Childish Behavior

You know I’ve got to stop reading stories on the internet and then reading the comments section. I read the story and watched the video of the young girl in class who after refusing to give up her cell phone and demands that she leave class was assaulted by a police officer…yes assaulted. Some of the comments in the articles were cringe worthy. Not only did these police apologist condone the behavior of this officer, this young girl was called an animal, a thug and a sassy black bitch who got what she deserved. The reaction was the same last summer at the pool party in Texas where cops were called in and another young Black girl was assaulted by a police officer. This is exactly what the Black Lives Matter movement is all about and it proves what they’ve been saying all along, there is a total disrespect and disregard for Black lives. When these situations arise the person of color is viewed as somewhat less than human and deserving of the treatment received. The point of the movement is not to say that Black lives have more value than others but simply that Black Lives Matter Too.

I know some will say it’s not about color but let’s be honest, the situation would have been handled differently at a school involving white students. If blonde haired, blue-eyed Becky had refused to give up her phone and leave the classroom the police would not have been called in. Instead, the school psychologist would have been contacted to discuss with Becky her compliance phobias and her fear of authority. There then would have been a round table discussion including the other students to air their grievances after which there would have been tears shed and hugs all around. Becky certainly would not have been tossed around like a rag doll and then cuffed, arrested and charged. And by the way since when is it a crime to simply speak up when you see a police officer dragging a girl around the room as was the case of the second student arrested.

Was the girl wrong? Yes. I’m not condoning her behavior but my point is the cop completely overreacted. Teens didn't start rebelling against authority in 2015, this was going on when I was in high school (insert preferred age joke here). We had kids disrupt the class and some may have refused to leave but we didn't have a police officer twice their size come in and flip them out of their desk and toss them across the room. Yes she resisted but the type of resistance she exuded did not merit that kind of force. She wasn't being violent and not one person in that room was in physical danger. Her crime was sending a text. His response was totally unacceptable. He got angry and lost his cool because he didn’t know how to handle an unruly teenager.

To be clear I’m not saying all police officers are bad. However, you will have to deal with non-compliant people when you are a cop. The good ones will use the appropriate amount of force based on the situation. Part of his job was to get this high school student, this child to comply with his orders with minimal disruption to the class and without anyone getting hurt.  Well not only was the girl hurt physically but I suggest you view the video again and look at the faces of the students as he’s attacking her. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3T5yVBz5j4 Some hid their face or attempted to look away but all except the second girl arrested remained silent. The mental damage and trauma inflicted on these children forced to witness the violent acts of this police officer thug may be irreparable.