Reflecting on his role in the school-to-prison pipeline, an educator offers advice for the classroom
Hulu is currently airing an adaptation of Stephen King’s 11.22.63. In the story, an ordinary man travels to the past to stop the assassination of JFK. As he was a teacher in the present, he uses that skill to get a job and blend into a bygone society. During his interview, the principal grills him on whether he can handle disciplining his class or if he will constantly send students to the office.
That particular scene made me reflect on the school-to-prison pipeline blog and my own role in the system. I previously worked as an educator in a high school on the Mexican border during the height of cartel violence, a juvenile-development center for teens convicted of serious crimes and a public middle school with the reputation as “the worst in the area both academically and behaviorally.” These environments were and continue to be vulnerable cogs in the pipeline. While serving at-risk youth, did I handle my own discipline effectively? How many students did I send to the office either immediately or via disciplinary paperwork? Would that principal in the 1960s hire me?
