Since the 1980's, fear of school violence has driven American public education toward increasingly punitive and exclusionary methods of school discipline. Yet recent research has begun to raise serious questions about the effectiveness and equity of suspension and expulsion. Despite such controversy concerning the use and effectiveness of…

Looks at challenges to safe schools and offers eight suggestions for ensuring the safety of students and educators. Notes that school violence includes unacceptable social behavior ranging from aggression that threatens or harms others to bullying, threats, sexual harassment, gang violence, extortion, and other forms of intimidation. (SG)

Many public school districts have adopted a policy of zero tolerance toward drug use, weapon possession, and sexual harassment on school grounds. Although a study by the National Center for Education Statistics reported no evidence that zero tolerance policies have lowered school crime rates, prominent education groups favor them. (JOW)

In a case involving a knife in a car and a school's zero-tolerance policy, a circuit court decided it was unfair to expel a student for possessing a prohibited item if he did not know of its presence. Injury to another is impossible under those circumstances! (MLH)

The increasing reliance on harsh punitive approaches, such as zero tolerance policies, for school discipline makes procedural and substantive protections for students a timely issue. When zero tolerance policies are applied to behavior that does not threaten the immediate safety or welfare of others, they can have a negative impact on the welfare…

Although there can be no dispute that schools must do all that can be done to ensure the safety of learning environments, controversy has arisen about the use of zero tolerance policies and procedures to achieve those aims. In response to that controversy, and to assess the extent to which current practice benefits students and schools, the…

How do Indiana schools use school discipline? The first briefing paper explored controversies at the national level concerning the philosophy and practice of zero tolerance. That exploration found that many of the assumptions of zero tolerance are not supported by evidence. The data suggest that zero tolerance tends to be associated with a number…

Discusses theory/policies supporting zero tolerance policy in schools, including rational choice theory in criminology and national crime policies based on deterrence. Potential consequences of zero tolerance policy implementation are described and shown to involve outcomes similar to those identified by researchers studying national crime policy.…

There is a need for educational reform of zero tolerance policies in school disciplinary management procedures. Zero tolerance policies are rigid mandates of predetermined consequences for specific student misconduct. Common sense and fairness are not necessarily served by the application of inflexible disciplinary rules that do not address the…

Research shows that social isolation and bullying can profoundly affect students' sense of affiliation with school and thus hamper their ability to learn. In a survey of middle-grades students in three diverse schools, the authors found variations among the schools with regard to the extent to which students felt safe in school, the locations…

Much has been written about the adaptation from criminology of the "Broken Windows" theory of order maintenance in successful urban educational models. Yet, the manner in which the theory is written and discussed often misses the nuances and feel of the theory as successfully applied. This misunderstanding has lead to its conflation with the "Zero…

Discusses school security procedures following not only the September 11 terrorist attacks but also earlier school shootings. Highlights include zero tolerance policies; campus surveillance systems; digital systems that work on PCs; remote monitoring; and protecting central administration buildings and staff. (LRW)

Reactive measures such as metal detectors, I.D. badges, and zero-tolerance policies can reduce violence, but cultivating order is more effective than imposing it. Building a respectful, caring learning environment by enhancing students' sense of belonging, implementing a comprehensive character-education program, and teaching conflict-resolution…

Intended to improve school safety by ensuring student compliance with rules, zero tolerance has become an excuse to treat all children needing corrective measures the same. An alternative approach, "Tough as Necessary," balances strength with fairness, incorporates school-specific values, and establishes and enforces differentiated…

Describes a Tacoma (Washington) high school's efforts to adopt a zero-tolerance policy toward fighting. An aggressive communication campaign was used to familiarize parents and students with the new policy. Numbers of violent incidents decreased during the past three years. Two parents who formally challenged the school's expulsion policy lost in…