Whichever way one prefers to look at it, discrimination in the American education system continues to be a real pain for the student who is considered "different" from the rest, serving as a real irony to the continued quest for equality and fairness as far as the American policies of humanity are concerned. These discriminations have taken various forms based on sexual orientation, skin color, gender, nationality, and economic status. Racial discrimination is one of the leading causes of inequality and unfair distribution of resources in American schools thereby contributing to performance imbalance and the creation of social classes which play a significant role in limiting open interactions and personal development of learners.
It is essential to point out that institutional racism does not only affect adult learners but spreads to the children in K-12 schools. To illustrate this, various anecdotes from families and research studies all point to the fact that children of color face bias in schools (Herron & Young-Alfaro, 2019) . It is correct to point out that such students not only face prejudice from their peers, but this bias stems from the harsh conditions they are subjected to by the educators themselves. For instance, black children are disciplined more harshly and are given fewer chances to identify as gifted or given access to quality tutoring by the teachers. Racial disparities in suspensions, for instance, persist even in preschool in which black students are three times more likely to be suspended or expelled that the white students, or so the U.S Department of Education reports (Herron & Young-Alfaro, 2019) . From face value, it may appear a normal phenomenon to punish students who go wrong or break the school rules and regulations, but considering such cases as the extreme punitive discipline in the American South, it becomes quite apparent that there is more to the punitive discipline students of color face.
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A report by The Center for the Study of Race and Equality in Education of the University of Pennsylvania, in particular, found that 13 Southern states were directly responsible for the 55% of the 1.2 million suspensions that involved the students of color in America (Herron & Young-Alfaro, 2019) . For Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia, and the other Southern states to have such a substantial responsibility in the suspensions in 2016 shows just how strongly racism is advocated for in the region of the country. And while racism may have mild impacts ranging from low self-esteem to school dropout, the effects could be quite dire in the sense that in very extreme cases, they lead to insecurity and imprisonment. From a young age when a child is discriminated against, they are made to feel lesser of human beings than their white peers. This could cause psychological torture in which the learner becomes emotionally detached, not only from the other students but could as well impact how they relate in the society as a whole. This societal withdrawal limits the holistic development of a child and could have a significant impact on how they later on in their adult life interact with other members of society. By being discriminated against, a child is unable to play and socialize normally with their peers, but instead is withdrawn and prefers to stay on their own most of the times (Herron & Young-Alfaro, 2019) . This kind of children become shy and are unable to develop socializing skills fully. In rare cases, they would become bitter and angry at the fact that they are not good enough and act out in rebellion. This explains one of the common reasons for gang activities, revenge. In this scenario, the kids, or young adult’s resort to violence such as theft, rape, or, murder in worst case scenarios to get back at their white counterparts who deprive them of the opportunity to live a normal childhood or adult life.
Drug abuse is another immediate consequence of racial discrimination in schools (Okonofua, Walton, & Eberhardt, 2016) . Driven by rage and vengeance, most victims of discrimination resort to drug and alcohol abuse to forget about their pain and loneliness for a while. Unfortunately, this only leads to more problems since in an intoxicated state; youngsters become more prone to other vices such as engaging in unprotected sex which leaves them at risk of contracting HIV and AIDS, or driving under the influence thereby putting their lives, as well as the lives of other pedestrians at risk. For the adverse effects associated with racial discrimination, or any other form of discrimination for that matter in American schools, it is critical to find ways to promote unity and equality in schools. One way of establishing such grounds would be the training of educators to ensure they are enlightened on their role of promoting integration by not only emphasizing on building on the characters and personalities of the learners rather than judging them by their color or gender but by also creating strict and loving environment that does not condone discrimination (Okonofua Walton & Eberhardt, 2016) . To achieve this, the educators should educate learners on such values as peaceful coexistence, unity, equity, and corporation and pay keen attention to the behaviors that seem to be discriminatory. Special care should be given for instance to the K-12 children who might practice what would be considered harmless acts of discrimination such as refusing to sit or share resources with the students of color, or even refusing to play with them. This is because most of these acts are cultivated in homes where racist parents forbid their children from freely interacting with black children in the neighborhood. The children may follow these footsteps innocently out of fear or respect, but it could have more dire consequences as they progress along the way.
References
Herron, J. D., & Young-Alfaro, M. V. (2019). Racialized Perceptions of School Violence Suspensions of African-American Students. In Handbook of Research on School Violence in American K-12 Education (pp. 208-226). IGI Global.
Okonofua, J. A., Walton, G. M., & Eberhardt, J. L. (2016). A vicious cycle: A social– psychological account of extreme racial disparities in school discipline. Perspectives on Psychological Science , 11 (3), 381-398.
