Trinity Middlebrooks
Recent Posts
- Medical Informed Consent: A Social Work Lens
- Eradicating Social Isolation from Out-of-Class Instruction
- How Effective is the PASRR (Pre-Admission Screening and Resident Review) in Improving Care and Placement Outcomes for Older Adults?
- Economic Inequality: Financial Choices and Moral Judgments, Who Really Benefits?
- Timing Matters: Early Childhood Policy Impact on an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Diagnosis
Recent Comments
- Heidy Diaz on One Nation, Two Prison Systems: A Comparative Evaluation of Federal and State Prisons
- Heidy on How Effective is the PASRR (Pre-Admission Screening and Resident Review) in Improving Care and Placement Outcomes for Older Adults?
- Heidy on The Lies Told by White Supremacy: Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Raid of the United States
- Raquel Saharig on Zero Tolerance Policies and Their Impact on Youth: Do They Really Work?
- Raquel Saharig on Economic Inequality: Financial Choices and Moral Judgments, Who Really Benefits?
Zero Tolerance Policies and Their Impact on Youth: Do They Really Work?
Trinity Middlebrooks
I agree that zero tolerance is an ineffective policy. It is detrimental because suspensions, expulsions, and detentions hinder academic progress. The author showed in her data that these policies targeted black and Latino students two to three times more than whites. This causes higher rates of dropouts and drug use. If trauma-informed discipline is used instead, we look at the reasons behind the behavior, hold students accountable for it, and positive change may occur. I think she did a very good job of proving her argument.
Trinity, I really enjoyed this critical analysis of zero-tolerance policies in school systems. I agree that it is vital to implement policies that allow for context and intent to be included in any disciplinary action. I specifically appreciated your statistics on how black and Latino students are three to four times more likely to receive suspensions than their white peers for similar behaviors. This statistic is alarming because automatic suspension can result in ignoring a need that a child might be presenting. Given your list of reforms, I strongly agree that social workers have a responsibility to advocate against these policies and educate elected officials about the importance of contextualizing and providing further support for youth. I would like to recommend adding a reform that targets and trains current school teachers, administrators, and staff to provide trauma-informed and culturally responsive care. While I agree that school social workers and mental health staffing should be expanded within schools, I think that expanding training for current school staff can help reduce suspension rates and allow children to receive adequate attention they deserve. Thank you for your analysis and recommendations on this issue.