| WHAT IS ZERO TOLERANCE?
- Zero tolerance is actually a one-size-fits-all mandatory
punishment that forecloses adults' use of discretion,
appropriate to the age, history and circumstances of the child
as well as to the nature of the offense.
- Zero tolerance is a more harmful version of mandatory
sentencing, first, in that it takes no account of child and
adolescent development, and second, because at least in the
criminal justice system when mandatory sentences exist, there
are different mandatory sentences for offenses of different
seriousness.
- Zero tolerance in schools has an especially serious impact
on youths' educational possibilities. In a state like Georgia,
where children who are expelled from school are expelled for
life, or like Massachusetts where expelled students permanently
lose their right to a public education, the ramifications of
these policies are particularly severe.
Information from:
http://www.abanet.org/crimjust/juvjus/zerotolreport.html
- Nationally, the Department of Education's Office for Civil
Rights notes that suspensions have increased steadily for all
students, rising from 1.7 million (or 3.7% of students) to 3.1
million (6.84% of students) by 1997. In the State of Maryland,
64,103 students were suspended or expelled in school year
1998-99, representing 7.8% of the student body. Over 60% of
Maryland student suspensions were for non-violent acts, matching
what other studies show nationally. (For a copy of the report
please call 1800-421-3481.)
- Suspension and expulsion policies
have a much greater impact on minority students and special
education students. A Justice Policy Institute analysis of
recent data publicized by the Applied Research Center shows that
in a number of cities, African American youths are suspended and
expelled at rates many times higher than the rates at which
white students are suspended and expelled.
Information from:
http://www.cjcj.org/pubs/schoolhouse/shh2exec.html
Zero tolerance has become a symbol for intolerance for youth
and youthful behaviors, often resulting in the criminalization of
youthful conduct previously deemed normal adolescent behavior.
Take for example, these two incidents:
- There is increasing evidence that zero tolerance policies,
while seemingly neutral, are having a disproportionate impact on
students of color. By the end of 1999, a study of 10 school
districts in the country showed that:
Black students, already suspended or expelled at higher rates
than their peers, will suffer the most under new "zero
tolerance" attitudes toward rising school violence...zero
tolerance means that black students will be pushed out of the
door faster.
Information from:
http://www.abanet.org/crimjust/juvjus/zerotolreport.html
Other Resources:
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