HOW WILL YOU TOUCH THE FUTURE?
Your school discipline policies and culture directly impact the futures of every child in your learning community.
- When students are suspended or expelled, the likelihood that they will repeat a grade, not graduate, and/or become involved in the juvenile justice system increases significantly.—Breaking School Rules Report, 2011
- Minority students, those with disabilities and LGBT youth are many times more likely than their majority peers to be suspended or expelled. –The School Discipline Consensus Report, 2014
- Students suspended or expelled for a discretionary incident were nearly three times as likely to be in contact with the juvenile justice system in the following year.—Breaking School Rules Report, 2011
They impact the economy of your area and our state.
- Michigan spends about $7,250 each year and $37,500 to keep an inmate locked up.—For Naught: How Zero Tolerance Policy and School Police Practices Imperil Our Students’ Future, 2015
- “Young people who do not graduate high school are less likely to be employed, earn less income, have worse health and lower life expectancy, are less likely to be civically engaged, and are more likely to be involved with the criminal justice system and require social services. Without some training beyond high school, securing a stable, well-paying job is very unlikely.”—GradNation Report, 2018
YOU can protect your students and community by choosing discipline that keeps kids in school and fosters relationships and personal development. Cultivating a restorative paradigm for your learning community can yield huge benefits.
- Relationships with a caring teachers and/or parents help students stay engaged in school and avoid dropping out.—US Dept. Of Health and Human Services, High School Dropouts: Interactions between social context, self-perceptions, school engagement and student dropout, 2011
- “Working in partnership with stakeholders, including students, educators, families, and members of the community, schools can lower suspensions and expulsions by implementing evidence-based discipline policies and preventative practices such as Positive Behavioral Intervention and Support (PBIS) and Restorative Practices.”—Michigan State Board of Education Policy on Reducing Suspensions and Expulsions, 2015
- “For the growing number of districts using restorative justice, the programs have helped strengthen campus communities, prevent bullying, and reduce student conflicts. And the benefits are clear: early-adopting districts have seen drastic reductions in suspension and expulsion rates, and students say they are happier and feel safer.”—Matt Davis, Restorative Justice: Resources for Schools Edutopia web site, 2015
Restorative justice philosophy and practices teach social emotional skills, fill the interventions needs at all levels of PBIS, foster student-to-educator and student-to-student connections, create happier, healthier learning communities.
Shape a brighter future, contact us to bring PREMIER RESTORATIVE JUSTICE TRAININGS and CONSULTING to your schools!