Lesson Plan: How ‘Zero Tolerance’ Blurred the Line Between School and the Justice System
Grades 9-12
In the 1980s and 1990s, as crime rates rose, schools across the country began to crack down on violence, disorder and weapons in the classroom. A new “get tough” approach to discipline took hold that increasingly relied on swift punishment, suspensions and arrests. By the mid-90s, that approach to discipline had been given a name: “zero tolerance.” By 2011, more than 3 million students a year were being suspended and nearly 250,000 were being referred to the police by their schools. Those punishments were much more likely to affect minority students and those with disabilities. That has led states, schools and communities to reevaluate approaches to school discipline.
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