Ferguson: Potato Chips & Jail Cells

Ferguson’s article struck several cords in that I understand her point from a detached, academic way as well as from a more frustratingly personal viewpoint.  She mentions that studies have shown that African American males in schools all over the country receive disproportionate punishment in relationship to their numbers in public schools. I’d be willing to bet that the statistics she uses to support her study have not changed much since it was conducted in the early 90’s. Henry Giroux expounds on this view in the paper Mis/Education and Zero Tolerance: Disposable Youth and Politics of Domestic Militarization (2001). He explains how zero-tolerance policies, first instituted to help keep guns out of schools, have morphed into harsher and sometimes more ridiculous disciplinary polices that seem to have more interest in criminalizing youth than preparing students to enter the society as critical thinking citizens. For instance, he mentions the Decatur, Illinois incident in which 7 African American males were expelled for two years for a seventeen second fight that took place on a football field.  Another incident that seems more ridiculous involved a student charged with a felony for what should have been treated as a prank.  He added soap to a teacher’s water. Giroux sums up these zero tolerance policies in this way:

 

Fueled by moral panics about the war on drugs and images of urban youth of color as ultraviolent, drug-pushing gang bangers, a national mood of fear provided legitimacy for zero-tolerance policies in the schools as both an ideology of disdain and a policy of punishment. Unfortunately, any sense of perspective seems lost, as school systems across the country clamor for metal detectors, armed guards, see-through knapsacks, and, in some cases, armed teachers. Some school systems are investing in new software in order to profile students who might exhibit criminal behavior. (85)

 

I agree with Giroux that in some ways instead of getting our children ready to contribute to society, especially with African American males, we are preparing them for the jail cell.  As Ferguson notes, treating kids as criminals has a deleterious effect. I wonder how kids like Horace are supposed to combat a fate in which the powerful adults around him, those who are supposed to mentor and educate him, those who society tells him are smarter than he, tell him that a cell is waiting and ready down the road.

 

Though academics and researchers seem to understand this issue, it seems that the issue does not resonate for teachers in the classroom or in the school system at large. Like Ferguson, I have two boys whom I believe the public school system has failed in some ways along with firsthand experience of punishment administered without perspective or common sense.  I have had to skip work in order to discuss with the discipline office how what has come to be known as the ‘great potato chip caper’ in my house resulted in a three day suspension for my son and a similar punishment for the boy who actually threw the potato chips up in the air. Did he throw the chips out of frustration or in a moment of exultation? I don’t know. I only know that as a result of the flying potato chips falling on my son, he pushed the other boy. It wasn’t serious but regardless, the discipline officer carried it out to its horrible nightmarish conclusion to explain the punishment: “What if the chips had hit someone in the eye?” “What if when ‘Dave’ pushed the kid in response the boy tripped over a curb, fell, hit a major artery on a piece of broken glass and bled out right on the spot?”  Oh the horror. There have been other issues directly and disturbingly related to color that I won’t go into right here, but I believe that treating kids as criminals does affect both teaching and learning. I’d be interested in reading the rest of Ferguson’s book to understand the exact nature of this effect.  

2 comments for “Ferguson: Potato Chips & Jail Cells

  1. mcalou
    May 5, 2009 at 10:40 am

    I cannot empathize with you Faye because my perspective is different than yours. You stated very eloquently above that,”Though academics and researchers seem to understand this issue, it seems that the issue does not resonate for teachers in the classroom or in the school system at large.” I think this is because in the “halls of power” no one can “empathize.” I hope the election of our president will allow us to move forward on the subject of racism.

  2. arussell
    May 10, 2009 at 1:14 pm

    When it comes to minor disciplinary issues in my classroom, I do my best to handle them on my own. I’m not the kind of teacher that bothers the administrators with every minor infraction (which would make me look ineffective in the long run). Sometimes though, if an infraction is severe enough, I have to refer it to the deans. Student safety is a top concern at my school, and we have very consistent and strong disciplinary procedures in place. Other teachers in the district jokingly labeled us “Cell Block Sierra”, but compared to the rest of the high schools, we have the least amount of disciplinary issues. Yes, we do have a strong sense authoritative presence, but it ultimately creates a safe environment where learning is paramount.

Leave a Reply