Juvenile delinquency

RESPOND TO EACH STUDENT AS A STUDENT

ORIGINAL QUESTION:

Do you support the notion that there are disproportionate punishments in school settings (K12) as it relates to race?

If school punishments contribute to the school to prison pipeline, how do we address the underlying factors that contribute to continued high referrals to juvenile court from school systems?

If the Gun Free Schools Act of 1994 was enacted to address mass school shootings, why is it that most of the discipline results in higher numbers from inner city schools as opposed to suburban schools where mass shootings historically occur?

Do you purport that the Project Save Act (Monell article) or similar legislation is beneficial and working to keep our schools safer?

STUDENT 1 LILLIAN

Hello Class,

Prompt 1

First of all, I grieve with the people who lost their loved ones in this September due to the shootings at Milwaukee in Wisconsin, and to that matter, I do support this notion and according to the weekly reading materials including but not limited to: Welch & Payne, (2012) the minority groups are given harsher punishments as compared to the majority. In this case, the minority is the: blacks, African Americans, Hispanic, and Latin among others – the reason for the harsher punishments is because they are seen as threats to the majority. Rudd, (2014) also adds that some of these punishments that are harsh include: indefinite and definite suspension from the schools which is intended at making the majority whites feel very safe in the schools. In simple terms, the principle followed is equity and not equality.

Prompt 2

According to my own observation, given the readings, I think that referring the children to the juvenile justice system does more harm than good as it causes trauma to the children which lasts a lifetime and makes their hearts ‘harder.’ According to me, the family should be the point of concern because majority children hail from there. What is being done with the parents in regards to proper parenting, what is being done with the children keepers in institutional care homes? How has the family units in the police helping to stabilize the family with respect to child conduct?

Then as for counselors and psychologists, I suggest that a family centered behavioral therapy is the best approach that can help to address the underlying factors. In addition to that, screening ought to be done to discover formerly or currently bullied students such that they can be counseled to let go of the anger and vengeance sentiments.

Prompt 3

According to the weekly readings, with specificity to Roos, (2022). the schools in inner cities have a tendency of competition, which is both intra and inter. The prevalence of students recreation activities including sports, athletics, and contests breed sentiments of competition which stir hatred amongst the students hence culminating in aggressive behavior – this is rather different from suburban school settings which many at times act as on lookers to what is happening in the inner-city schools.

Prompt 4

SAVE. is an acronym for Survey, Act, Validate and Engage. Under this scheme/ACT, a teacher is allowed to remove a violent or disruptive student from class when the students conduct poses a danger or is substantially disruptive or significantly interferes with the teacher’s authority over the classroom. In my own observation, I think this written information to parents and or guardians helps to draw their attention towards their parenting roles that sometimes could or could be not neglected by the same. In general, I believe that it has a role to play in ending school violence in the long run, and school shootings in particular.

STUDENT 2 Robert

According to a survey done by the National Study of Delinquency Prevention in Schools in the years 1997-1998, it was reported by the Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice that a disproportionate amount of African American middle school and high school students were subjected to harsher punishments then their Caucasian counterparts (Welch et al., 2012, pg. 8). While I can’t say I support the notion that there are disproportionate punishments in school settings as it relates to race without more study into the subject and data on the topic, this article does support that hypothesis.

One way to address any underlaying factors contributing to high referrals to juvenile court from the school system would be to better train and support the teachers within that school system. Unfortunately, some children aren’t raised in the best environments at home, or the parents need additional help with a child suffering from a mental/physical disability. When the child doesn’t learn discipline in the home, the next natural place they’ll learn it from would be from the school they’re enrolled in. By parents supporting the teachers in their efforts, and the school system providing training in effective discipline to their staff, teachers can have a positive direct effect on whether a student gets referred to juvenile court (Elias, 2013).

I would argue that while historically, suburban schools with mass shootings have suffered a higher fatality rate per student, most school shooting incidents happen in urban, poorer environments with a higher minority student population (GAO, 2020). Most of these shootings are dispute/grievance related, to include gang related violence on school grounds, outside the building itself. As to why there are more disciplinary issues within inner city schools, logically, if one larger school has a higher student population then a smaller school with a lower student population, per the numbers, it makes sense why there would be more disciplinary issues in that larger student body.

The Project Save Act is designed to give educators training on how to catch, prevent, and handle violent acts in school (Silver, 2001). While I think any kind of training in this regard is beneficial and does help to a certain extent, I don’t think it will eliminate violence in the school setting. Teachers and educators do their best to provide a safe environment for their students to learn and grow in, but that safety can only be guaranteed up to a certain point. If a student wants to commit a violent act, then they will find a way to do so, regardless of how many rules are established or guards are emplaced.

STUDENT 3 AJA

  1. I agree that there are disproportionate punishments in school settings in relation to race. The National Study of Delinquency Prevention in Schools conducted a study in which 294 schools were sampled. The hypothesis was that the percentage of black students in the student population would positively influence the school’s expulsion and suspension rates. It also stated that the percentage of black students would positively influence mandatory expulsion for the possession of weapons, drugs, and alcohol (Welch, Payne, 2012). The results of this study would provide supporting evidence for these hypotheses. The findings suggested that the percentage of black students was significantly related to the utilization of suspension and expulsion.
  2. The school to prison pipeline refers to specific practices and policies that push juveniles out of school and into the justice system (Blitzman, 2021). Some underlying factors that may influence the referrals from the schools to the juvenile justice system include race, socio-economic status, and intentional or unintentional bias (Marchbanks, Blake, 2018). If these factors contribute to the continued high referrals to juvenile court from school systems, then there needs to be an adjustment made to this referral rate. Since black and Hispanic students are disciplined more than other students, I believe that schools should decrease the rate in which punishment is enforced. If school systems focus less on punishment, then naturally the rates in which students are referred to the juvenile justice system would decrease. Schools should make more of an effort to keep students in school. Suspension, expulsion, and referrals should be the very last option.
  3. Though the Gun Free Act of 1994 was designed to address mass school shootings, I believe that the discipline results in higher numbers in inner city school rather than suburban schools for some of the same reasons why there are disproportionate punishment rates in schools. Race, socio-economic status, and bias are the factors that contribute to this problem. Although suburban schools are the common settings for mass school shootings, inner city school children are being affected by the law disproportionately for the reasons listed. For example, the Gun Free Schools Act of 1994 has suspended kids for playing with toys and water guns due to administration becoming hypersensitive (Marchbanks, Blake, 2018). This response came as a result of the zero tolerance laws that were introduced by the GFSA.
  4. I think that the Save Act has some good concepts, however I think that this and other legislation similar to it haven’t been beneficial in the past. Based on the facts about the Save Act, I do believe that it’s going to help make schools a safer environment. For example, students who are violent will be removed from class, there has to be safety plans in case of emergency, teachers have to attend violence prevention training, and character education has to be taught in the curriculum (Silver, 2001).