Surviving Capitalism (Not) : Zero-Tolerance Education Policies Are Destroying Young People's Lives

We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Zero-Tolerance Education Policies Are Destroying Young People's Lives

Click here to access article by Gara LaMarche from AlterNet.

This is what's known as the "school-to-prison pipeline." The United States now has the world's highest incarceration rate, and the number of juveniles in detention has swelled in recent decades. In the United States, more black men ages 18 to 24 live in prison cells than college dorm rooms, according to U.S. Census data.

The author argues that this effect is built into the system of Zero Tolerance Education, and presents some positive alternatives for dealing with behavioral problems.