"resource officers" .... rather than protect students, they are brutalizing them.

[marmar]

from truthdig:



By now the video of a black female high school student being brutalized by a white officer has gone viral, prompting the #AssaultAtSpringValleyHigh social media hashtag to be used tens of thousands of times. Monday’s incident in Columbia, S.C., has underscored the ongoing police abuses of African-Americans, and, just as important, it has reminded us of the dangerous and overwhelmingly unnecessary presence of police on school campuses. The disproportionate disciplining of black children starts as early as preschool and continues through high school, relegating a good number of kids to a lifetime of association with the criminal justice system.

The Spring Valley High student in question apparently was caught by a teacher using her cellphone in the classroom and was asked to leave. Reports indicate that at no point did she become violent or belligerent, or even raise her voice. The teacher then called in the “school resource officer”—Richland County Senior Deputy Ben Fields—who proceeded to put the girl in a chokehold, slam her to the ground, despite the fact that she was seated, and drag her halfway across the room in one swift motion.

According to news reports, “the girl’s arm is in a cast, she has a rug burn on her forehead and has pain in her neck and back. She was hospitalized Monday night. ...”

The video showing the girl being brutalized is only 15 seconds long. But that is all that is needed to prove to any reasonable human being that what they viewed was a wholly unjustified assault by an armed, trained, well-muscled adult man against a small-statured girl who was quiet and seated. Indeed, to most social media users, that is precisely what the video shows, and the resulting public response is, rightfully, outrage.

.....(snip).....

Authorities continue to accept police officers’ distorted view of reality and coddle them, treating them delicately, as though society needs their permission to occasionally try to hold them accountable for barbaric violence. Despite the crisis of police violence, President Barack Obama, in a speech to a police officers’ union Tuesday, insisted that officers are victims. He said, “I reject any narrative that seeks to divide police and communities that they serve. I reject a storyline that says when it comes to public safety there’s an ‘us’ and a ‘them’—a narrative that too often gets served up to us by news stations seeking ratings, or tweets seeking retweets, or political candidates seeking some attention.” But are the media and Twitter pitting cops against people, or are officers like Ben Fields literally using their brute force against people?

In fact, media coverage all too often lets police officers off the hook. Just the headlines of two major outlets expose the bias. The New York Times’ main article about the incident Tuesday was titled, “Race and Discipline in Spotlight After South Carolina Officer Drags Student.” Why not something a bit clearer, such as, “Video Shows South Carolina Officer Assaulting Black Female Student”? ................(more)

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/police_are_the_greatest_threat_facing_black_kids_in_school_20151028

[valerief]

2. Your first sentence alone will put you on my Ignore Forever list. Ciao forever! nt

Last edited Thu Oct 29, 2015, 12:56 PM - Edit history (1)

[ryan_cats]

7. If

If for no other reason than to avoid seeing the wrong homophone used.

[liberal_at_heart]

3. Our children are treated like cattle in our schools. The special education kids are told

to keep academically with their general education peers. The children that have behavioral issues or live in poverty or have alcoholic or abusive parents are labeled problem children and are doomed to failure from day one. It is only the ones who can sail through and get good grades and pass all the standardized tests that succeed. Our school system is broken. And things will not get better until we respect our teachers, pay them what they deserve, and respect our children and treat them as individuals and teach them to find their passion and purpose in life.

[niyad]

5. what flavour do you want on your pizza?

[lpbk2713]

8. Here's another post you can get your drawers twisted over if you want to ...

Link: http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=7294988

[uppityperson]

9. What "side" would in any way justify this violent abuse of that teen? I am honestly curious.

[damnedifIknow]

4. The whole country needs a lesson in humanity

Somewhere along the line we took the wrong route at the fork in the road.

[niyad]

6. a fact that is becoming more evident each and every day.