Because negotiation channels creative energy and uses student ideas for the benefit of the school, it can create an environment more conducive to teaching and learning than the repressive environments that cause petty irritations, repeated disruptions, violence, and vandalism. (Author/IRT)

After four years of implementation, the National Center for Education Statistics found that schools employing zero-tolerance policies are still less safe than those without such policies. Indiscriminate use of force is the hallmark of authoritarianism. Programmatic prevention, screening and early identification, and effective discipline policies…