Little research has examined the ways in which the enactment of school discipline policies impacts families. More specifically, there is a dearth of research on how families experience school suspensions and exclusions as policy receivers (Ball, et al., 2012). This paper argues that the impact of suspension and exclusion policies on families is best understood in the context of wider structural and institutional inequalities that cause social exclusion (Alexiadou, 2005; Mills & Thompson, 2022). We shift the focus to the notion of intersectionality and multiple dimensions of ‘disadvantage’ (e.g., race, gender, and class) (Levitas et al., 2007). This paper draws on a larger critical policy study of school exclusionary practices in Australia. We conducted 15 case studies of families from diverse backgrounds and circumstances. We interviewed parents and, where feasible, their children. We conducted a thematic analysis to identify themes and used a narrative approach to examine each case in detail. In this paper, we present the experiences of one family to illustrate the ways in which policies are enacted and received and with what effects. The findings show that some families deal with complex circumstances across health, disability, employment, relationships, and cost of living. They struggle to engage with the ways in which school suspensions and exclusions policies are implemented by schools irrespective of these wider contextual issues. There is a feeling of powerlessness as policy is often ‘done to’ rather than ‘with them’. There is a sense of frustration and anger about how school suspensions and exclusions are ethically, educationally, and procedurally unfair. The case illustrates how some parents/carers resist the ways in which suspension and exclusion policies are enacted by ‘speaking back’ to dominant policy actors (e.g., principals, bureaucrats, and politicians) on behalf of their children. This kind of policy advocacy work or ‘politicking’ is exhausting and affects families in different ways, including: emotionally (e.g., frustration, anger, and time); financially (e.g., employment and housing); family relationships (e.g., siblings, parenting, and extended family); and educationally (e.g., access to schools, and alternative programs). This study has important implications for school discipline policy constructions more widely. It questions the purposes of school suspensions and exclusions and the extent to which they simply exacerbate forms of deep social exclusion. The paper concludes that the effects of school exclusionary practices are often long lasting and simply compound existing social and educational inequalities for some of society’s most disadvantaged and marginalised families.

Alexiadou, N. (2005). Social exclusion, and educational opportunity: The case of British education policies within a European Union context. Globalisation, Societies and Education, 3(1), 101–125. Levitas, R. A., Pantazis, C., Fahmy, E., Gordon, D., Lloyd, E., & Patsios, D. (2007). The multi-dimensional analysis of social exclusion. Bristol, UK: University of Bristol. Mills, M., & Thomson, P. (2022). English schooling and little e and big E exclusion: What’s equity go to do with it? Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties, 27(3), 185–198.