The School to Prison Pipeline

I have a personal connection to my research focus as my own uncle went through the school to prison pipeline. His travel through the pipeline began in middle school when he was suspended for four days for laughing at his classmate’s joke, then in high school he was arrested in front of his peers, accused of stealing a classmate’s lunch money and went on trial in an actual courthouse. He was found not guilty a couple days later but he didn’t have the same luck when he was sentenced to life in prison at the age of 23. Most victims of the pipeline are young Black males and the majority of inmates are also Black males and my uncle fits that description.

​

If I am granted permission from him, I plan to use his experience to generate a discussion about the harm of both the school to prison pipeline and zero tolerance policies. Even if he wishes to keep his past private, I will continue to investigate the pipeline and the racial implicit bias of zero tolerance, specifically focusing on the African Americans. Belonging to this ethnical group, I desire to speak up for them, for us, as we are a minority in this country. We as a group share similar experiences of mistreat/discrimination in our own communities and on a national level that is morally unacceptable but socially acceptable.

​

My personal bias sparked the interest and development of this research project. I want to know why Black students are three times more likely to be suspended/expelled than White students and why so many inmates are Black when we only make up a small portion of the country. I’m going to try to limit my personal bias in order to find answers to my question. It is possible that zero tolerance policies are not to blame, or at least not 100% to blame, as some sources I’m already finding pinpoint multiple reasons. My family connection to the pipeline is impossible to ignore but it is my motivation to investigate such an obstacle.