Activism against the school-to-prison pipeline is not easy. Many of the practices that perpetuate the pipeline have been instilled in the educational system. Despite the acknowledgement that the pipeline is having a devastating effect on the youth of this nation, it is hard to organize any retaliation against the pipeline. While there are many possible reasons for the existence of this issue, there is a lack of guidance towards solutions that will dismantle and plug the pipeline. However, many people are exhausted of seeing the horrifying statistics surrounding this issue. These include the facts that 70% of students involved in “in-school” arrests are Black or Latino, and that 68% of males in state and federal prisons do not have a high school diploma.3 For this reason, there are groups that are trying to have an effect.
Many of these groups are grassroots organizations. They include people from the community, and they really care. They are participating in the activism movement for no other reason than the fact that they want change. They are not getting paid, nor are they, for the most part, getting very much fame. But these groups are sprouting up all over the nation. They are drawing attention to the issue at hand and they are making a difference. Grassroots organizations can be effective in many different arenas, and the school-to-prison pipeline is certainly one of them. Because of the injustice of this issue, activism against it has a solid base and can easily garner support and collect momentum. These groups do face abuse, fall on hard times, and face challenges, but they have proven that their work can really make a change and help dismantle this pressing concern.