The Social Injustice of Zero-Tolerance Discipline

Zero tolerance to sexual harm in schools – from broken rules to broken systems

“…While the sentiment of zero tolerance was that sexual harm "will not be tolerated at all" and to "eliminate" such harm from happening (B1), in B1 and C1, staff and students discussed incidents being ignored or requiring varying levels of response. This echoes the sentiment of researchers in this area who have highlighted the discriminatory use of zero tolerance policies that target minoritised groups (Giroux, 2003;White & Young, 2020) and often come from a minority of teachers (Skiba & Knesting, 2002). While it was not the intention of the study to examine the makeup and demographics of students who experienced a sanction, and the staff that used them, this would provide a further area for research in relation to HSB.…”

“…Welch and Payne (2018 suggest that it was not an increase in offences that lead to this rise, but rather the rapid and extensive use of zero tolerance policies. Yet despite their widespread use, research into zero tolerance policies over the last two decades does not evidence their effectiveness or appropriateness for being applied to sexual harm in schools (White & Young, 2020).…”

Purposeful Programming for Priority Populations as a Social Justice Initiative

“…For example, Robinson's work focuses upon social justice and physical and health education (see Robinson 2019; Robinson and Jadis 2019; Robinson and Randall 2016). Young's work concentrates on social justice and educational administration (see White and Young 2019;Young and Gottschall 2019). And Orr's work examines social justice in relation to Indigenous education (see Orr and Friesen 1999;Orr et al 2002;Paul et al 2017).…”