School discipline is a hot topic, especially with controversies fueled by viral videos of police officers body-slamming kids in school, allegedly for misbehavior as minor as texting in class and not putting away the phone. As a parent, what can you do to protect your child from unfair school disciplinary proceedings?
First of all, it’s important to understand the rules, the discipline process, and students' rights (see the links below for detailed discussion of these issues). It’s also good to remember that school discipline—triggered in an appropriate situation and handled properly—can be a good opportunity for your child to learn how to resolve problems with teachers and classmates effectively and peacefully.
What Kinds of Punishment Can Schools Impose?
When students break the rules, schools have a fair amount of discretion in handing down punishment. The most common types of punishment include:
- loss of privileges, such as participation in school sports or other extracurricular activities
- service in the school or community
- detention (when student is assigned to a special classroom during lunch, after school, or on Saturdays)
- exclusion from a particular class
- in-school suspension (when the student is removed from all regular classes but stays on campus in a separate room)
- out-of-school suspension (when the student is removed from school from a few days to several months), and
- expulsion from the school.
In most states—and many large urban school districts in the remaining states—teachers and other school officials aren't allowed to hit or spank children as a form of discipline.
To find the rules on in your state, see this search tool for school discipline laws and regulations by state.
The Role of School Resource Officers in Enforcing Discipline
When school discipline is triggered in an appropriate situation and handled properly, it can be a good opportunity for your child to learn how to resolve problems with teachers and classmates effectively and peacefully. But many advocates complain that discipline policies and practices have created a "school-to-prison pipeline."
What’s behind this criticism? In the wake of campus shootings and other violent incidents, schools across the country adopted zero tolerance policies, which impose strict, mandatory punishments for violence, drugs, and other misconduct. To enforce these and other prohibitions, more schools rely on School Resource Officers (local police assigned full time to patrol campuses) to handle discipline problems—including not-so-serious misconduct that used to be the responsibility of teachers or principals. Studies have shown that kids are more likely to be arrested for low-level offenses like disorderly conduct in schools with cops on campus than in other schools.
Details on Other School Discipline FAQs
Follow the links below for answers to some of the other most frequently asked questions about punishment in the education setting:
- What kinds of behavior can lead to my child's suspension from school?
- When can schools expel students?
- What are "zero tolerance" policies in schools?
- What are students' rights in school disciplinary proceedings?
- What are the consequences of cheating and plagiarism at school?
When Should You Talk to a Lawyer?
If your child has been accused of misconduct that could lead to a suspension or other serious discipline, you’ll want to know how to approach the discipline proceedings and protect your child’s rights. An attorney who specializes in education law should be able to help. Some states allow students to have attorneys represent them at school hearings.
If there’s any chance that your child could be subject to criminal charges as well as school discipline, you should talk to a lawyer immediately, before your child speaks to anyone else about the incident (including school officials or law enforcement officers working on campus).
Depending on the specifics of your situation, lawyers with experience in education law and school discipline, juvenile criminal matters, or discrimination claims in an educational setting might be best suited to help you.