chapter 11: schools and delinquency. a. introduction – school crime and safety --student...

Chapter 11: Schools and Delinquency

A. Introduction– School crime and safety

--Student victimization --Teacher victimization

-Do schools have a stay-in or a dropout problem?– The stay-in problem– The drop-out problem

-School, children, and rules– Suspension and expulsion– Corporal punishment

-School, children, and law– Searches and seizures– Free speech


B. School Crime and Safety

• a. School crime has decreased in the last few years, but theft and violence can still

cause a disruptive environment not conducive to learning

i. 1999, students were the victim of 2.5 million non-fatal crimes (theft plus violent

crimes) with the victims being distributed evenly between males and females

1) Student victimization

– a. Students are the victims of a wide range of non-fatal offense in school

(hate graffiti, property theft, bullying, etc.)

i. Since secondary schools warehouse people between the ages of 14 and 18, is delinquency inevitable? (The age effect)


b. Street gangs

– i. Though street gangs are very disruptive to schools, the percentage of students who reported

street gangs at their schools had decreased between 1995 and 1999 (this number has fallen by

17%)

– ii. Today, 29% of the nation’s schools contain street gangs who are often involved in drugs,

weapons trafficking, and violence

c. Regulations and restrictions have been somewhat successful to combat this problem

– i. Some school districts have established regulations that govern the dress or the behavior of

youths on school ground (i.e. no pagers, no baseball caps on school grounds)

– ii. Another regulation has been the banning of specific gang ‘paraphernalia’ and actions that are

deemed to be furthering the interests of gangs


– iii. Other school responses include education and training programs designed to increase youth awareness and resistance to gangs (such as project build in Chicago- Broader Urban

Involvement and Leadership Development)

– iv. In the vein of programs such as DARE, these gang awareness programs emphasize realistic alternatives to gang membership

d. Weapons in school are another major problem

– i. The percentage of students who were threatened or injured with a weapon on school property

has remained constant in recent years (about 8 percent) with males more likely than females to be

victimized (in 1999-10% of males reported being threatened in this manner, while the number

dropped to 6% for females)

– ii. There does not appear to be racial/ethnic differences in these percentages


e. Bullying, or negative acts by students carried out against other students repeatedly

over time, is another issue of concern

– i. Physical bullying – examples include hitting, kicking, spitting, pushing, and taking personal

belongings

– ii. Verbal bullying – examples include taunting, malicious teasing, name calling, and making

threats

– iii. Emotional bullying – encompasses the spreading of rumors, manipulating social relationships,

or engaging in social exclusion, extortion, or intimidation

– iv. Sexual bullying – harassment and actual abuse

f. How widespread is this problem?


– i. According to the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development

(NICHD) about 17% of school-aged children have been bullied ‘sometimes or ‘weekly’

(or about 2 million children are bullied each week, with about 2 million children also carrying out the

bullying)

– ii. Though boys and girls are equally likely to be bullied, the forms of bullying are

drastically different—(with girls usually being the victims of rumors and such, while boys

are typically physically bullied)

g. What happens to children who are bullied?

– i. In the short-term, children who are bullied often have trouble making friends,

embarrass easily, are insecure, have low self-esteem and are fearful of attending school

– ii. The impact of chronic childhood bullying often follows children into adulthood where

they will be at a greater risk of suffering from depression and committing suicide


h. And what about the bullies?

– i. Bullies typically have other problems as well which include but are not limited to: the abuse of

animals, shoplifting, poor attendance, fights and drug use

– ii. In studies conducted by Dan Olweus and Susan Limber, bullies are more likely to become

chronic adult offenders and criminals than non-bullies

I. Hate speech and graffiti

– i. In 1999, nearly 13% of students reported that someone at school had used hate-related words

against them, with black students more likely than white or Latino students to be called hate words

– ii. About 14% of females reported being called hate words and about 39% of girls reported

seeing hate-related graffiti (for males, the numbers were 12% being called hate words and 34%

seeing graffiti)


j. Stolen and/or damaged property

– i. Though these crimes are less harmful than physical attacks on students, they divert

attention away from a student’s studies and can make the learning environment appear to

be less safe than it actually is

– ii. About 1/3 of all students have reported being a victim of a theft or have reported

damage to their personal property

– iii. In these studies, boys were more likely than girls to report being victims of theft or

property damage on school grounds

k. The overall consequences of student victimizations

– i. Students who fear for their own safety will almost certainly have difficulty learning

and about 5 percent of students reported fearing that they would be attacked or harmed

in school in 1999 (about 1 million students)


2) Teacher victimization

a. Teachers are also the victims of violence and theft in school (in the 5 year period from

1995-1999 teachers were the victims of approximately 1,708,000 non-fatal crimes at school

including 1,073,000 thefts and 635,000 violent crimes)

b. Some teachers are more likely than others to be crime victims, and according to

research conducted from 1995 to 1999:

– i. High school and middle school teachers were more than twice as likely as elementary

school teachers to be victims of violent crime

– ii. High school and middle school teachers were also about twice as likely as elementary

school teachers to be victims of property crimes

– iii. Male teachers were more than twice as likely as female teachers to be the victims of

violent crime


c. From 1994 through 1998, urban teachers were more likely to be victims of violent and property crimes than either teachers in rural or suburban schools

C. Do schools have a stay-in or dropout problem?

1) The stay-in problem

a. Jackson Toby postulates that the reason why schools are unsafe is because they

have a stay-in problem, and NOT a drop-out problem

– i. Stay-in students who are delinquent and who earn poor grades interfere with the education of

other students who wish to learn

b. According to Toby, schools must get rid of these stay-in students by:

– i. Lowering the age students can quit schools from 16 to 15


– ii. Abolish rules that tie Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) to continued school

enrollment

– iii. Create a sub-minimum wage for teens that would give them the opportunity to work in the

legal job market

c. The dropout problem

– i. About 3,000 students drop out of school every day, according to research conducted by the

Children’s Defense Fund in 2001

– ii. Juveniles who drop out of school will have considerably lower prospects in life than students

who stay in school

d. Is there a link between drop-outs and crime?


– i. Though drop-outs do have higher crime rates than juveniles who continue their schooling, their rates

were also higher before they left school

– ii. Delbert Elliot and Harwin Voss found that delinquency decreased after troubled children dropped out,

and reasoned that this was because school was causing these children to experience stress and frustration

– iii. However, research carried out by Terence Thornberry reported that dropping out of school increased

the likelihood of later crime

– iv. Roger Jarjoura probed more deeply into the reasons why children dropped out of school and

hypothesized that a child’s reason for dropping out of school would be related to future delinquency

e. Prevention programs

– i. Nearly every school district in the United States has a drop-out prevention program

– ii. In New York City, students with good attendance and behavior will be given a job upon graduation,

and jobs can be an enormously stabilizing influence on a juvenile’s life


– iii. In West Virginia, students who drop out of school are denied a driver’s license

– iv. A variety of programs such as the Values in Action program in San Gabriel, California emphasize

integrity and other values that many feel are essential in helping to keep children in school

D. Schools, children, and rules

a. Across the nation, students are usually inducted into a system of rules through a student

handbook which lists student rules and the consequences for violating them

b. Common rules include, but are not limited to the restriction of:

– i. Smoking, or the possession of tobacco products

– ii. Toys at school (e.g., Frisbees)

– iii. Wearing hair in a particular style


– iv. Using disrespectful or abusive language

1) Delinquency and punishment

a. Suspension

– i. In 1976, the supreme court of the United States ruled that students who are suspended for 10 or

more days must receive a hearing (Goss v. Lopez)

– ii. At the hearing, they do not have the right to an attorney, or the right to cross-examine or confront

witnesses

– iii. Within 24 hours following a suspension, the principle must provide a written statement outlining why

a child was suspended

b. Expulsion


– i. Students who face expulsion have the right to a hearing, and the right to appeal the decision to the

school superintendent or to the school board

– ii. Though black students only make up about 17% of the student population, they make up about 30%

of the 3 million children who are suspended each year (1 in 8 black students are suspended each year,

while only 1 of 30 white students are suspended each year)

c. Corporal punishment, or the infliction of pain as a penalty for violating a school rule, is

still a controversial issue

– i. Corporal punishment in schools is prohibited in every industrialized nation except the United States,

Canada, and one state in Australia despite the fact that it has been linked to increased aggression,

depression, school and emotional problems, and future delinquency

– ii. There is a long history of corporal punishment in the United States, and many advocates of it base

their beliefs on the Old Testament’s “Book of Proverbs” which states that “he that spareth his rod hateth his

son; but he that loveth him chastiseth him betimes”


– iii. In other words, some believe that this quote gives credence to the belief that teachers

should physically punish unruly students

d. In Baker v. Owen (1975), the Supreme Court decided that teachers could administer

reasonable corporal punishment for disciplinary purposes and in 1977’s Ingraham v. Wright,

the court added that corporal punishment does not violate the cruel and unusual punishment

clause of the Eighth Amendment

e. Each year, about 500,000 students are physically punished by teachers, coaches and bus

drivers in the United Sates (with about 5,000 children being beaten so badly that they require

medical attention)

– i. Boys, (who consist of 61 percent of the student population), receive 80% of beatings

– ii. Blacks, (who constitute 17 percent of the student population), receive 40% of beatings

f. Corporal punishment (the ongoing debate)


– i. In recent polls, about 48% of Americans agree with the idea of corporal punishment in an educational environment, while 44% disagree

– ii. Around 1983, more than 1.5 million students were paddled annually, while only about

500,000 are hit today on an annual basis

– iii. In 1980, corporal punishment was banned in 5 states; today that number has reached

27 states

– iv. Though it is allowed in 11 states, many school districts have chosen to prohibit it

– v. Even though many support corporal punishment because they believe that the threat of

physical violence is enough to keep most students in line, experts such as psychologist Ralph

Welsh argue that corporal punishment produces fear and anger in students

E. Schools, children and law


1) Searches and Seizures

a. School officials may legally search students and their lockers without consent though this

may seem to violate the fourth amendment

– i. Searches and seizures are deemed to be legal in school; since schools need to protect and maintain

a proper educational environment for all students (the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few?)

– ii. In Thompson v. Carthage School District (1996), the 8th circuit court of appeals overturned a

lower court decision regarding the exclusionary rule of the fourth amendment (which protects against

improper searches and seizures)

– iii. Basically, the result of the decision was that school officials may legally search students and their

lockers without consent

b. A sweep search, or a search of all school lockers on the premises, is often authorized by a principal when he/she feels it is necessary to protect the student body at large from:


– i. Interference with a school purpose or an educational function

– ii. Physical injury or illness

– iii. Damage to property

– iv. Violation of state law or school rules

– v. Disposal of confiscated contraband

– vi. Involvement of law enforcement officials

– vii. Locker cleaning

c. Also, there has been a special waiving of the probable cause requirement of the fourth

amendment when it comes to locker searches


– i. The “reasonable suspicion doctrine” was established in New Jersey v. T.L.O. (1985),

when the court ruled that school officials can conduct searches of lockers without a warrant on the

basis of reasonable suspicion

– ii. In Vernonia School District 47j v. Acton (1995), the court held that students

participating in school athletic activities must submit to a urinalysis (or similar test) upon the request from

school officials (seizing urine and searching for traces of drugs in it based on reasonable

suspicion)

2) Free Speech

a. The guarantee of free speech in the first amendment is relative and the free speech of

students in public schools has been much more restricted than the free speech in other institutions

– i. In West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette (1943), the court held that

students do not have to salute the flag while reciting the Pledge of Allegiance


– ii. In Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District (1969), the court ruled that

students have the right of free expression as long as their behavior does not interrupt school activities or

intrude in the school affairs or the lives of others

– iii. In Bethel School District No. 403 v. Fraser (1986), the Supreme Court ruled that schools may

prohibit vulgar and offensive language

– iv. In Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeir (1988), the Court ruled that school administrators can

regulate the content of student publications in public schools for educational purposes (in other words,

administrators could exercise the ability to censor student publications)

b. Religion, schools and students

– i. Over the past 60 years, the Supreme Court has heard many cases where the constitutionality of

religion/prayer in school has been questioned

– ii. Perhaps the main two milestone cases in this category are McCollum v. Board of Education (1948)

and Engel v. Vitale (1962)


– iii. In McCollum, the court disallowed the practice of having religious education take place

in public schools, and in Engel the Supreme Court ruled that it was unconstitutional for a school to

require students to recite prayer or meditate

c. The Future of our schools

– i. Are our schools truly in a decline compared to the schools of other industrialized

nations?

– ii. Are some forms of delinquency inevitable? (such as bullying)

– iii. Will programs such as the No Child Left behind act help to strengthen America’s

schools, and thus decrease rates of delinquency in the future?

(pro) (con) End of chapter 11 notes


chapter 11: schools and delinquency. a. introduction – school crime and safety --student...

Documents

school property

school responses

school groundsii

school districts

nations schools

introduction school

school hate graffiti

percentage of students