Ben Levi:
You are wrong on many counts. The day is too short to list them all, but here’s a start.
Our chinuch system underwent changes, but maladaptive ones. There was once a semblance of responsibility to insure “No Child Left Behind”. No longer. Any child with issues is prime for expulsion or not retaining him/her next year. And it is the rare exception that such a child will be offered a second of time and effort to find another, “more appropriate” placement. Classes were smaller. Rebbes and teachers connected with their talmidim, establishing relationships, many which continue through adulthood. Such bonds are rare today. A talmid was never denied admission or withheld from attending because of tuition/financial issues. Today, it is commonplace. Discipline was appropriate for the average talmid. Today, we are plagued by use of rejection and shame as routine disciplinary tools. Yes, that is the abuse that is far greater an ingredient in the OTD issues than physical abuse or molestation. The average rebbe today (this is decreasing due to the advent of some training programs that are underutilized) is a product of kollel, with zero experience in dealing with education. The quickest way to control a classroom is discipline, but it provides zero education. Yeshivos have developed more elaborate ways to punish students, but few do much to build character, self esteem, or teach the basics of emunah or cheshek for Torah and Mitzvos. Today’s children are very different from a generation ago, with major distractions, very different social norms, and require new sets of skills to make it through life. Torah is great (does not need my haskomoh), but until our schools and yeshivos learn how to meet the educational needs of our youth, we will continue to have fallout. It is NOT the introduction of “secular” knowledge. It is the failure to do chinuch, to teach. Discipline has a very tiny place in chinuch, but our yeshivos invest the greatest portion of resources and time into this. Build students, don’t crush them.