Key Elements Fueling the School-to-Prison Pipeline and Strategies for Intervention

Sadly, many people live in communities where getting arrested and getting stuck in the system is common. For some people, this journey starts in school where they get their first offenses. Schools sometimes expel students too quickly, which in turn isolates them.

It’s a tale as old as time, and the school-to-prison pipeline continues to destroy lives and tear families apart. However, we can only fix this large issue if we band together and try to understand the many nuances that fuel it. Follow along as we explore what fuels the school-to-prison pipeline and highlight solutions.

Why Does the School-to-Prison Pipeline Exist?

The school-to-prison pipeline exists for many reasons, such as a lack of funding and a cultural divide. This harrowing pipeline largely exists in communities experiencing economic and social unrest. Inadequate funds make it hard for schools to provide meaningful resources, such as counseling and career guidance.

Unfortunately, many schools in such areas also enlist police help as a go-to solution when that may be overkill. That is because the school doesn’t have the staff or resources to handle certain conflicts and problems in-house. This makes them rely on the police in situations where a guidance counselor could have helped instead.

Introducing young students to police discipline that early can leave them at a disadvantage. Instead of staying after school with detention, they may leave school in handcuffs with a criminal record. This creates a seemingly endless cycle that can eventually lead to prison in some cases.

How Can We Stop the School-to-Prison Pipeline?

The best way to stop the school-to-prison pipeline is to provide a positive environment. However, this is difficult to achieve until schools take a few important steps, such as:

Prioritize Prevention

Jumping to conclusions and harshly punishing students right away is often a mistake. After all, you can’t set students up to succeed if they rack up criminal offenses before graduating. Instead, schools must focus on educating students on the risks that come with criminal activity.

It’s also important to educate students on the common problems within their community and explore why they exist. This can work wonders to help the youth break the cycle and avoid the pitfalls of past generations. The more they know about why such problems exist, the more easily they can avoid getting swept up in them.

Counselors and social workers are needed in every school, especially in communities with lots of unrest. Skilled social workers can connect with students of all backgrounds. They can help students understand issues at school, at home, and within their communities.

Limit Police Intervention

It’s no secret that police intervention is needed in schools in the case of extreme violence and crime. Ideally, schools should avoid resorting to police intervention unless such extreme activity occurs. Otherwise, you can instill a profound resentment for law enforcement as the students won’t trust the police.

The United States has the highest incarceration rate as well as the highest recidivism rate. Repeating offenders are common because of how quickly they throw people in jail. You can’t expect students to succeed if they get a criminal record before they complete their education.

Granted, police are still needed in many schools. For example, they can intervene and save lives in the case of school shootings and violent conflicts. However, it’s important to reserve police intervention for extreme situations to avoid putting so many youths into the system.

Soften Zero-Tolerance Policies

Many schools enforce zero-tolerance policies that eventually displace students. When you expel a student from school, they often struggle to get accepted to another school. It’s all too easy to give in to bad influences and turn to criminal activity when left without structure.

Fewer students would be expelled from school if zero-tolerance policies weren’t so strict. Sure, schools shouldn’t tolerate extreme, violent behavior, such as concealing weapons on campus. However, expelling students for disruptive behavior, foul language, and drugs is a slippery slope.

Instead, schools must use such behavior as a way to educate the students in question. Positive intervention and education can help students stop the cycle and recognize why such behavior is wrong. Otherwise, they cannot learn from their mistakes, and they may be destined to repeat them.

Provide Better Funding

It’s hard for schools to justify leniency and thorough counseling when the budget makes it seem impossible. Schools cannot easily allocate funds for counselors and special courses to discourage criminal behavior. Extra funds let schools offer courses to educate students about the socioeconomic problems within their communities.

Once they understand such nuances, they can eventually identify and avoid situations that would otherwise lead to incarceration. Without proper funding, it’s hard to provide positive counseling and social work. Otherwise, they may rely on a forensic social worker when they are already wrapped up in the system.

Better funding makes it easier for schools to justify special courses, large counseling teams, and after-school programs. It’s also easier for schools to support athletic programs, which can entice students to join them. Positive extra-curricular activities can keep students out of trouble, but that’s only possible with a good budget.

We Can Eliminate the School-to-Prison Pipeline

There isn’t much we can do about how frivolously the U.S. incarcerates people. However, we as a community can at least encourage our schools to nurture positivity within their students. Whether it be social workers, after-school programs, or more lax policies, schools can help keep their students out of legal trouble.