The pandemic changed many things about our lives. We are all faced with adapting to this new world we live in. One of the most difficult things parents are facing is virtual learning for our children. For many, school is now at home and school polices have not changed or adapted much to deal with what you might see in the home. Caught your attention yet? Well, read on.
The Problem
Take the cases of five young boys and their parents who had to deal with the police because of the presence of a gun in their rooms, visible on screen. In one case a child had a rack of weapons on his wall, in other cases a weapon could be seen in the background or the child was absentmindedly playing with it during virtual school time. The teachers that saw this reported it to the Principal with screenshots. The Principal in turn, after review called the police to visit the home. 3 of the Principals issued a suspension for the kids involved while one was not issued a suspension. The major difference between these cases is that the 3 with suspension are black and the one without suspension was white.
School policy being what it is, teachers are obligated to report what they see. Their job is on the line if something happens to that child. My issue is not with teachers or the difficult job of developing a virtual learning program for our children. Instead, it is in the severity of the punishment that is the issue. The altogether 4 young boys that were suspended now have a disciplinary entry in their record that says they were suspended for “Bringing a gun to school”. They also have a police record for the same issue.
The Consequences
In our current climate, what are the consequences of having this on your record as young black men in America?
Think about when these young boys get a license to drive. Maybe they are out having fun and get pulled over. The already nervous police officer approaches the car and collects the drivers license from the young man. He goes back and sees the teen has a record and it states he brought a gun to school. Even more nervous, the police officer approaches the car again… You can imagine how this can play out. You can imagine how this young boys name could be dragged through the mud because he “had a record”.
On one side, the policy needs to be changed so that something innocent is not made into a crime. On the other side parents need to protect the privacy of their homes and the privacy of their children so that something like this does not follow their kids into their futures.
So what to do.
One. Parents need to be made better aware of school policies that affect their child during virtual learning.
Two. The policy should be adapted to the new reality. A persons home is still private. What you see in the home is not the same as bringing something to school, because it is in the privacy of the home. You don’t give up your right to privacy because of a school policy.
Three. Parents should make use of virtual backgrounds or a screen behind the student so that people are not in your home looking around your child, instead of at your child.
Conclusion
As parents, we have to protect our kids from the unseen and future dangers that may come. Having a police record automatically places a negative label on our kids. The criminalization of our kids should not be taken lightly. In too many unfortunate cases, it can end up costing the lives of our children. It can also be used to justify wrongs done to our children.
If you do find yourself on the bad side of this situation, then you need to get a lawyer so that this can be removed from your child’s record both at school and with the police.
How has virtual learning affected you and your children? What do you think about this? Do you feel the parents are in the wrong? The school was in the wrong? What are your ideas for getting through this?
The articles I referenced are posted below.
https://www.theroot.com/black-4th-grader-suspended-over-bb-gun-in-virtual-class-1845184828
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/09/08/black-student-suspended-police-toy-gun/
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