“Zero tolerance policies are policies that call for students to receive automatic suspensions or expulsions as punishment for certain offenses, primarily those involving weapons, threats, or drugs.” (Kauchak & Eggen, 2014). This definition seems to explain the zero tolerance policy best. It gives the major reasons for suspensions or expulsions. In this paper, I am going to discuss why I believe zero tolerance in schools is not as simple as the definition and why I feel that it is not an effective way to run a school. Zero tolerance has a tendency to punish students unfairly for less severe incidences, such as, a student unknowingly has a knife in the bed of his truck, a student who forgot to take the box cutter out of her purse after opening
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“Students of color have consistently been found to be suspended at rates two to three times that of other students.” (GreenHaven Press, 2009). Students of color also show a larger amount of office referral and being expelled from school. Reports in 2001 showed that African American students made up only about 17 percent of all U.S students, they accounted for 33 percent of all suspensions and 31 percent of all expulsions, while 63 percent of all students are Caucasian and only accounted for 50 percent of suspensions (GreenHaven Press, 2009). It seems that students of color are more likely to be suspended or expelled for willful acts, such as, …show more content…
I found that some of the positive alternatives include actions like violence prevention, social skills trainings and positive behavioral supports, and early intervention strategies. The violence prevention strategy involves attempting to stop violence before it happens. This includes assistance from teachers, administrators, school counselors, psychologists, and parents. An example of this action is the Second Step program. The Second Step program is a program that teaches social and emotional skills in the classroom. “The program aims at reducing impulsive and aggressive behavior while increasing social competence.” (NREPP, 2014). Social skills trainings and positive behavioral supports include Project Achieve. Social skills trainings and positive behavioral supports are to help children who have trouble with social or emotional skills. (Project Achieve, 2010). Last but not least, early intervention strategies. These strategies include handling behavioral issues before they escalate into violence. (Institute of Education Sciences, 2012).
I also believe anger management meetings would be a good alternative to zero tolerance policies in schools. I think anger management would be a good alternative because if a student can get into the program, they will be able to work on controlling their anger and it could prevent them from bringing a weapon to school or prevent them from acting out. The only issue with anger management
“Students of color have consistently been found to be suspended at rates two to three times that of other students.” (GreenHaven Press, 2009). Students of color also show a larger amount of office referral and being expelled from school. Reports in 2001 showed that African American students made up only about 17 percent of all U.S students, they accounted for 33 percent of all suspensions and 31 percent of all expulsions, while 63 percent of all students are Caucasian and only accounted for 50 percent of suspensions (GreenHaven Press, 2009). It seems that students of color are more likely to be suspended or expelled for willful acts, such as, …show more content…
I found that some of the positive alternatives include actions like violence prevention, social skills trainings and positive behavioral supports, and early intervention strategies. The violence prevention strategy involves attempting to stop violence before it happens. This includes assistance from teachers, administrators, school counselors, psychologists, and parents. An example of this action is the Second Step program. The Second Step program is a program that teaches social and emotional skills in the classroom. “The program aims at reducing impulsive and aggressive behavior while increasing social competence.” (NREPP, 2014). Social skills trainings and positive behavioral supports include Project Achieve. Social skills trainings and positive behavioral supports are to help children who have trouble with social or emotional skills. (Project Achieve, 2010). Last but not least, early intervention strategies. These strategies include handling behavioral issues before they escalate into violence. (Institute of Education Sciences, 2012).
I also believe anger management meetings would be a good alternative to zero tolerance policies in schools. I think anger management would be a good alternative because if a student can get into the program, they will be able to work on controlling their anger and it could prevent them from bringing a weapon to school or prevent them from acting out. The only issue with anger management