By: Samantha Powers
Edited by: Micah Sandy and Chloe Shah
For many students, schools are sites of enlightenment and promise. But for some, the public education system represents something much more sinister. Lack of resources, punitive instruction models, and disciplinary alternative schools all contribute to what scholars call the “school-to-prison pipeline.” [1] This is the phenomenon in which schools become points of entry into the criminal justice system. Students who often only need additional support are criminalized and surveilled from an early age. Evidence shows that the pipeline disproportionately affects disabled students and students of color. [Ibid]. Whereas the most privileged students enjoy instruction, support and mentorship that catapults them into their college careers, many others are stuck on a track leading to a never-ending cycle of incarceration and recidivism. When compulsory education returns such vastly disparate results among students, it becomes important to look into what the root of the problem could be. The rise of police presence in schools has blurred the lines between the walls of a school and the walls of a prison.
School resource officers are sworn law enforcement officials assigned to patrol public schools and carry out disciplinary procedures. As their presence grows across campuses, Congress has proposed new federal funding through the School Resource Officer Act of 2022. Legislators cite staff resources, mentorship, and localized safety plans as benefits of SRO programs in schools, [3] though the reality is that some SROs have never been trained to deal with youth. [4] This lack of training can lead to devastating consequences.
In May 2011, a 13-year-old boy was introduced to the criminal justice system after he was ousted from his classroom for feigned burping. After his teacher’s failed attempts to stop his disruptions, she called the school resource officer (SRO) for assistance. The SRO escorted the boy out of class and arrested him for disrupting the educational process under N.M. Stat. Ann. § 30-20-13(D). The officer then took the boy to the police car, handcuffed him, and drove him to the juvenile detention center. The 10th Circuit Court ruled that the officer was qualified, able, and legally protected to make this decision. [2] As Judge Neil Gorsuch expresses in his dissenting opinion, the legal system’s backing of this decision at every level shows that the severity of discipline in schools has gone too far. If a student can be arrested, handcuffed, and jailed for burping in class, it becomes evident that schools have become sites of punishment as opposed to learning and growth.
Many believe SROs help foster a positive relationship between students and police in which officers can act as counselors and mentors in addition to disciplinarians. But given the intimate nature of the school setting, this can be a double-edged sword: in such close quarters, SROs are free to conduct a level of surveillance that is otherwise unheard of for free citizens. At school, students are constantly being supervised by teachers and administrators, and security cameras ensure that any errant behavior will be recorded and dealt with. While some of these provisions are necessary to ensure safety and order in schools, SROs must be careful not to exploit their immense power of surveillance and punishment over students. Research shows SROs only serve to “intensify the use of suspension, expulsion, police referral, and arrest of students” — particularly Black students. [5] In addition, SROs are seen as providing “peace of mind” to parents concerned about school-related crime. In reality, while SROs may be able to deter students from smoking in bathrooms and skipping class, they are often powerless to stop the most dangerous school-related crimes: school shootings. When a gunman opened fire at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida in 2018 — killing 14 students and 3 teachers — SRO Scot Peterson stayed outside of the building. [6] Despite his training and his mission to serve and protect the vulnerable students in the school, he failed to save 17 lives. This case, and countless others like it, demonstrate that SROs are serving the wrong purposes in schools.
To solve the growing problem of schools becoming entryways into a life of punishment and recidivism, we need to implement measures of support for students. Empathetic counselors, passionate teachers, and engaged parents will always do more to ensure the safety and success of public school students while ensuring that each child receives an equitable educational experience.
Notes:
“What Is the School-to-Prison Pipeline?,” American Civil Liberties Union, accessed January 29, 2024, https://www.aclu.org/documents/what-school-prison-pipeline.
A.M. ex rel. F.M. v. Holmes, 830 F.3d 1123 (10th Cir. 2016)
School Resource Officer Act of 2022, H.R. 6712, 117th Congress. (2022).
“What Is the School-to-Prison Pipeline?,” American Civil Liberties Union, accessed January 29, 2024, https://www.aclu.org/documents/what-school-prison-pipeline.
Lucy C. Sorensen, Montserrat Avila Acosta, John Engberg, and Shawn D. Bushway. (2023). The Thin Blue Line in Schools: New Evidence on School-Based Policing Across the U.S.. (EdWorkingPaper: 21-476). Retrieved from Annenberg Institute at Brown University: https://doi.org/10.26300/heqx-rc69
Dakin Andone, Denise Royal, and Carlos Suarez, “Then-Parkland School Resource Officer Who Stayed Outside during Mass Shooting Found Not Guilty,” CNN, June 30, 2023, https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/29/us/scot-peterson-parkland-shooting-trial-thursday/index.html.
Bibliography:
Andone, Dakin, Denise Royal, and Carlos Suarez. “Then-Parkland School Resource Officer Who Stayed Outside during Mass Shooting Found Not Guilty.” CNN, June 30, 2023. https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/29/us/scot-peterson-parkland-shooting-trial-thursday/index.html.
Sorensen, Acosta, Engberg, and Bushway. (2023). The Thin Blue Line in Schools: New Evidence on School-Based Policing Across the U.S.. (EdWorkingPaper: 21-476). Retrieved from Annenberg Institute at Brown University: https://doi.org/10.26300/heqx-rc69
“What Is the School-to-Prison Pipeline?” American Civil Liberties Union. Accessed January 29, 2024. https://www.aclu.org/documents/what-school-prison-pipeline.
