School Exclusion Policies Stigmatize Arrested Teens and Contribute to Educational Failure,
“Zero- tolerance” policies that rely heavily on suspensions and expulsions hinder teens who have been arrested from completing high school or pursuing a college degree, according to a new study from The University of Texas at Austin.
In Chicago, 25,000 male adolescents are arrested each year. One quarter of these arrests occurred in school, according to the Chicago Police Department. The stigma of a public arrest can haunt an individual for years — ultimately stunting academic achievement and transition into adulthood, says David Kirk, associate professor in the Department of Sociology and the Population Research Center.
The study, published in the January 2013 issue of Sociology of Education, indicates that punitive school