Abstract
Youth who experience academic failure are at a greater risk for involvement in delinquency. While studies have revealed a myriad of factors for such failure, the perceptions of these youth regarding their educational experiences have proven to be one of the most valuable resources regarding the systematic barriers to academic achievement. The purpose of this essay is to examine how youth of color are overwhelming affected by a phenomenon known as Cradle-to-Prison Pipeline. Several school districts in the U. S. employ harsh discipline practices that inevitably push students out of classrooms, on the streets, and in the juvenile justice system at an astounding rate. Students of color experience higher rates of suspensions, expulsion, truancy, retention, and academic failure in schools. Harsh discipline polices, along with bias and discrimination have a direct or indirect impact on their academic journey, including feeling of inferiority due to their academic shortcomings.
 *The original version of this article included the term Native Indigenous students. Per the authors request, the term Native Indigenous has been replaced with Indigenous.
Highlights
Youth who experience academic failure are at a greater risk for involvement in delinquency
Within the realm of education such policies include Get Tough and ?ZeroTolerance?Polices that contribute to a phenomenon known as the Cradle-to-PrisonPipeline (CTPP), which creates systematic barriers for youth of color in schools and pushes them towards the juvenile justice system (Milner et al, 2018)
Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly?(King, 1994, p. 2-3). These powerful words written over fifty years ago still speak truth to systemic injustices inflicted on the overwhelmingly disproportionate number of young Black men who become victims of the Cradle-to-Prison Pipeline
Summary
Youth who experience academic failure are at a greater risk for involvement in delinquency. Within the realm of education such policies include Get Tough and ?ZeroTolerance?Polices that contribute to a phenomenon known as the Cradle-to-PrisonPipeline (CTPP), which creates systematic barriers for youth of color in schools and pushes them towards the juvenile justice system (Milner et al, 2018). It robbed them of opportunities to obtain employment and be productive members of society Their stories and lived experiences left an indelible mark on me both personally and professionally, and made me even more aware of the urgent need to address structural racism within the educational arena. Issues such as disengagement, suspensions, expulsion, truancy, academic failure, substance abuse, systemic inequities, school violence, poverty and parental neglect are all significant contributors and predictors of dropout and delinquency. Youth?s personal challenges, including feelings of inferiority, have a direct and/or indirect impact on their academic journey, including an increased likelihood that this journey will end in, or be disrupted by, incarceration (Henry et al, 2012)
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