Well-Intentioned, Poorly Enforced: The Hidden Costs of Protective Policies in Schools

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Sunday 11:45 am - Gold 4
  In Roundtable Session: From Protection to Possibility: Policy, Wellness, and the Making of Safe Spaces in Education

Abstract

Objective
This study examined how protective school policies (policies that safeguard students), when not implemented and enforced properly, may inadvertently contribute to increased behavioral disruptions among middle school students.

Methodology
The study employed a systematic review of literature within the US context with support by relevant studies from the UK. Overall, 123 papers were retrieved for the study although only 25 were utilized based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The search for literature was electronically done via a number of databases including EBSCO, JSTOR, and Eric (ProQuest), etc.

Results
Results revealed how students sometimes game the system to disrupt school and classroom activities when implementation and enforcement of protective policies are inconsistent and weak.

Author

• Gilbert Ansah, West Virginia University