Zero Tolerance Policy Analysis

Ch. 3 Major Concepts
We find in our reading the essence of being a school principal and the many characteristics a principal must possess in order to be effective. This chapter speaks about school leaders managing every aspect of the school in order to ensure student success. Managing a learning facility that operates in an organized and safe environment can play a major role in the potential success of students. Successful principals understand the amount of stakeholders that need to be in place to achieve this level of success. Principals must be knowledgeable in communicating the type of organization the school is to be. This message helps all parties involved focus on the projected outcome while doing the things necessary to achieve the

The innocent are punished the same as the guilty. The assistant principal had a role in preventing the violence, but was unable to due to unforeseen circumstances. The student did all the right things by informing school staff of the potential of violence and depended on them to prevent it. Fighting disrupts the learning environment and jeopardizes the safety of the entire organization. There have been many cases that have called for some insightful common sense to be applied to situations. Zero tolerance does not allow for this to happen. It removes the understanding of some things being out of our control. It does not accept external factors that might play a role in things that

It punishes the innocent for acts of the aggressors. It removes the external factors like age, past behaviors, intent or degree of the offense from the decision-making process. It allows for good students to be treated the same as repeated offenders. In a court of law, you have the innocent and the guilty. In zero tolerance policies, all are guilty. It destroys students. Several cases have been brought to the public’s attention where zero tolerance policies have made a negative impact on students. One incident documented dealt with a child bringing a kitchen knife to school to complete a science project. This was a honor student who was very popular in the middle school. He was recommended to be expelled by the principal. Another notable incident dealt with an elementary student being charged with sexual harassment because she continuously asked a student if he liked her. This is what zero tolerance policies does for school. There are thousands of other cases similar to these that cause school officials to question and debate about zero tolerance policies. Understanding that school leaders must ensure the safety for all students, leaders need to take a closer look at ways of doing just that without destroying the lives of the