Schools Are Not Prisons - Speak Out Against Handcuffing as Punishment
- von: Alternet
- empfänger: Jackson Public School District Administrators
A student who was handcuffed to a railing for an entire day for not wearing a belt had to eat his lunch while handcuffed. Another student, 15 years old, was handcuffed to a railing for hours just for greeting her friend too loudly in the hallway.
These incidents do not describe events that occurred at a correctional facility, but at Capital City Alternative School in Mississippi.
These students are not being punished for criminal behavior, but for very minor offenses, like not wearing the right color of shoes. These extreme punishments are not only a violation of the U.S. Constitution, but they teach our children that they are criminals.
The Southern Poverty Law Center has filed a lawsuit against Jackson Public School District for allowing this horribly inappropriate punishment to continue.
Please act now, and tell Jackson Public Schools Officials that this punishment must stop!
Dear Jackson Public School District Administration,
I was shocked and horrified to learn that Capital City Alternative School uses handcuffing for hours on end as punishment.
Not only is handcuffing an extremely inappropriate form of punishment for children, but the actions for which these students are being punished are incredibly minor. Speaking loudly, wearing the wrong shoes and not wearing a belt do not warrant being handcuffed for most of the day. It is despicable that this punishment style has been allowed to continue.
I am writing to ask you to end these forms of punishment immediately. They distract from the true purpose of schools -- education -- and can have severe effects on these children later in life. You're not educating students, you're training them to be criminals.
[Your comment here].
End these punishment tactics immediately.
