C. Negative Impact on Students Who Are Removed from School
Because children are not expendable, we must be concerned about how disciplinary removal affects the removed students, and not just those who remain in class. One review of research exploring why students drop out found that, “[s]everal studies ... have demonstrated how schools contribute to students' involuntary departure by systematically excluding and discharging troublemakers and other problematic students” (Rumberger, 2004). Responding to this sort of evidence, states and districts are increasingly treating suspensions and other indicators of poor behavior as early warning indications of dropout risk (Vaznis, 2010).
Further, and as noted earlier, the exclusion of these students presents immediate risks to their success and well-being. In the words of the Academy of Pediatrics (2003):
Without the services of trained professionals (such as pediatricians, mental health professionals, and school counselors) and without a parent at home during the day, students with out-of-school suspensions and expulsions are far more likely to commit crimes. A Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention study found that when youth are not in school, they are more likely to become involved in a physical fight and to carry a weapon .... The lack of professional assistance at the time of exclusion from school, a time when a student most needs it, increases the risk of permanent school dropout.
In fact, many in law enforcement have echoed the Academy's concerns about the repercussions from having high numbers of unsupervised suspended students (Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, 2009).
As the study from the Council of State Governments “Breaking School Rules” study definitively demonstrated, there are strong links between suspensions and dropping out, and heightened risks of juvenile justice involvement (Fabelo et al., 2011). These increased risks raise serious questions about the justification for suspending children, especially for relatively minor violations. This is particularly the case because most anticipated benefits of exclusion have not been documented.
