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Date: April 29, 2024 Mon
Time: 9:16 pm
Time: 9:16 pm
Results for school discipline (mississippi)
1 results foundAuthor: American Civil Liberties Union of Mississippi Title: Handcuffs on Success: The Extreme School Discipline Crisis in Mississippi Public Schools Summary: Mississippi is mired in an extreme school discipline crisis. Across the state, public schools are hindering the success of children and youth by employing harsh and destructive disciplinary practices. These practices not only exclude students from the classroom thereby reducing learning opportunities, but even worse, Mississippi’s children are being trapped in a pipeline to prison, too often for the most trivial misbehaviors. Whether it is a dress code violation, profane language, or a schoolyard scuffle, young people are being herded into juvenile detention centers and into the revolving door of the criminal justice system. Sadly, none of this is shocking. After all, the State’s harsh approach to discipline still allows corporal punishment. In fact, as one of only 19 states left that permit the paddling of students in public schools, Mississippi has the highest percentage of students being beaten by educators. Finally, Mississippi’s track record is being exposed. In October 2012, the United States Department of Justice filed suit against the city of Meridian, the County of Lauderdale, two youth court judges, the State of Mississippi, and two state agencies for operating a school-to-prison pipeline. The complaint alleges that these actors are “engag[ing] in a pattern or practice of unlawful conduct through which they routinely and systematically arrest and incarcerate children, including for minor school rule infractions, without even the most basic procedural safeguards, and in violation of these children’s constitutional rights.” Among other disturbing facts, the complaint alleges that Meridian schools repeatedly respond to infractions such as “disrespect,” “refusal to follow directions,” and “profanity” by referring students to law enforcement. They also routinely suspend students on juvenile probation, resulting in their automatic incarceration, for such low-level behaviors as use of vulgar language, flatulence in class, and dress code infractions like having a shirt untucked. While the suit is the most recent event to sound the alarm, the school-to-prison pipeline is nothing new to Mississippi and it is certainly not unique to Meridian. In fact, it is a problem that has plagued Mississippi schools statewide for years. For well over a decade, heartbreaking stories of extreme discipline and the criminalization of young people have poured out of Mississippi public schools. This report discusses the ways in which these extreme and destructive approaches to school discipline not only have directly harmed students and families, but also have caused teachers, law enforcement officials, and community members to have their lives and careers made more difficult by these ineffective and counter-productive school discipline policies and practices. Furthermore, the entire state of Mississippi has suffered damage to its economic health and well-being. Given this, the State should eliminate its school-to-prison pipeline, and this report provides recommendations for how it should begin to do so. Details: Jackson, MS: ACLU of Mississippi, 2012. 28p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed January 23, 2013 at: http://b.3cdn.net/advancement/bd691fe41faa4ff809_u9m6bfb3v.pdf Year: 2012 Country: United States URL: http://b.3cdn.net/advancement/bd691fe41faa4ff809_u9m6bfb3v.pdf Shelf Number: 127362 Keywords: School Discipline (Mississippi)School SafetySchool SuspensionsSchool-to-Prison Pipeline |