Counselors Not Cops Articles

“If his friends were acting out in class, he would warn them not to misbehave, or the white teacher would call the police. The threats of arrest and violence hung over everything—lessons, breaks, and lunchtime. ‘I’ve seen my friends get beaten by police officers at school in the hallways, in the cafeteria… that’s a trauma that is normalized,’ Rodriguez said.”

“According to PSU’s list of demands, the campaign’s aims are three-fold: eliminate School Resource Officers ‘to end the pattern of treating students as potential criminals’; use funding formerly allocated for SROs to hire more guidance counselors, nurses and mental health providers; and ‘rethink safety’ by hiring community intervention workers, behavior interventionists or restorative justice coordinators to focus on ‘alternative measures for conflict resolution.’”

“Cops are not necessary in schools, it makes students feel uncomfortable and can be replaced by alternatives such as safety teams or trained staff that know how to de-escalate situations,” added PSU member Aleita Cook. “Counselors and mental health workers are extremely important because there are students in the school that go through mental health problems and don’t know what to do about it. Students should not have to feel alone because they have no one to listen to them.”

“‘We just need someone to understand and support us. We don’t need SROs. We need more counselors. We need more nurses. We need more mental health providers. We need more social workers,’ Classical High School sophomore Jason Rodriguez said.”

“Today, I am fighting for every student ever pinned down, arrested or harassed by school resource officers,” said student Jayson Rodriguez. “We don’t need SROs. We need more counselors. We need more nurses. We need more mental health providers. We need more social workers.”

“I am fighting to remove the people and pieces that constantly support a system that criminalizes students,” said Classical High School student and Providence Student Union member Jayson Rodriguez. “Those people and pieces are the school resource officers and their guns.”