The term suspension is a common practice in schools and in the workplace for being in violation of the existing policies. In academics, a suspension is also referred to as the temporal exclusion of a student from the ordinary school activities. It is important to note that it can last for a period of 1 day to 1 week in which the student is not allowed to attend the normal school lessons. It is important to note that the student’s guardians or parents are usually notified of the reasons for the suspension, as well as, the period of the suspension. Expulsion on the other hand referrers to the banning of a student from any school system for an extended period of time than a suspension would last due to the student continuously violating the institution’s policies. This particular paper will argue that students of certain particular racial and ethnic groups are disciplined at higher rates, that is, suspended and expelled more than their other peers.
Suspension, expulsion, and arrest referral highlights
It can be acknowledged that Black children represent about 18% of the children enrolled preschools, however, they make up about 48% of the children preschool who receive suspensions. In comparison, White students make up about 43% of the preschool enrolments but only make up about 26% of the students who receive preschool suspensions. It can be acknowledged that black students are suspended and expelled from schools at a rate much higher than the white students (Losen & Skiba, 2010). On average, it is said that 16% of Black students are suspended compared to 5% of White students. It is important to note that the Native-Alaska students, as well as, the Indian-American students are also disproportionally suspended and expelled from school if compared to the white students.
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It is true to state that boys receive more suspensions and expulsions from schools if compared to the girls, however, the Black girls are usually suspended at a much higher rate, that is, at a rate of 12% compared to girls from other races, as well as, even boys from other races (Cooper, 2015: Krezmien, Leone, & Achilles, 2006). Additionally, it can be acknowledged that the Indian-American and the Native-Alaska girls are suspended and expelled at a rate of 7% which is higher if compared to the rate of 6% in which White boys and 2% in which White girls are suspended and expelled at (Skiba, Michael, Nardo, & Peterson, 2002).
According to the IDEA, more than 1 out of 4 Black boys with disabilities, as well as, nearly 1 out of 5 Black girls with disabilities receive out of school suspensions (Cortiella & Horowitz, 2014: Morris, 2016). It can be acknowledged that Black students make up about 16% of the students enrolled in schools, however, these Black students make up 26% of the students that are referred to law enforcement agencies and 30% of students involved in school-related arrests (Brownstein, 2010: Wun, 2016). It is important to note that Black students with disabilities represent 19% of the all the students in the country, however, 35% of them are usually restrained at school through the use of devices that restrict their movements (Theriot, Craun, & Dupper, 2010).
Discussion
According to the data presented above, it can be concluded that the African-American students are 4 times more likely to get suspended and expelled from school compared to their fellow White classmates making public schools a different place for minority students if compared to the white students. The data presented above coincides with the data that was presented to Congress by the United States Department of Education that indicated that African-American K-12 students are more likely to receive school suspensions, as well as, expulsions compared to the white students (Losen & Martinez, 2013: Smith & Harper, 2015). It is important to note that this data was presented a few weeks after a report was released by a Civil Rights Project from the University of California that indicated that this suspensions and expulsions account for about 65,000 high school dropouts. These dropouts in general are responsible for the loss of $160,000 in form of taxes $350,000 in the form of other social costs, for example, the criminal justice system expenses and health care (Raffaele, 2003). In general, it estimated that the full cost of the 1oh grade dropouts exceeds $30 billion and this high cost underscores the importance of finding other ways to discipline students (Losen, 2014: Losen, Hodson, Keith, Michael, Morrison, & Belway, 2015).
The data presented at the federal level indicates that suspensions and expulsions only make up a small part of the problem faced by minority students, for example, the Black students, hence, there is more to the problem, for example, being poorly represented in almost every level of advanced academic programs, therefore, more needs to be done to address this problem.
References
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