According to Amy Norton, writing for U.S. News and World Report, the American Academy of Pediatrics has taken a public stance against the use of suspensions and expulsions in schools. The article begins:
Suspending or expelling a child from school should be a rare last resort and not a routine punishment for bullying, drug use or other infractions, according to a new policy statement from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).
The AAP, a leading group of pediatricians, said school "zero-tolerance" policies toward kids' behavior problems do no good.
If the parents are at work when a child is out of school, more inappropriate behavior often occurs, the authors said in the statement, which was published online Feb. 25 in the journal Pediatrics. Students who are suspended or expelled are more likely to never get a high school diploma, end up in the juvenile justice system or eventually land a low-paying job or no job at all.
"There's a tremendous price to pay not just for the kid involved, but for society," said Dr. Jeffrey Lamont, a pediatrician at Marshfield Clinic in Weston, Wis., who wrote the new AAP statement.
The article goes on to discuss the findings of the task force of the American Psychological Association, which found that not only do zero tolerance policies not work, but they disproportionately impact black and Hispanic youth.
Read the full article, "Pediatricians Say No to Expulsions, Suspensions at Schools," here.
