Keeping kids in schools: Restorative justice, punitive discipline, and the school to prison pipeline.

Source: (2012) Journal of Law and Education. 41(2):281-235.

This Article explores the implementation, development, and impact of a school-based restorative justice
program across the United States with a specific case study of North High School in Denver, Colorado. Part II
details the impact of punitive discipline policies in schools as a framework for understanding the critical importance
for schools to adopt alternative practices in addressing student behavior. Part III presents the practice of
restorative justice in schools. Specifically, Part III provides a foundation for understanding the emergence of
school-based restorative justice, the philosophy of restorative justice, and models of restorative justice in
schools. Part III also discusses preliminary data collected from school-based restorative programs. Part IV contextualizes
the school-based restorative justice practice in the Denver Public School District. This article concludes
in Part V with reflections on the need for reform of punitive schools’ discipline policies as integral to a
fight for educational equity. (excerpt)