SX Newsroom
On Tuesday, January 26, the School of Education hosted Dr. Crystal Laura for a lecture on the School-to-Prison Pipeline. The presentation was held in the Butler Reception room at 6:30pm.
The attendance was higher than expected, and extra chairs needed to be set up to accommodate the audience. Much of the audience was comprised of students from the School of Education, or Criminal Justice and Sociology students who were encouraged to attend by their professors.
Sophomore Alondra Fonesca explained that all though her professor promoted the event in class, that was not the only reason she decided to attend.
“Initially the event was introduced to me by my Sociology Professor. Many of my peers decided not to attend, but I decided to because the topic spiked my interest. Growing up I attended Chicago Public Schools and often witnessed students ending up in unwanted situations such as being detained,” said Fonseca.
The event was organized by School of Education associate professor, Dr. Kathleen McInerney. Interim provost, Dr. Kathleen Alaimo made the opening remarks and introduced the guest speaker, Dr. Crystal Laura. Dr. Laura is an assistant professor of educational leadership at Chicago State University and is the co-director of CSU’s Center of Urban Research and Education. She is the author of the novel, “Being Bad, My Baby Brother and the School-to-Prison Pipeline.” Copies of her novel were available for purchase after the event.
Dr. Laura began her presentation by discussing SXU’s School of Education’s reputation for graduating high rates of students who go on to have high teacher retention rates. She explained that because much of her audience was comprised of education students, she would speak to them as if they were her son’s future teachers.
She went on to say that she hoped to provide her audience with information that would not be covered in their education classes.
Dr. Laura began discussing the school-to-prison pipeline with the declaration that all teachers are either participating in “incarceration prevention or incarceration expansion.” During the lecture, Dr. Laura spoke about zero tolerance policies, the ways that the school-to-prison pipeline disproportionately affects black children, and the issues specifically facing Chicago schools.
Fonseca, who is not a student of the School of Education, said that Dr. Laura’s presentation really interested her and made her wonder if she should pursue a career in education.
“I do think the presentation helped me think and dig deeper into the issue by showing me what the problems are in this system and how people, specifically teachers, can approach the corrupted zero-tolerance education system in a way that aims towards preventing this prison to pipeline prophecy. Moreover, it appealed to the side of me that wants to be a teacher, even-though I’m not pursuing that career,” said Fonseca.
After Dr. Laura’s presentation, a panel of respondents spoke for a few minutes about the topics. The first panelist was Dr. Xavier Perez, assistant professor of Criminal Justice at SXU. During an interview with the Xavierite, Perez explained that the issue of the school-to-prison pipeline is significant to SXU students who will go on to work with children, especially in light of SXU’s mission statement.
“It is important because it represents the workplace many will face once they graduate. For people who major in education, criminal justice, or a discipline that serves minors, the school-to-prison pipeline will directly shape how they will engage with youth. Secondly, our mission statement says ‘to serve wisely and compassionately in support of human dignity and the common good.’ As such, it is a mandate to speak out against social injustices and advocate on behalf of the marginalized people,” said Perez.
During the panel, Perez discussed the tough on crime policies and the fear of juveniles that spread in the 1980s that caused juvenile justice to become punitive rather than restorative. He also challenged the audience to challenge the narrative of criminality that is associated with juveniles.
Perez said that, at the heart of the discussion, is the social cost and inefficacy of the policies that currently shape juvenile justice in the United States.
“What is the social cost of our punitive policy? We incarcerate more people than any country in the world and are not the safest country. How can we better reduce crime with alternatives to punishment?” asked Perez.
The second panelist was Xian Barrett, a Global Studies teacher at the Gage School in Brighton Park and teaching ambassador fellow for the United States Department of Education Japanese Exchange and Teaching Program. Barrett challenged teachers to reject the false image of the “business of school” where the emphasis is solely on getting students in and out in an orderly fashion.
Finally, the panel concluded with Maria Moser, senior director of Teaching and Learning at National Council of La Raza (NCLR).
Moser pointed to specific policies that contribute to the school-to-prison pipeline, and discussed the effects on Latino students.
After the panelists spoke, Dr. Laura asked the audience to take out a piece of paper and write one thing they wonder, worry about, or question about the topic. The questions were then collected and some were answered by Dr. Laura and the panelists.
Several questions asked how white teachers could address their white privilege when they work with students of color. Many questions were also concerned with the best ways to discipline students without contributing to the school-to-prison pipeline.
Perez explained that the activity gave the audience the opportunity to hide behind anonymity and write negative comments or questions. However, he says that he was pleased with the kinds of questions that he read.
“I loved the questions asked by the audience. There was compassion and there was concern, and so that’s what I particularly enjoyed about that activity. I think that is a testimony to Dr. Laura’s topic and her presentation style. She encouraged people to consider multiple perspectives and to challenge their own worldviews,” said Perez.
After the event was over, many students stayed around to speak to Dr. Laura and the other speakers. Perez believes that the event was a success and hopes that it had an impact on the audience.
“I would hope that it would get people to think about issues in complex ways. I hope the presentation got people to question notions of criminality, to consider their positions of privilege in society. I hope it got people to question our punitive policy. Lastly, I hope it made people want to do something about it,” said Perez.
Yasmeen Abdellatif
Senior News Editor