News Staff Reporter
The discipline policies at Choate are firmly embedded in our school culture. Many other New England boarding schools have policies similar to Choate’s. Although there is no universal code for rules among the different schools, what is or is not acceptable seems fairly constant among institutions of Choate’s caliber.
Within the general ideas that govern any given school, there are slight variations when it comes to specific regulations. No school tolerates the use of drugs, alcohol, tobacco, or weapons. Every school values academic integrity, but the extent of the laws of plagiarism varies from school to school. While the severity of penalties among the boarding schools is similar, certain institutions place different levels of emphasis on regulations. Phillips Exeter, for example, has a very rigorous academic program and as a result, rules concerning scholastic probation and requirement of withdrawal based on academic record are well developed and have been meticulously stated in the student handbook.
“I think most of the policies from one school to the next are more similar than different,” commented Choate Dean of Students John Ford. “Certainly the rules themselves stand as deterrents to breaking them. And I think it’s fair to say that a lot of students follow rules because they don’t want ‘get into trouble.’ Getting into trouble means the consequences of breaking a rule—what are the punishments?”
Ford continued by saying, “It’s up to the individual and whatever moral fiber an individual student has in terms of judging right and wrong. There are different rules: there’s cheating on a te-
