Here's a five-minute "teaser" for a forthcoming documentary from Teachers Unite titled Growing Fairness. The first part of the trailer offers a critique of the so-called school-to-prison pipeline and zero tolerance policies.
One quote that stuck out for me was researcher and organizer Natalie Havlin saying:
"What’s really exciting about this moment is that nationally – in Louisiana, in Colorado, in New York City, in Los Angeles, in San Francisco, in Chicago, in Detroit – local school communities and young people, parents, educators and administrators are coming together to say that zero tolerance doesn’t work and experimenting with these alternative practices to address interpersonal harm and building justice for communities."
Restorative justice is then presented as the best alternative method to responding to wrongdoing in schools and creating healthy school climate. Voices of students, teachers and administrators are all represented.
The full documentary, along with workshops and resources, will be coming in September, 2013.
Watch the Growing Fairness teaser on Vimeo.
