Restorative Justice Could Be the Key to Preventing Violence in Schools [PSMag.com]

A student throws a chair at a teacher. A typical chain of events follows this incident: The student is removed from the classroom—perhaps sent to the principal's office or escorted by safety officers in the school—and then receives a prompt out-of-school suspension. When the student returns to the classroom, it's likely that nothing was done to repair the relationship with the teacher.

And thus, the cycle of misbehavior and stricter punishment continues.

This type of retributive justice, or justice based on punishment rather than rehabilitation, has been the most widely used method of discipline in American schools for decades. And it makes sense: If a student is disrupting the class, the easiest and most effective remedy is removing the student from the classroom.

Or is it?

LaQuesha Grigsby, the principal of Bammel Middle School in Houston, Texas, doesn't think so. "We're in a situation where we have to do something drastic," Grigsby told the Texas Tribune, "because what we've been doing is not working."