The Effects of Parental School Exclusion on Offspring Drug Use: An Intergenerational Path Analysis

To determine whether and how exclusionary school punishment experienced by parents affects the drug use of their offspring.

Using panel data of 360 parent-child dyads from the Rochester Youth Developmental Study and its intergenerational component, the Rochester Intergenerational Study, we conduct path analysis to evaluate the adequacy of a theoretical model that explicates the intergenerational pathways from parental school exclusion to offspring drug use.

Parents who were suspended or expelled during adolescence are more likely to drop out of school, which, in turn, leads to parental adult drug use, economic hardship, and ineffective parenting of their children. As a result, their offspring are likely to hold attitudes/beliefs favoring drug use and have reduced bonding to school, which, ultimately, contribute to offspring drug use.

Exclusionary school disciplinary practices not only result in a number of adverse collateral consequences within one generation of respondents, the negative effects of such experiences are also felt by the next generation. Therefore, exclusionary school punishment should only be used as a last resort. Whenever possible, disciplinary practices in school need to involve inclusionary efforts to re-integrate students into the larger school community.