Zero Tolerance - ISBNLookup.com

Library Journal

In the wake of recent school shootings, zero-tolerance policies have sprung up across the nation in an effort to curb the violence supposedly running rampant in American educational institutions. But are such policies working, or are they causing more harm than good? And is school violence really on the increase, or is this merely the public's perception, fueled by increased media coverage? This collection of 20 essays-compiled by a professor of education, a high school teacher, and a clinical professor-examines the use of zero-tolerance policies across America, explaining the reasoning behind their creation, analyzing their effectiveness, and suggesting alternatives. While contributors, who include Rev. Jesse L. Jackson and Michelle Fine, share similar views (e.g., kicking youths out of school increases their likelihood of criminal behavior, racial profiling appears connected to zero-tolerance policies, and public perception of school violence does not correspond with statistics), each puts his or her own twist on the subject. The result is a quality collection that should find its way into every public and academic library.-Terry Christner, Hutchinson P.L., KS

Kirkus Reviews

An analysis of the "zero tolerance" policies often implemented in today's schools, and the ways these policies have disproportionately affected black and Latino students. "Zero tolerance" initially meant that any student bringing a gun to school would be expelled for up to two years. In many schools, however, the policy has come to cover not only realistic replicas of firearms and knives, but objects that, by virtue of their shape or design, could cause any physical harm, or even give the appearance of being able to do so. It is this nebulous wording that has the editors worried. William Ayers (A Kind and Just Parent, 1997), Dohrn (director, Children and Family Justice Center/Northwestern Univ.), and Berkeley High School teacher Rick Ayers argue that the rates of school punishment for black students exceed rates for white students. Clear examples in support of their theory are periodically given: A white student in Vermont was neither suspended nor expelled for bringing a loaded shotgun to school, while an African-American student in Rhode Island was suspended for offering to dislodge a computer disk with a penknife. At other times, the authors' rhetoric misses the mark: When six African-American students expelled for fighting try to return to their campus illegally, the situation is likened to "the 1957 placement of National Guard troops at Central High School in Little Rock." One wishes the editors had declared zero tolerance for purple prose: "Tears moistened the principal's eyes as she watched the axe fall on twelve-year-old Arturo, a student she had known since she first became the principal of the elementary school on Chicago's South Side." Even so, these are mostly sound essaysilluminating how the media's coverage of juvenile crime has led to blanket policies that can make little sense.