October is National Juvenile Justice Month. While September has been chock full of back to school things as kids and families navigate getting back into the swing of school and life amidst a pandemic; the past two years of ongoing challenges and hardships due to the global pandemic, and rampant racial and economic injustice, have not been easy.  

The reality is for many vulnerable families and communities those challenges existed before the pandemic and continue to rage on in its wake. 

What is keeping us hopeful is the potential to really shift systemic issues and build back better and beyond...for us all, especially those most vulnerable amongst us. So as this October rolls in, join us as we engage in learning and action on all things  juvenile justice.  

It goes without saying every kid, regardless of race, class, gender or faith or status deserves the chance to thrive! 

But every year the “school-to-prison pipeline,” a disturbing national trend where children are funneled out of public schools and into the juvenile and criminal justice systems, continues to deny too many kids the opportunity to grow, learn, make mistakes, and still reach their full potential. This toxic pipeline is enabled by policies and practices from individual schools to school districts, and continues at the state, and federal levels.  Many of the children most impacted by this “push out”  have learning disabilities, histories of poverty, abuse, or neglect, and would benefit from additional educational and counseling services. Instead, they are isolated, punished, and pushed out.

This amounts to 2.8 million students being suspended in the U.S. every year, causing them to miss critical learning time and opportunities.  What is even more alarming is these suspensions cause students to miss 11 million days of school each year.  When you do the math on that, in a single school year 11 million days  translates to 60,000+ school years, 60 million in lost education hours and billions of dollars of wasted money.

At the other end of this pipeline, the picture is even more grim. The United States, on any given day, incarcerates nearly 60,000 youth under age 18 in jails and prisons. Even worse is that approximately 250,000 youth are tried, sentenced or incarcerated as adults, and around 10,000 juveniles are housed in adult jails and prisons – 7,500 in jails and 2,700 in prisons, respectively. Most kids held in adult jails are awaiting trial, though as many as half of them will not be convicted or will be sent back to the juvenile justice system.  Many will have spent at least one month in the adult jail, and one in five of them will have spent over six months there. These kids are often locked up before they are even tried, incarcerated for minor offenses such as truancy, running away, violating curfew, or being otherwise insubordinate.

Let's be clear. Prison is no place for a kid. Still, the United States still incarcerates more young people than any other country. Our kids deserve a future free of criminalization, a future that supports their development and capacity to contribute meaningfully to society. Pushing kids out of school and putting kids in prisons does not do that.

The good news is there are solutions and people just like you across the country are taking action to advocate for change!  

Throughout National Juvenile Justice Month, we at MomsRising are hosting a number of virtual events, and ways to take action with the goal of shining a spotlight on juvenile justice issues.  Join us by checking back to this blog post which will be updated throughout the month, follow our social media channels, join the conversations, and participate in actions aimed at dismantling the school to prison pipeline.

We are sounding the alarm this month on Juvenile Justice and we need YOU!  

Week 1: Kick Off! #JuvenileJustice #KidsRising

• Download our coloring page! Take a picture and tag us on Social Media with your page!

• Take action by signing these petitions!

  • Tell Congress to pass the Counseling Not Criminalization Act! The Counseling Not Criminalization Act is an important step towards shifting resources away from practices that harm and push kids out of school into what helps students thrive, keeps schools safe, and ends the criminalization of kids in schools. 

  • Tell Congress to pass the End Push Out Act! Black and Brown girls in schools are facing educational, judicial and societal disparities. At alarming rates, Black girls, and other girls of color, experience discriminatory, disparate, punitive and unfair treatment in schools. Black girls are suspended, expelled, referred to law enforcement and arrested on school campuses at rates that far exceed the public school population as a whole, and far exceed their white female peers. Lawmakers can prevent unfair school pushout now by passing the P.U.S.H.O.U.T. Act (H.R. 5325).[7] The bill aims to stop discriminatory punishment practices that criminalize Black and Brown students and pushes them out of school and into the juvenile and criminal justice system effectively fueling the school-to-prison pipeline.

• Share your story! Share how you and your loved ones have been impacted by the School to Prison Pipeline Story.

• Visit our social media channels and webpage for more ways to engage!

  • Instagram:  @4kidsRising @MomsRising

  • Facebook: @4KidsRising @MomsRising

  • Twitter: @Kids_Rising @MomsRising

Week 2: Highlighting alternatives to police in schools! #PoliceFreeSchools #CommunityNotCops #CounselorsNotCops #KidsRising

• Join us for a FACEBOOK LIVE Conversation! Students, Safety, Solutions:  An honest conversation about police free schools. 

• October 13th: 7PM EST/6PM CST/4PM PST

  Join us for an in depth discussion on the current state of  police in schools, the  school-to-prison pipeline, and alternative to police in schools. This event is an amazing opportunity to hear from organizers about the impactful work being accomplished to support police free schools. 

  • Panelists include: Make the Road Nevada, Juvenile and Children’s Advocacy Project of Texas, ACLU Pittsburgh, Chicago Freedom School, and Girls for Gender Equity. 
• Download our School to Prison Pipeline fact sheet! Share and tag us on Social Media with your post

• Share your story! Are you a teacher, educator or childcare provider? Share how you are working to Stop the School to Prison Pipeline Story.

Week 3: Building a world beyond policing and punishment. Solutions, Strategies, and Alternatives.

• Check out our Juvenile Justice Month Spotify Playlist! Beatz Not Barz! Instrumentals You Can Get Free to.

• Take action by signing these petitions!

  • Tell Congress and State Governors to END Youth Incarceration NOW! The United States, on any given day, incarcerates nearly 60,000 youth under age 18 in jails and prisons, incarcerating more young people than any other country. It’s time to tell Congress and state Governors to stop putting kids in prison and invest in supports, services and opportunities for youth NOW!

• Visit our Social Media Channels for more ways to engage!

Week 4: Ending Youth Incarceration #NoKidInPrison #SchoolsNotPrison #SchoolsNotJails #EndYouthIncarceration #KidsRising 

• Join us for a Tweet Chat: Bad to the Bone: Debunking Harmful Myths About Youth Incarceration. 

• October 26th: 2PM EST/1PM CST/11AM PST 

• Prison is no place for a kid. Still, the United States still incarcerates more young people than any other country. Our kids deserve a future free of criminalization, a future that supports their development and capacity to contribute meaningfully to society. Putting kids in prisons does not do that.  Join MomsRising and partners as we discuss some of the top myths about youth incarceration, and mobilize to end the practice of putting kids in prison. 

  • Partners include: Sentencing Project, Maine Youth Justice, Illinois Final Five Campaign, Rise for Youth VA, and YOU!

• Download our School to Prison Pipeline fact sheet! Share and tag us on Social Media with your posts!
• Download our coloring page! Take a picture and tag us on Social Media with your coloring page!

• Share your story! Have you or a loved one been impacted by youth incarceration? 

• Visit our Social Media Channels for more ways to engage!

Thank you for joining us in taking action, sharing your stories, and sounding on juvenile justice issues.  Working to dismantle the school-to-prison pipeline from the point of suspension to the point of youth incarceration means challenging the practices and policies that push students out of schools and into the juvenile and criminal justice systems. When we work to dismantle the school to prison pipeline, we open up opportunities for kids to reach their full potential. 

Together we are powerful!

P.S. Remember to check this blog post throughout the month as we update and share additional content and ways to engage.