Thousands of Illinois students are issued tickets for municipal ordinance violations every year, often resulting in hundreds of dollars in fines and administrative fees. Although the Illinois School Code sought to eliminate fines and fees as a form of school discipline, school administrators still refer students to police who then issue tickets for municipal ordinance violations. 

One of the most cited causes for these tickets is substance use, but new research on addiction treatment suggests that punitive measures like ticketing for vaping can have a harmful effect on addressing substance use and are “likely to drive youth into a deeper, more secretive addiction.” Not only is student ticketing an ineffective form of discipline, it also disproportionately impacts Black students and forces students to miss class in order to attend hearings that were designed for adults.