Student reflects on recent gun violence and mass shootings

 

Free-Writing Response

On September 4th, a student was on the bus to school, with a rifle and a knife in his backpack. Within two hours of arriving at Apalachee High School, he committed the deadliest US school shootings since the March 2023 rampage at the Covenant school in Nashville. Two teachers and two students were dead and nine, one teacher and eight students, were injured. The shooter, Colt Gray missed nine days of classes before the shooting and was charged with four counts of felony murder, and could face life in prison. But how did he obtain the gun? His father bought the gun as a holiday present for his son. He was charged with two counts of second-degree murder, four counts of involuntary manslaughter and eight counts of cruelty to children (CNN).

As of September, there have been at least 49 school shootings, thirteen on college campuses, 36 on K-12 schools. The have left 24 dead and 65 others victims injured (CNN). In September, a man shot his wife and mother-in-law, while two children were there. When the police came, the man turned himself in. The wife was found dead, the mother-in-law was shot, and died later in the hospital. The reason for the shooting was a domestic dispute.

In Dec 2023, a gunman killed three faculty members on a college campus, he died in a shootout with the police. The gunman was roaming the UNLV's Lee Business School and opened fire around noon on their fourth floor. Since it was around noon, if the police had not killed the attacker, there could have been many more (PBS NEWS).

In the United States gun laws vary from state to state (Statisca)

This assignment is to work on a reaction essay for an hour, and I’ve spent my hour reading about mass shootings, school shootings, and gun violence, and now I’m out of time.  I do recommend the powerful video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5ykNZl9mTQ.  My sister showed it to me a couple years ago.  Naturally, this topic should (and does) provoke stroke emotions. One of the many thoughts I have is wonder and anger. Why can’t our society find a way to stop these events?

Yes, the reaction essay is an assignment to do a free-writing assignment for just an hour, and freely express your feelings about an issue in social work or social welfare policies.  I think some students exceed the time limits to write more polished reactions, but the point is to allow students to share their feelings and thoughts.  In this case, the thoughts you’re sharing are mainly paraphrases of recent reports on mass shootings and violence. This is one of the more horrible aspects of our culture and society.  In a huge country with hundreds of millions of persons, one can expect the occasional atrocity committed by a few of the worst people subjected to the worst circumstances, but America has way more mass shootings, school shootings, and acts of tremendous violence than one should expect.  There is clearly something in our culture that is creating this situation.  I know that some degree of reasonable gun control laws ought to have a slight impact on the situation, but the sort of total gun bans and strict regulation of guns that might work in other societies would not work here because of the Second Amendment, and my understanding is that cultural changes will be more effective than gun control laws (although both would help) in diminishing these acts of mass violence.

For the time being, gatekeepers (school teachers, coaches, school administrators, school social workers, etc.) who have contact with children are learning to recognize signs that might predict who will act like this.  In the case of the September 4th Georgia school shooting, it seems the family was aware that their son was troubled and potentially dangerous. The authorities seem to agree, since they have charged the boy’s father with crimes for providing the gun. Since I was a child, I’ve thought that middle schools and high schools ought to teach some basic psychology to students, and that such content is just as important as math, science, English, and so forth.  Children can learn about healthy relationships and unhealthy relationships, and learn about friendships and romantic relationships, with the lessons drawing from research on family dynamics, domestic violence, marital satisfaction, and friendship.  Academics have studied these things, and we have a lot of basic knowledge that is no more difficult to understand than quadratic equations and the laws of thermodynamics, which are still taught in high schools, I think. Clearly, children should learn how to recognize signs of persons who are maladjusted and potentially dangerous, and also learn how to create a social environment that diminishes the risk that such people emerge and go on to commit violent crimes and atrocities. There is no harm in learning about the darker side of human behavior if the emphasis is on learning how to recognize it and create a community that does not encourage it. 

Violence prevention is an important field, but the gains we’ve made in learning how to prevent violence are not given much attention.  On the other hand, we (as a society) do give lots of attention to specific acts of violence.  My impression is that the news about violence does not inform the citizenry about what is going on in society or psychologically, and so most people are left with an impression that people are just getting worse, or more people are randomly becoming crazy and violent.  Thus, narratives about the importance of law and order as a way to stop waves of crime are embraced by people hopeful that such a turn in policies will remedy the problem (that they don’t understand).  

Social Worker Safety After the Murder of Deidre Silas

 Deidre Silas was a social worker working at The Illinois Department of Children and Family services in Springfield Illinois. On Jan, 4, 2022, Silas was stabbed to death while making a home visit by someone staying in the house. Safety has always been a concern regarding Social Work and the murder of Silas has encouraged people to advocate for policies to protect social workers. 

Despite state officials’ pointing out changes they plan to make to protect workers, little difference has been made a year after Silas’s death. Those in the field state that one of the main issues that causes social workers to go to visits alone, is there are too many cases and not enough workers. A study done in 2020 showed that more than 73% of public child welfare workers had been verbally abused, 36% have been threatened, and about 50% have experienced symptoms of PTSD (Gerstein). Illinois has a policy that states that a social worker may delay a visit until they can have another person with them if the situation could be dangerous. Although this is ideal, it is not realistic for the oversized workload most social workers have to deal with. 

Policies suggested include providing bullet-proof shirts to social workers, cell phone signal boosters, and panic buttons for investigators to contact law enforcement. Another controversial policy signed into law by Governor Pritzker, requires departments to provide their employees with pepper spray. Unfortunately it is widely reported that these changes are not happening soon enough. A lobbyist for the Illinois chapter of the National Association of Social Workers, Kyle Hillman states, “DCFS was not interested in things that were going to cost them more money; they’re interested in things that would make good media reports…We’re going to see more tragedies.” (Gerstein).

Works Cited:

Gerstein, M. (2023, February 22). Murdered on the job: A year after a child welfare investigator was killed, little has changed. Youth Today. https://youthtoday.org/2023/02/murdered-on-the-job-a-year-after-a-child-welfare-investigator-was-killed-little-has-changed/

While it has not been a statewide change, the Sangamon County DCFS Field Office where Deidre worked has had two deputies from the Sheriff's department assigned to work with social workers since shortly after her murder. They often go out on child removals, and they help research people in households since the law enforcement database they use is much quicker than the national child abuser databases social workers use. This change has been welcomed by the social workers at the office. When I visited the office about ten months after her murder, her cubical was pretty much untouched as she had left it, and posters asking for justice for Deidre were abundantly posted around the office.

The man who killed Deidre was allegedly suffering from a psychotic disorder, and possibly not understanding the situation when he stabbed her. My sources in the county jail described the man as being “crazy” ever since he became a guest of the county. Mental illness and substance abuse are frequently present as parental situations in the appendices of the annual report on child deaths from our state’s inspector general. That is, social workers covering the most difficult cases where children’s lives may really be at risk are often encountering adults who may be intoxicated of suffering from psychosis during a home visit. In the case of the DCFS worker Pamela Knight, who was also murdered in the line of work a few years before Deidre, the father who beat her up was just an angry and violent person. He took a plea deal and will serve 21 years incarcerated.

Social work is a dangerous job, but not as dangerous as commercial fishing, forestry, law enforcement, truck driving, construction, and a few other occupations like that. The Department of Labor has estimates of the number of injuries and deaths per hours worked in various occupations. Social work is more dangerous than most jobs, but not among the very worst (most dangerous) careers.

American Dirt

America is the land of freedom, opportunity, safety, acceptance. People from all over the world dream of coming here and I am aware of the turmoil their arrival causes. I have my own feelings about immigration and how our country should be handling it. Their arrival isn’t something that I think about often, if at all, and I’ve never considered what they experience in the course of running towards their dreams. Yet, in the last four months, I have been moved greatly by two very different stories about becoming an American. In the first, which I wrote about in my first reaction essay, the journey wasn’t planned and it was about a man who suddenly wasn’t anymore – wasn’t a citizen, wasn’t a border patrol officer, wasn’t trusted, wasn’t valuable.

Shortly after I turned that essay in, someone sent me a book suggestion. The book, “American Dirt” by Jeanine Cummins, was the most recent pick by Oprah for her book club and the person who sent it to me, did so knowing that I would check it out simply because Oprah picked it. I downloaded it on Audible and it sat there for a couple of months while I was busy doing other things. I am an avid reader and love using the Audible app so that I am often reading/listening to multiple books at a time. Before I started the book, I didn’t read a review, didn’t read a synopsis or anyone’s write up on the book so I wasn’t sure what the story was or what to expect. I assumed that it had something to do with migration and the border – I honestly wasn’t sure I would even be interested in it – and so I started it while I was cleaning one afternoon. It took a total of 2 ½ minutes to be completely sucked in and I have continued to listen with full focus and reverence. I admit that I have not finished this book yet simply because there are moments in the story that I have to walk away from and process. It’s not a quick read and it’s not simple.

The story is about a mother and her young son who are on the run from a cartel boss in Acapulco de Juárez. Knowing that there is no place safe and no safe way, the mother takes nothing beyond the items they can fit in a backpack and fades into the migratory community beginning the trip to El Norte. The goal for all of the characters that you meet is to get to the US, get over the border and build a new life. As I initially listened, I thought that this was going to be a story about cartels and power and corruption. There is some of that…but “American Dirt” is a love letter and a horror story about the journey that men and women in Central and South America make every day, over and over again while facing danger and uncertainty.

This story has been so eye opening for me and has, quite frankly, made me feel ashamed. I’ve always known about the people trying to get to America. I’ve educated myself on the legal methods of becoming an American, have read about and heard about the illegal ways that people attempt to cross our borders but have never thought about or considered or even cared about what those journeys looked like. As I have read the book, more than once I have googled the situations that the author writes about and in each case, the stories that she tells are true. Young women being taken by a man in their neighborhood or city who decides that she should belong to him.  Their families fighting back and being killed or, worse, not fighting back and allowing it to happen because they have no other choice. In the story, there are two sisters who are running because the older sister had been taken. She kept quiet about it and complied to keep her family safe – then they instructed her to bring her sister in. Understanding that wasn’t something she could do, she took her sister and ran. There were consequences for that decision for both the family and the girls but you’ll have to read it to know. ☺

I think more importantly to me, are the stories about the migrants and the journey they make. To say that it is dangerous is a true understatement. It is disturbing, terrifying, disheartening and something I don’t think I would ever be able to do knowing what could happen. At one point in the story, the mom and son are at a shelter specifically for migrants and are preparing to leave when one of the employees calls everyone together to talk to them about the trip they are about to take. He tells them that of the 25 – 30 people standing in front of him, 27 will never make it the border. They will be killed getting on and off the trains, they will be kidnapped, raped, murdered or arrested by the migration officers and returned to where they came from. The lucky two or three who make it to the border will have nothing left. They will have been robbed or will have to pay off someone to keep from being kidnapped or raped. He then tells them that those 2 or 3 people who arrive in America with nothing will then live in a country that doesn’t want them there and will do nothing to help support them. In the story, none of the migrants change their minds, no one decides to go back or find another way. They all just agree and get ready to move on. 

The migrants attempt to make their trips easier by jumping the freight trains that travel north to the border. They must get on and off of these trains as they are moving and ride sitting on top of the moving cars. Every part of this is dangerous. There are people who don’t make it on or off and reading those passages were really tough for me. There were people who fell off the moving train, were knocked off unexpectedly and some who jumped to just be done with it…but the migrants kept going.

I haven’t finished the book. I will…I have to see how it ends but I am afraid of what is going to happen to these two characters that I have come to worry about. I tell myself that they aren’t real but I think they are. I think that there are human beings out there right now experiencing these same things and taking these same risks all with hoping that there is something better here. But is there? Really? After all of that they come into a country that thinks they are less than and treats them with such disregard. We don’t acknowledge what these people have gone through, what they have left behind, the impossible choices they have had to make or the number of times they risked their lives. This country sees them as a nuisance, as villains, as free labor or as an argument to make or a brick in a wall that needs to be built. But they continue to come and risk it all to live in this country and have what I have right now – something that I didn’t fight for, didn’t risk my life for, didn’t even earn but was gifted by being born into the right place. Reading this book has opened my eyes to this life being lived – survived - by this entire community of people and the question now is, how do I live with that?

Similar works that I have seen/read or been told are good include:

Across a Hundred Mountains by Reyna Grande

The 1983 film by Gregory Nava & Anna Thomas: El Norte.

Signs preceding the End of the World by Yuri Herrera

The 2009 film by Cherien Dabis: Amreeka.

Tell Me How It Ends by Valeria Luiselli

Shari Robertson and Michael Camerini's 2000 film: Well-Founded Fear.

Everyone Knows You Go Home by Natalia Sylvester

Protecting Social Workers and Health Professionals from Workplace Violence Act of 2019

This year Congress may consider approving the Protecting Social Workers and Health Professionals from Workplace Violence Act of 2019; this is a policy that would help provide safety measures to social workers, health care workers, and human services professionals. This bill would especially protect those who provide services for high risk and dangerous situations and for other reasons. Representative  Brownley of California introduced the bill to the House of Representatives on November 18, 2019. It was then referred to the Committee on Education and Labor, and to the Committee on Energy and Commerce. The purpose of this bill is to authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award grants to States to provide safety measures to social workers, health workers, and human service professionals in dangerous and high risk situations. 

The bill will award grants to States, Indian Tribes, Tribal organizations, and urban Indian organizations to provide safety measures protecting these professionals. Grants that may be awarded to these States or organizations will provide support for certain safety precautions. Such safety measures include: installation of safety equipment, technical assistance and training for safety communications, training sessions and exercises for self defense, facility safety improvements, training in cultural competency, training to work with certain clients, resources and materials to educate staff on safety and awareness, support services, installation of a local data incident tracking systems to monitor threats and violence, and other prevention measures laid out by the Secretary. The installation of safety equipment includes communications or recording systems such as cell phones, tracking devices, or panic buttons used for foster care or other client visits to ensure safety. Facility safety improvements include barrier protection and security cameras. Training in cultural competency could include linguistic training, and training for minimizing conflict situations. Training social workers and other health professionals for work with certain clients include: clients with serious mental and substance use disorders, behavioral problems, and those who need help coping. The support services that would be implemented would be counseling and additional resources for those workers who have experienced safety issues or trauma in the workplace. 

In order for a State or organization to receive such a grant, they must submit an application to the Secretary accompanied by any information that the Secretary requires. Each application should describe the agencies that will receive funding and type of work done by the agencies, describe the specific activities for which the grant will be used, and include a budget, and assurance that the State or organization will continually evaluate the effectiveness of the safety measures provided by the grant. 

The cost of this bill is authorized to be appropriated $10 million for each year from 2021 through to 2025. That is the total amount of funding, so if each year 10 states received grants through this act, the grants would average $1 million per state per year, and over the course of five years, each state could hypothetically get a grant. But of course, the training needs in states like California, Texas, New York, and Florida would be much higher than in Wyoming, New Hampshire, Delaware, and North Dakota, so some states might get a few hundred thousand and others might get two or three million. The grant comes from the Secretary of Health and Human Services, and requires follow up with those applicants who received the grant to continue receiving the money for their safety measures. Currently this bill has been passed by the House of Representatives and is currently waiting to be passed by the Senate. 

There are many healthcare professionals that would benefit from this bill. Many nurses face the fear of going to work each day, not knowing what kind of patients they will have that day. A majority of these nurses are those who work with older patients and those patients who have mental or behavior disorders. Some patients become violent with their nurses, sometimes on purpose, and sometimes through no fault of their own (for example, in some types of dementia). This bill would help make nurses feel more safe going to work each day. Whether it is because they now know self defense, or they have other trainings on how to handle dangerous situations. This bill would also help social workers who work in the field, out of the office. There have been many cases where social workers have gone out into the field, especially foster care visits or DCFS investigations, and have been injured, harmed, or assaulted on the job. For example, in September of 2017 Andrew Sucher felt the DCFS was harassing him, so he knocked down social worker Pamela Knight and kicked her, mortally injuring her, so that she died a little over four months later. With this bill these social workers would be provided with self defense training, as well as provided with GPS/bluetooth tracking so that supervisors and law enforcement know where the worker is placed. Overall, this bill will provide not only peace of mind to these workers, but it will also provide them with concrete measures to remain safe in the workplace.  

Student advocates action from the White House on mass shootings

   The President

        The White House

            1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.

                  Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mr. President Donald Trump,

I am very concerned about all the mass shootings we have been having recently, many of which are happening in schools where many innocent children are being killed. I know that you are also, like all feeling human beings, upset by these atrocities, and you and I are united in our desire to find a solution that will end these mass shootings.


I believe stricter gun laws would help lessen America’s gun violence. I think you can work with Congress to get reasonable gun control laws passed to reduce the mass shootings. In addition to gun control, there are other things that can be done with less political difficulty, and I hope you will advocate for Congress to send you laws that will do these other things, or find a way to use your powers as head of the Executive Branch to encourage other preventive measures.


 Studies have shown that the gun homicide rate is much higher in the United States than in other developed countries. For example, the rate is “six times the gun homicide rate of Canada, more than seven times that of Sweden, and nearly sixteen times that of Germany” (Lopez, 2018). This correlates with the fact that the United States also has the largest amount of privately owned guns. CNN states “The US makes up less than 5% of the world’s population, but holds 31% of global mass shooters. After controlling for variables such as socioeconomic factors and other crime, places with more guns have more gun deaths” (Lopez, 2018). 

This shows that gun deaths in America are highly over represented. Since America only accounts for 5% of the world's population, it should only represent 5% of the world's gun violence. Since this is not the case; however, we know that something is very wrong here. I know that the Second Amendment gives us the right to possess firearms. I know that we cannot change this right, but I believe that something needs to change in order to significantly lessen the number of mass shootings and resulting tragic deaths we have been suffering from in our country. In the first 52 days of 2018, America has already experienced 34 mass shootings (Jeffery, 2018). 

Please Mr. President Trump, instead of blaming these on the mental health of the shooters, we should focus instead on the item that is making these mass murders so easy to accomplish. I believe we should focus on having stricter gun laws in America. This will not only save lives, but will also ensure that fewer people develop trauma-related mental illnesses resulting from these shootings. A 2016 meta-analysis of “130 studies in 10 countries found that new legal restrictions on owning and purchasing guns tended to be followed by a drop in gun violence — a strong indicator that restricting access to firearms can save lives” (Lopez, 2018). America’s rate of death by firearm is increasing at an accelerated pace. If the United States changes the gun laws to be more like Australia’s, we can expect to see this number go down dramatically. In Australia, the “firearm homicide rate dropped by about 42 percent in the seven years after the law passed, and its firearm suicide rate fell by 57 percent” (Lopez, 2018). To accomplish this feat, Australia banned many guns and bought the privately owned, now banned, guns back from their owners. Another idea would be to require gun purchasers to receive a license or permit before they can acquire any kind of gun. After Connecticut incorporated this law, there was a 40% drop in gun related homicides and a 15% drop in suicides as well (Lopez, 2018). The evidence from Australia, Connecticut, and the scientific literature is conclusive; some forms of gun control and restrict gun access can reduce some types of gun-related violence.  Yes, gun control alone will not solve the problem, and we will still have persons who are murderous and dangerous, but no solution is perfect, and saying that an improvement like sensible gun control must be rejected because it only partly—rather than completely—solves a problem would be an act of political cowardice.  And you are no coward!

I believe stricter gun laws would help lessen America’s gun violence. Yet, gun gun control is not the only policy to pursue. I also believe that we need stronger preventative protection to help stop mass shootings from being carried out. More metal detectors in places like schools, clubs, concert venues, and anywhere that would have a large crowd, would ensure that weapons do not make it into the area. Maybe the Federal Government could use grants or policy incentives to help local police or states to supply these metal detectors. There should also be trained police on site that are ready to handle these situations, so any Department of Justice policies that improve police training and professional behavior would be welcome. Another idea, especially in schools, would be door stops that would prevent the shooter from getting into the classrooms all together. Can the Federal Government supply the modest grants that would help schools install these door stops?  Lastly, there needs to be a way, at least in schools, that can help target potential culprits and ensure that they get the help they need. In most cases, a troubled student will often have a turbulent history before committing a crime like this. Schools already provide free counseling to students having any kind of issues; we just need to ensure that those who need help actually get it before it’s too late. Maybe in next year’s federal budget we could direct more resources to these sorts of mental health interventions in schools to help out troubled youngsters before they become dangerous homicidal maniacs. 

Sincerely,

[Student in SWK-355 Policy and Services course]

References

Beauchamp, Z. (2017, November 6). A huge international study of gun control finds strong evidence that it actually works. Retrieved February 25, 2018, from https://www.vox.com/2016/2/29/11120184/gun-control-study-international-evidence

Jeffrey, C. (2018, February 21). Mass shootings in the U.S.: When, where they have occurred in 2018. Retrieved February 25, 2018, from https://www.abc15.com/news/data/mass-shootings-in-the-us-when-where-they-have-occurred-in-2018

Lopez, G. (2018, February 21). I've covered gun violence for years. The solutions aren't a big mystery. Retrieved February 25, 2018, from https://www.vox.com/policy-and politics/2018/2/21/17028930/gun-violence-us-statistics-charts

Santaella-Tenorio, Julian; Magdalena Cerdá; Andrés Villaveces; & Sandro Galea. (2016).  What Do We Know About the Association Between Firearm Legislation and Firearm-Related Injuries?, Epidemiologic Reviews, Volume 38, Issue 1, 1 January 2016, Pages 140–157, https://doi.org/10.1093/epirev/mxv012.  Retrieved February 25, 2018, from https://academic.oup.com/epirev/article/38/1/140/2754868

Here are some points I have in response to this letter:

1) Think of your audience.  Do you really want to cite something from CNN with this guy? Better to not give the source than to admit that the source is coming from a persons or institution this President hates.

2) You have assembled a good range of facts.  In an academic paper, more could have been presented, but the advocacy letter must be brief, so you had to be selective, and I think your instincts led you to pick some of the strongest facts from that German Lopez article.  The four articles you reference are all good.

3) The emphasis is on mass shootings, and of course mass shootings do grab everyone's attention, including the president's attention, so this is understandable.  The general problem of the violence in our American culture is a bigger issue, and as I think we demonstrated in class, the deaths caused by the daily violence of gun homicides and suicides is orders of magnitude more destructive of human life than the mass shootings.  I appreciate that your evidence showed how your policy suggestions might address the wider and larger problem.  There may be some good sense in approaching President Trump, because of his personal style and worldview, with policies set in a context of ending mass shootings, when the ultimate objective may be reduce the tens of thousands of deaths by gun homicide and suicide.

4) On this particular issue of gun control, there are powerful political realities that the letter might have recognized and addressed.  This president likes to appear as a tough guy, and also as someone who is independent of others, so maybe a mention of the vociferous National Rifle Association and its members and what the President might do regarding that group would be useful. You begin to recognize this when you admit that we have a Second Amendment, but you might have gone further in adding a paragraph about the Second Amendment, the rights of Americans to have guns, and how those facts might be reconciled with the need for the sort of gun control you are asking the President to support. Perhaps suggesting that weak politicians are afraid of the NRA, and the NRA may have noble ultimate objectives, but it is fighting for those good ultimate aims by badly opposing many worthwhile policies, and only a strong and brave Republican President would be in a position to help liberate his political party from the wayward misdirection of those NRA advocates.  

Ending reliance on Suspension and Expulsion in Illinois Schools with Senate Bill 100

        Reaction Paper about law to end zero tolerance tendencies to suspend or expel students.

In August of 2015, Bill SB 100 was been passed into legislation by the Illinois General Assembly and signed into law by Governor Rauner. Senate Bill 100 was created by the group; Voices of Youth in Chicago due to their concern for children who were not receiving instructional time because of suspensions or expulsions. This new law will require schools to adjust their forms of discipline. They are now required to exhaust every possible form of disciplinary action before expulsion, suspension, or referral to alternative school will be allowed. This was an effort to keep children in school and to minimize the amount of instruction time lost due to suspensions and expulsions by decreasing the usage of those forms of punishment (NCTV, 2016). 

I fully support this bill because suspensions and expulsions seem to be more problematic rather than a solution. They cause children to lose instruction time and fall behind in classwork, which is not beneficial to either the instructors or student. Students may also be getting sent home to unhealthy situations. The root of the problem may be within their household and sending them back there may make it worse. If the disruptive student may be acting out due to bad situations at home, then the school ought to provide a safer and healthier environment where the student can learn and get away from family troubles. 

A site maintained by the Voices of Youth in Chicago mentions the idea of suspension and expulsion being the cause of “pushing students out of the school system and into the juvenile” (Voyce,2014). I agree with this because suspensions can lead to students falling behind and dropping out of school and getting into illegal activity. With this law, schools are required to allow students to make up work that they have missed if they are suspended. 

Bill 100 will hopefully keep students in school and therefore better their chances at a good future. 

Source: http://www.nctv17.com/district-204-and-senate-bill-100/

http://voyceproject.org/campaigns/campaign-common-sense-discipline/sb100/ 

 

It's just a reaction essay, so I guess it's okay that you didn't explore while people might oppose this law, or why the policies of suspensions and expulsions became so widespread and common.  It seems to me that this law requires a complimentary law that helps (and funds) school attempts to make classrooms safe and supportive. I suppose schools will use special classrooms or study rooms and tutoring to deal with discipline problems that have until recently been addressed with suspensions and expulsions.  I suppose when it comes to actual fighting or threats, schools could always just call in police and encourage students and teachers to press criminal charges for assault and intimidation, and let the courts deal with the worst discipline problems.

You didn't put this paper in the context of the general criticism of "zero tolerance" as part of a "school-to-prison pipeline". We know (and we have known for about 25 years) how to identify young children who will be most likely to have discipline problems or end up in juvenile justice detention, and we also know how to provide supports to such children in their schools in ways that drastically reduce their chances of ending up in serious trouble (and causing serious problems for others).  And yet, there has been more political will for locking up people than for doing preventive interventions to reduce behavior problems in schools. 

Does the law provide any extra financing to help schools do preventive work or offer services to help students with behavior problems?

You did not mention that the people who pushed this bill were actual students from Chicago.  This new law is exciting because it came from people who were very young, and in some cases too young even to vote.

The case of Officer Liang and Akai Gurley

In class, we recently had a discussion over the relationship between African Americans and police officers within the United States. Many of my classmates had notions regarding this topic that I agree with, while some did not. Because of this, my second reaction paper will cover the relationship between African Americans and police officers in the United States, as well as ideas conceived by classmates on how to repair this relationship to ensure the well-being of both African Americans and police officers.

The discussion stemmed from a classmate bringing awareness to the case of Peter Liang, an Asian American cop accused of shooting and killing an unarmed African American man. According to journalist Fuchs, November 20^th of 2014, officer Peter Liang entered a stairwell with his partner, Rafael Ramos, for a “vertical patrol” ( Fuchs, 2016).  During this patrol, Liang heard a noise that frightened him, fired his gun, the bullet ricocheted off a wall, and struck an unarmed Akai Gurley.  Though, Akai Gurley was shot by the bullet, he was able to knock on a resident’s door and tell the resident to call 911.  The 911 dispatcher detailed how to give CPR,  however, neither police officer performed CPR on Gurley. Instead they are quoted to have  argued over calling for help while Gurley “lay dying” (2016).

Gurley, in fact, died as a result of his injuries. As a result, in February of 2016, Liang  was convicted of second-degree manslaughter, assault, and reckless endangerment, criminally negligent homicide, and a count of official misconduct (2016). The one count of official misconduct stemmed from Liang not performing CPR on Gurley. In response to this count, Liang stated that he felt unqualified to perform CPR, as he did not practice CPR at the Police Academy, and his instructors gave those training answers to the exams (2016). In response to Liang’s conviction, the Asian American community was divided by those that supported the conviction and those that did not.

Those in support of the conviction argue that “police violence” which stems from systemic racism will continue not combatted (Guillermo, 2015). However, some groups argue that the murder of an unarmed African American man by an Asian American and the conviction of the Asian American police officer was used as a scapegoat. These groups contend that if the police officer was a European American then he would not have been convicted, as many have been before.

It is from this idea that some of the Asian American groups have, that if Peter Liang had been a white police officer he would not have been convicted that the class discussion stemmed. Because I cannot speak for any member of the Asian American community, it can be inferred that many groups in support of Liang, believe that because some European American cops or European Americans, in general, are not punished has harshly as people of color or cops that are of color when convicting the same or similar crimes, there is an importance placed on the lives of European Americans that is not placed on the lives of people of color. This importance is perpetuated in both the private and public spheres, more specifically and in this case of Liang, in jobs that are deemed uniformed service or public safety service.

From this idea that the legal system fails to punish white cops as it does cops of color who commit the same or similar crimes, that my classmates began to give ideas on how to repair this system. Some inferred that the reformation of the legal system begins in the Police Academy – that certain incentives be given and that requirements to become a police officer are lengthened. I believe that both of these conditions could result in individuals being more equipped to fulfill their duties as a cop without feeling as if they had the capabilities to abuse the power that is instilled in the job title.  Also a furthered education, possibly promoting individuals obtaining a secondary education, would also be another benefit as the individual would have additional knowledge along with what is learned in the Police Academy.

Aside from what can be done to ensure that individuals become police officers who will not abuse their power, classmates also argued that there should be ways for miscommunications and harsh feelings between African Americans and police officers to be resolved. One way to resolve these issues could be programs that allow one-on-one interaction between the two communities which could also disprove any prejudice or bigoted notions one community may have towards the other. This could also be done with other minority groups and police officers, as well as non-minorities and police officers.

In class, my peers also offered their stances on how they believe African Americans should respond to police officers. These responses seemed to stem from the idea that cops are going to act upon racist, bigoted, or discriminatory notions or may have a superiority complex. While some cops may act upon these notions, some will not. Because of this, I was confused on my classmates’ stances, as I perceived it as them believing that African Americans should believe that when pulled over or approached by a cop they should act submissively due to the cop possibly having these kind of beliefs – submissively as in not objecting to any wrongful treatment they may be subjected to.

There were also comments made on acting African Americans making sure they act respectful to police officers. This is definitely needed, but I believe this should be promoted with all individuals, not just cops. These ideas were easier to digest than the ideas suggesting that an individual allow wrongful treatment by a cop by not speaking out, simply because they are a cop. This not only promotes the continuation of unlawful abuse by cops, but allows for animosity to grow between police officers and the public. 

Overall, I really enjoyed this in class discussion and the different stances that my classmates’ had, whether I agreed with them or not. As for the case the encouraged the discussion, I think that certain subgroups within communities are vying for solidarity within themselves and their community and are willing to come together for any reason – whether it be good or bad. I strongly believe that this case, more specifically, the murder of an unarmed minority would also not be such a taboo topic if there was not varied treatment of individuals who have the same job title. By working with both police officers and various communities affected by police mistreatment or anger these groups may have, matters like this could be resolved without contesting the worth of another’s individual’s life.

References

Fuchs, C. (2016, February 11). NYPD Officer Peter Liang guilty of second-degree Manslaughter in Akai Gurley killing. NBC News. Retrieved from http://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/nypd-officer-peter-liang-guilty-second-degree-manslaughter-akai-gurley-n516796 

Fuchs, C. (2016, February 23). Chinese community divided over NYPD officer's indictment. NBC News.  Retrieved from http://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/chinese-community-divided-over-nypd-officers-indictment-n306946 

Guillermo, E. (2015, April 28). Police violence will repeat itself': Asian groups call for accountability. NBC News. Retrieved from http://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/police-violence-will-repeat-itself-asian-groups-call-accountability-n349601

In this case an innocent person is dead, and the person responsible for that death ought to face punitive consequences.  It seems clear that the death was not intentionally caused, but officer Liang had his gun out of its holster and pulled the trigger when there was evidently no need, and that seems to justify the charge of second-degree manslaughter and criminal endangerment. The fact that Officer Liang did not offer assistance to the man he had mortally wounded seems to justify the official misconduct charge, and perhaps also the criminally negligent homicide. So, it seems to me hardly any fair person could object to these charges being made, and since I haven’t read the court transcripts or attended the court processes, I will just have to trust that the verdicts were fairly reached.

So far, I think there isn’t really any room for dispute, although I suppose some might argue for charges of less serious crimes, or more serious crimes, depending upon their dispositions.  I think the agents of the state tend to make the harshest and most serious charges they can possibly make, because built into the system is the assumption that there will be some sort of plea-bargain and the accused defendant will admit to a lesser charge and spare the state the cost of the full prosecution. 

By the way, CPR usually does not save lives, but it is a criminal injustice for two law enforcement officers to fail to provide the first aid assistance when they have accidentally shot someone, or even intentionally shot someone. 

Should police officers be charged with crimes when they commit crimes?  Of course they should be.  Are police officers frequently given the benefit of the doubt and allowed to get away with justifications for their decisions and actions, and thus escape prosecution and punishment for terrible decisions, reckless incompetence, and criminal behavior?  Yes, probably so.  There is always a problem of “who will police the police?” and this is an inherent crisis in every act of state violence.  The state (largely through its police and military functions) holds a monopoly on the right to use violence, but the use of violence is always a serious matter, and states tend to use more violence than necessary, partially because the people who are allowed to use the violence frequently are frightened, or brutal, or over zealous in their caution to prevent any injury that could be inflicted upon them.    

If police of one ethnic background are treated differently from police of another ethnic background, is this a violation of moral principles?  Yes, certainly it violates the principle that all should be treated equally under the law.  Do European-American police commit reckless acts that get innocent people killed?  Of course they do, and these acts of violence are sometimes recorded and made public.  Are they always prosecuted and punished when they do these horrible things?  No, sometimes they are not, although sometimes they are.  The fact that police are sometimes not prosecuted or punished when they, through incompetence or misconduct or brutal recklessness kill people who ought not to have been killed, is a social problem.  The solution to this problem is to more frequently and fairly prosecute and punish police who deserve prosecution and punishment.  

But, do we always know when police have acted in a way that deserves prosecution and punishment?  No, we cannot always know.  Sometimes actions that seem terrible may be justified and excused.  Sometimes actions that seem excusable and justified may really be terrible and worthy of prosecution and punishment.  There will be ambiguity in many cases.  When there is ambiguity, bias can infect the decision-making processes, and that means European-American police may get the benefit of the doubt (a preference for being very selective and avoiding errors of sensitivity) while Asian-American or African-American police may be held to higher standards (a preference for tolerating more errors of selectivity and avoiding errors arising from not being sensitive enough).

However, bias is something that influences probability, and in single cases, I doubt we can really know if bias is working its devilry. We know there is bias when we can show patterns or probabilities that are tending toward unfair differences for members of groups.  If three or four European-American police are given a benefit of the doubt and one Asian-American officer is prosecuted and convicted, we do not have a large enough sample to be certain whether bias is at work.

So, what is the proper response when bias may be causing an injustice, but we are not certain whether it is?  Sometimes we ought to protest and make a loud noise about the potential for bias and the real threat of bias, even when we are uncertain that bias exists, because it would be an injustice to wait for better evidence of injustice.  Other times, we ought to wait and see, and delay our protest until we are more confident that we can demonstrate a pattern of bias or injustice.  How do we make that decision?

The mixed feelings about the death of Akai Gurley and the conviction of Officer Liang is probably rooted in the mix of complicated moral issues.  Police do seem to have a bias against African-Americans, and this bias certainly has caused some deaths of innocent African-Americans and African or Caribbean immigrants. That’s an outrageous injustice.  Sometimes police are not prosecuted or punished when they ought to be, and that another insult to our sense of justice.  Officer Liang may have been made a scapegoat, and may have suffered greater punishment than he deserved, in an attempt to diminish the public outrage over the behavior of many European-American police who had committed similar or worse acts of homicidal incompetence, and if that is so, then that is yet another tragic injustice that might reasonably stir up our hot indignation.

The problem comes, I think, in comparing relative injustice.  Here is an injustice that seems clear, and here is one with ambiguity, so should I disparage the injustice shrouded in a veil of uncertainty in a comparison to the injustice that is clear and evident?  Here is an injustice that seems worse to me, and here is another injustice that seems not as evil to me.  Should I dismiss the smaller injustice and point instead to the greater injustice?  Here again, we have no clear moral certainty.  Yes, some injustices are much worse than others, and we ought to put greater effort into correcting those greater injustices.  But sometimes the relative level of misery and injustice is approximately similar, and then, what is the point, what is the objective, what is the goal of using our minds to discriminate between which violation of the good is the worse?

Reaction paper on workplace safety at state mental hospital

There was an article on NPR on workplace safety in a state mental hospital in California, and several of the students in this semester's class were moved to write reaction essays in response to what they learned.

In my second reflection paper, I choose to write a response to an article entitled, “At California Mental Hospitals, Fear Is Part of The Job.” The article detailed how psychiatric hospitals throughout California are known for violent acts committed by their very own patients. The article details how an employee was even killed by a patient. The article talks about the safety, or lack thereof, for the hospital’s employees.

Upon reading the article, I found it rather disturbing. While the mentally ill population is one that should be cared for, those that care for them should feel safe. Any type of job that you work for, you should feel some sense of security. However, one would argue that with some jobs, that just isn’t going to be possible. For example, people that go into law enforcement police) know that their lives are at risk each time they walk out the door. As well, those who work with the mentally ill are at a higher risk for violence. The patients who are in these sorts of environments obviously are not in the right state of mind and thus act out more. I believe that if you choose to work with this population, you must also be aware and be okay with what may happen. I want to make clear that no one should feel fear going into their place of employment, but I suppose you have to really love your job and the people you work with, in order to stay employed in this field.

Further, the 92-page plan created by the Justice Department seemed to have been successful, but at the expense of its employees! That is not acceptable. No plan enacted by the government should remain if it causes harm to the very people who are serving this group of people. While the plan may be good, it needs to offer changes so that it works for every person involved. The article stated that since the plan had been enacted, the violence in hospitals has been on the rise, perhaps due to excessive paperwork. Employees stated that they can’t spend as much time with their patients because they are busy completing paperwork. So, why not create a plan that is still effective but with limited paperwork (paperwork that is absolutely necessary)? Another point the article stated was, there were some problems with patients being neglected, substandard care, and bad record keeping. That could be a result of employees being tired of fearing for their lives. As a result, that could be there way of retaliating and having an “I don’t care” type of attitude. It is just important to make sure both parties (patients and employees) are happy.

Personally, it is not my desire to work with this group. I don’t know if I could directly relate to them nor do I think I want to risk my life. I believe that there are people who can deal with certain groups of people, but I don’t this is my group. Instead of being helpful, I would be fearful because I would never know what to expect from the patients. This article was a real eye opener for me and if I contemplated working with this group before, it has definitely proven wrong!