According to Russel Skiba, PhD, studies conduced in a Midwestern public school concluded that using suspensions or time out of school may be considered a reward from the students' perspective. In fact, when suspensions were handed out as a common punishment, the number of behavior issues increased, as students likely desired to be sent home. When detentions were offered as an alternative disciplinary method, negative behavior referrals decreased.
The Soros Foundation suggests that the likelihood of students becoming engaged in violent acts, having sex and consuming drugs increased when the students were not in school. Students who are expelled may permanently leave school as a result of feeling out of place in the educational environment. After expulsion, many students find success more difficult to obtain and, as a result, may drop out permanently or feel alienated. The lack of connection to their peers and authority figures in school may contribute to this decision. The Soros Foundation suggests that early expulsion or suspension may start a pattern of antisocial behavior and possibly push a student on the path to delinquency. For individuals who are already overburdened by negative aspects in their lives, expulsion only increases those burdens.
Students who have behavior problems need intervention, whether through a mental health assessment and counseling or special education. Expulsion does more harm than good, as students are rejected by peers and take it upon themselves to form friendships outside of school. According to the Soros Foundation, students who become involved with deviant cliques have an increased chance of felony arrest. Individuals who are consistently expelled or suspended from school are more likely to become a part of the prison system, compared with peers who were not suspended or expelled.
Fenning and Rose, authors of "Overrepresentation of African American Students in Exclusionary Discipline: The Role of School Policy," concluded that many suspensions and expulsions are based on racism and bias. The publication suggests that many public schools were built on the standards of a white middle class. As a result, students from different cultural backgrounds are at a disadvantage. Cultural differences between students and teachers lead to an increase in disciplinary referrals. The Soros Foundation notes that males, minorities and disabled students are the most frequently and severely punished.