Texas students sent from classroom to courtroom

[n2doc]

By Donna St. George, Published: August 21

SPRING, TEX. — In a small courtroom north of Houston, a fourth-grader walked up to the bench with his mother. Too short to see the judge, he stood on a stool. He was dressed in a polo shirt and dark slacks on a sweltering summer morning.

“Guilty,” the boy’s mother heard him say.

He had been part of a scuffle on a school bus.

In another generation, he might have received only a scolding from the principal or a period of detention. But an array of get-tough policies in U.S. schools in the past two decades has brought many students into contact with police and courts — part of a trend some experts call the criminalization of student discipline.

Now, such practices are under scrutiny nationally. Federal officials want to limit punishments that push students from the classroom to courtroom, and a growing number of state and local leaders are raising similar concerns.

more

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/in-texas-schools-a-criminal-response-to-misbehavior/2011/08/04/gIQA5EG9UJ_story.html

And if we give them a felony conviction before they are 18, then we can prevent them from ever voting! :sarcasm:

[LiberalFighter]

1. This is a waste of taxpayer resources.

I wonder if any of the judges have the power to send delinquents to a privatized detention center. And receive kickbacks?


On the issue of felony convictions. Not every state prohibit those convicted of felony from voting. In Indiana, they can't vote if they are in prison. Felony convictions only prevent one from running for an elected office. A really insignificant behavior at a young age should not result in a felony conviction.