Making schools less pleasant places for disruptive students has not proven to be an effective approach for reducing dangerous and disruptive acts. Get tough policies maintain order within a school. However, they are ineffective for promoting the social climate that meets current educational expectations. The basic message is that it simply is not enough to get tough without a pro-active system for teaching and supporting appropriate behavior. Focusing on the difficult few.
Every school can identify a small number of students who are the most disruptive and dangerous.
They may or may not have individualized education plans, but they are well known by the faculty, administration and staff. One of the three pillars of an effective disciplinary structure is a system for addressing the small number of students with chronic and intense disruptive behavior. It is not an error to focus on these students, but it is a mistake to focus on these students without first implementing prevention and at-risk practices. School wide discipline is not achieved one student at a time. Procedures must be in place to build school wide social competence, and only from that foundation will efficient and effective support for the most challenging students be successful.