The School Of Prison Pipeline : Rhetoric Or Reality By Aaron Kupchik Essay

In the most recent years, the relationship between educational institutions and the juvenile justice system, which was once created to protect children, has displayed an ultimatum for minors through “zero tolerance” policies that result in sending individuals from school to prison to pipeline. Studies have shown that these policies are not beneficial to students or the educational environment that should be guaranteed to children. Opponents argue that the policies promote safety, but through this research it can be concluded that the policies actually increase danger. Studies demonstrate the factors that affect the enforcement of these policies which include media, the sociopolitical atmosphere, and the racial disproportionality, yet there

3. The author compares today’s school system to that of the past, which concerned itself with teaching students,

In the book “Weeping in the Playtime of Others”, author Kenneth Wooden goes into unlimited detail about the incarceration of juveniles. Not only does he discuss how the “juvenile justice system, that originated as a small community concern by people of good will, [has] created a national industry”, he also discusses the conditions in detention centers around the country where thousands of children are being held, many without fair defense or a family to support them (Wooden, p. 30). Aside from these main points, Wooden also discusses the causal explanation for juvenile delinquency with many different ideas but the main explanation he explores is the American Education System. He discusses the schools conditions, teachers and administrators,

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.

The boys often feel that their personal protection is the driving force in their decisions. Through circumstances that are not their fault, many of the boys grow up in extreme poverty. Within those neighborhoods drugs, crime and violence are heightened. In order to stay safe, the boys must give the impression that they are not going to be intimidated. They may have no desire to be involved in criminal behavior, but because the police automatically assume they are criminals, they subject themselves to self-fulfilling prophecy in order to have some protection. They choose to behave certain ways with their peers in order to maintain the façade that keeps them “safe” and keep the playing field level. These behaviors are labeled the “school to prison pipeline”. Many of these boys have grown up

The ever-growing problem that is occurring in public schools around the country is the school to prison pipeline epidemic. The school to prison pipeline is a term used to describe how students are being pushed out of public school and into the criminal justice system. This epidemic is a result of the education system’s zero tolerance policy that enforces harsh punishments for misbehaving students. Although its goal was to eliminate misbehavior, studies have shown that the increased disciplinary actions have resulted in a modified school environment, police in school

As detailed by the American Civil Liberties Union (2013), the circumstances and policies contributing to the school-to-prison pipeline include: 1) failing public schools, in which inadequate resources in public schools create second-rate educational environments, thus decreasing engagement and increase dropout, 2) zero tolerance and other school ‘discipline’ policies impose unnecessarily harsh punishments, which leave students unsupervised and more likely to fall behind in school work, and which most dramatically impact children of color, 3) high-stakes testing creates a less engaging student environment and creates incentives for schools to push out low preforming students, 4) disciplinary alternative education programs for suspended or expelled students lack accountability, quality services, and leave students struggling to return to their regular schools, and 5) despite decreased resources, there has been an increased reliance on police who increase school-based arrests.

The School to prison pipeline is a thing that affects black children and children with disabilities. The pipeline is a trend that leads children into the criminal justice system instead of college graduation. It grains children for prison, instead of grooming them to enter the workforce. In this paper I will explain 3 things, (African American students being affected,How it affects children underaged, and how children with disabilities are being affected too.) African American students are being affected in the School to Prison Pipeline because on one big reason on who they are.

Whether equality in the nation’s educational system has ever been achieved is greatly debated. For many students inequality persists, particularly for those viewed as a minority, low-income or disabled, as avenues to a worthwhile education remain limited or in severe cases closed all together. To compound the issue many of these students either drop out of school or are pushed out because of delinquency matters. As a result, many end up becoming involved with the juvenile justice system, often faced with labels and stigmas that will follow them well into adulthood. However, how did this new face of inequality come into existence? To answer this we must look at the nations “tough on crime” approach, school disciplinary systems, and the

In recent years, public schools have been accused of participating in the school to prison pipeline. The school to prison pipeline refers to the growing incarceration of youths, resulting from the zero tolerance policies implemented in schools. Therefore, I decided to do my research based on the school to prison pipeline to understand what these accusations mean and their consequences. My research will be divided into three main categories; what is it and how the pipeline became common practice, how it affects the United States, and some solutions to the problem. So far, my claim is that the public schools unintentionally started to connect more students with the judicial system because of growing concern over crime. But when it became known

In conclusion, some of the solutions included in this paper to dismantle the school-to-prison pipeline are to create non-punitive approaches, minimize investment in costly correctional systems to direct funds to under-resourced schools to create programs that would increase educational attainments. Programs such as Reconnecting Youth, intend to help students who face aggression, substance abuse and depression get through school and increase their educational performance. Further solutions included in this paper are: to restore discipline responsibilities to educators, reduce the use of police officers in schools and mandate alternatives to harsh discipline. The alternatives to harsh discipline include non-punitive approaches, which refers

A mother picked up her six year old daughter Salecia from the police station where she sat in handcuffs from throwing a temper tantrum at school. She was then also suspended from school for her miss behavior (Mandell). Not only were the actions performed unnecessary, but incredibly harsh for a girl her age. The action of pushing students from school straight into prison is called the school to prison pipeline. This overreliance of harsh disciplinary actions is causing the school to prison pipeline cycle to happen and continue. The school to prison pipeline is a serious issue and is mostly involved around students race rather then their actions. Students can be performing the same troublesome activities, but students who are colored or have

In a news article by The Kansan, writer Jade Hudson Newson reports the correlation between high incarceration rates and discipline in high schools. Faculty member at Bethel College Gary Flory discusses the “School-to-Prison Pipeline” and the correlation between education and prison. Flory shares information about the inmates and what level of education they have and found that a majority of inmates did not have a high school diploma nor a GED. However; Flory makes sure to mention that it is not the lack of education that lands people in prison, but how they were punished in high school. Flory makes the connection that students who we suspended multiple times or expelled were more likely to drop out of high school.

A student enters Kindergarten who is not familiar with their ABC’s and struggles to retain a lot of information. Meanwhile their classmates are writing words making the student feel discouraged. The student is too far behind in class and does poorly causing them to misbehave in class to seek attention. The teachers constantly send the student to the Dean’s Office for punishment. By 6th grade the student is frustrated with school and never learns the material they miss out on. Rather they just get behind and drop out to pursue illegal activities to sustain themselves. Eventually, the dropped out student gets caught doing a crime and gets sent to Juvenile Court. According to Kupchik, within The School-to-Prison Pipeline: Rhetoric or Reality, schools and prison are interlinked as school reveal student’s deficits, some frustrated individuals may fail out of schools causing them to turn to illegal means, and the schools’ method in disciplining certain behavior causes students to be integrated in the Juvenile criminal system. Kupchik allows for a thoughtful discussion of the School-to-Prison Pipeline highlighting the metaphor’s implications, risk factors, and methods to remedy the issue.

Policies that encourage police attendance at schools, harsh procedures including physical restraint, and automatic punishments that result in suspensions and out-of-class time are huge contributors to the pipeline, but the problem is more difficult than that. The school-to-prison pipeline starts (or is best avoided) in the classroom. When come- bined with zero-tolerance policies, a teacher’s choice to refer students for punishment can mean they are pushed out of the classroom— and much more likely to be presented into the criminal justice system. The pipeline includes students from two groups—racial minorities and children with disabilities—are dispropor- tionately represented in the school-to-prison pipeline. African-American students, for