Why black girls are targeted for punishment at school -- and how to change that
-
0:01 - 0:04When I was in the sixth grade,
I got into a fight at school. -
0:05 - 0:07It wasn't the first time
I'd been in a fight, -
0:07 - 0:10but it was the first time
one happened at school. -
0:10 - 0:14It was with a boy who was
about a foot taller than me, -
0:14 - 0:16who was physically stronger than me
-
0:16 - 0:18and who'd been taunting me for weeks.
-
0:19 - 0:24One day in PE, he stepped on my shoe
and refused to apologize. -
0:24 - 0:28So, filled with anger, I grabbed him
and I threw him to the ground. -
0:28 - 0:30I'd had some previous judo training.
-
0:30 - 0:33(Laughter)
-
0:35 - 0:38Our fight lasted less than two minutes,
-
0:38 - 0:40but it was a perfect
reflection of the hurricane -
0:40 - 0:42that was building inside of me
-
0:42 - 0:44as a young survivor of sexual assault
-
0:44 - 0:47and as a girl who was grappling
with abandonment -
0:47 - 0:50and exposure to violence
in other spaces in my life. -
0:50 - 0:51I was fighting him,
-
0:51 - 0:55but I was also fighting the men
and boys that had assaulted my body -
0:55 - 0:58and the culture that told me
I had to be silent about it. -
0:59 - 1:01A teacher broke up the fight
-
1:01 - 1:03and my principal called me in her office.
-
1:03 - 1:06But she didn't say,
"Monique, what's wrong with you?" -
1:07 - 1:11She gave me a moment to collect my breath
-
1:11 - 1:13and asked, "What happened?"
-
1:14 - 1:17The educators working with me
led with empathy. -
1:17 - 1:19They knew me.
-
1:19 - 1:22They knew I loved to read,
they knew I loved to draw, -
1:22 - 1:24they knew I adored Prince.
-
1:25 - 1:28And they used that information
to help me understand -
1:28 - 1:31why my actions, and those
of my classmate, were disruptive -
1:31 - 1:33to the learning community
they were leading. -
1:34 - 1:36They didn't place me on suspension;
-
1:36 - 1:38they didn't call the police.
-
1:39 - 1:41My fight didn't keep me
from going to school the next day. -
1:43 - 1:46It didn't keep me from graduating;
it didn't keep me from teaching. -
1:48 - 1:52But unfortunately, that's not a story
that's shared by many black girls -
1:52 - 1:54in the US and around the world today.
-
1:55 - 1:57We're living through a crisis
in which black girls -
1:57 - 2:00are being disproportionately pushed
away from schools --- -
2:00 - 2:03not because of an imminent threat
they pose to the safety of a school, -
2:03 - 2:06but because they're often
experiencing schools -
2:06 - 2:08as locations for punishment
and marginalization. -
2:09 - 2:14That's something that I hear
from black girls around the country. -
2:14 - 2:16But it's not insurmountable.
-
2:16 - 2:17We can shift this narrative.
-
2:19 - 2:20Let's start with some data.
-
2:21 - 2:24According to a National Black Women's
Justice Institute analysis -
2:24 - 2:26of civil rights data
-
2:26 - 2:29collected by the US
Department of Education, -
2:29 - 2:32black girls are the only group of girls
who are overrepresented -
2:32 - 2:34along the entire continuum
of discipline in schools. -
2:35 - 2:39That doesn't mean that other girls aren't
experiencing exclusionary discipline -
2:39 - 2:43and it doesn't mean that other girls
aren't overrepresented -
2:43 - 2:45at other parts along that continuum.
-
2:45 - 2:47But black girls
are the only group of girls -
2:47 - 2:49who are overrepresented all along the way.
-
2:51 - 2:55Black girls are seven times more likely
than their white counterparts -
2:55 - 2:58to experience one or more
out-of-school suspensions -
2:58 - 3:02and they're nearly three times more likely
than their white and Latinx counterparts -
3:02 - 3:04to be referred to the juvenile court.
-
3:05 - 3:09A recent study by the Georgetown
Center on Poverty and Inequality -
3:09 - 3:12partially explained
why this disparity is taking place -
3:12 - 3:14when they confirmed
that black girls experience -
3:14 - 3:17a specific type of age compression,
-
3:17 - 3:20where they're seen as more adult-like
than their white peers. -
3:21 - 3:23Among other things, the study found
-
3:23 - 3:27that people perceive black girls
to need less nurturing, -
3:27 - 3:30less protection, to know more about sex
-
3:30 - 3:33and to be more independent
than their white peers. -
3:34 - 3:36The study also found
-
3:36 - 3:42that the perception disparity begins
when girls are as young as five years old. -
3:42 - 3:46And that this perception
and the disparity increases over time -
3:46 - 3:49and peaks when girls are
between the ages of 10 and 14. -
3:50 - 3:52This is not without consequence.
-
3:53 - 3:57Believing that a girl is older than she is
can lead to harsher treatment, -
3:57 - 4:00immediate censure when she makes a mistake
-
4:00 - 4:02and victim blaming when she's harmed.
-
4:03 - 4:06It can also lead a girl to think
that something is wrong with her, -
4:07 - 4:09rather than the conditions
in which she finds herself. -
4:11 - 4:15Black girls are routinely seen
as too loud, too aggressive, -
4:15 - 4:17too angry, too visible.
-
4:18 - 4:21Qualities that are often measured
in relation to nonblack girls -
4:21 - 4:25and which don't take into consideration
what's going on in this girl's life -
4:25 - 4:27or her cultural norms.
-
4:27 - 4:29And it's not just in the US.
-
4:29 - 4:31In South Africa,
-
4:31 - 4:33black girls at the Pretoria
Girls High School -
4:33 - 4:36were discouraged from attending school
with their hair in its natural state, -
4:36 - 4:38without chemical processing.
-
4:38 - 4:40What did those girls do?
-
4:40 - 4:41They protested.
-
4:42 - 4:46And it was a beautiful thing to see
the global community for the most part -
4:46 - 4:49wrap its arms around girls
as they stood in their truths. -
4:49 - 4:52But there were those
who saw them as disruptive, -
4:52 - 4:54largely because they dared
to ask the question, -
4:54 - 4:57"Where can we be black
if we can't be black in Africa?" -
4:57 - 4:59(Laughter)
-
4:59 - 5:02(Applause)
-
5:02 - 5:03It's a good question.
-
5:04 - 5:07Around the world,
-
5:07 - 5:09black girls are grappling
with this question. -
5:10 - 5:11And around the world,
-
5:11 - 5:15black girls are struggling to be seen,
working to be free -
5:15 - 5:16and fighting to be included
-
5:17 - 5:20in the landscape of promise
that a safe space to learn provides. -
5:21 - 5:24In the US, little girls,
just past their toddler years, -
5:24 - 5:27are being arrested in classrooms
for having a tantrum. -
5:28 - 5:30Middle school girls are being
turned away from school -
5:31 - 5:33because of the way
they wear their hair naturally -
5:33 - 5:36or because of the way
the clothes fit their bodies. -
5:37 - 5:39High school girls
are experiencing violence -
5:39 - 5:41at the hands of police
officers in schools. -
5:42 - 5:46Where can black girls be black
without reprimand or punishment? -
5:48 - 5:51And it's not just these incidents.
-
5:51 - 5:53In my work as a researcher and educator,
-
5:53 - 5:56I've had an opportunity
to work with girls like Stacy, -
5:56 - 5:59a girl who I profile in my book "Pushout,"
-
5:59 - 6:02who struggles with
her participation in violence. -
6:03 - 6:08She bypasses the neuroscientific
and structural analyses -
6:08 - 6:10that science has to offer
-
6:10 - 6:13about how her adverse
childhood experiences inform -
6:13 - 6:15why she's participating in violence
-
6:15 - 6:18and goes straight to describing herself
as a "problem child," -
6:18 - 6:21largely because that's the language
that educators were using -
6:21 - 6:23as they routinely suspended her.
-
6:25 - 6:27But here's the thing.
-
6:27 - 6:32Disconnection and the internalization
of harm grow stronger in isolation. -
6:32 - 6:35So when girls get in trouble,
we shouldn't be pushing them away, -
6:35 - 6:37we should be bringing them in closer.
-
6:39 - 6:41Education is a critical protective factor
-
6:41 - 6:43against contact
with the criminal legal system. -
6:44 - 6:47So we should be building
out policies and practices -
6:47 - 6:49that keep girls connected
to their learning, -
6:49 - 6:51rather than pushing them away from it.
-
6:51 - 6:55It's one of the reasons I like to say
that education is freedom work. -
6:57 - 6:59When girls feel safe, they can learn.
-
7:00 - 7:03When they don't feel safe, they fight,
-
7:03 - 7:08they protest, they argue,
they flee, they freeze. -
7:09 - 7:12The human brain is wired
to protect us when we feel a threat. -
7:12 - 7:14And so long as school feels like a threat,
-
7:14 - 7:17or part of the tapestry of harm
in a girl's life, -
7:17 - 7:19she'll be inclined to resist.
-
7:20 - 7:23But when schools become
locations for healing, -
7:23 - 7:25they can also become
locations for learning. -
7:27 - 7:30So what does this mean for a school
to become a location for healing? -
7:30 - 7:34Well, for one thing, it means
that we have to immediately discontinue -
7:34 - 7:38the policies and practices that target
black girls for their hairstyles or dress. -
7:38 - 7:44(Applause)
-
7:44 - 7:48Let's focus on how
and what a girl learns -
7:48 - 7:52rather than policing her body
in ways that facilitate rape culture -
7:52 - 7:55or punish children for the conditions
in which they were born. -
7:57 - 8:01This is where parents and the community
of concerned adults can enter this work. -
8:02 - 8:03Start a conversation with the school
-
8:04 - 8:06and encourage them
to address their dress code -
8:06 - 8:09and other conduct-related policies
as a collaborative project, -
8:09 - 8:11with parents and students,
-
8:11 - 8:15so as to intentionally avoid
bias and discrimination. -
8:15 - 8:17Keep in mind, though,
-
8:17 - 8:20that some of the practices
that harm black girls most are unwritten. -
8:20 - 8:24So we have to continue to do the deep,
internal work to address the biases -
8:24 - 8:29that inform how, when and whether we see
black girls for who they actually are, -
8:29 - 8:31or what we've been told they are.
-
8:32 - 8:34Volunteer at a school
-
8:34 - 8:39and establish culturally competent
and gender responsive discussion groups -
8:39 - 8:42with black girls,
Latinas, indigenous girls -
8:42 - 8:46and other students who experience
marginalization in schools -
8:46 - 8:47to give them a safe space
-
8:47 - 8:50to process their identities
and experiences in schools. -
8:51 - 8:54And if schools are to become
locations for healing, -
8:54 - 8:56we have to remove police officers
-
8:56 - 8:59and increase the number
of counselors in schools. -
8:59 - 9:05(Applause)
-
9:07 - 9:09Education is freedom work.
-
9:10 - 9:14And whatever our point of entry is,
we all have to be freedom fighters. -
9:15 - 9:17The good news is that there are schools
-
9:17 - 9:20that are actively working
to establish themselves -
9:20 - 9:23as locations for girls
to see themselves as sacred and loved. -
9:24 - 9:29The Columbus City Prep School for Girls
in Columbus, Ohio, is an example of this. -
9:30 - 9:32They became an example
the moment their principal declared -
9:32 - 9:36that they were no longer going to punish
girls for having "a bad attitude." -
9:37 - 9:40In addition to building --
-
9:40 - 9:43Essentially, what they did
is they built out a robust continuum -
9:43 - 9:46of alternatives to suspension,
expulsion and arrest. -
9:46 - 9:50In addition to establishing
a restorative justice program, -
9:50 - 9:53they improved their
student and teacher relationships -
9:53 - 9:56by ensuring that every girl
has at least one adult on campus -
9:56 - 9:59that she can go to
when she's in a moment of crisis. -
9:59 - 10:02They built out spaces along the corridors
of the school and in classrooms -
10:02 - 10:05for girls to regroup,
if they need a minute to do so. -
10:05 - 10:09And they established an advisory program
that provides girls with an opportunity -
10:09 - 10:13to start every single day
with the promotion of self-worth, -
10:13 - 10:16communication skills and goal setting.
-
10:16 - 10:18At this school,
-
10:18 - 10:21they're trying to respond
to a girl's adverse childhood experiences -
10:21 - 10:23rather than ignore them.
-
10:23 - 10:26They bring them in closer;
they don't push them away. -
10:27 - 10:30And as a result, their truancy
and suspension rates have improved, -
10:30 - 10:33and girls are arriving at school
increasingly ready to learn -
10:33 - 10:36because they know the teachers
there care about them. -
10:36 - 10:37That matters.
-
10:38 - 10:41Schools that integrate the arts
and sports into their curriculum -
10:41 - 10:44or that are building out
tranformative programming, -
10:44 - 10:48such as restorative justice,
mindfulness and meditation, -
10:48 - 10:53are providing an opportunity for girls
to repair their relationships with others, -
10:53 - 10:55but also with themselves.
-
10:55 - 10:59Responding to the lived,
complex and historical trauma -
10:59 - 11:00that our students face
-
11:00 - 11:05requires all of us who believe
in the promise of children and adolescents -
11:05 - 11:08to build relationships,
learning materials, -
11:08 - 11:12human and financial resources
and other tools -
11:12 - 11:16that provide children with an opportunity
to heal, so that they can learn. -
11:18 - 11:23Our schools should be places where
we respond to our most vulnerable girls -
11:23 - 11:27as essential to the creation
of a positive school culture. -
11:28 - 11:32Our ability to see her promise
should be at its sharpest -
11:32 - 11:35when she's in the throws
of poverty and addiction; -
11:35 - 11:37when she's reeling
from having been sex-trafficked -
11:37 - 11:40or survived other forms of violence;
-
11:40 - 11:42when she's at her loudest,
-
11:42 - 11:43or her quietest.
-
11:45 - 11:48We should be able
to support her intellectual -
11:48 - 11:50and social-emotional well-being
-
11:50 - 11:54whether her shorts reach her knees
or stop mid-thigh or higher. -
11:57 - 11:59It might seem like a tall order in a world
-
11:59 - 12:02so deeply entrenched
in the politics of fear -
12:02 - 12:06to radically imagine schools as locations
where girls can heal and thrive, -
12:06 - 12:09but we have to be bold enough
to set this as our intention. -
12:10 - 12:14If we commit to this notion
of education as freedom work, -
12:14 - 12:17we can shift educational conditions
-
12:17 - 12:20so that no girl, even the most
vulnerable among us, -
12:20 - 12:22will get pushed out of school.
-
12:22 - 12:25And that's a win for all of us.
-
12:25 - 12:26Thank you.
-
12:26 - 12:32(Applause)
- Title:
- Why black girls are targeted for punishment at school -- and how to change that
- Speaker:
- Monique W. Morris
- Description:
-
Around the world, black girls are being pushed out of schools because of policies that target them for punishment, says author and social justice scholar Monique W. Morris. The result: countless girls are forced into unsafe futures with restricted opportunities. How can we put an end to this crisis? In an impassioned talk, Morris uncovers the causes of "pushout" and shows how we can work to turn all schools into spaces where black girls can heal and thrive.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDTalks
- Duration:
- 12:45