Slate features Partnership with Children and emerging science that informs our work in schools
Strong punishments in school are likely based on the assumption that when kids act out, reprimanding them has the potential to remedy the psychological impulse that caused the bad behavior in the first place. But recent research suggests this assumption might often be wrong. According to a panel of researchers and educators who gathered at the American Museum of Natural History in New York on May 3, a growing body of research reveals that for many kids, disciplinary issues aren’t simply the result of bad behavior, psychologically induced or otherwise. Instead, they argue, bad behavior may result from a deeply rooted biological response to toxic stress. And the current American regime of discipline and punishment that attempts to rein in these impulses is only making things worse. Read the full Slate coverage of our panel on poverty and the brain here.