The Denver Post – Yesenia Robles
“Peace circles, mediation and refocusing. They’re tools that teachers are now using in most districts as alternatives to sending students to the principal’s office. It’s a shift away from zero-tolerance policies that became the norm after the 1999 Columbine High School shootings, which left 13 dead. Those policies had some parents upset when schools suspended students who missed too many days from school or chewed gum in class, or they called the police on children with toy guns. Researchers say the strict policies were unevenly applied to students of color and served to disengage students from school without looking into why they may have been acting up.”(more)