Schools and Delinquency

1. Schools and Delinquency A critical social institution

2. Schools and Juvenile Delinquency How could an educator or concerned parent recognize a potential delinquent? Agnew lists the associations on pages 241 & 242. • Low academic performance • Little school involvement • Low attachment to school • Poor relations with teachers • Low educational/occupational goals • Dropping out of School • School misbehavior (Note: School is a central context during childhood. It is their community. If they have problems there, they have PROBLEMS!)

3. Schools and Juvenile Delinquency Most failing in school are not delinquents, and most delinquents are not failing in school. But the two are related… • Problems in school can change your social structure (classes and peer groups). You may be forced to interact more with more delinquent kids. • Kids who cannot behave will not learn well in the normal school context. • If they can’t relate, they can’t motivate!

4. Schools and Juvenile Delinquency Why is school failure related to delinquency? • Kids with learning deficits not involved in special education will not be engaged and will “cut up,” causing rejection by conforming others. • Having to work loosens kids’ investment in school, and working kids are more likely to become delinquent.

5. Schools and Juvenile Delinquency Schools foster delinquency without even knowing it. Schools Segregate Students by Race, Sex, Class, and Academic Achievement Level through: Neighborhood Schooling Tracking Protecting Gender Differences Then they shortchange the disadvantaged minorities, boys, lower-class persons, and low academic achievers.

6. Schools and Juvenile Delinquency NEA Reports: Teachers Students minoritiies 10% 40% male 24% 50% income $42,000 med. $49,000 med. Household ($52,500 annualized) Reflecting the characteristics of teachers and administrators, as well as mainstream society, the school context favors children of Middle- to Upper-class, White persons. Schools also favor girls.

7. Commercial Break—Stay In Skool!

8. Schools and Juvenile Delinquency The School Context also favors: • Quiet • Conformity • Routine • Obedience • Good Manners • More Cognitive, Less Physical • Low Stimulation It is therefore better to be female, wealthier and from better educated families.

9. Schools and Juvenile Delinquency Social Disadvantages are replicated in the ways teachers and schools “toss aside” the “undesirable” students. They get: • Less Qualified Teachers • More Crowded Classes • Fewer and Lower-quality Resources • Interact more with Troublemakers • Vocational Skills more than Thinking Skills • Less Encouragement for Success

10. Schools and Juvenile Delinquency Isolated into subgroups, students learn the values of their groups. The more delinquency in the subgroup, the more the individual becomes delinquent. Schools reflect the society that “attends” them. Neighborhoods with extreme disadvantage have disadvantaged schools. High-crime neighborhoods have high-crime schools. High-crime schools typically have substantially less money spent on them. In high-crime schools, however, money spent on social control is money not spent on education and solving social problems. These schools get a “double whammy!”

11. Schools and Juvenile Delinquency Dropping Out • Family dysfunction increases dropping out • Poverty increases dropping out. • Kids’ reasons for dropping out: • Most: Do not like school, poor attendance, failing • Fewer: Want to get a job or found a job Family-related concerns Social problems such as alcohol, homeless Boys more likely to have jobs, girls more likely to get married.

12. Schools and Juvenile Delinquency Dropping Outs have higher delinquency, but • typically have problems that are associated with delinquency long before dropping out. • dropping out does not always make things worse. Dropping out for “the right reasons” won’t cause delinquency: • Kids dropping out because of problems at home, financial problems, and poor grades do not increase their delinquency. • Kids getting married or who are pregnant increase violent activities (perhaps because of family conflict). • Dropouts who were already in trouble continue criminal behaviors.

13. Schools and Juvenile Delinquency Crime in Schools • The bottom line is that schools are among the safest places to be in our society. • School violence has been sensationalized, leaving false impressions about schools. • Let’s look at a few charts and graphs . . .

14. Schools and Juvenile Delinquency

15. A school-associated violent death is defined as "a homicide, suicide, or legal intervention (involving a law enforcement officer), in which the fatal injury occurred on the campus of a functioning elementary or secondary school in the United States" while the victim was on the way to or from regular sessions at school or while the victim was attending or traveling to or from an official school-sponsored event. Victims include students, staff members, and others who are not students, from July 1, 1992, through June 30, 2009.

17. Schools and Juvenile Delinquency Kids’ Rights in Schools Kids are compelled to go to school, so they retain rights in public schools. (Private schools act on behalf of parents, no rights). Courts Weigh Individual Liberties vs. Schools’ Ability to Maintain Order for Educational Purposes • Kids have a right to passive free speech as long as they are not disruptive to school functioning. • Active speech may be censored. • Schools may not sponsor religious speech in any educational context. • Schools may not hinder religion in unregulated student arenas, nor favor one religion-related position over another.

18. Schools and Juvenile Delinquency Kids’ Rights in Schools Courts Weigh Individual Liberties vs. Schools’ Ability to Maintain Order for Educational Purposes • Reasonable discipline may be imposed in schools. Children may be paddled. 1) Knowledge that paddling could result from behavior must be established prior to behaviors. 2) There must be a witness. 3) The kids and parents have a right to ask for an explanation, but not a hearing. • With suspension, kids have a right to a hearing to ensure the reasonableness of suspension, but legal rights are not invoked. • Kids do not need to be advised of rights in school questioning. However, officers of the law in schools do have to advise of rights. • Student records must be kept private, but may be shared with police. • Students have no right to privacy against personal searches or locker searches if they are considered reasonable.