The School to Prison Pipeline
By: Hannah Ravenell
The School to Prison Pipeline can be described as a system that involves the criminalizing of students and the subsequent funneling of these students out of educational spaces and into prisons. While this is occurring with increasing frequency and intentionality, it is not something students will often hear being discussed in educational spaces. Increased rates of suspensions and expulsions typically in accordance with zero tolerance policies, transferring of jurisdiction from educational to legal powers, increased school safety/police presence, fewer resources and generally less patience/understanding are all common issues closely tied with this system.
Zero tolerance policies are a key part of the overall ability of the school to prison pipelines functionality. These policies designate certain violations or issues as unacceptable in any context and the result for students is often suspension or expulsion. While some might not see this as concerning, researchers have found that students are more likely to be arrested in some capacity during periods where they were not in school as a result of “forcible removal” (Chicago Policy Review 2014). Beyond even this, policies such as these normalize viewing students as expendable and unworthy of investments of time, care and support which couldn’t be further from the truth. These policies help to turn schools into hostile and unforgiving places, sites particularly unwelcoming of certain populations of students.
While it might be tempting to see various incidents occurring at schools as isolated events, in actuality they’re part of a coordinated and interconnected pipeline. This system relies on the normalization of carceral techniques and measures in proximity to schools and educational spaces. As such, it follows much of the model set by the prison industrial complex, and the systems that coordinate to create it, which historically are antiblack. This means that Black students and various other marginalized communities disproportionately bear the brunt of the violence this system generates. Exemplified by the fact that Black students for example, are suspended and expelled at a rate three times higher than their white counterparts (ACLU). Furthermore in a study of “school- related arrests”, Black students were found to comprise around 31 percent. (ACLU).
The educational experience for Black students is one that is in many ways designed to normalize carceral measures. In a study in relation to the School to Prison Pipeline, it was found that in schools predominately attended by students of color, the usage of surveillance measures such as “metal detectors, school police and security guards, locked gates, and random sweeps”, could be anywhere from 2 to 18 times higher than in schools where less than 20 percent of the student body was nonwhite (The Atlantic, 2016). This is no coincidence, schools with high populations of students of color, specifically those who are Black, effectively normalizes the criminalization of students of color labeling perceiving them as suspects and threats before they even walk through the doors.
Diminished resources are also typical of this system as these students increasingly become stigmatized and labeled as deserving of poor support networks. This models well the lack of support and resources often allocated and present in marginalized communities, contributing to a painful and undue cycle of struggling and hardship. In direct relation to this, 1.6 million students go to schools that have school safety and law enforcement present but not a school counselor (U.S Department of Education Office for Civil Rights). And of course students of color are at an increased likelihood to attend schools with resources such as these as opposed to their white schoolmates (U.S Department of Education Office for Civil Rights). Increased amounts of school safety/police officers only serve to legitimate criminalization efforts within schools and Black students in particular bear the brunt of these efforts. Representative of this is the fact that Blacks students are 2.2 times as likely to “receive a referral to law enforcement or be subject to a school related arrest” as their white peers (U.S Department of Education Office for Civil Rights).
This crisis is one that demands immediate attention, and necessitates the overhaul of the way we look at educating and caring for students, particularly those most marginalized and in need of support. Black students deserve to learn and thrive in spaces committed to their care and development. Students are not threats or suspects and schools should not exist to surveil and police. As such we must commit ourselves to the abolition of systems of institutional harm, specifically in this case the school to prison pipeline.
CITATIONS
2015-2016 Civil Rights Data Collection: School Climate and Safety
Cops and No Counselors: How the Lack of School Mental Health Staff is Harming Students- ACLU
Healy, Cheryl, et al. “Discipline and Punishment: How School Suspensions Impact the Likelihood of Juvenile Arrest.” Chicago Policy Review, 21 Apr. 2014, chicagopolicyreview.org/2014/03/26/discipline-and-punishment-how-school-suspensions-impact-the-likelihood-of-juvenile-arrest/.
Hinger, Sarah. “Racial Disparities in Student Arrests Is An Epidemic Affecting Children Nationwide.” American Civil Liberties Union, American Civil Liberties Union, 6 Feb. 2017, www.aclu.org/blog/racial-justice/race-and-inequality-education/racial-disparities-student-arrests-ep....
Libby Nelson & Dara Lind Published: February 24, 2015. “The School to Prison Pipeline, Explained - Justice Policy Institute.” - Justice Policy Institute, www.justicepolicy.org/mobile/news/8775.
“School-to-Prison Pipeline [Infographic].” American Civil Liberties Union, www.aclu.org/issues/juvenile-justice/school-prison-pipeline/school-prison-pipeline-infographic.
“Students of Color Are Disproportionately Affected by School Surveillance.” Google, Google, www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theatlantic.com/amp/article/499556/.
