Student 's Education And Punishment At School

Racial disparities in school discipline have garnered recent attention in national reports issued by the U.S. Department of Education and Justice (U.S. Department of Education, 2014; Gregory, Hafen, Ruzek, Mikami, Allen, & Pianta, 2016). Suspension rates Black students are two to three times higher than those from other racial and ethnic groups. Various research has documented that Black students remain overrepresented in school discipline sanctions after accounting for their achievement, socioeconomic status, and teacher- and self-reported behavior (Gregory et al, 2016). There is a difference as to the reasons why White students are sent to the office versus Black students. Black students are sent to the office for subjective reasons such as “disrespect” and “perceived threat”, while White students are more than likely to be referred for more objective reasons including, smoking, vandalism, and leaving school without permission. (Gregory, et al, 2016). African Americans and especially African American boys, are more likely to be disciplined and often receive more out-of-school suspensions and expulsions than white students (Todd Rudd, 2014). Suspending students is taking away time from them being in the classroom. Students who receive suspensions, lose instructional time, fall behind on course work, become discouraged, and ultimately drop out…recent research has shown each suspension a student receives can decrease their odds for high graduation by any

Black students account nationally for 34% of all suspensions (Mazama). Black students in America are faced with a struggle as they begin to go into school systems. Some students will go into an urban school system and will be surrounded by many minorities and others will attend rural school areas in the south. African American students who live in the south experience a great amount of racism from their peers, their peers parents, teachers, and other school officials. The issue occurs when students of a majority race don't know how to communicate or peacefully get along with students of a minority race. This can be an act of calling a student out of their name or acting violently towards them. Students should not have to worry about whether they are safe at school all because of something they can’t help. Racism needs to be taken out of schools all across the the world. They way we do this is to educate students about black history and how their actions may trigger a student of color.

Students who attend schools can be affected by their culture, race and background, much like how Puerto Ricans were oppressed in East Harlem in the 1980’s. This article explains how race can affect how people of certain races grow up, and how they are treated, and how when this treatment is unfair, the students usually drop out of school. “Study examines how race, culture influence school discipline, dropout rates”.

The school-to-prison pipeline in the United States is a figure of speech used to describe the increasing patterns of interaction students have with the juvenile and adult criminal justice systems as a consequence of procedures used by many school systems. A specific procedure would be the zero tolerance policies and the use of officers in schools. Currently in today’s American schools many children of color are being unfairly judged and treated by the public school systems zero tolerance policies. Zero tolerance policies have been implemented in schools in the last 20 years that include inserting school resource officers in schools and cracking down on all behavior that any authority figure may deem as a form of bad behavior. The policy is based upon deterring future misbehavior and is central to the philosophy of zero tolerance, and the effect of any punishment on future behavior is what defines effective punishment (Skinner, 1953). Zero tolerance policies causes the school environment to feel more like a prison and ultimately leads to black and Latinos being judged and guided to the prison system. A zero-tolerance policy orders predetermined penalties or punishments for specific wrongdoings.

African Americans are not the only ethnicity group to be singled out with behavior. Racial and ethnic minority students report experiencing low teacher expectations, having less access to educational resources, being placed on lower educational tracks, and being steered toward low-paying employment (Kozol, 1991; Olsen, 2008).This low expectation is causing

Systematic racism within education Institutions, such as the lack of adequate funding as well as subtle discrimination, continues to be the root of the problem that plagues this nation. Even though segregation was abolished in 1964, the lingering effects that remain are significant and cannot be passively mended. Although it is tempting to think that this prejudice is caused by a select few and not the many, it is clear that this problem holds more depth. Recent studies conducted by the National Education Studies (NEA) have proven that even in school’s African American students are often times targeted and punished at a significantly higher rate when compared to their white peers. The study states “Black students make up almost 40 percent of all school expulsions [in the] nation, and more than two thirds of students referred to police from schools are either black or Hispanic” (Blacks: Education Issues). This study conducted by the Department of Education, cabinet-level department of the United States

While the Civil Rights Movement is considered a success, there is still racism in the United States today, in which blacks are still viewed as overly aggressive and overtly dangerous compared to whites. The racism we are familiar with today is called “institutional racism” and is not only shown in workplaces, but in schools and courtrooms. Institutional racism is defined as a pattern of social institutions who give negative treatment to a group of people based on race. To elaborate on institutional racism, starting with pre-school, black children make up only 18 percent of the pre-school population, but make up almost half of out of school suspensions. In K-12 black children are three times as likely to be suspended than white children. Now moving to the court system, black children make up nearly 60 percent of children in prison and are more likely to be sentenced as adults than white children. These statistics show that black’s, even black children, are more likely to be viewed as dangerous and subject to worse sentences.

The subject of race is one that has come up countless times when discussing or reading about the juvenile justice system. According to Jennifer Peck and Wesley Jennings article “race differences in court outcomes to the disadvantage of Black youth…” (Peck & Jennings, 2016). Youths that are Black or Latino are more likely to be punished more harshly than white youths who have committed

Racial inequality persists in the current U.S. education system, despite nationwide efforts to promote the acceptance of students of all racial and ethnic backgrounds. Minority students, most notably African American and Latino, receive lower qualities of education compared to the Caucasian majority and are, as a result, at an indisputable disadvantage after primary and secondary education. According to a 2014 study conducted by the U.S. Department of Education, “students of color in public schools are punished more and receive less access than white students to experienced teachers” (Abdul-Jabbar 31). Higher suspension rates and an increased frequency of corporal punishment use, allowed in 19 states as of 2014 according to Business Insider (Adwar), for minority students are two disciplinary examples of underlying racial discrimination with the current U.S. education system. Economic repercussions of racial inequality in education have been proven to include wealth gaps, higher unemployment rates, and financial instability for minorities in later life. Due to the prominence of racial segregation within schools, it remains a controversial point of debate in modern-day society, resulting in attempts such as affirmative action to establish racial equality in education. In Grutter v. Bollinger (2003), the United States Supreme Court declared affirmative action to be a justified policy in the

Zero tolerance policies are the catalyst for the School-to-Prison pipeline. The problem with zero tolerance policies rely on several different factors. Even though, the vision for zero tolerance policies is clear in the sense that safety is a main priority, A ten year study of zero tolerance policies conducted by the American Psychological Association concluded that the use of these overly harsh policies "did not improve school safety." Since these policies are not increasing school safety it is a clear indicator that change in disciplinary methods is necessary. Additionally, these overly harsh policies create racial disparities mainly focused on minorities. The reason for these racial disparities particularly arise from implicit bias. Unfortunately, student of color and minorities are disportionately represented in suspensions, expulsions, and arrests. Exclusionary discipline principles disproportionately lead the youth, particularly minorities, from classrooms to court and prisons. Racial disparities within school’s disciplinary actions is clear when looking at discipline rates. The Civil Rights Data Collection, gathered by the US Department of Education, graphed suspension rates and disparities in a national test sample during 2012. Figure 1 portrays the ratio of white students that constitute for a little more than half of students enrolled in school while black and hispanic students constitute for less than

“The racial disparities within the two systems are so similar and so glaring that it becomes impossible not to connect them.” The causes of why they are so deeply connected lie within the educational system. “It is difficult to pinpoint the exact reason for the school-to-prison pipeline; however, the reasons are many, but the solutions are not as plentiful” (Travis). The best practices to implement into the educational system is to allow room for change and to not label students based on past experiences and history. Students cannot be expected to change if there is no opportunity or support for change. Another practice is to completely assess the individual as a whole before deciding a suitable administrative punishment. Teachers should not be quick to judge a person by their actions, but by the reason behind their actions. After pinpointing the source of their behavior, can the education officials truly begin rehabilitating student, but enables them to realize their mistake of their disciplinary actions. The education system needs to create a balance between a system which will provide discipline and reasonable punishment for each offense. Students should not be expelled for disruptive behavior and there should be equal punishment to every student when applicable. Be able to provide the much needed support to students instead of sending them home, to the police, or to juvenile detention centers. The statistics only worsen as minorities transition into adulthood and the educational system should decrease the number of minorities going through the school-to-prison pipeline and increase the number of graduates among minority students. “One and three African Americans and one and six Latinos males will be incarcerated in their lifetime”

In this article, racial profiling within the school system is addressed. The article talks about how African-American children receives harsher punishments than white children, even if it’s the same offense. The article also discussed a study that was done by Yale researchers. The study consisted of teachers watching a video of children and spotting signs of problematic behavior. There was a computer program that tracked the eyes of the teachers, and showed the teachers focused longer on the black boy when looking for trouble.

Education inequality continues as more than 140,000 students, predominantly black students, were kept back in kindergarten in 2012. Black students are more likely to be held back, despite research showing that holding back children does not benefit them socially or academically. Retention rates for students increase when they come into their first year of high school. While 12 percent of black students are held back in ninth grade, the equivalent is just 4 percent of white students (Cook). African American students are also more likely to drop out before earning a high school diploma. Even when it comes to discipline, Caucasians receive different treatment. Black students are suspended and expelled at a rate three times higher than white

I do, unfortunately, agree with the textbook and video that for many minorities school can be the pipeline to prison. I understand that teachers and staff don’t have time to deal with students that are disrespectful but resorting to the police and extreme punishments are going overboard. I can’t believe that the zero-tolerance was designed for this outcome. The zero-tolerance policy has become another form of racial inequality. Any student is susceptible to a negative outcome when they receive the same throughout their childhood. Involving out the police and justice system should always be a last resort. It seems in some cases, based on skin color, it is a last resort, but it should be in all cases. Additionally, when students receive out

Different studies show that instead of focusing on third and fourth grade reading levels, it shows more to do with race rather than reading levels. 40 percent of African Americans are expelled in United State schools. 70 percent of African Americans and Latinos are either arrested or referred to law enforcement. 3.5 or 4 times the amount of U.S African American students are suspended from school, most from either fighting or drugs. There is twice the number of African Americans and Latinos are likely not to graduate as well as Caucasians. Out of all the male in state and federal prisoners, only 68 percent of them do not have high school diplomas. In order to keep this from happening, the government developed a method called, “Zero tolerance policy.” This policy encourages kids with low grades and test scores to do better without mentally and physically disciplining them by giving them extra work or suspending them because of their bad behavior. Although, that may be schools strong suit, not all school follow by that ruling. Though they had good intensions with the zero tolerance policy, schools need to take drastic measures to make it known for students and parents