Community News

PROGRAM PROVIDING ALTERNATIVE TO SCHOOL SUSPENSIONS

IN ITS FIRST YEAR, YMCA PROGRAM HAS SEEN 42 STUDENTS, ALL OF WHOM ARE STILL ENROLLED

GRAEME MCNAUGHTON gmcnaughton@guelphmercurytribune.com

When Michelle Fischer was in high school in the early 2000s, there was an intervention by her school to get things back on track. Now, she is working with a newly introduced program in Guelph helping students avoid suspensions and, potentially, dropping out of school.

Started at the beginning of the school year, YMCA of Three Rivers is working with the Wellington Catholic District School Board on an alternative for the traditional student suspension.

Instead of being sent home, students referred to the program go to a Y facility for three to five days.

"The idea is putting a qualified youth worker together with young people that need that type of support and taking advantage of this moment in time where a young person's going through certain struggles, to be able to address some of the underlying issues that they're facing," Andrew Borelli, director of development with YMCAs of Quebec's school perseverance sector, told the Mercury Tribune.

Under the program, students not only get the chance to work on their studies to ensure they don't fall further behind, but also get access to one-on-one counselling and workshops.

"When you're looking at the goal of the program, it's not only to support the youth and support the students staying in school and graduating, but also it's an opportunity for them to really understand and learn the root cause of why they were there in the first place," Fischer, YMCA of Three Rivers' community youth initiatives supervisor, added.

While new to Guelph, YMCA's alternative suspension program began in 1999 in Montreal after it was noticed that the traditional suspension, where a student would be sent home for an extended period, was not working.

"A lot of young people are staying home — for some it's like a mini-vacation, for others it actually makes a bad situation much worse because they're being isolated from a support system that's important for them," Borelli said.

"So looking to take what

we see as an opportunity — a young person misbehaving is often a cry for help, so how can the Y contribute to the solution. So that's where the alternate suspension program was born."

Studies have also shown that students who are suspended are at a higher risk

of dropping out. For example, a 2012 study by researchers at Johns Hopkins University found a single suspension in the ninth grade doubled the chance of dropping out, going to 32 per cent from 16. The more a student is suspended, the more likely they will not finish high school.

While still in its first year, the program has shown some success, with all of the 42 students that have taken part still enrolled in school and nearly all of them staying out of trouble.

"We're seeing that in Guelph, we're seeing it nationally, provincially, where they're just able to look within and be able to set goals for themselves and how to achieve those pieces to set themselves back on the right track," Fischer said.

STORY BEHIND THE STORY: Research has shown that a suspension for a student has repercussions beyond the initial day or two away from the classroom, making them more likely to drop out later on. A new program aims to give Guelph students facing suspension an alternative, giving them a chance to learn and grow, along with staying in school.

EDUCATION

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2022-05-19T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-05-19T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://communitynews.pressreader.com/article/281496459891660

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