Self harm is not a crime people its simply a coping skill its a way for a person to deal with their emotions by them selfs. it's not because they are trying to kill them self and it is in no way shape or form a threat to the schools since when is a coping skill a threat????

self-mutilation is a mixed action, both free-will and a built in coping mechanism. as an ex-mutilationist i can testify that the suspension and expullsion of slef-mutilators is a reality. schools at this day and age would rather get rid of the problem rather than dealing with it. this accounts for 63% of america's population being "dysfunctional" due to a lack of proper help. schools, rather than covering up the problem with a suspension letter, should use the "certified" counselors and psychologists they spend so much money on obtaining to get these kids some help. i see no harm or reason for these kids to get kicked out of school as long as they arent cutting themselves in school grounds. however if they were they can be considered a "danger" to others. in which case removal would be fit. the problem: no one takes the time to help these people. the final opinion: stop giving these people the boot or else no one will ever stay in school.

Schools are suspending people for self-injury!??! What ignorant schools are you talking about?

Even if you don't understand that self-injury is a common problem, you surely must realize that it's not like the kid in question is being a trouble maker.

http://www.palace.net/~llama/psych/injury.html

Get help and be safe. You are not alone and there are better ways.

I cant see how this is that different to people taking drugs and getting expelled for it- they are not hurting anyone, both can be addictive and they can both be ways of coping.

Well I dont believe that people should be expelled from school for cutting but they should get help. I mean if you are in so much pain on the inside that you feel like you need to hurt yourself, how far are you going to go? Are you going to get so angry with someone that your going to phisically hurt someone else? That is when cutting becomes a problem. To a certain extent it can be a danger to the schools, like rumors it can spread like wildfire

If schools knew anything about cutting they would realize expelling someone is just stupid. I used to cut myself, haven't done it in about 2 years I'm proud to say. But I didn't do it to harm myself or try to kill myself, it was like I felt so much emotional pain and for that second or minute when I cut myself the pain was gone. It is also nothing like a drug problem, I was not addicted to cutting myself. At the time it was the only way I knew to help relieve my pain. Unless someone has been a cutter you have no idea the amount of shame I have for it. I have scars that will never go away but they remind me everyday of how wonderful it is to have found different ways of dealing with my pain. I think conseling would be an idea instead of throwing kids our of school. Yeah, lets give them something else to be depressed about. And just so all of you know, I wasn't the dark kid in the corner, I was class secretary and who's who things like that. No one would have ever guessed what I was doing to myself under my clothes, so if they do think expelling kids is the right decision, good luck picking them out...