Zero Tolerance (schools)

In the United States and Canada , zero tolerance policies are applied in schools and other education venues. These have proved controversial in that some of those penalized have claimed that their treatment is egregiously unfair.

SEVERAL EXAMPLES FROM EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS

In Indiana, a high school teacher and coach lost her career for consuming a drink in a restaurant in the presence of some of her students. {Link without Title}

In Georgia, a 13 year old student was suspended for two weeks for giving his French teacher a gift-wrapped bottle of French wine. {Link without Title}

In Ohio, 17 high school students were suspended for consuming beer while on a cultural exchange trip to Germany where they were of legal age and where they did so with parental permission. {Link without Title}

In Florida , high school honors student Lindsey Brown was suspended days before graduation for having a kitchen knife in her car. The knife had apparently fallen out of a box of household goods which she was moving from her parents' house to her new apartment. {Link without Title}

In Georgia, a 13-year-old Georgia student sipped her juice jokingly pretending it was wine, she was slapped with a nine-day suspension for drinking her juice "under the pretense that it(was)in fact a prohibited substance." {Link without Title}

In Virginia, a high school senior at was suspended ten days for violating the school's alcohol policy by using mouthwash on campus. {Link without Title}

in New Jersey, students at Princeton University had confiscated from them nearly 400 T-shirts valued at $2,000 that they had prepared for sale in connection with Newman's Day - a day during which some students play a drinking game. {Link without Title}

In Texas , high school senior honors student Taylor Hess was expelled after an unserrated bread knife was found in the bed of his truck, which was parked on campus. The knife belonged to his grandmother, who had recently sufferred from a stroke and was moved, with Taylor's help, to Assisted Living . State law does not specify a minimum duration for expulsion, so after two weeks of pressure, school officials lifted the expulsion (originally one calendar year). The School District has since revised its zero-tolerance policy. [http://cnnstudentnews.cnn.com/2002/fyi/teachers.ednews/03/22/bread.knife.expulsion.ap/index.html

In Indiana, 14-yr-old Elliot Voge is suspended 10 days (expulsion pending) for turning in a pocketknife to administrators {Link without Title}

CONTROVERSY

Supporters of zero tolerance policies claim that such policies are required to create an appropriate environment (Scaringi, 2001; Noguera, 1995). They also point to examples of persons in authority providing lax discipline in the past, with a resulting breakdown in order (for example, in a school environment)(Scaringi, 2001).

Some supporters also argue that the mass publicising of examples of unfairness serves the schools' purpose by frightening students into conformity. They point to the millions of student acts and omissions each and every school day, only an small percentage of which prove to be unfairly penalised.(Noguera, 1995)

The Utilitarian policy assumption is that inflexibility is a deterrent because, no matter how or why the rule was broken, the fact that the rule was broken is the basis for the imposition of the penalty. This is intended as a behaviour modification strategy, i.e. because those at risk know that it may operate unfairly, they may be induced to take even unreasonable steps to avoid breaking the rule. This is a standard policy in rule- and law-based systems around the world on "offences" as minor as traffic violations to major health and safety legislation for the protection of employees, those living nearby and the environment.(Ghezzi, 2006)

Critics of zero tolerance policies frequently refer to cases where minor offenses have resulted in severe punishments (see above and , for example, Zero Tolerance Nightmares . Typical examples include the honor-roll student being expelled from school under a "no weapons" policy while in possession of nail clippers; or a distinguished longtime employee at a company who, despite an impeccable work record and compiling many honors, losing his job because he made a seemingly innocent remark to a female co-worker (e.g., "You look nice today").[http://72.14.203.104/search?q=cache:vKIqsa8UIfgJ:www.abanet.org/crimjust/juvjus/zerotolreport.html+%22zero+tolerance%22&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=13]

However, some view zero tolerance policies as a tool to fight corruption (Takyi-Boadu, 2006). Under this argument, if subjective judgement is not allowed, most attempts by the authority person to encourage bribes and/or other favors in exchange for leniency are clearly visible.

Some might argue that having a set of rigid rules serves as a way to limit the powers of the person doing enforcement, ensuring equal treatment for everyone. However, the evidence is that minority children are the most likely to suffer the negative consequences of zero tolerance (American Bar Association, 2001).

Such policies could conceiveably be established to allow unchecked freedom for officers; in such cases the rules could be intentionally self-contradicting, unclear and/or otherwise impossible or implausible to obey.

RESEARCH EVIDENCE

''Zero Tolerance, Zero Evidence: An Analysis of School Disciplinary Practice'' reports that there is no credible evidence that zero tolerance is effective. Furthermore, school suspension and expulsion result in a number of negative outcomes for both schools and students.

The study, conducted by the Indiana Education Policy Center at Indiana University School of Education, reviewed the use of zero-tolerance policies since their inception in the 1980s.

"Zero tolerance is a political response, not an educationally sound solution," said Dr. Russell Skiba, author of the report. "It sounds impressive to say that we're taking a tough stand against misbehavior, but the data say it simply hasn't been effective in improving student behavior." {Link without Title}

REFERENCES

American Bar Association. ''Zero Tolerance Policy Report'', 2001 {Link without Title}

Cox, S. & J. Wade. (19980. ''The Criminal Justice Network: An Introduction''. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Ghezzi, Patti. "Zero tolerance for zero tolerance" ''Atlanta Constitution'', March 20, 2006.

Noguera, Pedro A. "Preventing and Producing Violence: A Critical Analysis of Responses to School Violence," ''Harvard Educational Review'', Summer 1995, pp. 189-212.

Robinson, M. (2002). ''Justice Blind? Ideals and Realities of American Criminal Justice''. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Sherman, L., D., Gottfredson, D. MacKenzie, J. Eck, P. Reuter & S. Bushway. (1997). "Preventing Crime: What Works, What Doesn't, What's Promising." {Link without Title}

Scaringi, D. "Zero Tolerance Needed for Safe Schools." ''St. Petersburg (FL) Times'', June 24, 2001.

Snider, Laureen. (2004) "Zero Tolerance Reversed: Constituting the Non-Culpable Subject in Walkerton" in ''What is a Crime? Defining Criminal Conduct in Contemporary Canadian Society''. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, and Montreal: Laval University Press (French translation), 2004: 155-84.

Skiba, Russell. (2001) ''Zero Tolerance, Zero Evidence: An Analysis of School Disciplinary Practice''. Bloomington, IN: Indiana Education Policy Center, Indiana University.

Takyi-Boadu, Charles. "On Zero-Tolerance Corruption not Province of Politicians." ''The Ghanaian Chronicle'', March 16, 2006.

Information About

Zero Tolerance (schools)