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Latina(x), Native American, and Black girls are more likely to experience exclusionary discipline compared to their white peers.
For example, compared to white girls in the 2017–2018 school year, Native American girls were twice as likely to be suspended or expelled.
Exclusionary discipline refers to school policies and practices used to punish students for certain behavior by removing them from their regular classrooms.
Some examples of exclusionary discipline may be familiar:
But did you know that exclusionary discipline can include other disciplinary actions that are less well-known? These are often called informal removals or informal suspensions.
Informal suspensions are when educators or school officials:
Additionally, school discipline and dress code policies are often rooted in racism and sexism. When enforced, these policies can include exclusionary discipline and disproportionately impact Black, Indigenous, and girls of color.
Black girls can experience adultification in school where school officials are more likely to punish Black girls for normal child and teen behavior (e.g., throwing tantrums, giggling during class, having an “attitude”).
School officials are also more likely to ignore signs of when Black girls need help—even punishing them when they ask for help. This can make it harder for Black girls to feel safe reporting sexual harassment to their schools.
School policing is when schools employ, contract with, or call in police officers to assist with day-to-day functions in schools, particularly school discipline.
School policing can be carried out by different types of officers, including those who are unsworn law enforcement officers and even school security guards who are allowed to carry weapons.
School districts may choose to call the school-based police officers by a particular name. Some of the most common terms for police officers that are employed by or contract with schools districts are School Resource Officers (SRO) and School Safety Agents (SSA).
The school-to-prison pipeline is the national trend of school policies and practices that funnel students out of school and into the juvenile and/or criminal legal systems.
When school police are involved with school discipline, adultification bias can lead school police officers to arrest and assault girls of color, more often than they do other girls.
Beyond losing critical instruction time with educators, exclusionary discipline and school policing can have long-lasting consequences for students:
We Need to DIVEST From Police in Schools…
Over the years, the federal government has spent nearly $1 billion on grants used to hire school-based police officers. This doesn’t even include the hundreds of millions of dollars the federal government spends each year on mechanisms and programs that further criminalize students, like buying metal detectors and giving police access to otherwise private student records.
This also doesn’t include the millions of dollars that states and local municipalities spend under their own budgets for school policing programs each year.
This also doesn’t include the millions of dollars that states and local municipalities spend under their own budgets for school policing programs each year.
…And INVEST in Care and Community
Girls of color—and all students—need schools that are safe, inclusive, and supportive to thrive.
Some ways we can support students in feeling safe and thriving in school are: