Prelude to Prison: Student Perspectives on School Suspension

Syracuse Studies on Peace and Conflict Resolution

by Marsha Weissman

By the close of the twentieth century, the United States became known for its reliance on incarceration as the chief means of social control, particularly in poor communities of color. The carceral state has been extended into the public school system in these communities in what has become known as the “school-to-prison pipeline.” Through interviews with young people suspended from school, Weissman examines the impact of zero tolerance and other harsh disciplinary approaches that have transformed schools into penal-like institutions. In their own words, students describe their lives, the challenges they face, and their efforts to overcome those challenges. Unlike other studies, this book illuminates the students’ perspectives on what happens when the educational system excludes them from regular school. Weissman draws attention to research findings that suggest punitive disciplinary policies and practices resemble criminal justice strategies of arrest, trial, sentence, and imprisonment. She demonstrates how harsh school discipline prepares young people from poor communities of color for their place in the carceral state. An invaluable resource for policy makers, Prelude to Prison presents recommendations for policy, practice, and political change that have the potential to dismantle the school-to-prison pipeline.

301 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 2014

Reviews

[Felicity Pope · Rating 4 out of 5]

DNF at around 80%. The subject itself is very important and interesting, but the formatting of the book itself made each child’s story difficult to follow. It felt like each time we began to understand, there would be a break in the interview for 5+ pages worth of statistics. I wish that the novel had been more personalized as the title suggested.

[Kel Munger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Elementary school is just the warm-up act

Prelude to Prison: Student Perspectives on School Suspension by Marsha Weissman (Syracuse University Press, $44.95.

Believe it or not, schools are actually much, much safer than they were in the 1990s.

Safer, that is, except for the way that some of them seem to function as a pipeline to prison, particularly for students of of color. Although the excessive disciplinary responses to African American boys has been previously publicized, a new study from UCLA shows that African American girls make up a hugely disproportionate number of students who are punished harshly in school.

In Prelude to Prison: Student Perspectives on School Suspension, Marsha Weissman, the founder and executive director of the Center for Community Alternatives, focuses on and dissects the way that boys, especially African American boys, are disproportionately disciplined and suspended—a rate that’s higher for black children and that has kept climbing despite reductions in crime at school. She shows how suspended students are more likely to drop out, and how the suspensions themselves can lead to criminality. Short form: The schools-to-prisons pipeline is both real and costly for our society.In addition, Weissman clearly describes how urban schools have come to resemble prisons, with school police and security measures one would expect of penitentiaries. Finally, Weissman relies on the voices of students themselves as they describe their desire for education and their disappointment at the way the educational system has treated them.

Reviewed on Lit/Rant: www.litrant.tumblr.com

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to Netgallery who gave me this opportunity to review this book.

This heartbreaking book shows how poor students, mostly students of color, are tracked through the educational system to prison through the use of suspensions, surveillance and heavy handed tactics by police and school officials. Due to tracking, which begins in middle school, students begin the process of being delegitimatized and marginalized and sent to "alternative" education which is the first step in the process towards prison. One unique feature of this book is how Weissman prioritizes student perspective and gives voice to their understanding of the school to prison pipeline. I could not stop listening to the smart and insightful students in this book and how the author supports them in their explorations. One issue that did seem missing is the impact of privatization of education and the growth of charter schools. Overall excellent read and I have already begun to recommend this book to educators, students and organizers.