Alternative and Non-Punitive Forms of Community Care in South Bay Schools

Keywords: photovoice, school-to-prison pipeline, safety, carcerality, surveillance, care
Abstract Type: Paper Abstract

Abstract

The school-to-prison pipeline disproportionately polices and disciplines Black and Brown low-income students through surveillance and outsized disciplinary actions at their schools and in their communities. Current research reveals that this disciplinary system has: not improved campus safety, cost taxpayers $35 billion annually, disrupted students' academic performance, and increased students' lifelong experience with violence (Selvaggi, 2016). Until recently, research has failed to consider alternative systems that prioritize students' well-being and future success. In my paper, I examine potential alternative modes of school engagement that increase both the sensed and experienced safety of students in the South Bay schools in ways that do not rely on surveillance. In doing so, I ask: where do students feel safe, and how can geographical research methods help intervene in educational policy? In order to answer these questions, I collaborate with youth (often silenced because of their age) through photovoice and semi-structured interviews and explore alternative practices rooted in love and care. I work to unpack youths’ understanding of spatial relations to surveillance, discipline, and policing, and, in particular, what structures or people disallow them to move freely and joyfully. I argue that "alternatives'' may not be possible under current racist and capitalist structures. Instead, the ultimate goal is to explore and imagine what safety can and should look like, from the perspective rooted in students' experiences, opening opportunities for different approaches to school-based conflict, where students aren't subjectified through the school-to-prison pipeline.