Zero Tolerance Policies In High School

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Should I go to school today ? Is going to school worth it ? What will I get out of school if I go today ? These are all common questions that most high school students ask themselves when waking up for school. School causes a lot of stress and requires tons of work, but in the end, it is all worth it. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate for those with less than a high school diploma is 8% compared to the nations 4.3% unemployment rate. Given that 65% of jobs in the U.S require a at least a college degree, not having a high school diploma would make it difficult to find good jobs. According to pbs.org, Black and Latino students are twice as likely to not graduate from high school as white student’s. Clearly, race …show more content…

Zero-tolerance policies will teach children how society works - when you make bad choices, you will have bad outcomes. Parents and administrative claim that it’s important to keep these policies in schools because they help maintain a safe environment, while teaching students unacceptable behavior is (Sellors). “ Zero-tolerance policies remove difficult students quickly,” said Sellors. After these students are removed from a schools, it is harder for them to get into another school. Although some students who are expelled from school are offered an alternative education at disciplinary schools, those schools fail to provide a “meaningful education” (ACLU). Students not having a education lead to the statistic of 68% of all males in both federal and state prison not having a high school …show more content…

According to penalreform.org, America has the 2nd highest overcrowding rate of 320% compared to Africa 's 363%. Factors that contribute to this trend are zero-tolerance policies and inner city social and economic isolation (naacp.org). Both of those factors build a strong candidate for a future prisoner - already facing social and economic challenges and then being expelled from school due to the harsh zero-tolerance policies. It may seem like these policies are helping eliminate the troublemakers from society, but they are also taking away the future of the world. By expelling students, they lose both their education as well as other activities they are involved in (Perry), which keep them out of trouble. School is the place where one should learn life skills and where one learns more about who you they are while setting the base for their future; in fact. it has the power to prevent crime (Boone). School administrators need to recognize that children are still children and if they continue to criminalize them, that is exactly what they will become. The longer it takes for these policies to be eliminated from school districts, statistics will increase. Teachers should take in consideration the various backgrounds students come from, allowing them to understand why a student may misbehave. Administrator, in particular, especially need