School To Prison Pipeline Essay
The school to prison pipeline is a term that Is used to describe the recent trend of adolescences having an early exposure to the criminal justice system as a result of the recent practices that have been put in place by school systems (Heitzeg). Academic failure, zero tolerance policies as well as police enforcement being present in educational institutions have all played key roles to this term becoming a hot topic when discussing factors that contribute to delinquent youth in today’s society.
A theory that will best fit hand in hand with this recent issue is the labeling theory. When a label is placed on an individual many believe that it defines who he or she is as a person. Some human beings often build their sense of self by relying …show more content…
Positive labels such as being called smart and or athletic. While negative labels being that of children who have been diagnosed with behavior or mental disorders such as ADHD, Asperger’s syndrome, or Oppositional Defiant Disorder. This also wraps into the school to prison pipeline because according to the book The School-to-Prison Pipeline: Structuring Legal Reform “children who are diagnosed with special learning or emotional needs are much more likely to be pushed out of mainstream schools and into the juvenile justice system.” (Kim, 2010) . Also, the book states that up to 85 percent of children who have been placed in juvenile detention facilities have disabilities that would place them under eligibility for special education services, yet only 37 percent of these children are actually receiving the services needed in their school. (Kim, 2010). Commonly, there becomes a drastic change in the child’s behavior because he or she has been deemed to act a certain way. Not because there is anything wrong with the child but because they have been told something is wrong with them causing them to act out resulting in teachers taking drastic measures to have them removed from classrooms. Many even begin to think that he or she is not able to function without their “medicine”. Once a child is deemed as hyper active and or “bad” he or she begins to actually believe this label. This then leads the child to involve themselves in situations that reflect the label of “bad” that has been placed upon them. Which brings up the term of criminality is something that is learned instead of born
A theory that will best fit hand in hand with this recent issue is the labeling theory. When a label is placed on an individual many believe that it defines who he or she is as a person. Some human beings often build their sense of self by relying …show more content…
Positive labels such as being called smart and or athletic. While negative labels being that of children who have been diagnosed with behavior or mental disorders such as ADHD, Asperger’s syndrome, or Oppositional Defiant Disorder. This also wraps into the school to prison pipeline because according to the book The School-to-Prison Pipeline: Structuring Legal Reform “children who are diagnosed with special learning or emotional needs are much more likely to be pushed out of mainstream schools and into the juvenile justice system.” (Kim, 2010) . Also, the book states that up to 85 percent of children who have been placed in juvenile detention facilities have disabilities that would place them under eligibility for special education services, yet only 37 percent of these children are actually receiving the services needed in their school. (Kim, 2010). Commonly, there becomes a drastic change in the child’s behavior because he or she has been deemed to act a certain way. Not because there is anything wrong with the child but because they have been told something is wrong with them causing them to act out resulting in teachers taking drastic measures to have them removed from classrooms. Many even begin to think that he or she is not able to function without their “medicine”. Once a child is deemed as hyper active and or “bad” he or she begins to actually believe this label. This then leads the child to involve themselves in situations that reflect the label of “bad” that has been placed upon them. Which brings up the term of criminality is something that is learned instead of born