SALINAS Karen Espitia grew up in Acosta Plaza, where some of the most notorious gang activity in the city takes place. Her parents were vigilant and kept a close eye on her and her brother, but she could also see how challenging it was for other boys in the neighborhood.

One boy in particular who lacked supervision at home got suspended from school for causing trouble. Suspension led to the boy finding friends on the street, Espitia said. He ended up getting killed when he was 15, something that haunts her to this day.

“That could have been my brother,” said Espitia, 23. “He was a good kid, but he never got the help that he needed.”

It’s National Week of Action Against School Pushout, coordinated by the Dignity in Schools Campaign to bring awareness to what they call the “school to prison” pipeline. Some CSU Monterey Bay psychology students decided to host an information event outside Everett Alvarez High to mark the occasion.

“We’ve been talking about school discipline and how it affects underserved students, how it weighs more heavily on students of color or students with disabilities,” said Shannon Snapp, CSUMB associate professor of psychology. “The Monterey central coast has never participated in any sort of week of action event, so I said if you guys are open, let’s do something.”

The group of about six students handed out information and talked with passersby. They chose Everett Alvarez because some have relatives attending there and are familiar with the school, Snapp said, but it wasn’t intended to deliver a message to the school in particular.

Monterey County had a suspension rate in schools of 4.8 percent in 2013-14, about the same as California as a whole.

Harsh punishment measures have been getting more attention nationwide in recent years as research has shown students of color are more likely to be suspended or expelled from school than white students.

When students are being disruptive in the class, many times it is because they’re facing problems at home, Snapp said. These are students who need counseling, not a week off with nothing to do and with more possibilities of getting in trouble.

“It has a snowball effect,” said Julia Barnett, a CSUMB psychology major. One of her relatives was being bullied in school, and when he tried to defend himself, he got expelled, Barnett said. Eventually her relative landed in juvenile hall and could not return to school, she said.

The story improved as her relative was able to join an alternative school, but he’s a person who really values education and had his studies disrupted for a while with no help from school officials, she said.

School officials should try “to dig deep why (students) are acting a certain way,” said Vanessa Haro, another one of Snapp’s students. “We want solutions, investments in counselors and restorative justice. We don’t want them on the streets. Students who are pushed out are more likely to be arrested or more likely not to finish their education.”

Zach Estrada, 24, believes administrators should look for other alternatives.

“A week of counseling would be better than a week of just being home or in detention,” he said.

The Dignity in Schools Campaign advocates for alternative discipline methods, such as restorative justice, a system that emphasizes repairing the harm that was done. Restorative Justice and Positive Behavioral Interventions and Support, also favored by the national Dignity in Schools Campaign, are already being used in some school districts in Monterey County.

Joe Perez, 16, has heard of instances in which his classmates have been suspended, but he said it hasn’t happened to him. A junior at Everett Alvarez, Perez said bringing awareness to school “pushout” was a good idea.

“It affects us as a society,” he said. “Education is one of the most important things we have.”

Claudia Meléndez Salinas can be reached at 726-4370.