Student discipline has been a hot topic the past few weeks at Milford High School, with many news outlets reporting dozens of suspensions at MHS over an inappropriate video.  Some students feel that the administration goes out of its way to find reasons to discipline students.

According to MHS Principal Kevin McKenna though, the administration’s goal “is always for students to make the right choice.”   He says that student discipline is based on how our society operates.  Behaviors frowned upon in society are discouraged in the student discipline policy.  Generally speaking, McKenna will have a conversation with a student violating these policies, only taking measures to discipline the student if the behavior continues.

McKenna also believes that many students do not realize the permanent record they create when posting inappropriate things on social media websites.  Inappropriate videos, Facebook postings, and pictures may “come back to haunt [students]” later in life, said McKenna.

Ramsey Saeed, a senior at MHS, believes that administrators should not “go out of their way” to find inappropriate content posted by students online.  Is this what the administration does?

McKenna was clear that administrators do not go out on the internet looking for content in order to get students in trouble.  He says that the administration is given these types of things by other students, teachers, and parents.

Anyone can report inappropriate online content to school administrators, but students can only be punished by the school if the content happened on school grounds.  According to McKenna, from the time students get on the bus until they get home, they are on school grounds and must adhere to school rules.  This means that even if a student gets in a fight just after getting off the bus, he or she can still be subject to school discipline policy.

Students can get in trouble for content including, but not limited to, threatening a fight, fighting, profanity, sexual content, or anything prohibited in the MHS Student Code of Conduct, provided the behavior happens on school grounds.  Students cannot post inappropriate things on Facebook, not even words, while at school either.

Saeed says that he understands “why [the administration] has to be so harsh” and that the administration can’t have people walking all over them.  Saeed believes that the policy is “decently fair.”

Students should remember that, as McKenna said, the administration does not “make up the rules as [they] go.”   If students do not want to be suspended, they should not do anything that is questionable on school grounds.

McKenna also wants students to remember that extra-curricular activities, such as athletics or NHS, have their own codes of conduct and hold students to much higher standards.  If they do anything that goes against their activity’s code of conduct at any point in the year, there may be consequences, such as being kicked out of the activity, suspended, or put on probation.

Administrators can expect 5 to 10 of these types of incidents every year, but this year there have been more due to all the attention that MHS has gotten for the inappropriate video, causing people to seek out other inappropriate videos and postings.