NCJ Number
192130
Journal
Juvenile Justice Update Volume: 7 Issue: 5 Dated: October/November 2001 Pages: 3-4,14
Date Published
2001
Length
3 pages
Annotation
This paper reviews the trend in schools referring students to juvenile court for truancy and minor school delinquency and suggests alternative approaches for dealing with such behavior.
Abstract
Although there are no data available on the trend in court referrals for minor school offenses, the author's ongoing studies of juvenile courts have found regular and unequivocal staff reports, indeed complaints, of such increased referrals. Apparently, more schools are turning to juvenile courts to handle minor school-related offenses, matters earlier handled informally by school officials without court intervention. There are many lessons that students can learn when truancy or lesser delinquent behavior is handled informally by the schools. By referring a student to the vice principal, requiring after-school tasks, holding parent conferences, prompting apologies, or using other informal measures, student misconduct can be modified without the more formal intervention of the juvenile court, which often does not have the resources to deal with such behavior constructively. Some schools use trained peer mediators to resolve problems. Other schools use circling, in which peers gather in a circle with the participants suggesting reasons for the problem behavior and approaches to resolution. Trained adult mediators are sometimes used to work with conflicts that involve children, parents, and teachers. Schools can also use service agencies in the community to work with child and family issues. This paper describes some innovative community-based intervention programs being used in communities throughout the Nation.