Leadership magazine Sept/Oct 2015 V45 No 1 | Page 26

Encounters
with police:
Keeping youth safe
News reports of
unjustified shootings
and beatings of young
black men by police are
inspiring educators to
respond. Here are some
classroom activities
geared toward improving
those interactions.

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Leadership

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here are things happening in
the world today that require
our professional attention and
expertise and our ability to be
compassionate and clear-headed. Many of
our young people – typically our black and
brown students – are being viewed with
bias and mistrust, and the police are seen by
some as wrongdoers.
Negative images of police violence are
serving to bring harm, breed mistrust and
keep us all on edge; therefore, it is time to be
proactive. That should be easy for educators,
because gathering information, empowering
individuals and creating positive outcomes
is what we are all about. So let’s support our
youth and engage our polic