Our Voices: Why do we treat students like criminals? End school-to-prison pipeline.
Walk into your average American public high school and you will see armed police officers, metal detectors, and security cameras. On top of that, zero-tolerance disciplinary policies — where school officials simply criminalize minor infractions of school rules — have become a staple in our schools. This prison-like environment is the reality American teenagers live with every day.
These measures were designed to increase school safety, but have instead inflated the school-to-prison pipeline, a phenomenon in which students are pushed out of school and into the criminal legal system. Not surprisingly, the students most harmed by these policies and practices are students of color, especially, African Americans.
We need to face the reality that harsh disciplinary practices and school-based policing do not keep kids safe, and over the past several decades, have needlessly criminalized countless students, mostly Black and brown. We need to enact policies at the local, state, and federal level that help all kids thrive in safe school environments. But before we get to the solution, let me first lay out the problems inherent in the status quo.
The origins of school-based policing are explicitly racist. In the 1950s, police were introduced into newly integrated public schools to exert control over Black students, whom white parents feared would disrupt their children’s education. According to Harvard Civil Rights Liberties Review: “policing students of color, particularly Black students, became an essential tool for maintaining control over marginalized groups and upholding school segregation.”
Later, the rise of school shootings across the country prompted calls for increased school safety measures like metal detectors, security cameras, and police officers. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the number of school resource officers — a common term for police officers who work in school settings — increased by 38 percent, and school security guards increased 27 percent, between 1997 and 2007.
According to the National Center for Education Statistics, the majority, 58% of public schools now have police officers or other school resource officers.
Black students bear the brunt of harsh disciplinary policies. According to the ACLU, Black students are suspended and expelled three times more than white students, nationally. In fact, while African American males account for 17 percent of all school-aged youth, they account for 37 percent of suspensions, 35 percent of expulsions, and 31 percent of school-related arrests. In Kentucky, Black kids make up 10% of the student population, but 36% of student arrests. (what about suspension and expulsion stats?) Also, research shows that both schools with large Black populations and underfunded schools — many of which are majority-minority schools — are more likely to employ zero-tolerance policies in the first place.
Zero tolerance policies require specific and generally serious responses — such as suspensions or expulsion — for certain types of student misconduct. The Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights defines a zero tolerance policy as one that “results in mandatory expulsion of any student who commits one or more specified offenses.”
Scholars have pointed out how such zero-tolerance policies have contributed to the school-to-prison pipeline. For every child that is pushed out of school, there is an increased risk of school dropout and entry into the criminal justice system. Research has consistently “identified suspension and expulsion as risk factors” for school dropouts.
It goes without saying that incarceration has devastating long term consequences for the individual and their family and friends. Students who are sent to jail as juveniles are 15 percent more likely to be incarcerated as adults for violent crimes, and 14 percent more likely to be incarcerated as adults for property crimes.
Academics have suggested multiple strategies to end the school-to-prison pipeline, including implementing restorative justice (RJ) practices and cultural competence workshops. Under both programs, the student is not ostracized or treated like a criminal. Instead, the student is given the opportunity to reflect on their needs and actions and is understood by teachers, administration, family, and the community. By adopting RJ and cultural competence programs, schools hope to not only alleviate the school-to-prison pipeline but also transform school culture into a healthy and effective learning environment.
Educators and academics alike call for the end of zero-tolerance policies, and the implementation of restorative justice programs. RJ is “an approach to discipline that engages all parties in a balanced practice that brings together all people impacted by an issue or behavior.” In other words, the practice utilizes existing relationships among students, teachers, and school administrators, to resolve a conflict. All individuals involved may work to achieve some type of resolution, such as peacemaking circles, a peer jury, or mediated meetings, among other options. A student is given a chance to not only communicate their concerns but to also listen to other points of views. Furthermore, this process is conducted within a designated “safe space,” which encourages all parties, especially students, to be genuine in their communication. Upon resolving a conflict, the student is then reintegrated back into the learning environment.
In order to end the disproportionate impact of school disciplinary policies on African American students, school personnel “need to be trained in cultural competence.” According to scholars, the key problem related to such racial disparities under zero-tolerance policies focuses on the misinterpretation of black adolescent behavior. White teachers are more inclined “to interpret the highly active and vocal behavior of African American adolescents as ‘dangerous’ or ‘threatening.’” But with cultural competence programs, teachers and administrators learn “the customs, values, and communication codes of various racial and ethnic groups.” Through this training, teachers can identify and understand student’s behaviors, and be mindful of their words and actions when communicating with these specific students and their families. In this manner, both the teacher and the student are understood, and misunderstandings that result in harsh disciplinary actions can decrease, and be avoided.
The school-to-prison pipeline is undoubtedly a complex phenomenon, yet we know the kinds of policies we need to curtail and eventually end the pipeline. The only question left is do we have the political will to implement them?
Micheline Karenga is an outreach and advocacy intern for RepresentWomen. She is a freshman at Texas Wesleyan University pursuing a degree in the interdisciplinary study of Communications, Legal Institutions, Economics and Government (CLEG). She also helped found the Counselors Over Cops group in the Fayette County schools.
Our Voices, Part 5: Justice, law enforcement can depend on the color of your skin.
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