The school-to-prison pipeline has been named a “phenomenon,” “disturbing national trend” and “epidemic” by civil-rights advocates and media entities when referring to the issue of youth being funneled out of public schools and into the juvenile and criminal justice systems.
According to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the primary factors contributing to the school-to-prison pipeline are inadequate resources in public schools, zero-tolerance policies and overly-harsh discipline in schools, court-involvement, school policing and juvenile detention facilities.
What are the complexities of this issue and how do educators, parents, politicians, youth-advocates and community stakeholders address the systemic causes