Supportive School Discipline Snapshots from the Safe Schools/Healthy Students Initiative

In the early 1990s, many schools adopted zero tolerance policies, which mandate the use of specific disciplinary consequences—often severe and punitive—in an effort to increase school safety. Originally designed to reduce weapon-carrying in schools, these policies have been expanded in many school districts to include bullying, fighting, the use of alcohol and other drugs, swearing, and inappropriate dress, leading to significant increases in student suspensions and expulsions. However, recent research is questioning the effectiveness of zero tolerance policies in increasing school safety, and identifies many negative consequences of zero tolerance for students, including school disengagement, failure, and dropout.