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In Light of Jena . . .

Timely from the Top: An occasional column by Alice Ray

The issue of disproportionate discipline is not different in Jena than it is in hundreds of other districts around the country, but it is writ large. The whole country is now involved in the ignorance, prejudice, injustice and pure pain that exists on every side.

If ever there was a case for training educators in cultural competence, it is in a community where administrators could label as a prank, hanging nooses from the tree Black students have “dared’ to break tradition and sit under.

If ever there was a place for training students in constructive ways to deal with perceived injustice, it is here where Black students reacted to blatant psychological warfare, with deeply understandable, but still unjustified violence. Like the offence it was a reaction to, it smacked of racial hatred.

If ever there was a rationale for explicitly including “confronting injustice” in life skills curricula, it is in the legal system that lets white students off free, and sets Black students up to spend their lives in prison, when both are reactive players in a long legacy of racial injustice.

If ever there was a rationale for providing a private space for people to turn a mirror on their own attitudes about human differences, it is found in the defensive reactions of a community that has been publicly shamed.

We are proud to be the only “life skills” program in the country that explicitly includes “confronting injustice” as an essential skill for democracy. We are proud to teach students and the adults who guide them, skills and abilities that enable both to find non-violent solutions that uphold the truth of a common humanity. We use technology to enable all of this to happen in a safe, private, anytime-anywhere setting, without blame or shame.

It is not surprising that research shows our program reduces discipline referrals and absenteeism. It may be a surprise that it results in better grades. Now it has also been scientifically proven to promote the two things that most could have prevented the Jena situation: empathy and problem solving. And when half the class gets training in empathy, the other half feels more included. What could that have meant in Jena?