| |
Newsroom /
Education
/
Education
/
LJB Security Training Publishes Article on Zero-Tolerance School Discipline
LJB Security Training Publishes Article on Zero-Tolerance School Discipline
A new article from LJB CT Security Training discusses the practice of "zero tolerance" disciplinary enforcement in American K-12 schools. The article talks about the policy and recent attempts to rethink it.
East Haven,
CT,
United States of America
(prbd.net)
16/12/2013
LJB Security Training, Connecticut's premier CT state guard card training school, publishes informational materials and articles on issues related to crime, police work, private and school security and other topics.
Our most recent article discusses the practice of "zero tolerance" disciplinary enforcement in American K-12 schools. The article talks about the origins of the policy, its heyday in the 2000's, some instances where enforcement had ramifications with the wider public, and recent attempts to rethink the approach.
Such policies were widely introduced in the wake of drug issues in the 1990s, and were seen as a necessary measure in the wake of student-perpetrated shootings such as Columbine. Zero tolerance consists of imposing harsh penalties on students for any disciplinary infraction, with misdemeanors such as graffiti and marijuana possession leading to suspension, expulsion and even arrest.
Moreover, school administrators and law enforcement looked at the profiles of students such as the Columbine shooters and saw a trend of violent fantasy, threats and other signals that preceded their crimes, so anything that could be construed as a threat against other students or the school was taken to be a possible precursor to a far more grave offense and dealt with in an extremely serious manner.
While the motive for this approach was the security of students and staff, it has led to routine suspensions and expulsions of students as young as 6 for offenses that would normally be considered child's play. There have been multiple instances of students facing serious penalties for something as simple as making "finger guns" or trimming sandwiches into the shape of a gun. After a number of such stories after the years, many groups began an earnest push to relax the stringent guidelines, and to introduce more discretion for administrators, in order to allow them to exercise leniency for students who were clearly not possessed by nefarious intent.
These groups included not just the parents of students who fell under the sanctions, or civil rights groups, but even law enforcement and juvenile court judges who were alarmed at the sudden influx of school-aged children in their system, as well as the uniformly severe nature of the punishments for what they saw as offenses that would previously get a student in counseling or other milder school-based disciplinary action.
It remains to be seen if the new push for leniency will last, or whether another freeze will follow. Click through to read more at our original article; and if you are interested in a security job in Connecticut, come to our website and reserve your place at our CT state security guard license class today!
Contact info:
Louis Bonito
LJB Security Training, 58 Renshaw Dr., East Haven, CT 06512 (203) 907-6594
http://www.ljbsecuritytraining.com/
###
About
In the years since September 11, a new awareness of security issues has led to a great renewed demand for security officers. Anyone looking for a career in security services in the state of Connecticut, look no further: LJB Security Training has your certification covered!
|