Automatically suspending or expelling misbehaving students is an "increasingly questionable" response to school disruptions, the nation's largest group of pediatricians says in a policy statement released Monday.
So-called zero-tolerance suspension and expulsion policies are a "drastic" response that can actually keep schools from dealing with underlying reasons for students' misbehaving, the American Academy of Pediatrics says.
The academy is a professional organization of 60,000 primary care pediatricians, specialists and pediatric surgeons. It regularly publishes policy statements on medical issues such as obesity as well as on school-related issues.
The group criticizes zero-tolerance suspensions and expulsions that were originally intended to keep