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Vanessa Reyes

Ms Trotter (4)

British Literature

12 March 2017.

What are alternative means of discipline that do not take students out of the learning

environment for extended periods of time?

Ferguson, Christopher J. "Does Suspending Students Work?" Time. Time, 05 Dec. 2012.

Web. 12 Mar. 2017. < http://ideas.time.com/2012/12/05/does-suspending-students-work/

In this article, Ferguson questions the idea of if suspending students from school really works as

a form of discipline. He worked with more than enough students to know that suspension does

not do any good to the students, he also took information from the Journal Of School Violence

written by Pamela Fenning. Ferguson continues to go on about the fact that giving students a

couple days of from suspension is not a form of punishment in the eyes of students, especially

those who are already against school. He mentions some alternative means of discipline that

some school partake in that will help this conflict from becoming a bigger issue. This article

helps support my statement that suspension is causing more harm to students and that many see it

as more of a vacation. It will help me further my research on alternative means of discipline

since Ferguson mentions that schools give in-school suspension or Saturday suspension. I

learned that many school districts do not have the financial resources to come up with different

forms of punishment for students which could lead to academic failure. After reading this article

I am more understanding of the struggle to find different means of discipline although

suspension does cause harm.

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Peterson, Reece L. "Impact Newsletter: Ten Alternatives to Suspension." Impact

Newsletter: Ten Alternatives to Suspension. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Mar. 2017.

<https://ici.umn.edu/products/impact/182/over5.html

In this article, Peterson gives a list of 10 alternatives forms of discipline that do not

involve suspending students. At the end of his article he gives a different list of his references

used to help write the article such as The Color of Discipline and The Dark Side of Zero

Tolerance. Peterson talks about suspension making students academic learning progress harder

so many schools are beginning to review their discipline rules. Some of the alternative means of

discipline are; restitution, parent involvement, community service, in-school suspension etc. I

found this article very useful since it was packed with information on alternative means of

discipline that I was unable to come up with. With these different forms I could possibly bring

them to my own high school and even set up an interview with my principal to find out what his

views are on the 10 alternative means of discipline mentioned in this article.

Roter, Amy, Tim Villegas, PhD Manya Whitaker, Kathryn DeBros, John Katzman, and

Written By Amy Roter Anti-Bullying Specialist, MA in Teaching English, Parent of 2,

Soon-to-be Counselor. "Types of School Discipline Policies and Their Long-Term Impact."

Noodle. N.p., 20 Oct. 2015. Web. 12 Mar. 2017.

<https://www.noodle.com/articles/types-of-school-discipline-policies-and-their-long-term-impac

In this article, Roter begins by explaining how she is an ISS (in-school suspension)

teacher and proceeds to give different disciplinary techniques along with immediate and

long-term effects. At the end of her article she includes her list of resources she used for her
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research including National Association of School Psychologists. Roter gives four different

forms of discipline and gives detail on how each form works and the effects it can bring. She

talks about punitive techniques, zero tolerance, replacement techniques, and positive

reinforcement being possible forms that can be used other than having to suspend a student. This

article is useful for my project because not only does she give different forms of discipline but

Roter also gives more information beyond that, the long-term impact and the immediate efficacy

shows useful information explaining why the different forms could be good or bad which could

be used in my own project.

Adams, Jane Meredith. "Study: Suspensions Harm well-behaved Kids." EdSource. N.p.,

8 Jan. 2015. Web. 12 Mar. 2017.

<https://edsource.org/2015/study-suspensions-harm-well-behaved-kids/72501

In this article, Adams goes over the topic of how suspension not only causes harm to the

student being suspended but also to the students in the classroom. After tracking students and

having multiple studies, they have found information backing up their initial thought. Adams

claims that the more suspensions throughout the semester the lower the scores were for the

non-suspended students. It makes students feels as if the school worries more about

crime/behavior control over relationships with students. This article provides more than enough

information as to why suspension now causes more harm to everybody else. With this

information I can again have interviews with my principal and show him why suspension should

be changed, if it causes harm to more people other than the one being suspended it should be

something we should avoid. Removing a delinquent from the classroom by suspending them is
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supposedly helping the others learn but is doing the exact opposite which I find helpful to use for

my project.

Healy, Cheryl. "Discipline and Punishment: How School Suspensions Impact the

Likelihood of Juvenile Arrest." Chicago Policy Review. N.p., 21 Apr. 2014. Web. 12 Mar. 2017.

<http://chicagopolicyreview.org/2014/03/26/discipline-and-punishment-how-school-suspensions

-impact-the-likelihood-of-juvenile-arrest/

In this article, Healy talks about how school suspension leads to most of the students

getting arrested. Most of her research is found by having studies with 1,000 plus students and

receiving information from From the School Yard to the Squad Car: School Discipline,

Truancy, and Arrest Healy explains how schools should be finding alternatives to suspension

and expulsion since students were twice as likely to be arrested in the times where they were

suspended and/or expelled. She claims that being forcefully removed from school has a link

connected to the juvenile justice system. This article is useful for my project because most

schools biggest priority is to keep the students safe but if suspending them could lead to being

arrested then that is not keeping us students safe. It shows exactly as to why schools should

removed suspension completely because it is not safe, either for the student being suspended or

for the non-suspended. If more schools knew that students who are suspended have a double

chance of being arrested it could possibly have them think twice the next time they decide if they

want to follow through with the suspension.