Healthy and Unhealthy School Policies: Black Girls’ Experiences in a Southern City

Apugo, Danielle; Apugo, Danielle

According to Morris (2016), “One of the most persistent and salient traits among girls who have been labeled ‘delinquent’ is that they have failed to establish a meaningful and sustainable connection with schools” (p. 2). Many Black girls are not dropouts, but are “pushouts,” as schools have failed to support them and instead punitively responded to their behaviors and needs. This pushout, “the collection of policies, practices, and consciousness that fosters their invisibility, marginalizes their pain and opportunities, and facilitates their criminalization – goes unchallenged” (p. 24). This public health epidemic has been documented as the school-to-prison-pipeline which deprives children of social determinants of health including access to adequate education and healthcare, increasing their risk of living lower quality lives (Xanthos et al., 2010).

This paper is based on an exploratory, transdisciplinary study of Black girls in a southern city in the United States designed to investigate often hidden and poorly understood processes of criminalization in schools. Centered on the lived experiences of Black girls, the authors analyze policy-enforced processes of shaming, spirit-murdering, and punishment for behaviors deemed outside of the established, acceptable norms. Conduct and dress codes that focus on aesthetics (hair, body type, culture, style of dress, disposition, perceived attitude, etc.), for example, are often grounds for formal reprimand and consequences that lead to students’ early interactions with the legal/criminal justice system. This study reconceptualizes the problem based on girls’ lived experiences and identifies policy implications for the health of Black girls.

Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

Panel Paper: Healthy and Unhealthy School Policies: Black Girls’ Experiences in a Southern City

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