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In this article the author considers the relatively recent phenomenon of adopting the notion of zero tolerance into school disciplinary regimes. In an extensive review of the research literature, she examines, among other things, the history of zero tolerance; its problematic nature, including its discriminatory character; its legal implications; its impacts on students; and its implications for educational administrators and their practice. The article concludes that the ethos of zero tolerance needs to be replaced by a more contextualized approach and an ethic of care.
Dans cet article, l'auteur se penche sur le phénomène relativement récent de l'adoption de la notion de tolérance zéro dans des politiques disciplinaires en milieu scolaire. En faisant un examen approfondie de la doctrine, elle analyse, entre autres choses, l'histoire de la notion de tolérance zéro, sa nature problématique, incluant son caractère discriminatoire, ses implications légales, ses impacts sur les étudiants de même que ses conséquences sur les administrateurs en milieu scolaire et leur façon de procéder. L'article conclut que la règle de la tolérance zéro doit être remplacée par une approche et une éthique plus contextualisées.
1. INTRODUCTION
Imagine that you are an eighteen-year-old kid who wants to impress your peers. You bring a bottle of juice to school. Somehow the rumor gets started that the juice is spiked. The juice bottle gets passed around as if it were spiked. The assistant principal rounds up all the suspects; however, after checking the contents for the juice bottle, it is concluded that it is not spiked. You get a ticket for the "disruption of classes." Once you appear before the Justice of the Peace (JP) judge, she assigns you to eighteen hours of community service, and you are required to attend a clinic on alcoholism. The case is dismissed once you have completed your community service and the six months of deferred disposition.1
This courtroom drama is based on a real-life incident that occurred in a Justice of the Peace Court as the result of a state zero tolerance policy enforced in a school in Texas. The student in this case was charged with a Class C misdemeanor; student class C misdemeanors are issued for the most minor of offences, such as class or transportation disruption, abusive language,...