Surveilling and Policing Students Won’t Keep Us Safe

Advancement Project and The Alliance for Educational Justice Say Investment in Mental Health Supports and Caring Adults, Not Surveillance or  Police in Schools, is Critical to Ensuring Real Student Safety

September 6, 2024

Washington, D.C.—In response to the school shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia,  that killed 2 students and 2 teachers and left 9 injured, it was revealed the shooter has been under FBI surveillance through social media monitoring and then interrogated by the FBI. Advancement Project and Alliance for Educational Justice, co-conveners of The National Campaign for Police Free Schools released the following statement:

“We mourn the tragic murders of students and teachers and hope for full recoveries for all those injured in the Apalachee High School shooting this week. We are heartbroken and once again find ourselves frustrated that we continue to witness countless school shootings followed by calls for more policing” said Tyler Whittenberg, Deputy Director of the Opportunity Learn Program at Advancement Project and co-convener of The National Campaign for Police Free Schools. “We know that school policing and surveillance neither prevent nor mitigate school shootings. Instead, school policing places students, especially Black students, at risk of police violence and criminalization. True prevention comes from establishing and nurturing communities of care that support students and meet their needs.”

“Our hearts are with the families who lost loved ones in Wednesday’s mass shooting, as well as the community reeling in shock and despair from the murder of two students and two educators. We hope the Winder community can heal together from this tragedy. History will continue to repeat itself when we rely on the appearance of safety rather than take real measures to keep our young people safe,” said Leidy Robledo, Co-Executive Director of the Alliance of Educational Justice and co-convener of The National Campaign for Police Free Schools. “ Any proposals that increase the presence of police, guns, and other militarized approaches to school safety only place students at risk of the violence associated with policing. The reality is that the school policing infrastructure in Winder did not prevent this tragedy. Evidence shows that when police enter schools, it creates a more hostile environment, with students of color bearing the brunt of being routinely targeted and profiled. We must instead invest in mental health supports and professionals, restorative justice and trauma-informed practices, and build the cadre of trusted adults to address the root causes of violence.”

# # # # #

The National Campaign for Police Free Schools is co-convened by the Advancement Project National Office and Alliance for Educational Justice, and includes dozens of organizations from across the country. It is a formation of youth-led grassroots organizations fighting to end the criminalization of youth in the classroom, create liberatory educational spaces, and implement an affirmative vision of safety and transformative justice. As modern-day abolitionists, we believe in and organize for a world without prisons or police.