Juvenile Justice Information Exchange (https://jjie.org/tag/discipline/)
When you are trying to make the shift to a restorative justice mindset, having even a few teachers, support personnel or administrators giving push-back can be downright exhausting.
This story originally appeared on iWatchnews.org by the Center for Public Integrity
As a national debate heats up over appropriate student discipline, new data from Los Angeles reveal that school police there issued more than 33,500 court summonses to youths between 10 and 18 in three years — with more than 40 percent of those tickets going to children 14 and younger. The data obtained by the Center for Public Integrity show that officers of the nation’s largest school police force issued the equivalent of 28 tickets every day to students during the 2011 calendar year. The Los Angeles Unified School District totals almost 680,000 pupils; the district’s police force has 340 sworn officers and support staff. Students ticketed in 2009 through 2011 were disproportionately Latino or African American. Last year, black students represented about 10 percent of the Los Angeles Unified School District but 15 percent of those ticketed.
Educators are reacting to a recent study of Texas public schools that found students who were disciplined were more likely to be involved in the juvenile justice system and do poorly academically. The study, by the Council of State Governments Justice Center, also found that 60 percent of Texas public school students received some form of punishment at least once between seventh and 12th grades. “Policymakers should be asking if the school discipline system is getting the outcomes they want it to get,” Michael Thompson, director of the center, told The Washington Post. The study was co-authored by Texas A&M University’s Public Policy Research Institute. Researchers collected data from about 1 million public school students who began seventh grade in 2000, 2001 or 2002. Nearly 15 percent were involved in some way with the juvenile justice system.
How do you reduce the number of kids going into the juvenile justice system? Overhaul school disciplinary policies. Here's a quick overview of research on the problem, a great video that puts a human face on the issue in Connecticut, and some things you can do. Just yesterday, the Council of State Governments Justice Center released Breaking Schools’ Rules: A Statewide Study of How School Discipline Relates to Students’ Success and Juvenile Justice Involvement. The report is based on a groundbreaking study of nearly 1 million secondary school students in Texas.
Georgia's zero tolerance school policies are getting an overhaul. SB299 would give school officials more discretion to handle discipline problems. The bill would stop the widespread use of rigid zero tolerance policies that currently mandate arrest and jail for children, and encourage principals to use common sense. It passed the senate without opposition and now heads for the House. Sponsor Emanuel Jones ( D-Decatur) got involved when the son of a friend was kicked out of school after he accidentally brought a fishing knife to campus, then told school officials about his mistake. The boy landed in jail. Former School Resource Officer Jason Mitchell tells the AJC he has "grave concerns about public safety" if the bill becomes law. He claims a child arrested for delinquent activity could not be held in detention without a court hearing first. And since juvenile court judges are not available 24/7, police might have to release some dangerous suspects.