The Chicago Board of Education recently voted yes to the removal of police officers in Chicago schools. Student activists have been protesting this issue for years now. Students have been protesting for years about how unsafe school feels with police watching over them. In this way, the school-to-prison pipeline just acquired a whole new blockage.
Teenage Prisoners
The school-to-prison pipeline is the phenomenon where marginalized identities, particularly black people, face systemic challenges that start in the education system that lead them to jail time. The police, an organization known for racial profiling and harm against women shouldn’t be present in a school.
The money spent on school cops could be much better spent on preventative measures like therapy services, better food, or possibly even addiction treatment. However, the punitive model of school security only makes students feel afraid. Here is a quote from a CPS student: “My dream is to become a nurse, but we don’t have a nursing program at Hyde Park Academy – yet we do have a cop that we pay $180,000,” she said.” according to CBS News.
Kids in Cages
One shouldn’t feel like one is entering a cage while going to school. Being treated like a criminal in the place one goes to learn isn’t conducive to a place that makes people feel good. School is supposed to be a safe place of education, learning, and social-emotional development, however, the presence of police changes this environment into something more sinister.
The presence of police within schools makes school feel like a prison. If a school is worried about things like drugs, then it should develop a drug harm reduction program. If a school is worried about things like fighting, then it should bring in social workers. There are people that specialize in working with teenagers, that would be much more impactful than cops with guns. Cops see black teens as much older than they are and will treat them like any adult on the street. “Black children are often treated as adults by age 13, if not well before, regularly perceived as older, less innocent, and more threatening than their White same-age peers.“ according to policing equity.
SROs
The general idea of a school resource officer is that if a police officer manages to create a relationship with the students, then they won’t be as bad as a normal cop. However, this is a delusional understanding of the inherent nature of policing in America. The police in America are there to represent the class interests of the privileged and the powerful.
For example, when a white person wants to threaten a black person’s life, they call the police. When a landlord wants to threaten the livelihood of their tenant, they call the police. When a person in power wants something done to someone of lower status, generally, the police are called.
Ontologically Evil
The police don’t belong in schools When they are in schools, these cops show their nature again by arresting black kids disproportionately. “We also find that SROs intensify the use of suspension, expulsion, police referral, and arrest of students. These increases in disciplinary and police actions are consistently largest for Black students, male students, and students with disabilities.” according to The Thin Blue Line in Schools.
Protectors of The Elite
Ultimately, the police make schools safer only in the same way that nuclear weapons make the world less violent. Nuclear weapons prevent nations from attacking each other unless they want mutually assured destruction. However, according to the previously linked study, SROs don’t actually stop gun violence in schools.
The entire purpose of SROs is to stop gun violence in schools, so if they aren’t doing that specific job then they don’t need to be in schools and other options need to have the time to shine. Preventative measures like gun safety courses, social workers, and former gun violence convicts could all help in preventing gun violence. In the worst-case scenario, the cops are on the outside of the building instead of inside the building.
Written by Kenneth Mazerat
Sources
CBSNews: Chicago Board of Education votes to remove Chicago Police officers from schools by
CNN: Experts worry about a heavier police presence in schools: ‘Black and brown children bear the brunt of criminalization By , CNN
The thin blue line in schools: New evidence on … (n.d.).
PolicingEquity:
Featured and Top Image Courtesy of gdsteam’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
First Inset Image Courtesy of National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
