WASHINGTON, June 2 (UPI) -- Schools across the United States are reconsidering their zero-tolerance discipline stand against rule infractions, officials said.
The shift in thinking has been driven by community pressure, high suspension rates, legal action and research that indicates zero-tolerance policies for certain violations, such as bringing a legitimate medication to school, are inappropriate, The Washington Post reported Thursday.
"We're clearly beginning to see changes in thinking and practice," said Russell Skiba, an Indiana University professor who has written extensively on school discipline.
"There are apparently a lot of places where, when zero-tolerance isn't working, it's just applied more and harder," he said. "So what we see are two different trends happening at once in school discipline: reform and change in some districts, and an increased use of suspension and expulsion in others."
The arbitrary nature of zero-tolerance is proving to be its downfall, experts said, citing examples about severe punishment for childhood misjudgments.
For example, a Maryland hockey player was taken away in handcuffs for carrying a pocketknife in a gear bag he said was used to repair lacrosse sticks; in Virginia a student was expelled for blowing plastic pellets through a straw at classmates.
The change in thinking is "a more child-centered approach," said Wendy Lapham, a spokeswoman for Christina School District in Delaware.
She said officials want to avoid repeating a 2009 incident in which a 6-year-old student was suspended from school for bringing a Cub Scout camping utensil that included a knife.
