Unequal Opportunity and Restorative Justice: Reflections
When it comes to education and working with the youth, understanding how different minorities may experience different opportunities and learning how to properly discipline is very important. The two articles we read this week does a great job at explaining why these things are important and how we can make changes happen. The article Unequal “Opportunity: Race and Education” discusses how minorities often receive inadequate education simply because of the area they live in. Its a well known fact that predominately white neighborhoods receive better education and opportunities than minority neighborhood. They’re often way more prepared for college and have opportunities lined up, while minority children get taught by low experienced teachers. This puts minority children at an unfair advantage and makes them unprepared for their future. Acknowledging this is important for the work we do with MAPS. Most of the sites we visit are in minority neighborhoods and its evident that they aren’t getting the same education other students are. Its unfortunate, but its our job to ensure that these kids are as prepared as they can be.
The article “Restorative Justice is About More Than Just Reducing Suspensions” talks about the importance of restorative justice rather than punishment. Its easy to try and punish a child when they are misbehaving, but most times this leads to the child feeling more aggravated and wanting to act out more. Restorative Justice is about trying to meet them halfway and understanding what’s causing them to act out. This allows the child to express their emotions and makes them feel seen. Restorative Justice has shown to have positive results on schools that are implementing it. This is a great way to improve the education system because most “troubled” kids are usually misunderstood and aren’t feeling heard. Implementing Restorative Justice in most elementary schools could have positive impacts on student’s behavior and overall lead to better classroom management.
