In Texas, Unruly School Kids End up in Court
Thousands of Texas students who get in fights or disrupt class end up in court, exemplifying a trend that some critics call the criminalization of student discipline.
Students who use offensive language, disrupt class or get in schoolyard fights are charged with class C misdemeanors carrying fines of up to $500, the Washington Post reports. Ticketed students can’t just pay the fine; they have to appear with a parent before a municipal court judge or a justice of the peace.
The story has several examples. A fourth-grade boy who got in a scuffle on a school bus was sentenced to eight hours of community service and anger management classes, costing his mother $370. In another case, a middle school student was ticketed for spraying herself with perfume because classmates said she smelled. A different student had to appear in court after he and his girlfriend poured milk on each other during an acrimonious breakup.
“In another generation, [the fourth-grade boy] might have received only a scolding from the principal or a period of detention,” the story says. “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.”
Critics are clamoring for change, the story says. Federal officials say suspensions, expulsions and arrests are used too often to maintain order. Texas lawmakers are taking action. A law passed this spring reduces ticketing for truants and younger children, the story says.
