By Joel Hollingsworth, Principal
Selah Junior High School, Selah, Washington
Junior High School is a time for adolescents to make choices but also to rely on the guidance and counsel of adults who are important in their lives. At Selah Junior High School we use four levels of social development to help us discipline, or teach, our students how to succeed at school and in life.
The first two levels are not acceptable at school. Anarchy is the absence of order and is characterized by chaos. Next is bullying or bossing and is characterized by bothering or bossing others and breaks our standards at school.
The top two levels are both acceptable at school. Cooperation is when a person is considerate and complies with requests, but the motivation is external—either from peers or adults.
Democracy is our goal for all students. This level is characterized by self-discipline, initiative, and displaying responsibility because it is the right thing to do. A person’s motivation is internal, and this is the highest level on the social development continuum.
By teaching students what it means to function in a democracy, we believe that we are supporting students in learning how to make good choices—as well as supporting the goals of our school, community, and nation.
