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Zero Tolerance Policies in Schools
Zero tolerance policy is today's need
Paper on zero-tolerance school policies
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When eighth grader Gabrielle Nieves needed to take an over the counter pain killer given to her by a classmate, she asked her teacher if she could get a drink of water. Because her school’s zero tolerance policies consider Tylenol in the same class as illegal drugs, like crack and marijuana, Gabrielle was suspended indefinitely and required to attend a drug and alcohol abuse program.
Gabriella’s story dramatically illustrates one of the downsides of zero tolerance discipline policies in schools: the overuse of exclusionary punishments. Though the goal of zero tolerance policies was to crack down on smaller offenses to prevent more severe ones from occurring, and thus to keep schools safer, the actual result has been more negative outcomes
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(US Department of Education 5) No matter the offence these demographic groups face harsher punishments for the same infractions. (Browne-Dianis 10) These illegal school practices are more tragic because even one out of school suspension or contact with the juvenile court system increases the chance of low achievement or the student dropping out of school.
School discipline cannot be separated out from the overall school environment. Discipline must “promote orderly and healthy instructional climates while reducing time out of school, inequitable discipline, and criminalization.” (Gregory, Bell, Pollock 10-11) There are alternatives to zero tolerance policies, which are commonly known as interventions, whose aim is to help students grow, rather than only punishing and excluding.
There is no one type of intervention that works for every school or situation; however, certain principles are common to any effective intervention. Successful interventions do the following:
1. Create a school environment that is respectful to all students and staff. (Gregory, Bell, Pollock
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
A new policy is needed and most certainly should start out with holding schools to handle their own discipline situations, rather than relying on school security and police (Wilson, 2014). School administrators must be able to differentiate between what is a true discipline situation and when a student simply made a mistake. The rate of school suspensions have skyrocketed over the last thirty years from 1.7 million nationwide to 3.1 million and growing today (ACLU, n.d.). Each school needs to create policies of when to get school security involved and what the school’s security job involves. Unless there is a true threat to the safety of the school and/or its student’s law enforcement should never be called (Wison, 2014). The instinct to dial 911 at every infraction has to stop. Furthermore the schools must develop a gender and racial fairness; black children should not be receiving harsher punishments for similar infractions of white students (Wilson,
In the most recent years, the relationship between educational institutions and the juvenile justice system, which was once created to protect children, has displayed an ultimatum for minors through “zero tolerance” policies that result in sending individuals from school to prison to pipeline. Studies have shown that these policies are not beneficial to students or the educational environment that should be guaranteed to children. Opponents argue that the policies promote safety, but through this research it can be concluded that the policies actually increase danger. Studies demonstrate the factors that affect the enforcement of these policies which include media, the sociopolitical atmosphere, and the racial disproportionality, yet there are valid solutions for this issue that can be explored.
The article reviewed serves as a compliment to the research on school policies and its connection to the juvenile court, and how the school-to-prison pipeline has been created. The research article is “Education or Incarceration: Zero Tolerance Policies and the School to Prison Pipeline”. The theme focuses on the flourishing trend in public schools across America that criminalizes students’ minor disciplinary issues as a part of the emerging “zero tolerance” disciplinary policies and the factors that come along with it. This article separates itself from others by noting the influence of media on today’s youth and adults. The influence of media on youth and adults shines light on violence, stereotypes and provides insight on why mass incarceration is occurring so steadfastly. Throughout the article it is evident that the effects from zero tolerance policies are negative. People continue to question the use because no impact on school safety has been detected from the use of these disciplinary guidelines. From this research and other similar research, many authors have concluded that ...
Following the Columbine tragedy in 1999, “school systems across the nation introduced the zero-tolerance policies aimed at the curtailment of harmful student behaviors” (Noll, 2014, p. 295). The original focus of the policies was to eliminate the use/carrying of weapons but soon after spread to restricting drugs and medication (2014). By 2006 95% of the U.S. public schools had adopted the zero-tolerance policies and more than half of them reported taking significant action against students, many of which resulted in expulsion (2014). While the zero-tolerance polices were originally welcomed by all members of a community as a means of promoting and keeping a safer environment-- as of late many individuals are questioning the relevance of some actions and some school officials (2014).
The zero tolerance policy has become a national controversy in regards to the solid proven facts that it criminalizes children and seems to catch kids who have no intention of doing harm. Although, there has been substantial evidence to prove that the policies enforced in many schools have gone far beyond the extreme to convict children of their wrongdoing. The punishments for the act of misconduct have reached a devastating high, and have pointed students in the wrong direction. Despite the opinions of administrators and parents, as well as evidence that zero tolerance policies have deterred violence in many public and private schools, the rules of conviction and punishment are unreasonable and should be modified.
Weber, G. (2014, January 23). How can we bring respect back into our schools. Retrieved February 25, 2014, from Crisis Prevention website: http://www.crisisprevention.com/Blogs/The-Empathic-Educator/February-2014/How-Can-We-Bring-Respect-Back-Into-Our-Schools
In all grades of education, from kindergarten to college, there is a form of discipline known as a zero tolerance policy. While the exact wording is different from school to school, basically a zero tolerance policy means that a student is immediately suspended, asked to attend an alternative school, or expelled if they are suspected or caught doing certain things. These policies are in place to hopefully deter students from doing drugs or being violent, but the ethics behind them are questionable. Some research has shown that these policies may not even work, and other forms of discipline would be better suited to help students. The three main activities that result in the zero tolerance policy are being caught with drugs or alcohol, being caught with a weapon, and bullying.
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.
Nelsen, J., Lott, L., & Glenn, S. (2000). Positive discipline in the classroom developing mutual respect, cooperation, and responsibility in your classrooms, 3rd ed. (p. 120). Roseville, Califonia: Prima Publishing.
Schools inevitably must deal with disciplinary action when it comes to misconduct in students. However, at what point should the courts and law enforcement intervene? “Zero tolerance” policies started as a trend in the school setting during the 1990s in “response to the widespread perception that juvenile violence was increasing and school officials needed to take desperate measures to address the problem” (Aull 2012:182-183). However, national statistics indicated a decrease in juvenile’s share of crime during the influx of zero tolerance policies in schools (National Crime Justice Reference Service 2005).
I can guarantee that punishment is not the answer. Punishment is a suggestion made by reformers (Postman, 311), but it is the absolute worst decision that can be made in our schools. When students get out of school suspension (OSS), they treat it as a vacation day and most of them use it to play video games, and they still get to make up the work they missed. A countless amount of kids in my high school did exactly that. On another side of that, punishment is giving a student attention. Not a great kind of attention, but attention nonetheless. If a student really wants attention, it won’t matter to them what kind. If something is awry in the classroom, it should be ignored. Usually in situations where students are causing a disturbance, it is because they crave the attention. Punishing them is falling right into their
Martinez, S. (2009). A system gone berserk: How are zero-tolerance policies really …..affecting schools? Preventing School Failure, 53(3), 153-157. Retrieved from …..http://search.proquest.com.ezproxylocal.library.nova.edu/docview/228530113?acco…..untid=6579
One thing that does not work in our school-wide support committee is students not being responsible for their own actions. For instance, we have a big number of students that do not complete assignments in the classroom. Sometimes I go to the restroom and I observe students not flushing the toilet or throwing trash outside the trash can and I have to talk to them about being a responsible person. Another expectation that we need to improve in our school is students not respecting each other and not respecting other’s property. For instance, last year, there were many incidents about students not respecting other’s property and not being polite to their peers. In our district, we also need to improve on how to deal with the negative behavior of students in the classroom and stop sending them to the office or ISS (In-School-Suspension) because if students are sent out of the classroom because of inappropriate behavior, they are losing instruction in all their classes. These are not effective ways to handle student’s disruptions in the classroom; therefore, educators need to establish a learning environment that will decrease disruptions and increase student’s learning. These are some of the school-wide behavior expectations in my school that we are deficient and need to improve in
Discipline has always been an issue that has plagued education. Troublesome students have always been a source of disturbances and distractions. Many school have implemented an in school suspension (ISS) program to combat the disruptiveness of problem students. These programs aim to remove students from the classroom while keeping them in an educational setting.