So, for anyone that doesn’t know, a video went viral yesterday of a cop basically attacking a 15 year old girl at Spring Valley High School in Columbia, SC. Apparently, the cop was called after she refused to leave the classroom, and another student filmed the assault. The officer has been identified as Ben Fields, a school resource officer and sheriff's deputy, and he has been placed on leave, of course, As of right now, the girl has not been named, and since she’s under 18, maybe they won’t name her, and today, Tuesday, the Department of Justice has opened a civil rights investigation into the incident. Cops are supposed to de-escalate situations, not escalate them into violent altercations, and that's something that we see cops doing over and over, especially when Black and brown bodies are involved. Our Black and brown kids don't even have a chance to be kids due to a broken school system that already views them as adults and problems. There's a whole slew of disciplinary options that don't involve calling the cops, but once you have police in the schools, there's this knee-jerk reaction to call the cops on STUDENTS instead of even attempting to de-escalate the situation with some form of discipline, which is a part of your job when working with children, be it elementary school up to high school. The system is broken, and we need to either A. pull our kids out of it, or B., if not remove the police presence in school entirely, then at least examine the amount of power they have in the school as well as curbing this idea of just throwing kids out of class. Thanks for watching. Links: 'FBI opens civil rights probe of officer slamming girl in classroom:' http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/258226-doj-opens-investigation-into-officers-action-at-school 'America's People of Color Aren't Even Safe from Police Violence in School:' http://www.vice.com/read/schools-are-just-another-front-for-police-violence-against-people-of-color-1027 'Oakland schools ban suspensions for defiant behavior following civil rights probe:' http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/may/15/oakland-schools-ban-suspensions-for-defiant-behavi/ 'SCHOOL POLICE REINED IN UNDER NEW OUSD POLICY:' http://oaklandlocal.com/2014/06/school-police-reined-in-under-new-ousd-policy/ 'Alternatives to Suspension: Inside a 'Restorative Justice' High School:' http://www.wnyc.org/story/alternatives-suspension-inside-restorative-justice-high-school/ 'New York City Schools Chief Outlines Discipline Changes That Scale Back Suspensions:' http://www.wnyc.org/story/schools-chancellor-proposes-ways-reduce-suspensions/ 'When Schooling Meets Policing:' http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2015/09/when-schooling-meets-policing/406348/ 'With Police in Schools, More Children in Court:' http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/12/education/with-police-in-schools-more-children-in-court.html?referer=&_r=1 'The Facts About Dangers of Added Police In Schools:' http://sentencingproject.org/doc/publications/jj_Police%20in%20Schools%20Fact%20Sheet.pdf 'SCHOOL SAFETY RESOURCES - POLICE IN SCHOOLS ARE NOT THE ANSWER:' http://safequalityschools.org/pages/police-in-schools 'In America, black children don’t get to be children:' https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/in-america-black-children-dont-get-to-be-children/2014/11/26/a9e24756-74ee-11e4-a755-e32227229e7b_story.html 'Study: Police see black children as less innocent and less young than white children:' http://www.salon.com/2014/03/11/study_police_see_black_children_as_less_innocent_and_less_young_than_white_children/ 'Beautiful Brains Moody. Impulsive. Maddening. Why do teenagers act the way they do? Viewed through the eyes of evolution, their most exasperating traits may be the key to success as adults:' http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/print/2011/10/teenage-brains/dobbs-text

• published: 27 Oct 2015
• views: 10523