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Introduction to zero tolerance in schools essays
Introduction to zero tolerance in schools essays
Zero tolerance policy paper
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One way schools have tried to protect their students was to make the Zero Tolerance Policy. The Zero Tolerance Policy is when a student acts out or even violates the dress code they either get a five day suspension or even expelled from school. For the most part, schools would use this policy against all of the students, even those who have emotional or learning disabilities and behavioral disorders. We have learn in class that students with learning disabilities tend to act out more, due to not being able to understand the material of the class. In the article “The Impact of Zero Tolerance Policy on Children with Disabilities” by Mariam Alnaim,she explains how it is amiss to suspend or expel those who have a disability. Alnaim say, “The situation …show more content…
is facilitated by the all-encompassing nature of this policy as it fails to accommodate the fact that some of the behaviors demonstrated by students with disabilities are beyond their control,” (1). Students with disabilities do not always have control of what they do or say like the other students. As we have studied students with disabilities in class, we have found that they often act different to other students for various reasons.
Alanaim goes on saying, “Some of these behaviors are because of many factors including the children not being taught appropriate behavior, poverty, trauma, safety concerns at home, hunger, and disability,” (3). While the Zero Tolerance Policy is to protect the students at school, it does not do much help to those who have problems and safety issues in their own homes. The students who tend to need the most help, those with disabilities, are being given a five day suspension. In some research Alanaim found, it said, “the total number of students with disabilities enrolled in public schools represented fifteen percent, but twenty-seven percent of them were suspended within the same year,”(3). He talks about how administrators and educators would rather suspended these students rather than help them. Alanaim explains that these actions are making the situations worse for the students with learning disabilities because they get behind in their school work and tend to get more frustrated and end up dropping out. He believes that the policy is unaccommodating and stops the schools from providing professional judgement to the students with
disabilities. Later in his article, Alanaim express how she thinks that all students with any disability should have a IEP plan to help the special education students learn how to act in the classroom. She comments on how the IDEA have questioned if the special education student is suspended or expelled if it was due to them acting out or their disabilities. “ Sometimes, their disability should not affect their ability to regulate their actions,”(Alamaim 3). Alanaim writes that the school should look at the students IEP, if they have one, and see if the actions could be due to the students disabilities. She explains that if the IEP team feels like the actions are likely to happen again and is not due to disability, than the school has the right to discipline the student the way the feel is needed. Over all, Alanaim makes a good argument that the schools need to see if the Zero Tolerance Policy is needed when a student with disabilities is considered. As stated before, sometimes the reason the student is acting out is because of their disability. Every school need to be more careful when it comes to these students. The Zero Tolerance Policy as constructed to keep students safe while at school, but if students that are in need of help are expelled or suspended because of a disability, the policy needs to reconstructed to help those students instead of pushing them for being different.
The proposed expulsions and suspensions from their disability behaviors deprived them of their right to a free and appropriate public education in accordance to the EHA. The Judge ordered the school district from making other disciplinary acts other than a two-to-five-day suspension against any disabled child for disability-related behaviors and ensured that the “stay-put” provision would be in place and no student would be removed. This went to the Ninth-Circuit appeal where the previous decision was affirmed and modified to allow up to a ten-day suspension.
Graziano’s article over the handling of his son’s disability in the classroom also involves issues that relate to teachers detecting signs of mental illness in the classrooms, how teachers identify a behavioral troubled child, and training school counselors on the Section 504 policy that are all happening in the world today. Realizing these issues can help parents with giving their child the best out of their education and can also help teachers understand the importance of their relationship with students. Everyone should have the opportunity for a brighter future and having a learning disability should not be the end of the road for any student.
Martinez, S. (2009). A system gone berserk: How are zero-tolerance policies really …..affecting schools? Preventing School Failure, 53(3), 153-157. Retrieved from …..http://search.proquest.com.ezproxylocal.library.nova.edu/docview/228530113?acco…..untid=6579
If you did not know, the zero tolerance policy is when students break school behavior rules and strict regulations created by the district or school and get severe consequences for it. Carla Amurao, the author of the article, “Fact Sheet: How Bad Is the School-to-Prison Pipeline?”, stated that “statistics reflect that these policies disproportionately target students of color”. Students of color are being affected so badly by this policy, that statistics show black students are 3 times more likely to get expelled than white students. Since these students are being expelled or arrested for breaking zero tolerance policy rules, they are missing valuable information in classes due to court hearings. But, some people argue that the zero tolerance policy is unfair to all students, making the education system equal for all to succeed. For example, a “2007 study by the Advancement Project and the Power U Center for Social Change says that for every 100 students who were suspended, 15 were Black, 7.9 were American Indian, 6.8 were Latino and 4.8 were white”. As you can see, the zero tolerance policy affects all races, making them miss their education because of certain consequences. Because the mindset of these people is that, if the zero-tolerance policy does not affect just one race or group of people, then the education system
Another major reason why juveniles are ending up in the juvenile justice system is because many schools have incorporate the zero tolerance policy and other extreme school disciplinary rules. In response to violent incidents in schools, such as the Columbine High School massacre, school disciplinary policies have become increasingly grave. These policies have been enacted at the school, district and state levels with the hopes of ensuring the safety of students and educators. These policies all rely on the zero tolerance policy. While it is understandable that protecting children and teachers is a priority, it is not clear that these strict policies are succeeding in improving the safety in schools.
It is required that the student be placed in the setting most like that of typical peers in which they can succeed when provided with needed supports and services (Friend, 2014). In other words, children with disabilities are to be educated with children who are not disabled to the maximum extent appropriate. Removal may only occur when education in regular classes, with the use of supplementary aids and services, cannot be achieved satisfactorily (Yell, 2006).
Following the Columbine tragedy in 1999, “school systems across the nation introduced the zero-tolerance policies aimed at the curtailment of harmful student behaviors” (Noll, 2014, p. 295). The original focus of the policies was to eliminate the use/carrying of weapons but soon after spread to restricting drugs and medication (2014). By 2006 95% of the U.S. public schools had adopted the zero-tolerance policies and more than half of them reported taking significant action against students, many of which resulted in expulsion (2014). While the zero-tolerance polices were originally welcomed by all members of a community as a means of promoting and keeping a safer environment-- as of late many individuals are questioning the relevance of some actions and some school officials (2014).
During the 1920's, separate schools were established for the blind, deaf, and more severely retarded (Reddy, p5). However, students that were considered mildly disabled were educated in regular schools, just thought to be 'slow learners'. Soon educators started to develop separate classes for disabled students. The reasoning for taking them out of the normal classroom (exclusion) has not changed in the last eighty years. People today, who are still in favor of exclusion, have the same justification for their belief. It was thought that students...
Lawmakers and school officials have been wearisome in the efforts of finding a policy that works to make our schools a safer place for students and administrators. Schools, both public and private, are an environment for learning and pleasant experiences that a child or adolescent will remember for the rest of their lives. Although, experiences like the Columbine High school massacres are not what an individual would want to remember and is one of the most significant enforcer when it comes to all austere policies. Zero tolerance was first introduced by President Ronald Reagan’s
Schools inevitably must deal with disciplinary action when it comes to misconduct in students. However, at what point should the courts and law enforcement intervene? “Zero tolerance” policies started as a trend in the school setting during the 1990s in “response to the widespread perception that juvenile violence was increasing and school officials needed to take desperate measures to address the problem” (Aull 2012:182-183). However, national statistics indicated a decrease in juvenile’s share of crime during the influx of zero tolerance policies in schools (National Crime Justice Reference Service 2005).
If I had it my way, I would tone down the zero tolerance act. It
The first group, those who favor the policy, dwell on school improvement due to zero tolerance. One positive change is reinstated safety in schools giving students, parents, teachers, and the community a breath of relief. Advocates of this positive change believe that schools should be a place of learning without safety concerns.
National Dissemination Center For Children With Disabilities (2010). Applying Discipline Rules to Students with Disabilities. Retrieved from http://nichcy.org/SchoolsAndAdministrators/Pages/discipline.aspx
The majority of students with disabilities should be in an inclusive setting. These students are generally placed based on the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE). Furthermore, the majority of these students are able to keep up academically with their peers, even
Discipline has always been an issue that has plagued education. Troublesome students have always been a source of disturbances and distractions. Many school have implemented an in school suspension (ISS) program to combat the disruptiveness of problem students. These programs aim to remove students from the classroom while keeping them in an educational setting.