Between 2011 and 2012, about 92,000 students were arrested at school, Jason Nance, a UF associate law professor, told students Thursday.
Nance, speaking to about 40 people, said the U.S. has a school-to-prison pipeline, in which students of color experience disproportional punishment and incarceration rates. The event, held at UF’s Levin College of Law, was the last seminar in the law school’s “Race Matters in the News” series.
School officials refer students to the police as a form of punishment, he said. Because of this, the number of youths in jail increases.
Once arrested, statistics show a student is more likely to misbehave in the future, he said.
Nance said school systems need to find alternative ways to reprimand students.
He said schools should use restorative justice, in which the victim, offender and teacher sit down and discuss the incident.
“This technique helps restore the individual’s self-esteem and allows him or her to come back into the school system as a full-fledged member,” Nance said.
Nance said he taught students of color at an inner-city school about 20 years ago. After struggling his first year, he learned he needed to build trust with his students to engage them.
“I am convinced that helping teachers become better instructors improves the overall safety of schools,” Nance said.
Nance said the U.S. Department of Education spends about $12,000 on each student throughout their time in school. The average cost to detain a child for one year is about $148,000.
“Isn’t it better to invest our resources in schools than juvenile detention centers?” Nance said.
Kayla Martin, a 21-year-old UF political science junior, said she attended the event because Nance addressed an issue she cared about.
Martin said there were always police present at the entrance of her alma mater, Winter Park High School in Orlando.
“A lot of my friends who were suspended in high school are in jail,” she said. “Having a police presence at schools just shows students they aren’t trusted.”
Jason Nance, a UF associate law professor, spoke to students about racially disproportional punishment and incarceration rates during the last seminar of UF Levin College of Law’s “Race in the News” series on Thursday.
