In March, the American Bar Association released a statement opposing zero tolerance, calling it a "one size fits all solution to all the problems that schools confront. It has redefined students as criminals, with unfortunate consequences." In New Jersey, outraged parents of the 50 suspended children forced the school board to change its policies toward school threats. In June, a group of Boston parents and advocates managed to delay the school board's implementation of a tougher discipline code recommended by the superintendent, arguing that it would "criminalize students."

One of the most heartening stories to date is that of "Generation Y," a youth activist organization in Chicago. After conducting a survey about student discipline, leaders of this group initiated a "Right to Learn" campaign focusing on three points: 1) too many students were getting suspended for minor, nonviolent offenses; 2) zero tolerance does not address the root of the problem, and 3) zero tolerance targets and criminalizes students of color, particularly African-Americans.

The group organized a youth summit, testified before the Chicago Board of Education, and eventually met with then Chicago Public Schools CEO Paul Vallas. As a result of the meeting, Vallas agreed to direct principals not to suspend students for minor infractions; to support and fund the creation of student-led peer juries as an alternative to suspensions; to review school-by-school suspension data disaggregated by race, and to provide sensitivity training and a code of conduct for all security officers in schools.

Proposing viable alternatives to suspensions and expulsions is essential if such groups are to convince edgy officials and the public that the answer to disciplinary challenges, like overcrowding, and each new incident of school violence, does not lie in serving up sacrificial lambs on the altar of zero tolerance. Groups in San Francisco and Milwaukee, for example, are working with school officials to implement comprehensive reform plans aimed at improving disciplinary policies in those cities' schools. Both organizations advocate for wider use of "best practices" gleaned from research on effective and safe schools, increased training for teachers in classroom management skills, and stronger accountability systems to track and monitor suspension and arrest rates.

And, to the extent that fate sometimes lends a quirky, helping hand, relief may come from an unlikely source. President Bush, who has capitalized politically from his "tough on juveniles" stances, has lately found his own policies hitting home in a way he never anticipated. Caught twice trying to obtain alcohol as a minor within the span of less than a month, one of his daughters faces a possible 180 days in jail if she is arrested a third time.

Possession of alcohol by a minor was once an offense that carried only fines as punishment. But then it was swept into the zero tolerance movement, courtesy of a bill signed into law by then Texas Gov. Bush. Perhaps he will now develop a more "nuanced" view of these policies.

For the moment, however, zero tolerance remains a politically potent "quick fix" for legislators and officials who are afraid, unable or unwilling to tackle the thornier, more complicated issues raised by alienated and isolated teenagers inadequately served by their communities and school systems. In addition to Mississippi's new three strikes law, Arizona recently passed a statute allowing prosecutors to charge students for making school-based "threats." As a result, more than 200 students have been referred for possible felony charges in what many have criticized as a very heavy-handed enforcement of the law.

Massachusetts is currently considering a new bill that will allow school districts to make alternative placements for students who are not only disruptive, but who are "at risk of school failure, truancy, or dropping out of school." As presently written, this bill opens the door for administrators to remove students from their school for the "crime" of performing poorly on the state's new all-important high stakes test. A similar measure was recently passed by the Illinois Legislature.

Michael Males, senior researcher for the Justice Policy Institute, has offered a blunt interpretation for these actions: "Ignoring the fact that teenagers are getting less, not more, violent, legislators have passed a raft of punitive and ineffectual laws clamping down ever more tightly on youth. They can't seem to do anything that would really help ... So they decide to do something, even if it's stupid."

Upon her release on bail, the National Merit scholar jailed and banned from her graduation for leaving a kitchen knife in her car commented, "They're taking away my memories." Indeed, for all of the pious talk about the need for "consequences" for students' actions, officials justifying these excesses seem curiously oblivious to the long-term impact of taking away the memories, dreams and futures of a generation of students.

At some point, they will be forced to end the charade and take a more serious look at the real need to change the climate and culture of our public schools. But that will be cold comfort to the millions of children who have been hit hard by these arbitrary policies, shamelessly justified in the name of school safety.

Recent Stories