Suspended: Punishment, Violence, and the Failure of School Safety

by Charles Bell

Decades of urban disinvestment and poverty have made educational attainment for Black youth more vital than at any time in recent history. Yet in their pursuit of quality education, many Black families are burdened by challenging barriers to success, most notably the frequency and severity of school punishment. Such punishment is meant to be a disciplinary tool that makes schools safer, but it actually does the opposite--and is particularly harmful for Black students and their families.

Focusing on schools in inner-city and suburban Detroit, Charles Bell draws on 160 in-depth interviews with Black high school students, their parents, and their teachers to illuminate the negative outcomes that are associated with out-of-school suspension. Bell also sheds light on the inherent shortcomings of school safety measures as he describes how schools fail to protect Black students, which leaves them vulnerable to bullying and victimization. The students he interviews offer detailed insight into how the lack of protection they received in school intensified their fear of being harmed and even motivated them to use violence to establish a reputation that discouraged attacks. Collectively, their narratives reveal how receiving a suspension for fighting in school earned them respect, popularity, and a reputation for toughness--transforming school punishment into a powerful status symbol that destabilizes classrooms.

A thought-provoking and urgent work, Suspended calls for an inclusive national dialogue on school punishment and safety reform. It will leave readers engrossed in the students' and parents' tearful narratives as they share how school suspension harmed students' grades, disrupted parents' employment, violated state and federal laws, and motivated families to withdraw from punitive districts.

Reviews

"The details of the participants' narratives are rich and compelling."

-- Bianca J. Baldridge, University of Wisconsin–Madison, author of Reclaiming Community: Race and the Uncertain Future of Youth Work

"Well-conceived and organized, as well as theoretically and empirically rich, this book holds the promise to impact practice and policy."

-- Keffrelyn D. Brown, University of Texas at Austin, coauthor of Black Intellectual Thought in Education: The Missing Traditions of Anna Julia Cooper, Carter G. Woodson, and Alain LeRoy Locke

"Suspended is a penetrating study that reveals how school suspensions and unfair grading practices target inner-city Black children and set them up to fail in later life―a stinging indictment and a must-read for anyone wanting to truly understand persistent urban poverty."

-- Elijah Anderson, Yale University, author of Code of the Street: Decency, Violence, and the Moral Life of the Inner City

"Bell's analysis of students' experiences with anti-Blackness and school punishment is both powerful and gut-wrenching. Educators and student advocates who are serious about reducing violence in schools―especially the violence schools themselves perpetrate―need to read this unique and important book."

-- Aaron Kupchik, University of Delaware, author of The Real School Safety Problem: The Long-Term Consequences of Harsh School Punishment

"Through the use of historical data, the lived experiences of students and families, and Dr. Bell's own self-reflection, Suspended makes a compelling argument that America's education system is an anti-Black institution. This book is a must-read for anyone interested in understanding and dismantling the school-to-prison pipeline."

-- Jason Smith, Executive Director, Michigan Center for Youth Justice

"Suspended is an innovative look at the deep criminological and policy connections between the carceral state and our public school systems. Urban areas with high rates of poverty and crime are often artificially created due to systemic racism and unjust government policies like redlining. This literature is a call to action to a major problem of race and class in our American educational system and provides recommendations for the future of our inner-city youth."

-- Aaron Kinzel, Executive Director, Youth Justice Fund

"Bell's depiction of inequity and criminalization provides more evidence of the importance of enacting policies and practices that ensure the safety, equitable treatment, and well-being of all youth within schools, especially Black youth."

-- Anthony A. Peguero, Arizona State University, co-author of Immigration and School Safety

"In Suspended, Bell deftly weaves together academic theory, the voices of dozens of research participants, and his personal story to show how schools' approach to discipline and safety harms Black students and families."

-- Benjamin W. Fisher, Florida State University

200 pages, Hardcover

Published November 2, 2021

About the author

Charles Bell, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice Sciences at Illinois State University. He is a Detroit native, a graduate of Wayne State University, and a recipient of the Ruth D. Peterson Fellowship from the American Society of Criminology. His research explores African American students' and parents' views on school punishment and safety, and teacher victimization in public schools. Professor Bell has been interviewed and cited by several news outlets such as Atlanta Black Star, Learning for Justice, The Conversation, WGLT News, WDET Detroit, Aljazeera America, Michigan Center for Youth Justice, and Detroit PBS.

Twitter: @DrBell313
Website: www.drcharlesbell.com

Reviews

[Ms. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dr. Bell delivers a critically needed message addressing the deleterious consequences of the U.S. A’s culture of punishment and exclusion that predominates how far too many youth are treated in our public schools. Suspended provides direct insights on how students and parents experience anti-blackness, criminalizing and damaging responses from school authorities. School staff instead of seeking understanding and facilitating learning to help matriculate students through educational institutions, instead cruelly disregard youth's experiences and their educational rights. This book should be on the shelves of every public library, in the hands of scholars, parents, policy makers and anyone interested in ensuring that all youth have safe, accessible school environments they can learn in regardless of their social location.

[Justin Long · Rating 5 out of 5]

An essential book for teachers, school administrators, and policy makers. This book highlights what happens when educators adultify Black children and cop-ify themselves. Suspended demonstrates the lasting harms that flow from failing to treat the public schools' most vulnerable children as worthy of teaching.

[Brandon H. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very well informed on how suspensions can impact the rest of someone’s life/career path. It shows the unfavorable circumstance or condition that reduces the chances of success or effectiveness.

[Jason Hayes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very insightful and engaging. This book highlights the struggle that many students of color contend with in academic environments—a must-read for anyone seeking better understatement of their child's conflict within schools and their teachers.

[Reese Collins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eye opening and very insightful. A great resource for parents who are looking into how schools harm black children.

[Randall Wyatt · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is necessary reading for anyone who has matriculated through the public school system, anyone with children that is or has went through the public school system, or anyone interested in understanding how one of the most important American institutions functions to shape and direct lives. Bell goes in-depth into a problem that authors such as Jonathon Kozal once engaged in works like Savage Inequalities and Shame of a Nation. Bell explains how public schools in Detroit Michigan can operate as antiblack institutions that do harm to prospects of Black teenagers, possibly feeding the school-to-prison pipeline. He describes how punitive policies like mass suspensions and expulsions do not actually reduce violence but instead exacerbate it. Bell posits that this reality is due to a “code of the school” that necessitates violent responses to harm in order to prevent future victimization. The book, at times, provides painful insights, but the strength and determination of Black parents and students who seemingly have the world up against them overcomes this anguish. I emphatically recommend this book as required reading!

[Kevin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book for the ages. By combining study participants life stories with investigational statistical studies on school disciplinary measures Charles Bell has uncovered a path forward for decreasing violence and creating inclusive schooling environments.

You will enjoy how the book weaves not only other people's experiences with our educational systems, but also the authors very own, into a synthesis of hope and remediation.

The landscape of educational books has shifted with the release of this Critical Analysis of the functions our schools exert on our children every day.

Every school administrator should read this book. Every teacher should read this book.
Every parent should read this book.
Every taxpayer should read this book.

[Leif Eastburn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a useful, curious, and reflective work of educational scholarship. I hope this book sees a much wider readership.