The New Trier administration is responsible for deciding how to set up and enforce school policies, and shapeing student behavior.
Administrators are able to take case-by-case disciplinary actions toward violations of the rules because administrators can take closer rule violations on a case by case basis.
Shaping student behavior is not just about doling out punishments, according to Principal Denise Dubravec said, “Our goal is to help students grow into responsible adults, while ready to face tough decisions independently.”
Although some policies have set consequences, such as rules regarding mobile devices, going off campus, or being in a car during the school day, others, like the recent violation of extracurricular code, require discussion before allotting discipline.
Assistant Principal for Administrative Services Scott Williams said, “New Trier is not a zero-tolerance school…if there’s room for teaching or education, we definitely want that to be there.”
The advisery system is an extension of the same principle of regulation. While prompt arrival to advisery needs to be enforced, the adviser may have reason to allow flexibility to individual students.
According to Williams, the school has this ability to be flexible and individualize the consequences for a student’s particular situation because New Trier students are generally well-behaved. Still, students do break the rules. At the beginning of each school year, students are required to initial and sign the Student Acknowledgement of School Policies form in advisery, which outlines rules like the dress code, mobile device regulations, and prearranged absences.
The students are also provided with a Guidebook, which lists all rules and their consequences.
Even with this information available, many students can be unfamiliar with the policies.
Senior Leah Berman said, “The school makes the rules available to us through the website. Ideally, students will have read them before an incident occurs, but most do not.” It is debated whether students actually know their rights.
Senior Daniel Wilensky said, “The school does not the students aware of their rights about technology. During the iPad orientation, they do not let the students know everything is monitored and that administrators can confiscate anyone’s mobile devices.”
Williams noted that there is room for interpretation in the policies such as the dress code. This allows flexibility, instead of simply regulating an exact length of straps or shorts. However, the description “dress that may be construed as revealing or provocative” is vague and subjective.
Williams said the administration may employ assemblies in the future to clarify some of these unclear rules.
Current regulations seem to be sufficient, but school policy, surprisingly, is not the largest influence of students’ actions. Dubravec said, “I don’t think making more specific rules will always change behaviors.”
Williams informed that the statistics on the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance surveys, collected from New Trier students in Kinetic Wellness classes, confirm that the knowledge of consequences was not the greatest deterrent for poor behavior.
Instead, rules set by parents held the most influence over students. In preventing violations in the future, school administrators may have to work more closely with parents to enforce these rules and teach students how to conduct themselves reasonably and responsibly.