Policy Issue Addressed

Policy Issue Addressed

The critical

issue addressed involves changes in school safety policies as well as practices and programs. The changes occurred in New York during the administration of Mayor Michael. The policies will majorly affect schools which have had a large number of reported crimes.  The population affected will majorly include students. The students are affected by crime through increased involvement which leads to arrests and suspensions from school. Surveys have indicated that there was an increase in suspensions as from the year 2006. Between the year 2006 and 2013, suspensions within these schools rose by 40%. However, there was a drop in suspensions in the year 2013. Also, the students tend to perform poorly, and their behaviour deteriorates. The researchers also noted that there was a 23% decline in suspensions between the years 2011 and 2013.

The crime rate in schools has been of high magnitude in New York. Data collected shows that in the year 1990 and beyond, crime in schools was rampant. According to reports, crime activities increased by 16% among students. The crime was too high such that students were murdering teachers. Research indicates that cases of homicide among students increased by 29% in the 1990s. Surveys have also indicated that reported crime activities within schools in New York rose by 61%. The rise occurred between 1989 and 1993. The statistics show that criminal activities have been on the increase in schools located in New york.

Crime activities tend to have an impact on students and teachers. Violent and non-violent criminal activities affect students.  Notably, the performance of these students deteriorated due to increased indiscipline cases and suspensions. Spending a lot of time out of school hurt their performance. Besides, increased arrests by NYPD affected the students directly. These crimes also impacted teachers. For instance, research shows that there was a principal who was once killed by students in a New York school. The report indicates that teachers as well were affected by these indiscipline issues. Most probably, there were other cases of murder which went unreported.

Analysis of Human Rights Violated

HR frameworks and human rights documents show that policies violated student rights. For instance, all students have the right to remain in school. However, the policies supporting suspension infringed into the rights of the students. Such suspensions meant that these students remained excluded from school for extended periods.  Also, increased cases of arrests by the NYPD violated the students’ right to be in school. Hence, their performance ended up deteriorating. The arrested students may also end up being repeat criminals. The vice will hurt their school performance.

The student’s right to privacy was also violated by the policies laid down. The right was violated by the introduction of metal detectors as well as unannounced scans. Notably, it is against human rights to inspect an individual without seeking their consent. Each person has a right to privacy. However, the students were to be scanned without their permission which is a violation of their right to privacy. The policy will have an impact on students. As the target population, the students will be subjected to constant surveillance. In the long run, social interactions among students may be affected. Besides, data collected by the detectors and other surveillance tools may be used by malicious people. In this case, criminal activities committed utilising this data will affect the students because they will end up on the wrong side of the law.

Analysis of Past and Current Policies about the Issue

The main goal of the policies is to deter crime among students in New York schools. Also, the policy will ensure that there is increased safety for students as well as teachers in schools. Notably, increased criminal activities previously led to deaths in schools. However, the five policies will ensure that illegal activities among school students are mitigated.

The most notable benefits offered by the policy is the presence of progressive response to discipline as well as changes to the existing discipline code. For instance, the policy states that suspensions and arrests will no longer be used in response to crime. The system to be adopted will invest more on guidance intervention techniques. Other progressive techniques will include conflict resolution, mediation, restorative practices and community service. The methods will not have adverse effects on the performance and social behaviour of the students. The resource and protection to be offered by the policy is the installation of school safety technologies. Notably, these technologies will scan students of any dangerous weapons, and these will protect other students from harm.

Both students and teachers will access the benefits, resources and protection. All the stakeholders will benefit from increased safety within the school. The students, on the other hand, will benefit from less harmful intervention techniques once they commit a crime. The students will no longer miss classes due to suspensions and arrests, which affect their overall school performance. The students will benefit from the resources and protection provided because incidences of weapons in school will be mitigated. Hence, safety will installed in the long run.

The policy implementation will be supported by teachers, The New York Police Department (NYPD) and the DOE. The support will be backed by the fact that incidences of crime will reduce. Safety for teachers will also be guaranteed, and this is why they will support the policy. However, the students may not support the policy entirely. In the case of metal detectors and unannounced scans, the students may feel that their rights and freedom have been restricted. Hence, they may end up rejecting all the policies due to this issue.

The primary outcome of the policy will include mitigation of fatal incidences of crime, most notably will be increased safety within these schools. However, resistance from students may lead to unrests which may end up disrupting school programs. The effectiveness of the policy will be estimated by keeping data on the number of criminal activities within New York. The data will be collected over a given period of time, probably one year. After collection, the number of criminal activities will be compared to those of previous years before the policy. A comparison which shows a reduction in illegal activities among students will show that the policy was effective. However, if crime increases, then the policy will have failed.

Proposed Changes

To improve the current policy, there are changes which should be made. One of the critical transformations that should be incorporated will be involving students in formulating the policies. Involvement of students will help in increasing adherence to the proposed plans. The other key element which should be incorporated should include the development of school-level systems which will consist of input from the community members. The strategy will aid in the formulation of sound policies which are healthy to all stakeholders.