The United States incarcerates more people than other country in the world. Even more alarming, our youth are rapidly filling jails due to something dubbed the "school-to-prison pipeline."
As this Brave New Films' video reminds us, students used to get sent to the school’s principal for certain misbehaviors. Now, schools are becoming far more strict by suspending, expelling and arresting students for similar problems.
According to Brave New Films, almost 95 percent of out-of-school suspensions are because of incidents like tardiness, using foul language and violating the school's dress code. Subsequently, kids who are harshly punished for minor behaviors are more likely to drop out of school; while those who drop out of high school are 3.5 times more likely to become imprisoned. Additionally, 67 percent of kids sent to juvenile detention centers are more likely to go back to jail by the time they are 25 years old.
Black and Latino students are more likely to be arrested for inappropriate behavior. In comparison to their white peers, Black and Latino students make up 70 percent of in-school arrests. This has to stop.
To learn more about the incarceration crisis that afflicts the United States and how you can help, learn how you might get involved with our Tori Program.