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Discussion Forum 13: The School to Prison Pipeline


Research indicates that when a juvenile becomes involved in the juvenile justice system, he or she is more likely to be involved again in adulthood. Why do you think this is the case? What effect do you think this has on young juveniles who become involved in the system? Do you think anything can break this cycle? Watch this video on the School-to-Prison Pipeline: https://youtu.be/zer6FapK49E

Please leave at least three comments. One is your original contribution. And two comments are your replies to your classmates. Deadline: December 4th, 11:59 pm.
A tale of Two Schools

50 Comments

    • I believe a juvenile is once identified as a juvenile they commit bad actions again because the system often times did not give them any help or make them realize they cannot get involved in trouble again because in the real world it would not fly at all. I think some ways this cycle can be broken is if they get help from counselors for their behavioral health.

      • I also feel like the ways that we label people with terms like “juvenile” can turn in to “juvenile delinquent” because that’s how many people see us teens and tend to brush off our problems.

  1. According to the labeling theory which states that people aren’t inherently deviant but become deviant once people start seeing them as deviant; this is the exact same thing that is happening to these students of color. Their educators already see them as deviant due to their prejudices, biases, and stereotypes have influenced the ways that they approach them. When juveniles are taken from their classrooms for a minor distribution or for existing in a black/brown body, it will make them feel like there is something wrong with them and that they aren’t worthy of being treated with compassion because that’s how they have been made to feel by the people that are supposed to guide them. I believe that we can break this cycle of the school to prison pipeline is by removing police from schools because police have shown time and time again that they do not keep nor make kids feel safe. The schools need to have counselors available so that they could to them about their problems and the other issues that they are facing.

  2. Labeling theory is an approach to the study of deviance that suggests that people become ‘deviant’ because certain labels are attached to their behavior by political authorities and others. when a juvenile becomes involved in the juvenile justice system, he or she is more likely to be involved again in adulthood I think he or she may do this again because of the way the problem is being solved, many time educators would just call the deans for students that make a simple mistake instead of correcting that students or counseling them after class they just jump to the fastest solution. And when they are taken away from a simple mistake like that they will now think everything they do is wrong and eventually, it becomes something they continue to do and you can’t break the cycle. But we can break the cycle if we start at the beginning when a student makes a mistake he/she should be counselled, not punished.

  3. In-school policing increases the likelihood of juveniles being involved in criminal activities during adulthood for various reasons. Children who pass through the justice system at such a young age are often nurtured to avoid being caught for crimes instead of being rehabilitated to fit in society. Society often believes that punishing offenders is the most appropriate way of getting them to stop ‘undesirable’ behaviors. This is a problem because some juveniles are often penalized for committing offenses due to circumstances outside their control. For instance, I believe punishing a child for engaging in the drug business should not be the first approach to stop the individual from engaging in such behavior. Society ought to investigate why young people engage in potentially harmful and illegal behaviors—this way; it will be able to address the root causes of such problems instead of ‘treating’ the symptoms.
    Incarcerating juveniles disconnects them from the general society and worsens matters because such individuals begin to view themselves differently from other young people. Whenever children who have passed through the justice system make peace with their misbehavior, it gives them a feeling that their lives are meant to be so. In turn, this factor makes them adult criminals with no vision of making their lives better without causing harm to others. Governments and other relevant stakeholders must reevaluate how misbehaving juveniles are rehabilitated. Incarceration is not a solution to crime but a facilitator of the school-to-prison pipeline—misbehaving children should be included in society amidst their reformation.

    • I agree. Juveniles get less harsh crimes because there is more potential for them to change in the future. Although this sounds good it can still be very bad. Many juveniles dont understand the seriousness of harming their own youth but once you are exposed depending on who you are it can be hard to not over indulge.

  4. If a juvenile is involved in the juvenile justice system, he or she is more likely to be involved again in adulthood, in my opinion, because they are already registered, even if the deviance was minor. This can have an impact on them as they grow because they are more likely to believe they are diverse from others, isolating themselves. This can cause them to perform poorly in school, drop out, and be influenced by the outside surroundings to break the law and become involved with the system again. I believe that suspending and sending these youth to juvenile detention centers is an aggressive approach; instead, they should consider counselling sessions and less severe punishments such as staying after school to do schoolwork.

    • Hello Lesley , how are you ? I really like your respond and I agree with you students are more likely to be in the system when it start at such a young age . And one of the best way we can help the new generation and our self is getting more counselling sessions and learning more about the community and doing activities to build better future rather than , punishment which will not benefit anyone .

    • Hey Lesly, I agree the juvenile system approach only deters students’ academic performance. They are being taken away from their education and their grades fall, a student would have little to no determination to try to save their grades at some point. The approach of having them stay after school to do schoolwork is a good suggestion! While it doesn’t seem much of a punishment, having them stay after-school when they can be hanging out with friends or at home and having them do any missed or due school work can help. They’ll be able to dedicate time to school in order to help with grades and as well as getting the proper help with social/mental/emotional issues they face.

  5. I think this is the case because they want students to prepare for the real world outside of school, and the consequences that can occur, it prepares them that being on time and present can make things flow smoothly and teachers can do their job as well. The effect it has on young juveniles is a little harsh at a young age but again, it prepares them for the real world and how ready they can be to avoid these situations. I don’t think anything can break the cycle but advice and guidance, maybe they have something going on and have nobody to talk about it and not staying on track when it comes to school.

  6. I don’t believe anything can truly break the cycle, but I believe the reason juveniles get involved with the system again when they’re older is because the consequences aren’t harsh enough and when they get older they believe the outcome will be the same. This doesn’t apply to all juveniles though because for others once they get involved with the system they most likely don’t wanna be involved later in life. Now when it comes to labeling its hard to not go down that path because of how everyone views you, I believe its all about perception. Its up to the persona if they prove these false perceptions wrong or live up to them.

    • Hey Ejiro, I like how you mentioned how as they get older they’ll believe the punishment will be the same. That is interesting because it is true, as they normally break the rules while they are young the punishment is not severe as compared to when you get older for the same crime. While others may stop at the first punishment, there are many others who won’t find it bad as they get to miss out on school if it’s already a place where they feel judged.

  7. Research indicates that when a juvenile becomes involved in the juvenile justice system, he or she is more likely to be involved again in adulthood, in my opinion this is because when you’re a juvenile they don’t really charge you with anything or it could be dismissed or just get community service, depending if what you got arrested for was very minimal. so in their mind they think they can get away with anything as they get older, but that’s not the case. If a juvenile gets convicted for stealing /shop lifting it may be harder for them to find jobs because they were charge for stealing now they are labeled or considered “thieves”. I think the only way for the cycle to break is for the individual to want the cycle to break, individuals try to justify they means to meet their needs, once that stops then maybe the cycle can break.

  8. I believe that juvenile systems can be tough depending on the facilities and the location and the policies it follows. The juvenile system can be tough on a lot of juveniles due to the violent environment in the system which, in all possibilities, is like where they are coming from. This tough environment can have a disastrous impact on the overall thinking, personality, and distort their capacity to differentiate between right and wrong. Therefore, it is necessary to break the violent cycle and the focus should be on the rehabilitation of the juvenile in all areas till the time they are in the system.

  9. I believe this is the case because many people feel threatened by people of color, which can have a psychological impact on juvenile children who become involved in the system, leading them to believe that prison is the only way for them to survive. In my opinion, this cycle will not end, but this is a new world with new laws, and young people these days are becoming more social, so there may be changes in the future.

  10. This is such an interesting topic. Being part of a family with juveniles and criminals it’s a big leap into the minds of them. I believe when you are brought into the system, mentality your mind is still there. They are locked in rooms with other juveniles and other disruptive children so as adults it seem to be normal. I once read that psychologically your mind can still be locked up when your body is free and surrounded by the world of others. When you see so many traumatic things as young adults it can shape your reality and leave you to believe that it is normal. I do believe the cycle can change but it will be long before we even see a crack in the surface of this harsh reality. The effects can range from a short fulfillment of violence to more violent crimes being normalized because of their surroundings. Think about it once you get a certain fulfillment you can do nothing more but get more and more.

  11. I believe that when a juvenile becomes involved in the juvenile justice system, he or she is more likely to be involved again in adulthood because when they are taken out of school they are not learning to find careers. Instead they will go find other ways to benefit themselves which include committing crimes. Also because of the labeling theory, the fact that most of the juveniles are already discriminated at a young age shows that this will continue to happen throughout their life, and they will have a record which can get them into jail or prison quicker even with just a misdemeanor.

    • I agree that if a young person is taken out of school, he has more chances of being involved in crimes, since when he grows up he will look for a way to obtain easy money, but I think that everything will depend on where he grew up or his education that his parents give him

  12. Research indicates that when a juvenile becomes involved in the juvenile justice system, he or she is more likely to be involved again in adulthood. Why do you think this is the case? What effect do you think this has on young juveniles who become involved in the system? Do you think anything can break this cycle?

    When a juvenile becomes involved in the juvenile justice system, he or she is more likely to be involved again in adulthood this can be backed up by the labeling theory and psychology. With the labeling theory, more specifically secondary deviance which is when the deviance occurs as a response to society’s reaction and labeling of their behavior. A student labeled as “bad” or “problematic” not only gets treated differently but the issue is that they can see it and feel it. Adolescents are unable to express emotions/problems or how to separate their issues from school. Punishing them with the juvenile justice system might only teach them to suppress their emotions more, and without learning how to properly communicate they will have more emotional outbursts later on. These emotional outbursts are aggressive as a result of how they’re treated differently because of how they are “labeled”. Later on in life, they will resort to these aggressive outbursts as a way to replace proper communication of their emotions. Schools should not resort to juvenile systems as a way to correct student behavior, but instead, send the student to guidance counselors for daily/weekly meetings to discuss any problems the student is having. This way they learn how to properly communicate their problems in order to avoid outbursts. Students may be delinquent in school, but they should not be punished criminally. Not only will they not feel safe at home but now they will no longer feel comfortable or safe at school.

  13. I believe there is some truth within the statement that once a child gets involved in the criminal justice system, they are more likely to re-offend and return as an adult. This is because the criminal justice system does what it can to rehabilitate the child, but it is often unsuccessful due to the individual not wanting to change. Also, many children arrested and placed in prison are labeled as misfits or criminals by their teachers, society, and the people they come into contact with. I feel that many issues juveniles deal with can be fixed without prison, but with the times we live in now, many of them are involved with gangs and commit very egregious crimes. Breaking this cycle would take a lot of effort, but I believe it can be done.

  14. I agree that when a juvenile becomes involved in the juvenile justice system, he or she is more likely to be involved again in adulthood.Once a child gets in trouble once, they go through the process and then return with a label. Some teachers may treat the child differently than other students once they learn of this. In some low income schools there are metal detectors and no “safe haven” for children to go to. With these circumstances, children may feel like they are in jail for 8 hours of the day. I believe one way of changing this cycle, schools should feel more like a home than a prison.

  15. When a Juvenile becomes involved in the justice system, he or she is more likely to be involved again in adulthood. This is because according to the Labeling theory it states that people obtain labels from how others view their tendencies or behaviors. What this means for juveniles who are involved in the justice system is that they’re given a label which leads them to be seemed and treated differently by society causing them to be “trapped” in this label. A way to break this cycle is to give juveniles better counseling so that it prevents them from returning to the justice system.

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