MIAMI – In response to bills moving through the legislature that would arm teachers and increase police presence at schools across the state, students of color, who data show are most impacted by these policies, are calling on policymakers to keep guns out of schools.
A coalition of youth from Power U Center for Social Change and Dream Defenders, civil rights and education groups in Florida will hold media teleconference on Monday, April 1 at 11:00 am calling on state and local policymakers to say “NO” to more guns in school.
With support from the Florida State Conference of the NAACP, Advancement Project, public defenders, law enforcement and juvenile court judges, the youth reject the premise that additional armed guards will help them, asserting such personnel often escalate school disciplinary issues into police matters. In fact, studies have consistently shown that youth of color are disproportionately suspended, expelled and even arrested when guards or police enforce school discipline.
Florida has the highest documented number of school-related arrests of young people in the nation – 13,870 in 2011-12 alone. Two-thirds of those arrests were for minor disciplinary infractions. Florida schools are becoming an entry point into the criminal justice system for this generation of students as 51% of students arrested in school in 2011-12 were entering the juvenile justice system for the very first time.
