Considerable expulsions and suspensions can depict the difference in school discipline.
A study by the American Psychological Association (APA) suggested that most of the approaches utilized in school discipline are counterproductive.
It was noted by APA that discipline approached proved detrimental as they increased the chances of students dropping out, as well as negatively affecting student achievement.
The imbalance in school discipline
Generally, white students tend to attain disciplinary office referrals for traits that can be objectively seen. For instance, vandalizing, smoking, and using obscene language.
This is in comparison to their black counterparts who get subjective disciplinary office referrals, such as threatening, disrespecting, and engaging in excessive noise.
This represents a significant imbalance in the way disciplinary actions are undertaken on students based on their backgrounds.
This issue ought to be amicably addressed because of this form of inequality because it can hinder the productivity of some students.
Indiana’s school discipline statistics
The Indiana Department of Education recently availed an online data portal where community leaders, families, and students could access information about disciplinary undertakings in Indiana schools.
For in-school suspensions, 4.4% of Indiana students were suspended across the state.
The situation was dire for Black/African-American students as they were more than twice as likely to attain in-school suspension at 8.2% as compared to their white counterparts at 3.4%.
On the other hand, out-of-school suspensions stood at 5.7% for all Indiana students.
A higher disparity was noted in Black/African-American students as they were nearly four times as likely to get out-of-school suspension at 15.4% as compared to their white peers at 3.8%.
These statistics, therefore, present a worrying trend, whereby a wide school discipline disparity is witnessed. Amicable solutions are necessitated to salvage this situation, as this will propel optimal productivity and equality in learning institutions.
On the other hand, it has been stipulated that unhealthy video games may not be the cause of actual violence in the United States (US), but they do ingrain reckless attitude and promote violent culture.
