduled parent meeting, planned for the first Monday evening of the following month. Ms. Peters was pleased to receive several phone calls from parents as a result of her newsletter. They appeared interested in the program—eager to learn more of what they could do at home to help their children learn these vital social skills. On the Thursday afternoon before the parent meeting, Eagle’s promising Cooperative Discipline program met its greatest challenges and the onset of its doom. It began with Jeannie Byron becoming frustrated. Things were not going well in her classroom. Jay was having a particularly difficult time maintaining self-control. First, he announced his arrival at school by instigating a fistfight in the hallway. Once inside the classroom, he kicked his backpack across the floor and threw his coat on the bookshelf. Jeannie tried to ignore Jay's attention-seeking behavior. However, as his lack of self-control became more and more blatant, she became increasingly annoyed. Finally, Jeannie took him into the hall for a private talk. She gave him time to calm down in the hall, and invited him to rejoin the class when he was prepared to sit quietly and learn. Ten minutes later, Jay came back into the classroom, apparently still upset, but far less disruptive to the class. The day proceeded as normal until just after lunch period. Then the situation escalated. After the children had eaten, Jeannie escorted her class to the playground for twenty minutes of recess. She and two other second-grade teachers were recess supervisors. As usual, Jay played by himself. His typically awkward attempts to enter the organized ‘four-square’ game were ignored by the other children. Jeannie later reported to Elaine Rogers that several of the children had told Jay he couldn’t play with them because ‘he acts weird." On hearing that, Jay disrupted the game by grabbing the ball and kicking it away. Mrs. Byron told Elaine that she personally saw what happened next. She responded by grabbing Jay by the wrist and saying, "Go sit down by the wall!" Jay started to cry and yelled back at her, "I'm not going to! I didn't do anything!" He sat down at the edge of the playground. According to Jeannie, the situation escalated several minutes later, when another student, who had been involved in the "four-square" game, approached Jay and began laughing at him. "Ha, ha! You got in trouble! You always get in trouble!" Jeannie relayed verbatim to Elaine the youngster’s taunt. She said she saw Jay respond by jumping up, pulling a pencil out of his pocket, and stabbing the student in the arm. Mrs. Byron quickly separated the two students, and took them to Dr. Rogers' office. Elaine suspended Jay from school for three days. The other student was not suspended, but was required to remain in Dr. Roger's office for the rest of the afternoon. On the following Monday evening, the night of the Cooperative Discipline parent meeting, the project was halted. Janet Peters was pleased to see that so many parents were arriving at the school for the Cooperative Discipline parent meeting. She was particularly pleased to see Mr. and Mrs. Foxhall present for the discussion. Obviously, parent involvement in the program was growing. Janet opened the meeting with a smile and hello. Before she could introduce the first item on her agenda, however, a parent from Mrs. Byron's room stood up to belligerently announce that he was fed up with the Cooperative Discipline program. He shouted, "My Tommy was attacked at school by another boy in the class, Jay Foxhall!" He proceeded to give the details of the incident. "I’m really outraged that a boy as violent as Jay, who stabbed Tommy in the schoolyard, could be allowed to remain in the school building!" His outrage grew more obvious as he talked. Suddenly, Mr. Foxhall was on his feet. He, too, was angry, telling everyone that he was vehemently opposed to this ‘Cooperative Discipline’ program if it meant preferential treatment towards certain students—while others, such as his son, were being punished unfairly. "My Jay is being tormented by other kids at school. They called him names, so he was suspended for an argument that he didn’t start!" With that, he stormed out of the auditorium. Anger among parents escalated. They erupted into a screaming match and even yelled at Dr. Rogers, who tried to take control of the meeting. She stared them down, using her personal relationships with many of them to reach them. Parents began to quiet down. Elaine Rogers took over what had been Janet Peter’s meeting. Elaine spoke her mind. She told them she was clearly surprised by the turn of events. She respected their input on the matter, she said, so she offered each of the parents an opportunity to schedule an individual appointment with her, beginning the following morning. With that, she called the meeting to an early close, cutting off further discussion. As parents left school building, Janet Peters could hear their reactions to what had occurred on the playground, as well as at the parent meeting. She caught up with Dr. Rogers, who had lingered to have a word with her. "Clearly, Ms. Peters, our parents are not happy with the Cooperative Discipline program. It looks as if we’re going to have to find another way to get through to students . We just can’t allow such a violent misbehavior to continue." Elaine Rogers added, somewhat reluctantly, "From this point forward, we’re going to discontinue the Cooperative Discipline program. Let's meet in my office tomorrow to discuss how we are going to deal with the fallout. Good evening."
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