Dignity in Schools Campaign - Children are being pushed out of school
Dignity in Schools Campaign Statement (2008)
Pushout happens when youth are removed (or remove themselves) from a regular school setting as a result of policies and practices that discourage them from remaining in classrooms and on track to receive a regular diploma. We recognize that the problem is broader than any one issue and encompasses much more than simply “zero tolerance” policies, suspension and expulsion rates, or due process procedures. We have found that there are many more policies that can result in a child being pushed out of school.Through the research that we have collected, we find that these practices include:
- Unwelcoming school environments and a lack of relevant and engaging curricula which alienate and discoura students;
- Encouragement of low-performing, overage or under-credited students to transfer to a GED program or other alternative setting;
- Zero tolerance and other exclusionary discipline policies which remove students from school, such as repeated and excessive suspension and expulsion; placement into low-quality alternative school programs; police intervention and referrals to the juvenile justice system;
- Exclusion of expelled (and sometimes suspended) students from educational services during the term of the expulsion (or suspension);
- Under-resourced and over-crowded schools where students do not have access to academic counseling and supportive relationships with teachers to help keep them in school;
- Failure to use effective prevention and intervention for misbehavior, such as counseling, mediation, and positive behavioral support methods, that can address students’ needs and keep them in school; and
- The exclusion of students and parents from the development an implementation of local school policies and disciplinary processes, as well as due process violations.
Challenging Pushout from a Human Rights Perspective
The DSC believes that schools are pushing children out of school by placing arbitrary rules before children‘s education and treating children as “problems” to be dealt with rather than humans in need of guidance and respect. This stems from a societal failure to recognize education as a substantive right that should not be denied to any child. International human rights treaties, like the Convention on the Rights of the Child, recognize that all children have the right to an education aimed at their “full development.” Education must ensure “that essential life skills are learnt by every child…such as the ability to make well-balanced decisions; to resolve conflicts in a non-violent manner; and to develop a healthy lifestyle, good social relationships and responsibility” (United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child). School discipline is an essential part of teaching these necessary behavioral and life skills. In order to do that, discipline must be carried out in a way that protects the dignity of the child, that is just and fair, and that keeps children in school.
The problem of effectively disciplining youth and keeping them in school is multi-faceted – it is legal, social, political, and cultural. We hope to shift the discussion on school discipline from one about violence, rules, test scores and the criminalization of youth to one about equality, dignity, and human rights. We feel that this framework more accurately addresses the many aspects of pushout.