School To Prison Pipeline
The United States currently has the highest incarceration rate in the world. Over 2.4 million persons are in state or federal prisons and jails—a rate of 751 out of every 100,000. Over 3,500 of these are awaiting execution; some for Federal crimes, most for capital offenses in one of the 36 states that still allows for capital punishment. Another 5 million are under some sort of correctional supervision such as probation or parole (PEW 2008).
Even more alarming is a phenomenon known as the Pipeline to Prison, or the School to Prison Pipeline. In her dissertation, Robinson (2013) explains that the school to prison pipeline is a phrase used to describe the phenomenon where youth, and disproportionately African American males, are pushed out …show more content…
The student was expelled from school.
• A nine-year-old on the way to school found a manicure kit with a 1-inch knife. The student was suspended for one day.
• In Ponchatoula Louisiana, a 12-year-old who had been diagnosed with a hyperactive disorder warned the kids in the lunch line not to eat all the potatoes, or "I'm going to get you." The student, turned in by the lunch monitor, was suspended for two days. He was then referred to police by the principal, and the police charged the boy with making "terroristic threats." He was incarcerated for two weeks while awaiting trial.
• Two 10-year-old boys from Arlington, Virginia were suspended for three days for putting soapy water in a teacher's drink. At the teacher's urging, Forum on Public Policy 10 police charged the boys with a felony that carried a maximum sentence of 20 years. The children were formally processed through the juvenile justice system before the case was dismissed months …show more content…
The first step toward dismantling the pipeline is to take a critical look at existing school discipline policies, the actual practices of schools and law enforcement, and the impact of those policies and practices. In the vast majority of cases, data demonstrates that policies or practices seen in the School-to-Prison Pipeline are counterproductive and lack a pedagogical underpinning. In fact, many of these policies not only label children as criminals, but they also encourage children to lose hope, making it more likely that they will wind up behind bars. These policies, and the incentive to pursue them, should therefore be eliminated or suspended while communities propose alternatives. It goes without saying that students cannot learn if the school environment is not safe. However, while students’ safety should be a priority, there are many ways to keep schools safe without implementing exclusionary discipline policies. Across the country, parents, educators, students, judges, juvenile justice professionals and police officers have crafted programs that have achieved positive results while keeping children in mainstream educational environments. Social services-based truancy intervention programs, peer mediation, after school programs, intensive guidance counseling, and conflict resolution programs are just a few examples of the kind of efforts that have proven
Even more alarming is a phenomenon known as the Pipeline to Prison, or the School to Prison Pipeline. In her dissertation, Robinson (2013) explains that the school to prison pipeline is a phrase used to describe the phenomenon where youth, and disproportionately African American males, are pushed out …show more content…
The student was expelled from school.
• A nine-year-old on the way to school found a manicure kit with a 1-inch knife. The student was suspended for one day.
• In Ponchatoula Louisiana, a 12-year-old who had been diagnosed with a hyperactive disorder warned the kids in the lunch line not to eat all the potatoes, or "I'm going to get you." The student, turned in by the lunch monitor, was suspended for two days. He was then referred to police by the principal, and the police charged the boy with making "terroristic threats." He was incarcerated for two weeks while awaiting trial.
• Two 10-year-old boys from Arlington, Virginia were suspended for three days for putting soapy water in a teacher's drink. At the teacher's urging, Forum on Public Policy 10 police charged the boys with a felony that carried a maximum sentence of 20 years. The children were formally processed through the juvenile justice system before the case was dismissed months …show more content…
The first step toward dismantling the pipeline is to take a critical look at existing school discipline policies, the actual practices of schools and law enforcement, and the impact of those policies and practices. In the vast majority of cases, data demonstrates that policies or practices seen in the School-to-Prison Pipeline are counterproductive and lack a pedagogical underpinning. In fact, many of these policies not only label children as criminals, but they also encourage children to lose hope, making it more likely that they will wind up behind bars. These policies, and the incentive to pursue them, should therefore be eliminated or suspended while communities propose alternatives. It goes without saying that students cannot learn if the school environment is not safe. However, while students’ safety should be a priority, there are many ways to keep schools safe without implementing exclusionary discipline policies. Across the country, parents, educators, students, judges, juvenile justice professionals and police officers have crafted programs that have achieved positive results while keeping children in mainstream educational environments. Social services-based truancy intervention programs, peer mediation, after school programs, intensive guidance counseling, and conflict resolution programs are just a few examples of the kind of efforts that have proven