Zero-tolerance policies in the United States became widespread in 1994, after federal legislation required states to expel for one year any student who brought a firearm to school, or lose all federal funding. These policies are promoted as preventing drug abuse and violence in schools.

Why are zero tolerance policies enacted?

Zero-tolerance policies were written into school handbooks in the 1990s, created originally to be a deterrent for bringing weapons into schools. ... With this theory in mind, school districts and states began cracking down on minor violations to prevent serious crimes from occurring in the future.

What do we mean by zero tolerance for violation?

A zero-tolerance policy is one which imposes a punishment for every infraction of a stated rule. ... This pre-determined punishment, whether mild or severe, is always meted out.