The Basics

If you’re like me, you may have heard of the school-to-prison pipeline but no one ever really explained what exactly it really means. The ACLU (2018) describes it as, “a disturbing national trend wherein children are funneled out of public schools and into the juvenile and criminal justice systems”.  This is the basic explanation but there is so much more to it than that. Some of the biggest contributors in the school-to-prison pipeline are unproductive learning environments and lack of school resources, the implementation of the zero tolerance policy, and the use of police in the classroom.

The school-to-prison pipeline usually begins with issues in school resources. These issues usually consist of “[o]vercrowded classrooms, a lack of qualified teachers, and insufficient funding for "extras" such as counselors, special edu­cation services, and even textbooks, lock students into second-rate educational environments” (ACLU, 2018). When students are subjected to problematic learning environments they are much more likely to become problematic students. It is extremely unrealistic of us to throw students into unproductive and inadequate learning environments and expect them to flourish and thrive. These students are products of the environments the school system has created and they are doing nothing more than modeling the behavior that is expected of them in such environments. We can not expect students to do well in school and in life as a whole if they are treated as nothing more than a number which is typically what happens in the situations where overcrowded schools are the issue. In these situations, students do not get the attention and assistance that is required to create productive adults. ACLU (2018) suggests that these kids “would benefit from additional educational and counseling services”. The employment of unqualified teachers is also extremely problematic and honestly sort of insulting to the children. We can not expect the students to do well in school if they are not given the proper resources to do so.

One of the biggest contributors in the school-to-prison pipeline is the implementations of the zero tolerance policy which “criminalize[s] minor infractions of school rules, while cops in schools lead to students being criminalized for behavior that should be handled inside the school” (ACLU, 2018). The issue with these overly harsh punishments is that “[s]uspended and expelled children are often left unsupervised and without constructive activities; they also can easily fall behind in their coursework, leading to a greater likelihood of disengagement and drop-outs” (ACLU, 2018). Instead of trying to giving an appropriate punishment or trying to solve the issue the student might have, we deprive them of school and send them out to get into more trouble. The biggest issue with the zero tolerance policy is that it, “set[s] one-size-fits-all punishments for a variety of behaviors” (Elias, 2013). This means that it does not matter what the infraction the student committed was, it will all end in the same harsh punishment. Shared Justice tells of an instance where a twelve year old girl wrote “I love my friends Abby and Faith” and “Lex was here 2/1/10” on a desk with an erasable marker and was handcuffed, arrested, and detained for vandalism (n.a., 2018). This girl was arrested for writing on a desk with an erasable marker which could have been wiped off very easily. I know that I have definitely written a funny message or two in the bathroom when I was in middle school and knowing that I could have been arrested for that is ridiculous. Zero tolerance is a huge issue and punishments should be a case by case basis based on the “crime”.

            Another issue is the use of cops in schools. Elias states that “[p]olicies that encourage police presence at schools, harsh tactics including physical restraint, and automatic punishments that result in suspensions and out-of-class time are huge contributors to the pipeline”. An environment where police are constantly patrolling and have the authority to physically restrain you for anything that they think is necessary sound much more like prison than school. How can we expect students to act any differently than the way they are treated? If they are made to feel like they are delinquents, than they are much more likely to act that way. If it is absolutely necessary for police to be at schools, they should try to refrain from becoming physical with children or disciplining them in any way unless it is extremely imperative. Teachers, disciplinarians, and principals exist to deal with misbehavior and police should only be there for high risk situations such as the use of weapons. Elias (2013) states that “[o]ne 2005 study found that children are far more likely to be arrested at school than they were a generation ago”. It is honestly terrifying that school is becoming a place where students are often arrested. School is supposed to be about improving one’s educations and, as a result, hopefully, their way of life. Instead, school is taking away some students’ bright futures as opposed to doing everything possible to help improve them.

            To conclude, the school-to-prison pipeline has many factors and causes but most take root in the school system. The biggest factors are unproductive learning environments and lack of school resources, the implementation of the zero tolerance policy, and the use of police in the classroom.

References

ACLU. (2018). School-to-prison pipeline. American Civil Liberties Union. Retrieved from https://www.aclu.org/issues/juvenile-justice/school-prison-pipeline

Elias, M. (2013). The school-to-prison pipeline. Teaching Tolerance. Retrieved from https://www.tolerance.org/magazine/spring-2013/the-schooltoprison-pipeline

(n.a.). (2018). Zero-tolerance policies and the school to prison pipeline. Shared Justice. Retrieved from http://www.sharedjustice.org/domestic-justice/2017/12/21/zero-tolerance-policies-and-the-school-to-prison-pipeline