RCSD graduate
There are few options for those students failed by the system. And for far too many, the failures of the system put them on a direct path to the criminal justice system – the school to prison pipeline. Here is Fatima’s story.
“I’ll tell you about a kid that I literally think about to this day that I heard about. His name is Shane and he is now sentenced to prison for 25 years to life because he just got charged with his third felony of weapon charges. Shane and I in high school, we were very close because I used to feel bad for him because the teachers would isolate him. I just remember like sharing my notes and letting him cheat off of my exams because I wanted him to pass. Basically, like in school, teachers just looked down on him because of his presence.
“Shane at home didn’t have any support. So his outlet was to go to school. Even in school, he used to get micro-analyzed, I guess you could say. At that point, it’s like how much can a child take? He was 16. I remember just looking at him and I was like, ‘Shane, are you okay? He’s like, ‘Man, f*** this school and f*** life. I’m done.’ He was like, ‘Everyone makes me out to be a bad guy anyway. You know what? I am going to go sell drugs. I am going to go do this.’ He did. Now, he’s in jail for life.”
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