How Much Tolerance for Zero Tolerance?
The current system of Zero Tolerance in America’s schools needs to be discussed and redesigned. This policy has been held firmly in place for years without any substantial amount of empirical evidence to support its implementation. In the research and discussion in my current educational law and policy class, we have determined that the negative effectives of zero tolerance currently outweigh the positives. It is of utmost importance to keep students safe at school and the zero tolerance policy was clearly designed in order to do this, however at what cost and is it effective in achieving this goal?
Since the implementation of zero tolerance expulsions and suspensions for students have consistently increased rather than decreased (Henault 2001). Often, the use of expulsion is becoming absurd in many situations. More and more students are being removed from the classroom for reasons that are farther and farther from causing real threat to other students and when a student is removed from a classroom, it becomes increasingly difficult to have them come back. The current implementation of zero tolerance often removes administrators and teachers ability to use discrimination. According to the current state of the policy, there is an extremely limited spectrum of punishment being taken against a very large spectrum of infractions. The unintended consequences of this policy are far reaching. Schools are becoming more like prisons with security guards, dogs, metal detectors etc. When does a school feel safe because of these precautions and when do students begin to feel like prisoners? Students are often stripped of the right to due process. Many administrators have a policy of punish immediately and don’t ask questions, resulting in the loss of the right of due process to students and they are, in their minds, right to do so because they have a policy to follow. Often, excellent students are being expelled or suspended over misunderstandings or mistakes.
The school is a place where students learn much more than what is being taught from a book, lecture or course. What are the students of today learning about zero tolerance? Will students, the leaders of the future, become increasingly less tolerant? It is difficult, and I do not wish, to imagine a society built on the concept of zero tolerance. Currently, this is the future that is being created for students.
I strongly suggest that the zero tolerance system be re-evaluated. There are many alternatives to this form of policy such as a system which attempts to match infractions with proper punishment or that allows administrators the ability to design a punishment system for their school and students. Under a policy of zero tolerance, mistakes are simply not allowed or tolerated and there have clearly been mistakes made because of zero tolerance. How much tolerance should we have for zero tolerance?
Henault, C. (2001), “Zero tolerance in schools”, Journal of Law and Education, Vol. 30 No. 3, pp. 547-53.
This post was submitted by Justin Heinekamp.
Do you agree? Or do you have a different perspective? Comment on this person's advice or submit your own. You can also subscribe to the feed and get future posts delivered to your feed reader.
Comments
There needs to be honesty about the reasons behind these cowardly “zero tolerance” policies. It was hinted at in the NYT article:
“Many studies indicate that African-Americans were several times more likely to be suspended or expelled than other students for the same offenses.
“The result of those studies is that more school districts have removed discretion in applying the disciplinary policies to avoid criticism of being biased,”
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/12/education/12discipline.html?_r=2&emc=eta1
Blacks students as a group have typically exhibited a higher frequency of violent & disruptive behavior in schools then non-blacks and accordingly have tended to be disciplined more often, too often with unfair charges of “racism”. The zero tolerance policy avoids this charge at the cost of excessive & undue punishment to many. School administrations must just do what’s right and stand up to these false charges of “racism” made simply on the basis of statistics.
The zero tolerance may serve as an acceptable action for teachers and school systems but for students it’s a rule that is unfair and damaging! I have a son who was randomly targeted by a bully in high school. He was jumped on in an outside parking lot as a form of entertainment! He tried his best to defend himself without much acomplishment. Not only did he end up suffering the humiliation of the attack and the injuries he sustained from the incident, but he was also suspended under the ” Zero Tolerance ” rule of the school system. He has since graduated from high school but has been left with a much larger scar! My son lost his beliefs in fair judgement and in the rights and protection of an innocent victim! Please, get rid of this uncaring, unfair and extremely damaging rule. Our kids deserve better! Our kids deserve a learning society of right from wrong and not a prejudged, closed minded desicion of unfairness!! Just the thoughts of a concerned Mom!
Redesigned? No. Abolished, yes. If you could compare a six year old who brings a knife to school with a 16 year old, I would say we might be able to “Redesign” the “Zero-Tolerance” policy. Even then, without knowing the circumstances or reason behind the infraction one cannot pass judgement with a cookie-cutter since the punishment would not fit the “crime”… and could do more harm than good. This is just the latest way to place an oversized band-aid to fix a “problem”.