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History of education in america
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There are many misconceptions about the prevalence of youth violence in our society and it is important to peel back the veneer of hot-tempered discourse that often surrounds the issue.... While it is important to carefully review the circumstances surrounding these horrifying incidents so that we may learn from them, we must also be cautious about inappropriately creating a cloud of fear over every student in every classroom across the country. In the case of youth violence, it is important to note that, statistically speaking, schools are among the safest places for children to be.
Final Report, Bi Partisan Working Group on Youth Violence
106th Congress, February 2000
Public policy towards children has moved towards treating them more like adults and in ways that increasingly mimic the adult criminal justice system. The most recent version of this movement is so-called "zero tolerance" in schools, where theories of punishment that were once directed to adult criminals are now applied to first graders.1
"Zero tolerance" is the phrase that describes America's response to student misbehavior. Zero tolerance means that a school will automatically and severely punish a student for a variety of infractions. While zero tolerance began as a Congressional response to students with guns, gun cases are the smallest category of school discipline cases. Indeed, zero tolerance covers the gamut of student misbehavior, from including "threats" in student fiction to giving aspirin to a classmate. Zero tolerance has become a one-size-fits-all solution to all the problems that schools confront. It has redefined students as criminals, with unfortunate consequences.
While zero tolerance policies target the serious risk of students bringing guns to school, they also go after other weapons or anything, like a Swiss Army knife, that can be used as a weapon. Zero tolerance responds to student violence (covering a wide range of activities) or threats of violence. Zero tolerance is theoretically directed at students who misbehave intentionally, yet it also applies to those who misbehave as a result of emotional problems, or other disabilities, or who merely forget what is in their pocket after legitimate non-school activities. It treats alike first graders and twelfth graders.
Zero tolerance results in expulsion or suspension irrespective of any ...
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... is gaining currency. In mid-June, a new report noted:
In the aftermath of a number of high profile, extremely violent incidents at public schools, many state and local education entities have adopted the same harsh and mandatory, "take-no-prisoners" approach to discipline currently being used in this country's criminal justice system.
Hair et al., Opportunities Suspended: The Devastating Consequences of Zero Tolerance and School Discipline, Advancement Project/Civil Rights Project at Harvard University, June 2000.
2. Tebo, M.G., Zero Tolerance, Zero Sense, ABA Journal, April 2000.
3. Brooks, K., Schiraldi, V., Zeidenberg, J., School House Hype: Two Years Later, Justice Policy Institute/Children's Law Center, March 2000.
4. Richart, D., Civil Religion & Other People's Children: An Illustration of Zero Tolerance in Action, April 2000.
5. Hair et al., Opportunities Suspended: The Devastating Consequences of Zero Tolerance and School Discipline, supra.
6. May, M., Blacks Likely to Lose Out in School Crackdown, San Francisco Chronicle, December 18, 1999.
7. _____, Zero Tolerance - A Critical Analysis, Hamilton Fish Institute on School and Community Violence, April 2000