There is a great concern in the school system right now in reference to student’s disruptive and violent behavior. This behavior has started to increase and the immediate response among teachers and staff is to stop this behavior by implementing school resource officers (SROs) into the school. This would be a tremendous mistake among the students because starting a SRO program would increase arrests among students, increase behavior problems, start using police officers for behavioral problems which should be handled by teachers and staff, and even target children of race and disabilities disproportionately compared to other children.
Studies have shown that schools with an SRO have more arrests and charges against students compared to schools which have not employed an SRO program. Some studies have shown the presence of an SRO in the school system showed a 197% increase in the rate of arrests per one hundred students (Theriot, 2009). This is a tremendous increase in arrests of students, which majority of the arrests are for disorderly conduct or simple assaults (fighting with other students). By arresting
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U.S. Department of Education (2014) show that black students are suspended on average of 16.4% compared to white students who are suspended on average of 4.6% of the time (U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights, 2014). Not only are the suspensions disproportionate but arrests have proven to be the same way. In the same study black students represent approximately 16% of the student body, however, they are subjected to approximately 31% of the school-related arrests. This is compared to Caucasian students who represent 51% of the student body and on 39% of the school-related arrests (U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights,
This decision makes it clear the most important thing for a school to do is to protect the students. It also states that the board of education, whose role is to oversee the schools, must make sure that the staff of the schools is protecting those children. This case highlights that long-term abuse can happen in schools if there are not clear policies or, if there are, that there is no one ensuring that those policies are
Race as a factor in inequity. Ladson-Billings and Tate (1995) posit that race continues to be a significant factor in determining inequity in the United States. Race matters in society. If we look at high school drop out, suspension, and incarceration rates of men of color in America we see a disproportionate amount of men of color marginalized and profiled by society. This is further compounded by the perception that male faculty of color cannot be educators or at least are not often conceptually visualized in that capacity (Bryan and Browder, 2013).
Skiba, R. J., Michael, R. S., Nardo, A. C., & Peterson, R. L. (2002). The color of discipline: Sources of racial and gender disproportionality in administration of school punishment. Urban Review, 34, 317-342.
America demands that all youth receive an education and that its educational system is free and open to all—regardless of class, race, ethnicity, age, and gender. However, the system is failing. There is still inequality in the educational system, and minorities’ experience with education is shaped by discrimination and limited access, while white people’s experience with education is shaped by privilege and access. The educational experience for minorities is still segregated and unequal. This is because the number of white children that are withdrawn from school by their parents is higher than the number of people of color enrolling. White parents are unconsciously practicing the idea of “blockbusting,” where minorities begin to fill up a school; whites transfer their children to a school that has a small or no minority population. They unconsciously feel like once their child is in a school full of minorities that school would not get the proper funding from the federal government. Bonilla-Silvia (2001) states that “[i]nner-city minority schools, in sharp contrast to white suburban schools, lack decent buildings, are over-crowded, [and] have outdated equipment…” (97). The “No Child Left Behind” Act, which holds schools accountable for the progress of their students, measures students’ performance on standardized tests. Most white children that are in suburban schools are given the opportunity to experience education in a beneficial way; they have more access to technology, better teachers, and a safe environment for learning. Hence, white students’ experience with the education system is a positive one that provides knowledge and a path to success. Also, if their standardized testing is low, the government would give the school...
A science teacher in Mississippi asked her students to take a picture with their completed DNA Lego model. John Doe took his picture with a smile and a hand gesture in which his thumb, index, and middle finger was raised. This was enough to earn him an indefinite suspension with a recommendation for expulsion because his school administrators believed he flashed a gang sign although he was simply putting up three fingers to represent his football jersey number. (NPR Isensee, 2014). This kind of criminalization of young people contributes to suspension, dropout, and incarceration, and too often pushes students into what is referred to by many education scholars and activists as the “school-to-prison pipeline,” a term that refers to “the policies and practices that push our nation’s schoolchildren, especially our most at-risk children, out of classrooms and into the juvenile and criminal justice systems” (ACLU 2013). The School-to-Prison Pipeline is one of the most urgent challenges in education today. This paper will focus on the following circumstances and policies contributing to the school-to-prison pipeline: 1) resource deprived schools, 2) high-stake testing and 3) zero-tolerance discipline policies. However, it is important to note that the school-to-prison pipeline is a broad problem not limited to these three components and has been influenced by historical inequities (segregated education), concentrated poverty, and racial disparities in law enforcement (NAACP, 2005). They have each served to isolate and remove a massive number of people, a disproportionately large percentage of whom are youth of color, from their communities and from participation in civil society (NAACP, 2005). I argue for attention to the school-to-pr...
In conclusion, School Violence is a widespread issue that must be addressed. School shootings and bullying are some of the biggest issues in today’s school system. Many times the seed of the issue begins with bullying and ends with consequences like suicide and school shootings. They affect people as early as elementary school all the way to the college level, some even ending with death. Only together can we stop school violence if we take a stand and change the world.
Another major reason why juveniles are ending up in the juvenile justice system is because many schools have incorporate the zero tolerance policy and other extreme school disciplinary rules. In response to violent incidents in schools, such as the Columbine High School massacre, school disciplinary policies have become increasingly grave. These policies have been enacted at the school, district and state levels with the hopes of ensuring the safety of students and educators. These policies all rely on the zero tolerance policy. While it is understandable that protecting children and teachers is a priority, it is not clear that these strict policies are succeeding in improving the safety in schools.
Many Americans pretend that the days of racism are far behind; however it is clear that institutional racism still exists in this country. One way of viewing this institutional racism is looking at our nation’s prison system and how the incarceration rates are skewed towards African American men. The reasons for the incarceration rate disparity are argued and different between races, but history points out and starts to show the reason of why the disparity began. Families and children of the incarcerated are adversely affected due to the discrimination as well as the discrimination against African American students and their likelihood of going to prison compared to the white student. African American women are also affected by the discrimination in the incarceration rate. Many white Americans don’t see how racism affects incarceration rates, and that African Americans are more likely to face discrimination from the police as well as being falsely arrested.
‘Zero-tolerance’ policies criminalize minor infractions of school rules, while high-stakes testing programs encourage educators to push out low-performing students to improve their schools’ overall test scores. Students of color are especially vulnerable to push-out trends and the discriminatory application of discipline (Gabbard 2013:33).
If every school were to have a police officer, the cost would be over 5.4 billion dollars. That’s a lot of money, but it will be worth every cent knowing that kids are being protected and saved by them. Some people are worried that police are being put in schools because of student’s behavior. They say that if you treat a child like a criminal, they will become one. That is not what I am suggesting. The police officers need to be in a situation in which they can be on the same side as the students, and protect the students; not the other way around. Putting police officers in schools will be expensive, and controversial, but it will be worth it knowing that students and staff are being saved every
In one state, up to eighty percent of children involved in court do not have lawyers. Students who have committed minor offenses may also end up in secured detention if they violate probation conditions prohibiting them from going to normal activities like school and them disobeying their teachers. Students pushed along find themselves in juvenile detention facilities that lack educational services. Students of color are far more likely than their white peers to be suspended, expelled, or arrested for the same miss behavior at a school and those with disabilities are likely to travel down this same road. Though many students are pushed down the pipeline from school to jail, it is very difficult for them to make the journey in reverse. Students who enter the juvenile justice system face many obstacles in their re-entry into traditional schools. Most of these students never graduate from high
According to the most recent data from the Department of Education, preschoolers who are racially diverse are being disciplined at a rate 3 times as great as their white classmates (Rich, 2014). The Department of Education data shows 48 percent of preschool suspensions were of black students who only make up 18% of all students attending preschool (Rich, 2014). This data is deeply disturbing. What could a preschooler possibly do to warrant a suspension?
There is something comforting about school children and teenagers dressed in pleats and plaid. Maybe it is a reminder of past times, or conjures up thoughts of order and safety. Whatever the reason, school uniforms are getting a lot of ?wear? these days, yet remain an unproven deterrent to school violence. No long-term, formal studies have been done with regards to the effectiveness of school uniforms, but many schools have kept their own informal statistics, such as the Long Beach School District. These statistics offered by Long Beach are often most cited as a proven deterrent to school violence, after adopting a mandatory uniform policy in 1994. According to Richard Van Der Laan, school crime has dropped over seventy-five percent, while attendance has reached an all-time high. One question we must ask ourselves is this, ?Is it the uniforms, or the induction of them that is solving the problem?? Maybe it is the school and parents showing some ?back-bone? which is affecting the students, not the clothing.
Violence in school creates an unsafe environment, and shifts the administrator's focus away from the curriculum towards solving the dilemma of violence. When the environment that surrounds the students is not secure they become more preoccupied with their own safety than they do about learning (Rehr). This disturbing behavior also takes both the student's and teacher's time away from the education process. As Albert Shanker has written, "Nobody ever learns in a classroom that has one or two kids who take ninety percent of the time through violence or threats of violence. It deprives children of an opportunity to learn" (464). To cut down on violence, schools have guards at the entrance, gates, or metal detectors in buildings. The effect of this though is that students sometimes have to miss first period because of the length of time it takes to check everyone's bag. In addition, it can cause feelings of intimidation or anxiety due to the fact that "when you put metal detectors in buildings, that's a statement that schools are violence-ridden, out of control, and unsafe" (Glazer 790). This worries educators because they start to "question whether a prison-like atmosphere, even when it is effective in reducing crime, can in the long run be compatible with good education" (David 12).
The issue of school safety has become a controversial topic in the United States, due to tragic acts of violence occurring on a daily basis. American citizens should never have to cope with the negative impact of school violence, no matter how often they hear about the tragedies (Jones, "Parents" 1). In the past, schools were viewed as a safe place for children to get an education. Recently, the concern over violence in schools has taken a toll on many parents, school administrators, and legislatures (Eckland 1). Studies have shown that there are over 3 million acts of violence in American public schools each year. Not all occurrences are serious and deadly, but they occur on a daily basis throughout our country (Jones, “School” 6). This has caused many parents to worry about the well-being of their children while they are in class. This has also led to an increase in questions and concerns by parents and guardians. Many people have asked, “What are you doing about safety and security on my child’s campus” (Schimke 2). School violence is the cause of elevated worry and fear for their children, and school districts should enforce better security.