Juvenile Justice – School to Prison Pipeline
By
John C Abercrombie
We often hear the term “School to Prison Pipeline” and there is no better example than this post which features a judge in Tennessee Donna Scott Davenport who has a record of sending Black youths to jail for “crimes” that don’t even exist. The extent of this problem is difficult to determine since most juvenile records are sealed, making them difficult to obtain to get an accurate view.
The process of “sealing” juvenile closes them to the public, making a study of trends such as is discussed in this post difficult if not impossible. This requires no action on the part of the juvenile.
Actions of juveniles are often influenced by the race, for example the actions of a White juvenile that are termed showing signs of leadership are often interpreted as aggressive in a Black student. We see this often in detailed studies of court and incarceration records that show Black people are more likely to be charged, given longer sentences, given incarceration rather than probation or parole over similarly charged White people.
When such charges are done at an early age, it results in other relatively minor charges being considered more severely than a person with no record. That no record may have resulted in the charges being considered as the actions of a juvenile and not being referred to the system.
In this case, the rate of incarceration of juvenile is 5% while in the court of Donna Scott Davenport is 48%. The underlying condition is that this was a money making proposition for the local government which had a contract to house youths for $175.00 per day. This then condemns many to fuel the coffers of local government on the backs of Black people.
Looking back on history, this is in some respects like the Michael Brown case in Ferguson, Missouri where the arrest of Black people was factored in for approximately 25% of the cities budget.
According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, private prisons currently hold 8 percent of the nation’s total prison population, including 16 % of federal prisoners and 7 % of state prisoners.
There were kids in the single digit of age, some seven & eight. In the case that brought the judge into view is one in which eleven children were accused of not stopping a fight between a 5 and a 6 year old. One of the arrestees was denied his medication for 3 days and during the following year, despite counseling attempted suicide several times. One of the students was so upset that she vomited. Many of the children suffered long range difficulties knowing that they may be arrested again. Some of these students were elementary students handcuffed in their classrooms. For a “crime” that did not exist.
The videos in this post are particularly reveling, including the role of race in the police department.
The cost of educating a person v putting them in the prison system is astounding. For example, in California the cost of incarceration is $64,000+ while spending on education is approximately $11,500. A difference of over $50,000 per year, per person. We are more than willing to spend on incarceration, yet curmudgeonly when it comes to education. Is this the nation we have become?
The United States has about 25% of all people incarcerated in the world. Is this a stat to be proud of?
It all starts at an early age, and it is time that the entire system be reviewed on a national level.
Be sure to watch the videos attached to this post!
To see the full listing of posts, click on our Blog list
For Black History Month 2020, we posted daily. These posts focus on the reality of Black life in America after the Civil War culminating in the landmark Brown v Board of Education that changed so many of the earlier practices. To see the posts, click here
For Black History Month 2021, we focused on Black Medical Achievements, Inventors and Scientists.To see those posts, click here.
We also posted a 5 part mini-series on the 100th anniversary of one of the most horrific massacres in the history of America. Hundreds of Black people were slaughtered and 10,000 left homeless in this largely unknown event. To see the posts, click here.
We also did a mini-series on the Schomburg Center for Research a most amazing collection of Black history and culture. To see this mini-series, click here To comment or make suggestions on future posts, use Contact Us
We encourage you to share the site on social media. Share this exciting information with family and friends.
Use our links to Amazon anytime you shop Amazon. We receive a small royalty without cost to you.
Q: Is it necessary to buy the item in the link?
A: No, the important thing is to use our link anytime you shop affiliate sources as we receive a small royalty paid by the affiliate without cost to you, enabling us to continue our work. we appreciate and thank you for your support!
Continue to scroll for fascinating Videos and Books to enhance your learning experience.
Continue scrolling down for more amazing information, videos, books and value items.
How America Criminalizes Black Youth |
The Mehdi Hasan Show A damning ProPublica report delves into one Tennessee judge’s abuse of power after 11 Black elementary school children were arrested and/or detained for a crime that doesn’t exist. Issues of racism in juvenile detention are nothing new, says author Kristin Henning. The Mehdi Hasan Show: Insightful reporting and probing interviews that examine the day’s events and provide a deeper level of context for the politics of our interconnected society.
**
Kindle Unlimited Membership Plans
This is an opportunity to provide you and our youth with access to essential information.
*Unlimited reading from over 1 million eBooks
*Unlimited listening to thousands of audiobooks
*Read on any device
*Membership plans are also giftable
Kindle Unlimited Membership Plans
**
The Rage of Innocence:
How America Criminalizes Black Youth A brilliant analysis of the foundations of racist policing in America: the day-to-day brutalities, hidden from public view, endured by Black youth growing up under constant police surveillance and the persistent threat of physical and psychological abuse Drawing upon twenty-five years of experience representing Black youth in Washington, D.C.’s juvenile courts, Kristin Henning confronts America’s irrational, manufactured fears of these young people and makes a powerfully compelling case that the crisis in racist American policing begins with its relationship to Black children.
**
Echo Dot (4th Gen) | Smart speaker with Alexa | Twilight Blue
An excellent way to listen to Audio books and so much more. Shop this category for other choices.
• Meet the Echo Dot – Our most popular smart speaker with Alexa. The sleek, compact design delivers crisp vocals and balanced bass for full sound.
• Voice controls your entertainment – Stream songs from Amazon Music, Apple Music, Spotify, SiriusXM, and others. Play music, audiobooks, and podcasts throughout your home with multi-room music.
• Ready to help – Ask Alexa to tell a joke, play music, answer questions, play the news, check the weather, set alarms, and more.
• Control your smart home – Use your voice to turn on lights, adjust thermostats, and lock doors with compatible devices.
• Connect with others hands-free – Call friends and family who have the Alexa app or an Echo device. Instantly drop in on other rooms or announce to the whole house that dinner’s ready.
• Designed to protect your privacy – Amazon is not in the business of selling your personal information to others. Built with multiple layers of privacy controls including a mic off button.
**
New Report Shows School-to-Prison Pipeline in Tennessee
A new report based on a joint investigation by Pro-Publica and Nashville Public Radio uncovers a decade -long system and practice of arresting and jailing mostly Black children in Rutherford, Tennessee. Donna Scott Davenport, juvenile court judge in the county, sometimes refers to herself as “The mother of the county” and allegedly directed police to arrest children at an alarming rate in Rutherford. The rate of arrest was a staggering 48%t. Co-author of the report, Meribah Knight of Nashville Public Radio, joined “BNC Live” with Tashanae Whitlow to discuss the lasting impact of what experts call the “school-to-prison” pipeline has on a child’s future as well as their mental health.
**
Learning and Education – Games
A fascinating way to get our youth and to be hones into learning and just plani fun!
ABH – Learning and Education Games
**
Being Bad: My Baby Brother and the School-to-Prison Pipeline (Teaching For Social Justice Series)
Being Bad will change the way you think about the social and academic worlds of Black boys. In a poignant and harrowing journey from systems of education to systems of criminal justice, the author follows her brother, Chris, who has been designated a “bad kid” by his school, a “person of interest” by the police, and a “gangster” by society. Readers first meet Chris in a Chicago jail, where he is being held in connection with a string of street robberies. We then learn about Chris through insiders’ accounts that stretch across time to reveal key events preceding this tragic moment. Together, these stories explore such timely issues as the under-education of Black males, the place and importance of scapegoats in our culture, the on-the-ground reality of zero tolerance, the role of mainstream media in constructing Black masculinity, and the critical relationships between schools and prisons. No other book combines rigorous research, personal narrative, and compelling storytelling to examine the educational experiences of young Black males.
**
Puzzles
A great way to expand the interest in problem solving for all ages
**
‘County With A Staggering History Of Detaining Children’
Revealed In Shocking Report According to a scathing ProPublica report, a Tennessee county was profiting off the jailing of Black children as young as seven years old for a crime that does not exist, and it has been doing it for more than a decade. Meribah Knight, co-author of this ProPublica report, joins Joy Reid with more on this story.
**
Tricycles, Scooters and Wagons
ABH – Tricycles Scooters and Wagons
**
The School-to-Prison Pipeline:
Structuring Legal Reform The “school-to-prison pipeline” is an emerging trend that pushes large numbers of at-risk youth―particularly children of color―out of classrooms and into the juvenile justice system. The policies and practices that contribute to this trend can be seen as a pipeline with many entry points, from under-resourced K-12 public schools, to the over-use of zero-tolerance suspensions and expulsions and to the explosion of policing and arrests in public schools. The confluence of these practices threatens to prepare an entire generation of children for a future of incarceration
.
**
Vehicles
**
Judge Donna Scott Davenport Illegally Jailed Thousands Of Children In Tennessee Using Fake Law.
**
Sports and Outdoor Play
**
Girl Time:
Literacy, Justice, and the School-to-Prison Pipeline (The Teaching for Social Justice Series) This original account is based on the author’s experiences with incarcerated girls participating in Girl Time, a program created by a theatre company that conducts playwriting and performance workshops in youth detention centers. In addition to examining the lives of these and other formerly incarcerated girls, Girl Time shares the stories of educators who dare to teach children who have been “thrown away” by their schools and society. The girls, primarily African American teens, write their own plays, learn ensemble-building techniques, explore societal themes, and engage in self-analysis as they prepare for a final performance. The book describes some of the girls and their experiences in the program, examines the implications of the school-to-prison pipeline, and offers ways for young girls to avoid incarceration. Readers will learn how the lived experiences of incarcerated girls can inform their teaching in public school classrooms and the teaching of literacy as a civil and human right.
**
Puppets and Puppet Theaters
inspire imagination and creativity
ABH – Puppets and Puppet Theaters
**
As Long As Judges Like Donna Scott Davenport Exist, So will Jim Crow!
**
America prides itself as a model for the world, but are we? We are more than willing to spend three times to times as much to put a person in jail than we are to educate that same person. We put more of our population in jail than any other country in the world. We are willing to sacrifice our youth, which represent our potential, by throwing them under the bus. Not only that, but we take control of the bus and back over them only for the pleasure of running over them again. It is time to do a reset!