Disrupting the school-to-prison pipeline w/Keturah Herron | Rattling the Bars

1. The thing is (I believe) that African American families are in crisis. 30% of the fathers are in jail, and thereby mom’s are trying to do it all working multiple jobs. Who’s watching the kids? Nobody. Here in Cleveland, hundreds of young black kids steal dirt bikes and rove the streets in gangs of hundreds of motorcycles, popping wheelies, running from the cops, driving on the wrong side of the road & causing accidents. No licence, no insurance, no helmet. Where’s mom & dad to manage these kids? All of this baloney about black kids being at a disadvantage from day one, and white teachers just looking forward to kicking them out of school is pure victimhood mentality. Culture of poverty, I’m black so you’re all against me.

2. We have to stop voting Democrat or Republican if we want to see any change anywhere in this country.

3. Thank you for touching on a systemic agenda that has grown massively to make far more harms to people than benefits.

   In my limited experiences and stumbling on Listening to people born in 1920's, '30's, 40's, 50's, 60's, 70's, 80's.
   What I learned from their life experiences is the systemic influences, vogue led decline, undermining of and attacks on traditional family structures.

   They mentioned major deterioration of family structures began in mid 1960s with something called Great Society, War on Poverty, Goverment/Public Housing, War on Drugs, Forced integration, Forced schools, Forced bussing of children out of their community to-from distant schools.
   Results caused massive increases of divorces, broken homes, single parent households, children born to women from different men. Children who don't know their father. Children that are relegated to foster care, no parents, no next of kin be they grand parents, aunt & uncle. Children become wards of 'Feel Good' agendas e.g. putting children in school busses daily for hours in each direction to-from schools. No time to walk, play, exercise, connect with community, make friends, have hobbies, do chores, learn about being human, etc, etc. Childhood obesity, type 2 diabetes, emotional issues, behavioural issues, have grown from very rare to afflict 50% of children.

   At same time politics and government have grown massively in scope and huge costs to 'remedy' the latter while rewarding poor behaviours that lead to worse choices.
   Schools have become a means to train obedient consumers, instead of education for being self-sufficient, mutual benefit to family, neighbourhood, and beyond, based on do no harms.
   Government local, state, national has become huge, burdensome and extremely costly demanding more taxes, fees, to 'provider's more dysfunctions in society. The latter is coupled with managing every aspect of human life. In simple view fostering dismal failures in families and children.
   Children to adults are 'diagnosed' to have 'ailments' then treated with OTC/Rx pharmas to 'stabilise' them and remedy behaviours. Instead the latter cause far more problems, emotional, biological harms, to criminal behaviors from self-harms to harming others.
   Schools never had body-scanners, video survaillence sytems, school police, until say after 1998 and since 2001 have saturated schools, roads, etc.

   Welcome to, "1984" , "Animal Farm" both books as warnings to humanity by George Orwell 80 years ago.

   Schools to Prison?
   For sure by,
   Political, juridical, jail, lawyers, social workers, psychiatrists, pharma all lucre and self-empower while curing nil. = Big Bro

   For anyone to flourish in life we all require help from conception to after we die. In the interim when we help one another, do no harms, everyone benefits and at least costs to all.
   No middlemen necessary to exploit the masses, indebtedness all plus interest/ usury.

4. need help with my husband who is being harassed and misstreat him just because hes black in Lincoln Nebraska for years

5. OBJECTS FOR FACTS #

6. ESTA DE TRUMP E OUTROS FALAR QUE O DE STORY E CONTRIBUINTE E PURA SAFADESA DESTES CORRUPTOS PORQUE ELE NÃO E CONHECIDO PESSOALMENTE ISSO E PURA FRAUD . UM DESCONHECIDO SER CONTRIBUINTE . PEDE A ELES UMA PROCURAÇÃO DESTE CONTRIBUINTE E DE ONDE SAIU ESTA CONTRIBUIÇÃO #

7. We need to stop the black and brown stuff, this is about a war on black people.

8. Children act out when their needs are not met- they are hungry, scared, sad, or bored. They don't need to be disciplined- they need to have their needs met. Schools need to have child-centered learning. There is too much emphasis on rigor, standards, & accountability/testing and not enough emphasis on how children learn. Children need to be active, have hands-on projects, one-on-one attention they can only get in with smaller classes. Money gets spent on things that make elites money- testing, education consultants, computer programs, privatization. We need more teachers, more money in the classroom, and also making sure no child lives in poverty. Less money on administration, remote learning & testing. (IMHO as a former teacher, the tests are B.S.)

9. You pump artery clogging foods into people and it LOWERS IQ… with less blood flow to the brain…. if you can follow that logic…

10. Sorry this is off subject however I had the pleasure of spending some time in jail in Texarkana while waiting for extradition back to Kansas. I was the only white girl in there. They asked me if I was racist. I answered for one if I was I doubt if I'd be admitting to that here but what the more important question is why am I the only white girl here? Are there no white law breakers in Texarkana? Or are white people not arrested for their crimes in Texarkana?
    I can't know what it's like to be black in Texarkana or anywhere else for that matter but still it was really upsetting to me that apparently only black ppl in Texarkana get arrested.
    BTW this happened years ago. I hope things have changed.

11. I had my ass beat with a paddle at least 3 times a week in school AND I'm white ! Of course that was the days of corporal punishment. Now, blacks had it much worse but they also "acted up" a hell of a lot more; terrorized white kids, stole lunch money, and riots (before the school police ) ….and hell yes the administration and teachers were racist as hell. BUT there were 2 sides to the story …..Racism on one side AND Uncontrolled behavior on the other ……. that was the late 60's early 70's, it was wild and have no idea if it ever got better……HOWEVER, I became a lawyer, and have seen the Prison Industrial Complex in action and it needs to be stopped, 100% no doubt about it. It's just very complicated and it is not a one side has all the problems kind of thing…..both black and white need to clean their own houses and stop blaming everything on the other "side".

12. 😢, Began for my babies with my middle boy in kindergarten, forced us in 2005 to have him assessed at Sara bush hospital with psychiatrist for " behavior" well of course he was prescribed salt amphetamine combo???, With risperdall then Adderall XR with geodon then Wellbutrin with Adderall, it began to criple him physically and emotionally, held Iep meeting EVERY 3 MONTHS , just to fix a new BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION, ( IT TOOK ME YEARS TO put this to get her and then more " punishments came , I was forced to give his meds to 4 th grade school nurse, Tellin Social Security it's all his own behavior, he does what he wants, ( legally disabled with ALL paperwork from Judge there) 5th grade he locked principal out of his own office next day I have hour long call from school therapist for the " Slow , Behaviored kids" quoted by the schools attorney few years later…, Forced to go to Kansas Tlc, locked inside searched daily, more thwarting , constant late stays for homework not done, too many points, Just to be led on , lied to , crippling us some more, told a lie again promising him he could go to high school for " readmission, integration?????!!!, Just to go into home high school in 10 th grade in THE PROGRAM, a secluded 4 classroom on back side of high school lunches inside their room, etc. Tried to force those starvation late stays( they did finally add CAN HAVE WATER) ON TOP OF HIS SCHOOL FILES!!!!!, I told him come home I was on way home from work, That long story short got a court case fine for 275$ , I WAS TOLD AT THE MEETING, ""WE USUALLY HAVE TO INVOLVE PARENTS WHEN THEY REFUSE FOLLOW PROGRAM USUALLY JUST ONCE""""", we had a hearing with hearing officer , I appealed without knowing what or where to go , HE IS STILL " waiting just to go to school and learn , he is 23 and they met their goal he still waiting for his right to just be alive , etc. I have 16 year old daughter SAME PLAN HAD BEEN IN PLACE FOR HER ALSO. SHE homeschools for 3 years now, Example of my daughters lesson plan in 6 th grade ( same as 3rd and 4 th grade ) no letter grade report cards, and homework was to add pocket change literally. Sorry for long story, I relive every moment ever day of this form of " torture" ! I will not stop trying to help my kids rebuild their life , I won't stop caring for their well being, I won't stop " FIGHTING " FOR this to STOP!!!!
    ANGELA TRUE-TRYON

13. I realize that some people have skewed perspectives on this whole issue, but it has to be said that most teachers are not the problem. Most of them want to help as best they can. Most of them care a lot about how well your kid does. Most of them DO have the best intentions of your children in heart and mind. Most teachers are overworked. Most teachers can't dedicate all of the time and energy to each student that they should be able to, including as is discussed in this interview. They just can't, especially in schools with lots of kids who have those needs.

    I taught in two schools where the vast majority of kids lived in either poverty or near-poverty. (I was trained to teach middle school science.) I went in early, I left late. I had to write all of my lessons from scratch shortly before teaching them. In the first school I was asked to replace my mentor, who died shortly after I earned my cert, so I went in with nothing half-way through the year; my mentor was highly experienced and could do lessons on the fly. The second school was in the UK and it provided nothing, not even guidance. I had to scramble and beg for help to at least find out what topic they were on, where to go from there, and what their standards were. All while actively putting together lesson plans and trying to keep up with 20-30 kids per class, 4-5 class/day, middle and high school equivalent levels at the same time.

    I am not a disciplinarian, nor am I overly charismatic, so take a moment to guess just how hard it was to keep the attention of an entire class of kids (small in the first school, large in the second) who each had their own issues, each just wanted to play, etc. Without becoming a massive authoritarian yourself, imagine how YOU would handle that situation. I was trained to deal with middle-class students, well behaved and with lots of resources to help teachers support them. What I went into was the opposite.

    The first school was great despite their issues. Their community really cared. Their faculty was small but was doing their best. I have nothing but respect for them. The second school had kids pulling fire alarms 3-6 times PER DAY, EVERY DAY for the first few weeks I was there, and as time went on they changed out leadership and started trying to get people to quit by making conditions even worse.

    MOST teachers aren't the problem. The SYMPTOMS of the problem is disparity in resources between rich/poor areas (including in the UK. It's not just a US problem), skimping on resources for reducing the student/teacher ratio and other important things (counselors for the kids to talk to, say), better facilities and resources, etc etc etc. The PROBLEM is that the United States (similar to the UK) DOES NOT value education unless it is for the well-to-do. Teachers do the best they can with what they have. They need support. If you're a parent and you're NOT supporting your teachers to help them do what's best for your kid (including by asking how you can help, what they need, etc), then complaining about the teachers being the problem is a reflection on yourself. Your child's education is part of your responsibility. You can't just ship them off to the education factory and get a smarter child back. That doesn't mean you need to become a teacher to teach your child yourself. It means that you need to be part of their education by helping in any way you can, talking to them so that you can hear their problems/concerns and bring them up to teachers, volunteering however you can, etc.

    It also means rejecting the factory-style of education that has become the norm. Not just in your "thoughts and prayers," but in your political activism. It means demanding smaller classroom sizes, better teacher wages, more effort put into teacher retention, increasing funding (and drop-kicking the property tax basis of school funding if your state already hasn't), and in any other way you can think of changing the SYSTEM to support a better environment for your child's education. Not merely by voting for the "right people," but organizing so that they can't ignore your demands, and then holding them accountable with the threat of removal if they do.

    Teachers do what they can already, but attrition rates are high because of all of the problems of the system…and to a degree a lack of (positive) parental involvement. It's hard being a teacher if you're not in a rich school with well-behaved kids. I couldn't hack it. It broke my brain. I can't go back to it because of how much it wore me down, demoralized me, and sapped my will (in general). If you REALLY want things to change, then start by organizing and demanding that the education system be improved in specific ways (that you have to actually work through with your organized community). I realize that the political system is anti-democratic and the economic and political systems make organizing more difficult than they need to be, but start with organizing. Talk about these issues as a community…and bring in the teachers so they can help you understand the system from their perspective. Don't be like some of the people posting here who see "the teachers" (not "some," ALL/MOST by implication) as not having the best interests of your kids in heart and mind "because they're part of the system." Or if you do, don't expect change to happen, because I can guarantee that you're part of the problem.

    I'm not interested in debate, and I can already tell that there will probably be a some pretty toxic replies just based on several comments, so I'm not going to respond to this thread. I'm just putting out my view as a has-been teacher who got some PTSD from teaching in schools with most kids living in poverty or near-poverty, and who dreads even trying private tutoring one kid at a time as a possible alternative.

14. School is prison. At least for non obedient kids with creative and intellectual minds. Chalk dust torture.

15. Why does this country pray on children?

16. The "school to prison pipeline" narrative assumes that it is the school's responsibility to parent the child. Asking the education system to offset the horrific consequences of any particular child's worthless parents is absurd.

17. School vouchers let parents choose. Homeschooling is also a great hedge against youngsters being tempted to hang with the wrong crowd.

18. Band aids don’t fix cancer

19. I’ll tell you but you won’t t like it! Rough move is necessary!! All children from broken communities need to be place in well planned loving and rigorous boarding schools run by the federal government. The older broke people and “thugs” and drug dealers and gun runners need to be incarcerated in caring open prisons with therapy and guidance and skill building. The broken drugged out and a abusive parents need to be incarcerated in similar ways. The children will grow up in these boarding schools never to return to the broken hoods and rural enclaves. They will have a well rounded education with civics and humanities and and cooking and gardening and apprenticeships. They will be high caliber academic schools. A pipeline to college and civil service and fine arts and law and medicine…close all ghetto schools. Rebuild and gentrify all hoods.we live in filth and depravity and America is a third world country of extreme violence. To fix it we have to totally transform. Think differently!

20. Donated

21. Did away with metal shop, did away with wood shop did away with car shop did away with home economics… Who stole the money? The people you vote for.😉

22. 150 years for a hospital?! 90 years for a middle school?!

23. If black people stop getting involved in crime then people will no longer suspect them . …Start with having a father in the home instead of joblessness welfare queens..

24. Stop hemi-castrating baby boys, and violent crime as well as many societal ills will plummet.

25. Get to work

26. Let me just ask; is the Representative aware of the controversy around the timing of the MMR injection & it's effect on the developmental delays seen specifically in black male children? If you're not willing to look into the higher rates of toxic neighborhoods in people of color, no amount of educational dollars will accomplish generational change. If the tent's on fire, the next act isn't guaranteed!

27. Where I live in Sacramento, a local high school is directly across the street from the Sheriff’s Department and Juvenile Detention Facility and probation. Can’t get any more Pipeline than that I’m sure 🤦🏽‍♀️

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