Every year when school starts, students are given a copy of the parent and student handbook. This is a set of rules and guidelines aimed at creating a positive learning environment. It includes things like: what happens if you are caught smoking on school property, or if you violate the dress code, or if you are disrespectful to a teacher. But school administrators have a lot of leeway interpreting those rules and deciding on the appropriate punishment for any given violation.
On this second installment of our Radio 101 series, School, Interrupted, we delve into one of the most common, and yet very obscure disciplinary actions used: in-school suspension. It started as a promising alternative to students missing class time. But as youth reporters Alana Eddleman and James Barnwell find out, it has quickly become an ineffective way to deal with behavioral issues.
