Pushout

Pushout

Adult nonfiction
"in 2007, six-year-old Desre'e Watson was placed in handcuffs by
the Avon Park Police Department for having a bad tantrum in her
Florida classroom. According to the police, Desre'e was kicking and
scratching, which presented a threat to the safety of others in the
school, specifically her classmates and her teacher. According to
police chief Frank Mercurio, 'When there is an outburst of violence,
we have a duty to protect and make the school a safe environment for
the students, staff, and faculty. That's why at this point, the
person was arrested, regardless what [sic] the age."
Whoa! Hold the presses! A six-year-old considered such a
threat a presumably much bigger police officer had to handcuff her?
Why was a cop even involved in what should have been routine classroom
behavior management? It must be an isolated incident. Right?
Wrong! In Georgia Salecia Johnson (also six) was not only handcuffed,
but delivered to the police station. In Illinois Jmiyha Rickman, an
eight-year-old special needs child, was held in a police vehicle
nearly two hours.
If you wonder what the Hell is going on [and I certainly hope
you do] read Monique W. Morris' Pushout: The Criminalization of Black
Girls in Schools. For many years we've heard of how black boys are
caught in the school to prison pipeline. Morris gives us a timely
reminder that black girls are also victims of cops in schools and zero
tolerance policies. In fact, due to a convergence of gender, sexual
orientation, race, and poverty, they can be even more vulnerable.
Some of the reasons are:
*In the minds of too many teachers and administrators black girls have
bad attitudes. Seen through this filter, even innocuous behaviors can
be seen as disciplinary matters. Even black students who try to play
by the rules get less support than white peers.
*Age compression can lead teachers and administrators to assume that
black girls are more sexually knowledgeable and less in need of
protection than white peers.
*Dress codes penalize black girls not only for wearing garments that
might distract boys from their studies, but for having dreads, Afros,
and other black hair styles. Appearance can criminalize.
*The impoverished schools that many black girls attend are the most
likely to implement zero tolerance policies.
Despite all the psychic and physical violence done to black
girls in places that should be safe, affirming, and welcoming havens
for all children, dedicated to their physical, intellectual,
emotional, and social growth, Morris has hope. She ends the book with
very good suggestions for moving schools in a better direction. Read
this fine book if you care about education in America.
On a personal note, back in March after I'd attended a tangible (non
virtual) work training my assistant manager, Anna informed us that we
had to do a bunch of electronic trainings with tests we had to get 85
or better on to keep our jobs. It's a campus wide annual thing. I
was something like paralyzed with terror. I love my job. Luckily
Jodi, my former manager and still mentor, offered to help me. We did
one a week on Fridays. I actually liked the work because it meant
time with Jodi. Anna was very pleased when I gave her the paperwork
so I could get paid for doing them. I think that's like an
incentive. We both agreed Jodi is awesome.
Amazingly Jodi still wants to keep meeting with me. How did I get
this lucky?
A great big shout out goes out to Jodi and Anna.
jules hathaway



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