Zero-tolerance policies at schools: helping or hurting?

By ITS Education Asia

The NEU (National Education Union) in the UK recently released a statement calling zero-tolerance policies in schools in England “inhumane” and “damaging to pupil mental health.”

In some schools, isolation booths are used for punishment, forcing students to sit in silence for up to six hours a day. Critics of these policies say that they disproportionately affect SEND (special educational needs and disability) students, and are unhelpfully focusing on punishment rather than adjusting behavior.