The School-to-Prison Pipeline: There is No Compassion in Punitive Discipline
![SchoolPipelineBlogPost-[LinkedIn]-Sept2024](https://pongopoetryproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/SchoolPipelineBlogPost-LinkedIn-Sept2024.png "SchoolPipelineBlogPost-[LinkedIn]-Sept2024")
By Brandy Ingram
Brandy Ingram is a member of Pongo’s Marketing Committee.
As back-to-school season revs up, Pongo would like to highlight an issue affecting historically underserved students and their families: the school-to-prison pipeline.
The militarization of schools coupled with punitive, exclusionary discipline (like suspensions and expulsions) lays the groundwork of the school-to-prison pipeline, which robs young people of their right to education and the opportunity to grow from their mistakes.
The connection between punitive disciplinary practices and youth incarceration is so clear that many school administrators and teachers have referred to such measures as “the push-out strategy.” But these zero-tolerance policies break down student-teacher communication and ultimately prevents students from reflecting and addressing the root cause of their behavioral challenges.
Intelligence plus character—that is the goal of true education.
The militarization of schools creates a system in which students are disempowered to grow. In 2023, the American Bar Association found that “1.7 million students are in schools with police but no counselors” and “6 million students are in schools with police but no school psychologists.” And when it comes to available social workers, the number of students lacking access to such support balloons to 10 million. Student arrests are a natural conclusion of this arrangement, where police grossly outnumber available restorative support staff.
The school-to-prison pipeline disproportionately affects students of color. In K-12 settings, “Black students are nearly four times as likely to be suspended as their white counterparts” and more than twice as likely as white students to be “referred to law enforcement or arrested on school grounds.” Furthermore, students with disabilities are twice as likely to face suspension in K-12 settings. The experience of being suspended (particularly in high school) doubles the dropout rate, increasing the chance a child will end up in the criminal justice system as a juvenile or adult.
Isolating students from their community actively harms both families and school environments. The implicit message that students are left with is: you are bad and we don’t care enough to listen to the unmet needs that led to your maladaptive behavior.
He who opens a school door, closes a prison.
Restorative justice methods focus on repairing harm and rebuilding relationships, empowering struggling students to contribute to their respective communities in meaningful, advantageous ways.
- Restorative discipline focuses on building positive, healthy relationships, “engaging all people who are impacted by an issue or behavior in a balanced group process to resolve conflict.” It shifts the focus from the negative behavior to the needs of the students; in the process, the harm is repaired and the students get a chance to learn accountability and personal growth. Restorative dialogue (like victim-offender mediation) has shown to be particularly beneficial; such open communication highlights mutual peer respect, active listening, and the restoration of student-teacher relationships.
- Trauma-informed, culturally appropriate practices serve as an intervention to address young people and families experiencing trauma, which benefits school ecosystems, families, and greater communities. These practices are best coupled with social-emotional learning strategies, which “help students better understand and regulate their emotions and behavior, empathize with others, and form positive relationships.” On top of improving students’ academic performance and dedication to school programs, these strategies have been shown to increase prosocial behaviors, reducing aggression and maladaptive behaviors in the long run.
- Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) is a school-wide approach involving clear behavioral expectations and progressive discipline and interventions. The core idea is to reward positive behaviors and supply culturally appropriate assistance, empowering students to reflect and make better choices as valuable members of the school community. Disempowerment fosters personal and socioemotional decline; empowerment encourages growth.
Students can learn and accomplish more when they know that they have the support of the administration, social workers, or teachers, and when they perceive that these support systems will help them in every step of their educational journey.
By administering punitive and exclusionary discipline, schools fail students, families, and, consequently, entire communities. Deep learning happens in the space between a misstep and the grace to try again—young people deserve this chance.
About Brandy
Brandyce (Brandy) Ingram is an educator, jazz-lover, and writer in Seattle. Her poems have been published by Wild Roof Journal, Willowdown Books, Beyond Queer Words, and others. Additionally, her creative nonfiction essays have appeared in The Bangalore Review, Sand Hills Literary Magazine, and The Austin Chronicle. She’s currently crafting a work of historical fiction regarding early 20th-century “lunatic” asylums.
