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Zero Tolerance

Zero Tolerance

Introduction

School districts across the country have adopted Zero Tolerance policies; the question is, are they really helping our students or creating a generation of children with juvenile records. These policies mandate automatic punishment for weapons, drugs, profanity and various forms of disruptive behavior. They have been introduced to help provide a safer environment for students but without clear definitions. Often Zero Tolerance policies are referred to as “school-to-prison-pipelines”, school officials have been stripped of discretion because of fears that they are not equipped to make valid threat assessments without law enforcement. With the loss of ability to resolve minor offenses schools must now call upon law enforcement resulting in a growing number of students facing criminal charges. The overuse of expulsions, tickets, and criminal charges seems to be pushing our children out of school and into the juvenile justice system (Casella, 2003).

A safe environment for our students to learn is a must but at what cost. In the news we are hearing more and more stories of children being suspended, expelled and in some cases facing serious criminal charges because of minor fighting, teasing, food fights, doodling, and so on. Unfortunately most of these cases are thought to be more often an over-reaction, or minor infraction rather than a serious threat to the safety or well being of their classmates. Most could have been solved by a school official or a phone call to the parents/guardians, but these guidelines are not clearly defined.

Zero tolerance indicates a strict enforcement of rules or laws and that behaviors such as drug use, sexual harassment, or academic cheating will not be acceptable under any circumstance. Such “get tough” policies are implemented in a wide range of settings, from schools to courts to the workplace. Zero tolerance may be formally codified in rules or laws, but the term is also used informally to imply that certain behaviors are completely forbidden (American Psychological Association Zero Tolerance Task Force, 2008).

Discussion

Schools that have adopted zero-tolerance policies typically punish students who have become entangled in alcohol, drugs, violence or academic dishonesty quite harshly. Many proponents of zero-tolerance policies claim that this will help discourage bad behavior in schools and will provide a better learning environment for students who are not troublemakers. Opponents of zero tolerance suggest that these policies will further alienate troubled students from learning and thus make it more likely that these students will become more dangerous and violent. For the past three decades, zero tolerance legislation has been at the forefront of education disciplinary action within our nation's school systems. There has been no formal definition of this term. Instead, it's meaning and implications have been molded and modified over its years of practice, growing and changing into a massive bit of legislation and policy with far reaching consequence. A quick Google dictionary search returned the definition, “Refusal to accept antisocial behavior, typically by strict and uncompromising application of the law”. While operating under varying degrees of severity, these policies have formed the entire scope ...