The public schools of the United States, despite their proud past, are currently experiencing many difficulties. They seem to be under constant scrutiny and pressure to produce higher academic achievement and at the same time are being criticized by large segments of society. It is no secret that the environment which students experience in the public schools has changed greatly over the past twenty to thirty years, but there are many possible reasons for this; most of these explanations do not place the blame squarely on the schools themselves. Public schools are responsible for one thing, however, and that is the manner in which they react to the changes that take place. Prompted by increased discipline problems within school halls, many districts have adopted zero-tolerance policies toward certain problems, including drugs and violence. When considering current events such as school shootings or evidence of increased drug use among teenagers, this stance may seem rational. However, because they often force schools to make unjust decisions and are at the same time ineffective in increasing school discipline, public schools should eliminate the use of policies of zero-tolerance.
By definition, zero-tolerance policies are restrictive programs in which a thing is not tolerated in any form or at any level. For example, zero-tolerance programs against violence in schools have been used to justify the suspension of students who, using their fingers as mock ray guns, shot at imaginary aliens on the playground at recess. It is the hope of administrators that disciplinary actions such as this will greatly deter students from bringing a real gun to school. Similar to this is the suspension of students whose lunches have been packed w...
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...sensibilities of the public do not help improve the image many people have of public schools.
While healthy school environments and consistency in punishment from case to case need to be maintained, it is possible without resorting to policies of zero-tolerance. Schools should simply apply the idea that a punishment should fit its crime. I believe that most teachers and school administrators have the ability to make good disciplinary judgements on a case-by-case basis and should be allowed to do so. It will help schools maintain a proud image rather than one of places where paranoia reigns, but where serious problems are obviously still present. Schools should not rely on disciplinary policies that may seem effective because they are harsh and have an element of no-nonsense about them. Rather, they should maintain the time-tested values of justice and good sense.
Born on October 14, 1894, E. E. Cummings an American poet was born at home in Cambridge, Massachusetts. His mother had a great influence on his early interest in art and poetry. His father was a Unitarian clergyman and sociology professor at Harvard. He began his interest in writing poetry during his high school career as early as 1904 and he also began learning language such as Latin and Greek in the Cambridge Latin High School. During this time he also shortened his name from Edward Estlin to E. E (Constantakis).
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
The intent of this argumentative research paper, is to take a close look at school systems disciplinary policies and the effect they have on students. While most school systems in the nation have adopted the zero tolerance policies, there are major concerns that specific students could be targeted, and introduced into the criminal justice system based on these disciplinary policies. This research paper is intended to focus on the reform of zero tolerance policies, and minimizing the school to prison pipeline.
Kafka, Judith. 2011. The history of "zero tolerance" in American public schooling. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. http://www.palgraveconnect.com/doifinder/10.1057/9781137001962.
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
In an effort to maintain peace, safety and a disciplined environment conducive to effective teaching and learning, many schools have adopted the zero tolerance policy. This philosophy was originally created in the 1990’s as an approach towards drug enforcement to address the rampant use, possession and sales of drugs in schools (Jones, 2013). Today, this policy is used to mandate the application of pre-determined consequences of violation of stated rules. These rules may pertain to a number of issues; drugs, bullying, theft, and corporal punishment.
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.
There are very few people today who are unaware of the violence in schools. As college students we live in a world that is desperate to find prevention methods against violence. That makes this issue important to today's college students, considering the fact that we are the generation that could have been involved and directly effected by a school shooting like Columbine. Is this how we want our school systems to be when our children enroll?
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN, 2009) defines dignity as treating someone as you or your family would want to be treated, when they are feeling vulnerable. According to ( Matiti & Baillie,2011) in modern world the word dignity has lost its meaning, whether it is intentionally or unintentionally, nurses have become very mechanical, trying to give care for dummies rather than human beings, who have emotions, feelings and self-respect, and not realising what impact patients will have when nurses show this kind of attitude. Patient centred care is vital for all nurses, without, discriminating against colour, gender, race, and religious beliefs. Following the code of conduct which is expected of the nurse, working according to the needs of the patients, being a good listener and respecting them. When the nurse shows dignity and respect, she/he tends to develop a therapeutic relationship with patient which in turn results in good health and rehabilitation (NMC, 2008).
It is estimated that 3.3 million children annually are expelled or suspended for violent or nonviolent offenses while attending school. The majority of the offenses are nonviolent offenses that are handled just as harshly as violent school infractions due to zero tolerance laws. This essay will show how zero tolerance laws, bad schools and policing in schools is failing millions of minority students and fueling the school to prison pipeline.
Many schools around the country have been faced with violence and even actual deaths. Take the incident at Columbine, for example. Many schools for this very reason have proposed and in some cases even imposed a policy called, The Zero Tolerance Policy. The article, ”Taking Zero Tolerance to the Limit” by Jesse Katz, is about the absolute ban of drugs and weapons in schools. It doesn’t work. It doesn’t work because it punishes everyone for the problems of few, it’s too extreme and there is still no clear line between what is a drug and what is a weapon.
As mentioned previously, the school system has a perceived obligation to discipline students in an attempt to protect the safety of all staff and students, to preserve the decorum of the school, and also to develop character in students (Kajs, 2006). It is these three notions, along with the public’s perception of the rising issue of youth crime, and federal and provincial legislation that led to the implementation of zero tolerance polices. There are arguably three stages of the zero tolerance policies: there must be a perceived issue by the public, which creates a moral panic and leads to the government taking action to calm the situation by creating legislation and lastly, the school board implementing the regulations and
Edward Estlin Cummings, commonly referred to as E. E. Cummings, was born on October 14, 1894 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He was a source of vast knowledge and was responsible for many creative works other than his poetry, such as novels, plays, and paintings. He published his first book of poetry Tulips and Chimneys in 1923. Many of his poems are known for the visual effects they create through his unusual placement of words on the page, as well as, his lack of punctuation and capitalization. The manner in which Cummings arranges the words of his poems creates an image in the reader's mind of the topic he is discussing, such as a season or climbing stairs. His visual style also brings emotions, such as loneliness or cheerfulness, to the reader's mind. Due to this creativity, Cummings won many awards, such as the National Book Award and the Bollingen Prize in poetry (Marks 17).
Chochinov, H.M 2007: 187. Dignity and the essence of medicine: the A, B, C, and D of dignity conserving care. BMJ: 185-187