Zero tolerance policies...

From a somewhat interesting article from The Washington Post about zero tolerance policies in schools:

Now, “it’s become evident that simply suspending students and putting them on the street comes back and bites you,” said Bob Wise, a former governor of West Virginia and president of the Alliance for Excellent Education. 

No kidding? Gee, I’m shocked. Shocked, I say.

What reasonably intelligent, rational adult (or child, for that matter) thinks that suspension for stupid things like having Advil in your backpack is actually a good idea that helps kids? This should have been one of those things that was so blatantly obvious from the get go that it never got going! That we did implement these policies and are now saying “gee golly gosh this isn’t working” is pathetic.

That we suspend kids for tardiness and absenteeism is also ludicrous. Clearly they’re not coming to school anyway. Please tell me how a suspension is going to help this? Also, can we pretty please keep in mind that tardiness and absenteeism is not always the child’s fault? When we have parents who just could not care less, how exactly does a suspension help the child?

Suspensions do not improve the behavior of students in trouble or their peers, said Dewey Cornell, a University of Virginia education professor who studies school safety. Many people assume that suspensions help students change, he said, “but they don’t.” 

Many people assume that suspensions change kids? Many people? Who are these people? I’d like to meet them. Actually, I probably really really don’t want to meet them because they’re clearly beyond ignorant.

The American Psychological Association reported in a 2008 journal article that research has found no evidence that zero-tolerance policies have a deterrent effect or keep schools safer. 

And the shockers keep on coming….