The Impact
Revisiting the question of why my students’ point of view of the police changes from admiration to distrust is a direct result of the unjust treatment of people of color by the police. Students understand that not all police officers treat people unjustly. However, when they experience unjust treatment by the police themselves and/or watching someone else who looks like them get treated this way, trust is lost in the police force. Thus, creating a division between the police force and communities where police officers target, abuse and brutalized citizens.
In addition to distrust amongst the police and communities, trauma is also an effect of unjust treatment by police officers. Traumatic situations can include, abuse, poverty, and community violence. Community violence can include gang disputes, bullying and shootings. In addition to the physical aftermath of violence, there are many physiological repercussions. Witnessing or experiencing violence can disrupt typical development through psychobiological effects, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), cognitive consequences and even peer problems. Studies find early life adversity, also referred to as ‘adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), and toxic stress can lead to negative outcomes later in life (14). ACEs are defined as traumatic experiences, or rather any stressful situation that threatens the perceptions of safety (15). Thus, when members, especially children, of a community witness police officers inflicting violence upon them, they experience trauma and are vulnerable to the side effects.
“Exposure to violence breeds chronic anxiety, tension and hypervigilance” (16). Exposure can be both experiencing it or merely watching it. Today, children are experiencing both forms of exposure. Not only do they experience violence in their communities, both involving the police and not involving the police, they are also being exposed to violence through the media. Social media has increased access to violent acts. While ACEs pertain to experiences at the individual level, traumatic environments at the community level also contribute to toxic stress. It’s found that toxic stress from exposure to community violence can also negatively affect academic performance, self-esteem, the ability to for trusting relationships, the ability to control emotions and make positive decisions. Toxic stress can also lead to anxiety, depression, substance abuse and desensitization to violence. Thus, witnessing or watching a violent act can produce the same traumatic side effects as if it were happening to the one watching.
Healing from Trauma
Research shows that the way to overcome trauma is to create a safe place to heal (17). Since experiencing community violence is so prevalent for my students, a safe place will be created in the school where students can heal. If anyone wants to heal from any type of hurt or trauma, they have to discuss it and a safe place will allow survivors to feel comfortable to share. However, talking about a traumatic event can be difficult. It is important to help survivors articulate how they’re feeling by allowing them to talk in multiple ways; such as through oral communication, journaling, drawings, stories, etc. Providing emotional language support for someone who has endured trauma is crucial. Survivors often have a hard time explaining the emotions they feel as they can change rapidly. Providing an emotional word bank or other tools will be essential. Talking about the pain inflicted upon them can serve as a source of empowerment as they understand their trauma does not define them. Allowing students, a space and providing emotional support will help them strengthen their voice and begin to heal.
Experiencing or observing violence causes toxic levels of stress that needs healing as well as mending of relationships. Relationships can begin to be mended through the use of restorative practices. Restorative practices foster the mending of relationships by allowing participants to make amends through a process that separates the deed from the doer. Separating the deed from the doer allows for conflict and wrong doing to be seen as an opportunity for learning. During restorative practices, the survivor's voice is heard and the harm inflicted is acknowledged. These practices also require the person who inflicted the pain to take accountability and complete act of service that will repair the community that was harmed.
An important part of restorative practices is for the one who caused harm to take accountability and to help repair the community. We know not all police officers have taken part in abuse or brutality of citizens. However, for my students and for others who have experienced trauma at the hands of the police, simply observing someone wearing a police uniform can cause PTSD. Thus, in order for relationships to mend, police officers need to take accountability for this reality by speaking against unjust treatment inflicted by police officers and acknowledge the harm it has caused.
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