An Examination of Discrimination in Schools: A Sociological View

This sociology essay delves into the critical issue of discrimination within school settings, examining its multifaceted nature and profound impacts on students and teachers. The essay explores various forms of discrimination, including those based on race, gender, religion, and disability, analy...Read More

Running head: SOCIOLOGY
Sociology
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1SOCIOLOGY
Social work is regarded as a vast concept and many factors are associated with the
development of the social work. In this essay, the topic of discussion is to shed the light on the
human service organization of discrimination at the workplace. In case of the discriminations at
the workplace, people have been harassed and given punishments for certain causes. The social
work setting for this paper is the school (Ozeren, 2014). In the society, some people are
victimized for their position in the society, their caste, skin color, religion and many other issues.
These kinds of harassments are not at all good for a good reputation of the society. In this
context, the reasons for the harassments and impacts of the discrimination will be discussed. This
kind of discrimination in the schools is very problematic when it takes place among the children.
It is so because children suffer shocks because of the things that happen to them.
Critics are of the opinion that this discrimination at the workplace has become a widely
talked social evil. Diversity is a very crucial thing that encourages the work capabilities among
the people. Without the presence of diversity, sustainable working conditions cannot be created.
Similarly, it is quite common that children from different sections of the school will study within
the classroom environment (Ozeren, 2014). So, it is the responsibility of the school authorities to
take care of the children and protect them. If the children suffer the discriminations from their
fellow children and teachers, they will not be able to forget this for the rest of their lives. The
discriminations in the workplaces take place due to certain reasons. These reasons are mainly
gender, skin color, and nationality of origin, race, disability and religion.
The absence of the fellow feeling in the minds of the children is not at all acceptable.
Children go to the school for studies. They ought to make friends and develop their skills for the
future (Lareau, 2014). Surely they are not aware of these discriminating things from their birth.
They are somehow influenced by their parents or the environment around them. This is why they

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react in the way their parents taught them. Sometimes, this kind of discrimination takes place by
the teachers of the schools as well. So, this creates a bad impression on the schools as well.
There are many anti-discrimination laws that are made in the schools. When the teachers in the
schools do not abide by these laws, certain steps can be taken as well (Lareau, 2014). The
national governance laws have strictly urged the schools from discriminations within the public
and private schools. Also, this request by the government should be followed strictly. The
discrimination at the schools are caused from the issues like race and color of skin. Religion is
also a criteria for this kind of discrimination (Swearer & Hymel, 2015). All the children should
be equally irrespective of their caste, gender, race, religion and skin color. The experts have
pointed out that these events take place from very small incidents but it has large repercussions
within the society (Adair, 2015).
However, it is very crucial to make the anti-discriminatory laws to be made mandatory in
all the schools. Generally, these laws are applicable only in the public schools. These schools
receive the funding from the federal Government of the country. It means that the private schools
in the country have been deprived of these anti-discrimination laws (Cobb et al., 2015). These
laws must be made mandate in the private schools as well since numerous students study in these
schools. Critics are of the opinion that it has been noticed that the admission process in many
schools depend upon some themes (Swearer & Hymel, 2015). These themes are mainly
regarding the gender or religion. Due to these problems, religious views and gender
discrimination issues could be the barriers in the admission process of the good students. An
example can be given in this context. If a person goes to a all boys Catholic school to admit his
daughter, severe problems could arise. The school authorities will surely deny this admission and

3SOCIOLOGY
they will come up with their own logic to decline the process (Wright, 2018). However, this is
being done to exclude the people who are not within the specific demographics of the school.
The impact of these discriminatory activities in the school premises is sometimes severe.
It is because of the fact that the students suffer from the trauma. They are afraid to go to the
schools and their mindset breaks down. This is why they need to consult the psychologists at
some point of time as well (Adair, 2015). This time of discrimination is completely illegal in the
schools and the federal government ought to take strict actions against these incidents. When a
child is ill treated, abused and harassed, he loses the interest in the schools. He suffers a severe
setback (Maussen, 2016). This is how he loses confidence on the school and the teachers. When
the teachers launch such kind of discrimination activities, it becomes really very pathetic. Parents
send their children to the schools because they know nothing bad can happen can happen to these
children (Morris & Perry, 2016). The responsibility of giving protection to these children rests on
these teachers only. If they speak out bad comments on the children, it is completely
unacceptable.
This kind of shock that the children suffer is very bad for their mental health. Critics have
viewed this thing as a negative thing for the positive growth of the society. Apart from the
discriminations on the children, the discriminations can also happen based on the teachers as
well (Maussen, 2016). The diversity is also present among the teachers. When a teacher comes
from a different ethnic background other than the rest of teachers, it becomes very troublesome
for him. He has to cope with numerous troubles. He goes through victimization in his workplace
and social media. Even there are some people who tend to question the teaching capabilities of
these teachers (Howarth & Andreouli, 2015). The Federal Government sometimes employs

4SOCIOLOGY
people with disability as a part of their equality law. These people get bullied in their workplaces
because of their disabilities as well.
Therefore, it is quite clear that the discriminations within the schools should always be
addressed with a proper remedy. In this context, the equality rights among the teachers and
students should be informed and circulated within the schools. It is because teachers and students
shall not be able to protest about these issues if they have no idea about the process of the redress
(Howarth & Andreouli, 2015). The federal laws have always existed to protect both the students
and teachers from the discriminatory practices. Some effective policies and practices should be
arranged by the Federal agencies so the school organizations can protect their teachers and
students. In order to stop this practice, the Federal agencies should always become very much
proactive in assigning a person in the schools who will be in charge of all the non-discriminatory
efforts (Reich, 2017). It is quite evident that some incidents have taken place in some schools
where all the laws have been violated regarding discrimination. No action has been taken in this
context as well. The kinds of discriminations that take place in the schools are regarding the
gender, religion and ethnic background.
In case of Australia, it has often been seen that the aboriginal children are the victims of
several discriminatory policies. Critics are of the opinion that some children of the aboriginal
Indigenous and Torres Strait islander background do not receive all the facilities that they should
be receiving in the schools (Reich, 2017). To cope with the discrimination issues within the
school, the normal redress and grievance process should be followed by everyone. In case of
harassments of the teachers, strict and punishable actions must be taken by law keepers. This is
in accordance with the fact that everyone should be treated in the equal manners within the
schools (Lewis & Diamond, 2015). Discrimination in the workplace is a branch of the civil law

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and parents should also contribute in identifying the culprits and punishing them. This is
probably the most crucial fact that all the federal agencies must consider. This kind of
discrimination within the society must be stopped (Ostrander, 2015). Then only a good and
developed society can be created without any fear of being harassed.
On a concluding note, it should be said that the discrimination in the workplace is a much
hated social evil in the current times. Especially it has been hated if it is being committed in the
schools. In case of discrimination at the schools, both the teachers and students become the
victims. The absence of harmony and equality suffers a huge setback. This is why the Fedreal
agencies must take some preventive measures so they can stop this evil. Otherwise, this will
create post-traumatic stress disorder among the children. This will be very harmful for the future
of the children.

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References List
Adair, J. K. (2015). The impact of discrimination on the early schooling experiences of children
from immigrant families. Migration Policy Institute.
Cobb, R. J., Perry, S. L., & Dougherty, K. D. (2015). United by faith? Race/ethnicity,
congregational diversity, and explanations of racial inequality. Sociology of
Religion, 76(2), 177-198.
Howarth, C., & Andreouli, E. (2015). ‘Changing the context’: Tackling discrimination at school
and in society. International Journal of Educational Development, 41, 184-191.
Lareau, A. (2014). Schools, housing, and the reproduction of inequality. Choosing homes,
choosing schools, 169-206.
Lewis, A. E., & Diamond, J. B. (2015). Despite the best intentions: How racial inequality thrives
in good schools. Oxford University Press.
Maussen, M. (2016). Religious governance in the Netherlands: Associative freedoms and non-
discrimination after pillarization. The example of faith-based schools. In Multireligious
Society(pp. 102-126). Ashgate.
Morris, E. W., & Perry, B. L. (2016). The punishment gap: School suspension and racial
disparities in achievement. Social Problems, 63(1), 68-86.
Ostrander, R. R. (2015). School funding: Inequality in district funding and the disparate impact
on urban and migrant school children. BYU Educ. & LJ, 271.
Ozeren, E. (2014). Sexual orientation discrimination in the workplace: A systematic review of
literature. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 109, 1203-1215.

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Reich, M. (2017). Racial inequality: A political-economic analysis (Vol. 4883). Princeton
University Press.
Swearer, S., & Hymel, S. (2015). Bullying and discrimination in schools: Exploring variations
across student subgroups. School Psychology Review, 44(4), 504-509.
Wright, C. (2018). Race relations in the primary school. Routledge.