The School To Prison Pipeline

This 30 minute long audio podcast is an episode of  the BBC World Service radio documentary series which was broadcast by the BBC today, 10 Apr 12 for a worldwide audience.
In this podcast, Nina Robinson reports from Texas on how the heavy hand of the law in some US schools is criminalising the very young. Podcast link: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00qh8pf. The podcast can be downloaded as a 11MB mp3 and kept.
There is an accompanying news feature Misbehaving pupils ending up in court which covers many of the points made in the podcast, and I found it easier to absorb and think about the facts and figures seeing them written down. The BBC provide a link to the research study on which this news item is based, and their whole report can be freely downloaded: Breaking Schools’ Rules: A Statewide Study on How School Discipline Relates to Students’ Success and Juvenile Justice Involvement.
Taken together, the podcast, news feature and research report makes a cohesive package for those with an interest in school discipline and youth justice. Bear in mind that this was broadcast for a global audience – no comparisons are made with the UK, but that doesn’t make it any less valuable as a basis for thinking and debate amongst UK students and practitioners.
BBC podcasts can be shared within the classroom or lecture theatre for educational purposes.  © All rights reserved by the BBC.