Abstract

Discipline and Punish

The author discusses the consequences of "zero tolerance" disciplinary policies in U.S. public schools. Every year, more than 3 million students like Bryson Donaldson are suspended and nearly 100,000 more are expelled, from kindergarten through twelfth grade. Of those, untold thousands like Daniel Brion increasingly face police action for disciplinary problems that were previously handled in school, because forty-one states now require that certain acts committed in school be reported to the police. Boys in general are the targets, with African-American males beating a disproportionate brunt of suspensions and disciplinary actions. Together, these trends are the poisonous by-product of a decade of so-called zero tolerance policies in public schools, from urban enclaves to rural outposts alike. Youth advocates and education experts are increasingly alarmed about the toil of zero tolerance policies. While school administrators may believe suspensions and get-tough policies make schools safe and improve student behavior, the research shows otherwise. Excluding kids from school for two days or two months increases the odds of academic failure and dropping out. What's more, suspensions and academic failure are strong predictors of entry into the criminal justice system, especially for African-American males. That's why legal and education experts are blaming zero tolerance for what they call the "school to prison pipeline." The school-to-prison pipeline often starts because teachers and principals are calling 911 and criminalizing student behaviors that in more tolerant times they would have handled themselves.