To the Editor:
Re “Zero Tolerance, Reconsidered” (editorial, Jan. 6):
We are pleased to note the gradual reversal of zero tolerance policies in schools — something the American Psychological Association eight years agoevaluated as ineffective and harmful to children.
Zero tolerance policies have failed to curb violence, drug abuse and, more recently, bullying, because they don’t address the underlying causes of behavior, of which there are many.
What does make a visible dent, though, is teaching students emotional skills. Research shows that when an entire school community commits to learning emotional skills from a proven curriculum, everybody benefits: positive indicators, like student engagement, relationships between and among students and teachers, and kind behavior, go up.
Negative indicators, like anxiety, conflict and bullying, go down. And the bonus: academic achievement improves — students work better when they feel better.
Last spring, Representative Tim Ryan, a Democrat from Ohio, reintroduced a bill to provide funding to teach these essential skills, but Congress has not yet passed it.
Young people, whose brains are still developing and whose behavior has yet to settle into firm patterns, need the opposite of zero tolerance — they need skills development, second chances and support from people who care. Emotional skills can and should be taught.
MARC BRACKETT
DIANA DIVECHA
New Haven, Jan. 6, 2014
DIANA DIVECHA
New Haven, Jan. 6, 2014
The writers are director and research affiliate, respectively, at the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence.
To the Editor:
“Zero Tolerance, Reconsidered” points to a national trend to end the criminalization of young people in our schools.
In New York City, during the 2012-13 school year, there were more than 53,400 suspensions. Black students made up almost 53 percent of those suspensions, when they make up only 27 percent of the student population. Although we’ve seen a decrease in suspensions, the racial disparities have not changed.
Mayor Bill de Blasio and Carmen Fariña, the schools chancellor, can do what the Bloomberg administration didn’t: End harsh disciplinary policies; mandate and finance restorative justice programs and guidance interventions in all schools; end suspensions for “defying authority,” a vague, catchall infraction; train school staff systemwide to handle discipline; and revise the memorandum of understanding between the New York Police Department and the Department of Education to return school safety to the hands of educators.
The mayor’s stated commitment to addressing this issue is encouraging. Now is the time for action. New York City must lead the national movement to end the criminalization of our students.
MARÍA C. FERNÁNDEZ
Coordinator
Urban Youth Collaborative
New York, Jan. 7, 2014
Coordinator
Urban Youth Collaborative
New York, Jan. 7, 2014
To the Editor:
New federal guidelines urging public schools to drop so-called zero tolerance discipline policies are a cause for celebration. But highly punitive disciplinary measures that have led to increased student suspensions, expulsions and arrests — and that disproportionately affect black boys and children with disabilities — did not originate at the federal level, nor will they so easily be undone.
School districts began implementing “get tough” discipline policies in the 1960s and ’70s. Harsh and inflexible school discipline was a popular solution at a time of widespread racial and generational conflict and distrust. Strict policies were broadly supported as a means of restoring law and order while simultaneously ensuring that all students, regardless of race, gender or any other factor, would be treated the same.
Moving away from zero tolerance will require building more meaningful and trusting relationships among all members of our school communities — including students, parents, administrators, staff members and local citizens. Without those relationships, we are likely to develop new policies that will differ from current practices in name only.
JUDITH KAFKA
Brooklyn, Jan. 8, 2014
Brooklyn, Jan. 8, 2014
The writer is an associate professor at the Baruch College School of Public Affairs and the author of “The History of ‘Zero Tolerance’ in American Public Schooling.”
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