Days after the video of Sr. Deputy Ben Fields assaulting a teen girl went viral, I found myself in a heated debate with a fellow member of the media regarding the child involved. After agreeing that Fields went too far when slamming the child and dragging her across the room, the person began to berate the child’s actions.
The person seemed furious that the child would disobey her teacher and school administrators by not handing over her cell phone. The person then began to place blame on the child’s parents for not teaching her proper discipline.
I countered the person’s argument by suggesting that the child could possibly come from a broken home. I’ve witnessed firsthand how some students are being raised in situations where there aren’t any parents in the household, or the parents have deep issues. Those issues can lead to childhood trauma. So, instead of calling a cop on the quiet, rebellious student, a child therapist should have been called to examine the girl’s mental stability.
On Oct. 28, it was revealed that the child’s home was broken. Her attorney, Todd Rutherford, said that she was recently placed in a foster home. So along with dealing with severe personal issues, that child was physically abused by an officer who crossed the line and added to her trauma.
Unfortunately, most Black kids who suffer from mental issues are criminalized before they are given psychological help. It’s a main cause behind the public school to prison pipeline that has caused a multitude of Black children to become jail inmates before they are allowed to legally vote or drink.
