"Our young people face many challenges: absent fathers, poverty, racism, the absence of economic opportunity, the temptations of street life. Throughout his life, people were trying to save Elijah, but although his choices are his own, the system worked against him.
"Although we are not privy to Elijah’s school disciplinary records, we are acutely aware of the policies that compound the trauma children face at home. In place of care, counseling and restorative intervention, our tools are more often deprivation, suspensions, expulsions and incarcerations.
"This isn’t unique to our community. U.S. schools suspend millions of kids —3,328,750, to be exact. And while the majority — 95 percent — of those suspensions do not involve weapons or drugs, they set kids on a path of self-destruction. One suspension triples the likelihood of a child becoming involved with the juvenile justice system, and doubles the likelihood of a child repeating a grade.
"Alternatives exist, alternatives proven to reduce suspensions and improve outcomes. So-called trauma-sensitive policies are producing dramatically better results in states such as California, Washington, and Massachusetts.
"We can do it here, too. Our schools can and should be leading the charge, but it also requires the collaboration of law enforcement, public health practitioners and the community at large...."
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