Defund the Police Like our Black and Brown Babies’ Lives Depend on it- Because They do!

What is the school-to-prison-pipeline?

What is the SThe school to prison pipeline is a phrase used to connect the relationship between institutions where children are gin got school, and often don’t gradute because they’re more likely to go to prison. We all know police in schools contribute a huge part to this. But how do SROs exactly do this? And what is there to be done?

In order to talk about polic in schools and the detrimental efects they have on our society, in our schools and in our children's lives, we firtst need ot talka bout police. Police are already problematic themselves because the whole system of policing was created to track enslaved Black people who ran away from plantations in the South to go up North, where enslaving was illegal.

Now that we have a little more context, let’s get into what police in schools do to our children. Well, for starters, SROs were first created in the 1950s to address “racial tensions” after the end of segregation in the 60s. They were also to adress safety concerns during the time of school shootings. SROs significantly in creased in the 2000s after he largest mass shootings at the time: Columbine high school in Colorado in 1999.

In fact, after Columbine’s school shooting, SRO presence increased significantly. NASRO, an agency that trains SROs, reported that across 30% of schools in the US, there are currently around 14000–20,000 SROs(NPR).

If this is the first time you are hearing about the school-to-prison pipeline, good morning! If you need a refresher(which is never a bad idea) here you go:

Although there are many things that contribute tot he school to prison pipeline, School Resource Officers (SROs) are a large factor. The school to prison piepline feeds off of criminalizing blakc nad brown children. During a time where we are living in a reality where the majority of the prison population is black peopel, when they only ,ake uo a small portion in theUS. It sshouldnot be this way. Black anfd brown children have never been the problem. The US has continued to outdo itself in ways to profit an dbenefit off of the “ensalvement” of Black people.l It might not be called the same thing thoguhout the centuries, but it sure looks the same. weaponizes and criminalizes.

Unfortunately, there are too many examples readily available to support that the misconduct of SROs consequentially feeds black and brown children, children with disabilities, and children from low-income communities into prison. Because Florida has been in the news lately, I’ll use them as an example. IN the following video, ABC states that Florida doesn’t have an age limit to when someone can be arrested. Let that sink in. A child can be arrested. A newborn baby can be arrested. If we aren’t setting an age limit to which arrests can be made, this means we are CHOOSING to not see the multiple dimensions of humnas. We are saying, Black children have an expectation to live up to, and we will not alow them to break form the stereotype, o we will edo everyhtign we can to keep the systm we have in place. Police and prisons THRIVE becuase Black children and adults are dehumanized. Police lack self-compassion. These people are not fit ot be in schools protecting children.

Far too often we hear about an officer that assualted a child because she refused to give her cell phone, 6 year olds who are detained or arrested and whose parents are left in the dark about his. This is trauma that is allowed, paid for, enabled. All by the billion dollar budgets for the police department.5 and 6 year old children have been arrested in Florida for things like “temper tantrums” disguised as “aggregated assault” and “battery”(ABC, 2020).

Conclusion

We need to abolish police and prison s and all forms of government. Most importantly, we need to stop trusting police officers and relying on them for a false sense of security. Police and prisons do not keep people safe. They do not protect against crime. In schools, we have observed that SROs are a danger and pose a very real threat ot the safety of our children, especially Black ad brown children. If you purchased soemthing from a business and you recieved damaged product and never got a refund for it, woudl you purchase from that same store again? Would you let others spend their money on them wihthout telling them your story and experience first? Well that’s the same thing we need to do here. We need to DEFUND the police. This term is not as radical as concervatives make it out tot be. If you were in toxic relationship, and the opnly support system you had were peopel who also foudn themselves in a toxic relationship, you awould both start ot normalize that. And seeking helo and recover from that toxic relationshio would seem radical. However, it is jsut because of the Stockholm syndrome. This is what state we are currently in right now. This is a reminder form your firend wh is not in a toxic relationship, to ge tout. A healthy life and world exists. And I’ll give you a hint: it does not involve a billion dollar polcie bidget, or any police at all.

References:

Maynard, Rob. “Interrupting The School To Prison Pipeline On Dr. Judi, The People’s Advocate.” WCLK, www.wclk.com/post/interrupting-school-prison-pipeline-dr-judi-peoples-advocate.

Corley, Cheryl. “Do Police Officers In Schools Really Make Them Safer?” NPR, NPR, 8 Mar. 2018, www.npr.org/2018/03/08/591753884/do-police-officers-in-schools-really-make-them-safer.

AJ+, “American Kids and the School-To-Prison-Pipeline,” YouTube, November 30, 2020. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04pcSyzwoTg

ABC Action News, “Kids treated as criminals: Hundreds of young Florida children arrested within the last two years,” November 30,2020. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sl8NTweMM5k

Ryan, Joseph B., et al. “The Growing Concerns Regarding School Resource Officers.” Intervention in School & Clinic, vol. 53, no. 3, Jan. 2018, pp. 188–192. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1177/1053451217702108.

Counts, Jennifer, et al. “School Resource Officers in Public Schools: A National Review.” Education & Treatment of Children (West Virginia University Press), vol. 41, no. 4, Nov. 2018, pp. 405–429. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1353/etc.2018.0023.

Lynch, Caitlin G., et al. “The Effects of Social and Educational Disadvantage on the Roles and Functions of School Resource Officers.” Policing: An International Journal, vol. 39, no. 3, Aug. 2016, pp. 521–535. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1108/PIJPSM-02–2016–0021.