How Public Schools Would Benefit from Modeling the Concept of Reparations
Punishment just for the sake of inflicting pain doesn’t correct anti-social behavior
When I was in grade school I got kicked in the head. At the moment of impact, I thought my attacker had killed me. The pain hit a moment later, and two hours after that I threw up, lost my balance, and nearly passed out.
Nobody received any punishment as a consequence of this assault, but I walked around for a month feeling ashamed of my bruised and swollen face.
“What happened to you?” people asked again and again. That’s a hard question to hear when you’re trying to get a date and you witness girls regarding you with expressions of pity and disgust.
It’s humiliating to have to endure something like that. We simply don’t live in a world where people are careful about their behaviors. Too often people are defiantly reckless and cause damage for which they’re never held accountable.
In our current system, the best you can hope for is that your attackers will be punished. But even if that happens, there’s no mechanism in place to help you pick up the pieces and restore your shattered life.
