“Policies that encourage police presence at schools, harsh tactics including physical restraint, and automatic punishments that result in suspensions and out-of-class time are huge contributors to the pipeline…When combined with zero-tolerance policies, a teacher’s decision to refer students for punishment can mean they are pushed out of the classroom—and much more likely to be introduced into the criminal justice system.” (Elias, 2013)
The many children who are being impacted by the school to prison pipeline are children of color. It is reported that greater than 61% of the population in prisons are of black or Latino background. “African-American students, for instance, are 3.5 times more likely than their white classmates to be suspended or expelled, according to a nationwide study by the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights.” (Elias, 2013)
Mass incarceration is a problem in America that disproportionately impacts African Americans and it starts during the school years. Unfortunately, no solutions are in practice to reduce mass incarceration at this time, although some have recently started to push for a lesser sentence in regard to the “war on drugs.” The children are being overly punished to the point that they give up, quit school and find themselves uneducated and behind bars.
There are solutions to these problems such as better trained teachers, who have more compassion and understanding for children, but they are not using these practices. In addition, the guidance counselors, or even the administrators, could be used more often to SUPPORT these children who may be seen as deviant, to gain a better understanding of what types of problems the children may be facing that cause them to be disruptive. Instead, suspensions and the police are used because the schools now have zero tolerance policies.
“While it’s easy to think the school-to-prison pipeline only impacts particular students and their respective families, we must remember that our whole society will feel the consequences. Today’s youth are tomorrow’s leaders. And we must remember that we cannot teach a student who is not in school.” (Amurao, 2013)
Works Cited
Amurao, C. (2013, March 13). Tavis Smiley Reports. Retrieved from PBS: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/tavissmiley/tsr/education-under-arrest/school-to-prison-pipeline-fact-sheet/
Elias, M. (2013). Teaching Tolerance: A Project of the Southern Poverty Law Center. Retrieved from Teaching Tolerance: http://www.tolerance.org/magazine/number-43-spring-2013/school-to-prison
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