“We Have to Educate Every Single Student, Not Just the Ones That Look Like Us”: Support Service Providers’ Beliefs About the Root Causes of the School-to-Prison Pipeline for Youth of Color

Protecting our youth: Advocating for family services in the juvenile justice system

“…Zero‐tolerance is a strict code of conduct to punish students' unacceptable behaviors if rules are broken. This zero‐tolerance philosophy is rooted in a belief that removing students from school is effective and necessary to maintain the integrity of a learning environment (Skiba et al, 2014; Yang et al, 2018). The origins of zero‐tolerance emerged from federal drug and weapons policies in the 1980s (Triplett et al, 2014), which were enacted to increase penalties, eliminate increased drug‐war crimes, and regulate firearm activity (making schools free of guns, drugs, and gang‐related activity).…”

“…Proponents often cite the rise of gang‐related activity during the 1990s as a reason to implement zero‐tolerance policies (Triplett et al, 2014). Over time, zero‐tolerance policies have expanded to a wide variety of behavioral infractions, far beyond those related to drugs or weapons (Kupchik, 2010; Yang et al, 2018). Schools began suspending students for minor infractions; today it is all too common to see schools apply zero‐tolerance policies for behaviors such as swearing and failure to attend school (Milner et al, 2019; Morgan, 2021).…”

“…Dancy (2014) explained that the American educational system was originally designed to educate the White, wealthy upper class to adhere to the expectations they would assume as adults, which has resulted in an educational system that favors White, upper‐class children. Because of this, schools must reevaluate their standards of behavior, codes of conduct, and implicit expectations of students to explicate how their programs and policies exalt Whiteness while condemning behaviors associated with students of color (Dancy, 2014; Yang et al, 2018). If not, out of school suspensions from application of zero‐tolerance policies will continue to disproportionately affect Black men and women.…”

“…African American girls were over five times more likely than white girls to be suspended or expelled (Skiba et al, 2014). This increased risk for suspension or expulsion is not due to the different characteristics that white girls have versus African American girls, but rather due to the systematic practices in school discipline that target students of color (Yang et al, 2018).…”

“…Narratives previously mentioned highlight the influence of implicit bias, discrimination, and negative perceptions against minority students in how teachers and administrators perceive and respond to student misbehavior (Triplett et al, 2014). To reduce educators' biases, attitudes, and beliefs against Black students, Yang et al, 2018 argues that teachers and staff should engage in ongoing professional development to increase their awareness of implicit biases, develop race‐conscious educational practices, and have universal strategies for building relationships with students.…”