The School to Prison Pipeline is a result of the zero tolerance approach to school discipline in which youths are being arrested by state police patrolling the halls of elementary, middle and high schools. Minor infractions like fighting, arguing with a teacher or even starting food fights or unruly behavior can land young people in prison. The most affected are young people of color—namely African American & Latin@. This work shop will discuss how rights play a role in the criminalization of young people, what protections youth have in school and how can we use a human rights framework to understand and strategize against S2PP and create local legislation that will protect our youth.

Facilitators: Southwest Youth Collaboartive (SWYC), Coalition to Protect Public Housing -Youth Committee, Generation Y