Shouldn't we listen to students for a change?

Wouldn't it be smart to consider the research?

Couldn't we finally get to the root causes of violence in our schools?

It seems like a fair ask, but as you know, we live in a city where the needs of young people are constantly ignored. They are hardly ever offered a seat at the table when important decisions concerning their health and safety are discussed.

Case in point is the return of school resource officers to Milwaukee Public Schools. When students return after winter break, they could have 25 police officers stationed throughout the district as part of a June state law that boosted local government funding and also mandated the return of officers to MPS. The school system ended its contract with the Milwaukee Police Department in 2020.

Students want more Black teachers, counselors in school

Last summer I attended a panel discussion with youth hosted by Bader Philanthropies. The students repeatedly said they don’t want officers in their schools. Instead, they asked for more African-American teachers, therapists, and counselors to talk to when they were having a bad day or dealing with challenging issues.

The panel, “Fostering Hope Through Violence Prevention,” was designed to give students a chance to discuss what they needed to succeed in school and their communities.

Larry Dorsey, 18, said while he didn’t have anything against white teachers, “I know I would have had a better school experience had I had more teachers who looked like me.”

“When we are omitted, the things grown-ups come up with usually don’t work,” he said.

Dorsey called his first Black male teacher, Derrick Portalatin, his most influential role model at South Division High School. He said Portalatin saw him as a person and not just a 6’5 big person with a Afro who should be playing basketball.

“We talked about everything because he understood me, and we didn’t have any awkward barriers that I would have had with a white teacher,” he said.

Amaya Bauldwin, 18, agreed, saying having more police in schools will be traumatic to some students who have either witnessed police mistreating members of their family or who have directly come across a bad-acting police officer.

Bauldwin suggested that instead of having police, schools should adopt a restorative justice approach for dealing with their problems. When conflicts arise, students would be judged and given correction by their peers.

“Police are not the answer, and any problems in a school can’t be fixed by them,” she said.

What the research says about police officers in schools

New research by a University of Wisconsin-Madison professor suggests police in schools don’t reduce violence, diminish crime, or have any impact on the presence of weapons or drugs in a school.

If anything, having police in schools has an impact on young people’s mental health, according to Ben Fisher, a UW-Madison associate professor who reviewed 32 evaluations of school-based police programs, said he found that police in schools weren't shown to diminish school violence, crime, or the presence of weapons or drugs.

Having police in schools has led to more suspensions, Fisher said.

However, Fisher said these suspensions are probably because of officers informing school officials about offenses such as “disrespect” that the school might handle differently.

As for how students feel about school-based officers, Fisher called it a mixed bag. Some students say officers make them feel safer, while some see police as a source of violence.

Young people know more than we give them credit for

If we want to address the issue of violence in our schools, why aren’t we listening to MPS students?

Sharlene Moore, executive director at Urban Underground, who is a candidate for the 10^thAldermanic District seat, said when youth are excluded from the process, it tells them adults know what’s better.

She said our youth are more intelligent than that, and we need to listen to them because they know what they need better than we do, especially regarding their safety.

While leading Urban Underground, Moore focused on community leadership, youth development, and advocacy by involving youth in their communities and making them change agents.

The program has worked for years and produced several great Black leaders in the city, like Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, and entrepreneurs like Jeremy Triblett, the founder of Jeremy Triblett LLC, where he designs evidence-based presentations, curriculums, youth programs, and professional development training.

“If we don’t listen to our youth, that is on us, and we will continue to pay for it,” Moore said.

I think she's right.

How about you? Do you believe police should be in schools? Or should they work on adding more Black and brown teachers of color and counselors to help young people deal with their problems? Send us a letter to the editor. Details below.

James E. Causey started reporting on life in his city while still at Marshall High School through a Milwaukee Sentinel high school internship. He's been covering his hometown ever since, writing and editing news stories, projects and opinion pieces on urban youth, mental health, employment, housing and incarceration. Email him at [email protected]; follow him on X@jecausey.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Students don't want police officers returning to Milwaukee schools