Thread by @NExclusions

Our statement on the appalling case of #ChildQ. We extend our full sympathy and solidarity to Child Q and her family at what must be a traumatising, exhausting and distressing time.

We especially thank Child Q for her courage in coming forward with her story, which must have been unimaginably difficult. We condemn in the strongest possible terms not just the individual actions of police officers involved, but the institutional frameworks built to hide them..

…the teachers who stood by in silence, and the carceral logic that facilitates a culture of violence, of surveillance, and of shattering dehumanization.

The findings of the LCPSR show deeply disturbing treatment of a vulnerable teenage girl, the violation of her safety, human rights and the total decimation of her trust in an institution supposed to protect her.

The adultification of this Black female child is appalling and indefensible. Sadly this traumatising experience is not surprising, it is an experience that many Black bodies must absorb as part of statutory powers within education and law enforcement.

Unlike the Met would have us believe, this is not a case of a ‘few bad apples’. Black children are three times more likely to be excluded from schools than their white counterparts, and 19 times more likely to be stopped and searched.
theguardian.com/law/2020/dec/0…

Black children are consistently referred to as “aggressive”, often perceived as “less innocent” or “more responsible for their actions”.
theguardian.com/inequality/201…
[Full references available in our statement]

It is painfully clear that the horrific treatment of Child Q is part of a wider pattern, one that saw 1606 other children strip searched in 2021.

https://twitter.com/tomgk90/status/1493566065674235908?s=21

NME is disgusted by the blatant disregard for Child Q’s mental health demonstrated by the acting police officers, and notes with concern that proper psychological support following such an incident is not fully discussed in the LCPSR.

Our cripplingly underfunded Children’s Mental Health Services cannot provide the support needed.
local.gov.uk/about/campaign…

From prisons to schools to playgrounds, the criminalisation of Black children is covert and relentless. NME demands nothing less than total abolition of the institutions that facilitate these practices.
#NoPoliceInSchools #NoMoreExclusions #AbolitionNow