School suspension and expulsion doesn't discipline kids. It hurts them.

“I don’t necessarily think we have to pick a side,” Dong says. “It is possible that we can keep trouble kids disciplined by not by removing them.”

Dong suggests programs within the school, like detention and after-school tutoring and counseling, to reform students rather than toss them on the street. While some students, particularly those threatening acts of violence, may need to be removed from school grounds, Dong, Hirschfield, and Krohn each maintain that school exclusion should be used very rarely, and only as a last resort. Parents can be part of the solution, by pushing back against school exclusion as a policy and seeking professional help for children who are acting out. If a child is suspended or expelled, a parent’s priority should be getting him or her back in the classroom.

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