School Discipline and Security

Prior research finds that racial and ethnic minority students are more likely than White students to receive school punishments, yet little prior research considers students' perceptions of the fairness of school rules and their enforcement. Using data from a nationally representative survey of students, the authors consider whether African American and Latino and Latina students, and particularly males, perceive school safety practices as less fair overall, less well communicated, and less evenly applied than White students do. The authors also consider whether particular security strategies (security guards, metal detectors, and locker checks) impact these perceptions of fairness. The results suggest that African American students perceive less fairness and consistency of school rules and their enforcement than do White students, though the perceptions of Latino/a students do not vary significantly from those of White students.