Summary and Analysis Paper on Zero Tolerance Policies

Summary and Analysis Paper on Zero Tolerance Policies

In an article by the Associated Press entitled “Delaware 1st grader has 45-day suspension lifted” Ben Nuckols explains how the Christina school district had suspended a first grader for “taking his favorite camping utensil to school” and how they overturned their decision after the district ended up in news headlines around the country. He also states that this incident is “one of several in recent years that have prompted national debate on whether schools have gone too far with zero-tolerance policies.”
Schools around the country have adapted the zero tolerance policies and have reported an increase in suspensions and expulsions. Yet what good does it do any of those kids to be put out on the street where there is quite possibly more violence and danger? The Baltimore school district is trying to rewrite their policies so that the students end up in counseling and in Milwaukee school officials encourage teachers not to overreact to minor infractions. There are solutions to the zero tolerance issue out there, and as more and more schools realize that the set of rules is unfair to the lesser offenses maybe some change can come about.
An article by the New York Times states that “zero-tolerance policies initially allowed authorities more leeway in punishing students, but were applied in a discriminatory fashion. Many studies indicate that blacks were several times more likely to be suspended or expelled than other students for the same offenses.” This means that instead of punishing all students the same way the African American students were getting harsher penalties for equal offenses. So the question becomes, if we attempt to let the schools have the leeway that they need, how do we keep them from repeating history? I think that if the schools were closely monitored when it came to this issue, at least for the first few years, the schools would not be able to get away with treating any student unfairly. Both the schools and the government need to be...

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