Suspending suspensions: A way to re-envision subjective causes of suspensions

Abstract

An elementary student was eating an orange in class. Noting that it was not lunch time, her teacher asked her to put the orange away — multiple times. The student was concerned about getting in trouble but was more worried about the hunger she felt. She persisted in eating her orange. The teacher found this to be “deliberate disobedience” and threatened disciplinary action due to non-compliance. The student, feeling nervous, and frightened, eloped from her classroom. Immediately, the teacher now in a state of alert herself, panicked and called for the support team reporting that she eloped with “something she should not have in her hand.”