Many students in high school will be put into situations where they have a right to defend themselves from bullies, and will face consequences for their actions, which will result in suspension, but that doesn’t mean the student should be automatically disqualified if their high school discipline history is undesirable.
Privacy is a major concern for students, especially when the information that they put on applications will judge future outcomes.
If a student is suspended, for misdemeanor-type issues, the school in which they are applying to should not reject the application automatically, but instead take the information and consider it logically.
Now, If the student is suspended or kicked out of school for a serious issue that impacted others, the school should have a right to determine if the person was a threat to their environment, then and if they can be a possible threat now.
We cannot deny important information about a person’s actions, simply because it seems undesirable.
If a student applies to a college, they should be able to acknowledge that sometimes actions do speak louder than words, especially words on a sheet of paper.
If the student can redeem him or herself by other actions, by contributing to society, or making a change in character, then that should be the ultimate judgement.
We should not be rejected by our actions, especially when we are young and naive, but instead be considered wholly as a person, and character and how we carry and present ourselves.
College admissions officers always have to consider many qualities when looking at an application.
According to a College Board article, “Colleges look for qualities like leadership and a sense of social responsibility.”
The article also mentions many other factors such as extracurricular activities, letters of recommendation, the college essay, special talents or abilities the application requests to determine a person’s character, and whether the student will be accepted or rejected.
This information should be considered more so than the reason why the applicant was suspended, such as violating a dress code, self defense, poor choices, etc.
When we are in high school, we are in a constant state of development.
We should not be rejected for the poor choices we made, while we were developing our character and who we are.
Our faults should be considered, not for rejection, but rather for improvement.