Zero Tolerance Policy Analysis

One way schools have tried to protect their students was to make the Zero Tolerance Policy. The Zero Tolerance Policy is when a student acts out or even violates the dress code they either get a five day suspension or even expelled from school. For the most part, schools would use this policy against all of the students, even those who have emotional or learning disabilities and behavioral disorders. We have learn in class that students with learning disabilities tend to act out more, due to not being able to understand the material of the class. In the article “The Impact of Zero Tolerance Policy on Children with Disabilities” by Mariam Alnaim,she explains how it is amiss to suspend or expel those who have a disability. Alnaim say, “The situation

Alanaim goes on saying, “Some of these behaviors are because of many factors including the children not being taught appropriate behavior, poverty, trauma, safety concerns at home, hunger, and disability,” (3). While the Zero Tolerance Policy is to protect the students at school, it does not do much help to those who have problems and safety issues in their own homes. The students who tend to need the most help, those with disabilities, are being given a five day suspension. In some research Alanaim found, it said, “the total number of students with disabilities enrolled in public schools represented fifteen percent, but twenty-seven percent of them were suspended within the same year,”(3). He talks about how administrators and educators would rather suspended these students rather than help them. Alanaim explains that these actions are making the situations worse for the students with learning disabilities because they get behind in their school work and tend to get more frustrated and end up dropping out. He believes that the policy is unaccommodating and stops the schools from providing professional judgement to the students with