An Unexpected Reaction: Why a Science Experiment Gone Bad Doesn't Make Me a Criminal
By Kiera Wilmot
After model student Kiera Wilmot (pictured, left, with her twin sister Kayla) was arrested and removed from her high school for doing a science experiment on school property, hundreds of thousands of people across the country signed petitions asking for charges to be dropped and for her to be reinstated in school. Kiera's school's zero-tolerance approach, like so many schools across the country requires severe discipline and does not improve student behavior or improve our schools. It just pushes kids out of school, harming their futures and perpetuating the school-to-prison pipeline. Below, Kiera blogs for ACLU.org about how she and her family have been affected by the school-to-prison pipeline.