By now, most people have seen the infamous video of officer Ben Fields throwing a student who would not give up her cell phone to the ground in South Carolina. Officer Fields, a seven-year resource officer, has subsequently been fired and the video started a revolutionary call to action raising questions regarding the role and power officers hold in schools.
Police first began appearing on American campuses on a limited basis during desegregation. However, toward the late 90s and early 2000s things began to change. After the Columbine shooting in Colorado, there was a demand for increased security for schools across the country.
The need for more police to protect students led the Justice Department to spend $750 million dollars in order to add 6,500 more officers to campuses. Policies and regulations such as zero-tolerance began to appear in schools.
Zero-tolerance policies are found throughout the U.S., in elementary schools, high schools, and college and university campuses. They intend to make schools a safe learning environment for students by keeping weapons and drugs away. However in recent events, the policy seems to be used in other petty school drama; like fights, tantrums, or in the South Carolina case, disobeying teachers.
It seems like authorities are beginning to abuse their power and use the zero-tolerance policy out of context.
So, are campus officers doing more harm than good?
In another recent news headline, a third-grade boy from Kentucky was handcuffed by his elementary resource officer after acting out as a result of his hyperactivity disorder, the American Civil Liberties Union said. The school resource officer handcuffed him above the elbows since his wrists were too small.
“[Generally,] campus officials are called immediately, sometimes before the principal or dean,” said junior graphic design major Madison Anderson. “[Officials] are here to scare us; they show little evidence of improving any safety.”
Instead of just being there for safety, school police have gotten involved with disciplining students. As a result, arrests are being made for actions that deserve a simple detention.
In October 2009, Matthew Whalen, a high school senior and an Eagle Scout, was suspended for 20 days for keeping a 2-inch pocketknife locked in a survival kit in his car. Even after a public outcry, the school refused to lift the suspension.
After the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting in Connecticut, President Obama dispersed $125 million to add even more police officers into schools. Police officers arrested more than 64,000 students in that year alone.
“Campus officials shouldn’t be giving discipline unless the situation calls for it,” said senior communication major Mitch Pitney. “[Officers’] presence, even if they do not do anything, having them there is enough. [They provide] a sense of safety.”
According to data from the National Center for Education Statistics, rates of school violence and disruption have remained consistently stable, or even decreased somewhat, since 1985. This begs the question, why has there been an increase to resource officers on campuses?
The arrests being made in place of detentions affect African American students in particular. The number of students arrested in 2012 by school officers nationally consisted of 31 percent African American students, even though they only make up 16 percent of the school population.
This trend has been labeled by some, including the American Civil Liberties Union, as “the “school-to-prison pipeline.”
“[This title] refers to the policies and practices that push our nation’s schoolchildren, especially our most at-risk children, out of classrooms and into the juvenile and criminal justice systems.”
While it’s easy to think the school-to-prison pipeline only impacts certain students, we must keep in mind that our whole society feel the consequences.
Like President Obama and many other public leaders have said, today’s youth are tomorrow’s leaders. We must remember that we cannot teach a student who is not in school.
With that in mind, we must remember that school resource officers are just that: resource officers. They should be called on when a resource is desired and not every time a child is crying or a student refuses to get off their cell phone. Educate the disobedient students and discipline them accordingly rather than cast them out or label them problem children.
Schools offer other resources, such as counseling with trained staffer that are more proper in situations like these. Counselors are there to give guidance regarding personal, social, and psychological problems, something resource officers cannot do.
If school officers continue to step in as the prime authority figures on campus, students will be in the criminal justice system by the time they graduate high school for something as simple as refusing to give up their cell phones.