Thursday, February 4, 2016
Brooklyn Community Foundation Trustee: Bring Restorative Justice to Our Schools
Last fall, a disturbing video took over the Internet: a White school safety officer at Spring Valley High School in Columbia, South Carolina, pulled a Black, female student from her chair, slammed her to the ground, and dragged her from the room. Apparently, she failed to heed his order to leave the classroom. Most disturbingly, the actions depicted in the video may be extreme, but they are not isolated.
All across America, schools predominantly serving students of color are being buried under a culture of "zero tolerance." These policies are turning what should be centers of learning and personal development into places where discipline and punishment rule the day - places that seem designed to prepare students for lives in jail. We've all heard the stories: the kindergartner handcuffed for throwing a tantrum or the high school students arrested for having a food fight in the cafeteria.
Of course, it is critical - from both an education and a public safety perspective - that schools are safe. Children will struggle to learn if they are afraid for their physical safety. . .