ipl-logo

School To Prison Pipeline Essay

1026 Words5 Pages

Have you ever had all of the odds stacked against you? Has there there been a moment that felt seemingly impossible? This is how former inmates feel after getting out of. Maybe if they had a highschool diploma a positive future would not seem so far out of their grasp. Only a few mistakes destined them towards a lifetime of crime and turmoil and the school to prison pipeline was a main contributor. The school to prison pipeline is the almost seamless transfer of students to juvenile justice systems and down the pathway towards imprisonment. For this reason the school to prison pipeline is an important problem that needs to be solved through correcting zero tolerance policies, Congress and Supreme Court involvement, and denying bias towards …show more content…

In The School-To-Prison Pipeline : A Comprehensive Assessment by Christopher A. Mallett, The U.S. Department of Education, The Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and Muschert and Peguero share some statistics “Since 1996, the proportion of schools that subsequently enacted what have come to be called zero-tolerance policies has never fallen below 75% (U.S. Department of Education, 2013), with some estimates as high as 90% (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2006; Muschert & Peguero, 2010)”(19). This shows that in the United States a lot of schools have gravitated towards zero tolerance policies but, is the policy being used responsibly? In Bullying and Zero-Tolerance Policies : The School to Prison Pipeline written by Berlowitz, Frye, and Jette a quote paraphrasing the American Civil Liberties Union goes by “These (zero tolerance policies) have contributed to the over-criminalization of the classroom, whereby small infractions that in the past would have led to a trip to the principal’s office and a sharp warning or detention now become the basis of out-of-school suspension, expulsion, or, increasingly, a trip to the police station” (468). Quotes like this confirm that with zero tolerance policies in place, punishments have escalated much quicker than

Show More
Related
366 Words | 2 Pages

“Turning off the School-to-Prison Pipeline” is written by Harry Wilson. It is an article about how so many students are ending up in the prison system. Wilson introduces the concept of school-to-prison pipeline, demonstrates how exclusionary discipline, a product of zero tolerance policies, have fueled the school-to-prison pipeline, and offers ways to cut off the school-to-prison pipeline. The school-to-prison pipeline can be defined as the causal link between educational exclusion and the criminalization of youth (Wilson 49).

Read More
1316 Words | 6 Pages

The school to prison hypothesis describes how black children enrolled in schools face racialization and discrimination constantly and it is based off the “zero tolerance” policy (T. Davidson, Education, 2018, lecture 5). This theory connects to the book because Maynard explains throughout chapter eight of how black school children are treated differently. They are more subject to punishments and are susceptible to harsher disciplines. Black students are often seen as a threat within the education system and are constantly over surveilled. The linkage between the educational and criminal justice system is strong.

Read More
714 Words | 3 Pages

Disproportionate discipline refers to the tendency of students who belongs to a particular demographic group, who are more prone to face harsher or more exclusionary discipline compared to students who belong to other demographic groups even when committing a comparable offense. Although this phenomenon has existed for centuries, activist groups like Black Lives Matter, a group that campaigns against violence and systemic racism toward black people, has recently shed light on this issue. That would be an ideal reason to select this book. However, I chose this book for a more personal reason. In Being Bad: My Baby Brother and the School-to-Prison Pipeline, the author, Crystal Laura tell the story of her younger brother, Chris, and his journey from systems of education to systems of criminal justice.

Read More
1318 Words | 6 Pages

In schools today, the increase of exclusionary discipline, punishments like suspension and expulsion, have contributed to the rising “school-to-prison” pipeline. In another study performed by the American Bar Association, an organization of lawyers in the United States, “ it was estimated that U.S. public school children lost nearly 18 million days of instruction in just one school year because of

Read More
728 Words | 3 Pages

In addition, Graham highlights the unfair and unjust educational system through disciplinary power that marginalized problematic students (2014). He did his research with inmates who were incarcerated at a young due to the school-to-prison pipeline structure. Many of the inmates explained that they were beaten by their instructors or fought with other students, which lead to those in power to punish the individuals through more violence (Graham 2014). For instance, “physical violence administered by teaching staff in the form of corporal punishment was a persistent feature” at school for many of the inmates (Graham 2014). This reveals that the inmates were physically beaten after breaking a school rule instead of receiving a suspension or typical disciplinary action.

Read More
1031 Words | 5 Pages

McCarter describes thoroughly the consequences STPP has on the nation’s school-age youth, including but not limited to increased exposure the criminal justice system, and gives solutions that schools can implement that will hopefully limit the overwhelming amount of students coming in contact with the STPP. The article proves that zero tolerance policies are not conducive to a safe school environment and does not foster a safe learning climate for

Read More
720 Words | 3 Pages

The school to prison pipeline is an organized nationwide system consisting of local, state and federal education. It is also formed to drive students out of school and into the criminal and juvenile systems, which may result in students dropping out of school early. The school to prison pipeline mainly targets students who are of color and those who struggle with some form of disability. This system is disturbing because, there is nothing being accomplished by removing students from education, which will eventually cause them to struggle before adulthood and even after they reach this point of life. The school to prison pipeline is detrimental because, students may drop out of school, be subject to relying on government assistance to survive, and disregard the decision to further their education because of past experiences.

Read More
1215 Words | 5 Pages

The public school to prison pipeline was examined in the literature review through zero-tolerance policies and the effects it has played on graduation rates. Zero-tolerance policies have dramatically increased students being recommended to the court system according to the literature review. The literature review has shown a need for school districts to examine zero-tolerance policies and the negative effects that it has caused on students. Fran Silverman (2005) discusses students being punished under zero-tolerance and says, “The students were disciplined under their school’s zero tolerance policy and some advocates are saying these codes of conduct have become so strict that schools are turning into criminal justice systems, or worse, jailhouses” (pg. 54).

Read More
589 Words | 3 Pages

This myth led to the School-to-Prison Pipeline which was the increased presence of police officers and severe punishments in schools. Teenagers, specifically black and Latino teenagers, faced harsh consequences because schools enforced zero-tolerance policies and gave excessive suspensions for any type of misbehavior. Schools tried to prevent teenage crime by implementing zero-tolerance policies within the schools. They also increased the number of police officers in schools to enforce good behavior. Schools also gave out hundreds of unnecessary suspensions a year

Read More
276 Words | 2 Pages

Youth of color specifically are at an increased risk of being suspended at an extended time out of schools. Consequently, they are casted into the streets, which ultimately sends them into juvenile detentions or into prison. The problem of racial and ethnic disproportionality in the discipline of schools is not new issue. In 1974, in one of the earliest investigations of disciplinary policies and practices, “the Children’s Defense Fund revealed that suspension rates for African American students were between two and three times higher than those for white students”( Thomas Rudd February 05, 2015) Ongoing research are still showing that in many places, this problem have worsened significantly.

Read More
1026 Words | 5 Pages

We as people strive to put aside our differences and bias when judging, however, when these statistics show the clear racial and minority discrimination what effort has been made to resolve these issues? If the school to prison pipeline continues many bright minds will be put into a limbo in between prison and juvenile detention, and this would absolutely ruin their future and there social mobility due to the lack of educational opportunities and a criminal history. In fact, of these biases are not addressed it will simply perpetuate racism and discrimination by marginalizing groups and preventing them from receiving a way out of poverty or other crisis. This system has also taken away the voice of many innocents. If a person with a criminal record or supposedly bad background proposes changes they are less likely to be heard especially when they are constrained to working bad paying jobs and have little standing in their community or district.

Read More
280 Words | 2 Pages

Along with the social injustice for the targeted group, there is also the social and political concern for the connection of zero tolerance and the rising number of adolescents in the Criminal Justice System, juvenile detention centers or even jail. This connection is referred to as the School-to-Prison Pipeline. “The School-to-Prison Pipeline is “a collection of

Read More
1012 Words | 5 Pages

In the article “The Benefits of Zero Tolerance,” Eric Badertscher and Heather Newton discuss why it is important for schools to use zero-tolerance policies but also become more practical with how the policies are administered. In the article Badertscher and Newton tell a story of a young boy in Loudoun County Public Schools who was suspended because he took a knife from another suicidal kid and put it away in his locker. This “lack of flexibility” proves how case by case punishment could work better for these policies (Badertscher and Newton). The student who was found with a knife had no intentions of harming anyone in the school. In fact he possibly saved the life of a fellow student by taking action and retrieving the weapon.

Read More
1043 Words | 5 Pages

Children' brain are not fully developed yet. Thus, they do not realize the risks and consequences of their action. School-to-prison pipeline is arresting children for violating school rules. Statistic show drop out students are likely in jail for many reasons. Society need to focus more on education and spend less on prison, which can save thousands of taxpayers’ money.

Read More
933 Words | 4 Pages

It wasn 't just students and their parents - civil rights groups got involved, as did educators, and even juvenile judges sounded alarm at the number of young people who came out of zero tolerance with arrest records and other disciplinary millstones around their necks. The Obama Justice Department has also pressed school districts to find alternatives to arrest and expulsion. In recent years, Florida has indeed changed its approach - a 2009 amendment puts more discretion in the hands of school administrators to discipline students. A number of counties have also set up alternative sanctions for infractions - counseling, community service and other rehabilitative programs aim to help students improve their behavior, unlike expulsion, which left students to wander the streets during the day, fall behind on school work and get into even more trouble.

Read More

More about School To Prison Pipeline Essay

Related Topics

Open Document