Suspensions! Surely there is a better way.

As Crystal Kuykendall said at our Summer Institute, when your own children mess up and break the rules at home, you do NOT tell them, "Get out of here! And don`t come back for 3 days!"

Kids are suspended too often. Surely educators can be more effective! Surely we can be more creative.

I know they can, because I`ve seen it. Every year, I run all the statistics on all the students in alternative education in Oklahoma. One thing that stands out -- these kids, who were suspended a LOT in the traditional school, are hardly ever suspended once they are in alternative ed.

So, do we NEED to suspend? No. We suspend because it`s easy.

Case in point:

128 Students Suspended at Indiana School

HAMMOND, Ind. (Aug. 27) - Classrooms were a little less crowded at Morton High School on the first day of classes: 128 students were sent home for wearing the wrong clothes.

Fed up with inappropriate outfits, the principal suspended the students for one day Wednesday, minutes after doors opened at the school. Those suspended represent more than 10 percent of the 1,200 total students.

The offending attire -- including baggy pants, low-cut shirts, tank tops and graphic T-shirts -- are banned from classrooms. Students were also cited for cell phone use.

(Click the link for more from the AOL article.)