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School discipline policies and dress codes can be rooted in racist and sexist stereotypes that disproportionately harm girls of color, especially Black girls.
Adultification bias is a particularly harmful stereotype where people see Black girls as:
Due to adultification bias, Black girls can be punished more often and more harshly for normal, age-appropriate behavior. This happens most often when teachers and school administrators can discipline students for things like “being disrespectful” or “having an attitude,” which have no clear definition. This also happens even though studies show that Black girls are not more likely than other students to misbehave in school.
Compared to white girls, Black girls are:
Georgetown Ctr. for Poverty & Inequality, Data Snapshot: 2017-2018 National Data on School Discipline by Race and Gender (2020), https://genderjusticeandopportunity.
georgetown.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/National-Data-on-School-Discipline-by-Race-and-Gender.pdf.
When Black girls are frequently disciplined, they lose critical learning time in the classroom, are often forced out of school, are more likely to enter the criminal legal system, and can encounter long-term barriers to higher education and success in their careers. This is called school pushout.
For more information about how school pushout affects girls of color and how to end it, visit She Deserves Dignity.
Black girls who experience more frequent or harsher school discipline than their classmates may have experienced a violation of their civil rights.
Students’ civil rights are generally protected under 3 main federal civil rights laws:
These are not the only 3 civil rights laws that may apply to students. For example, students are also protected under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and certain sections of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
You also have specific rights that are available to you while you are being disciplined. For example:
If you feel like your civil rights have been violated after you have been disciplined, there are still options available to you:
