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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Youth Leader from Make The Road New York and Urban Youth Collaborative
7:11:36
·
143 sec
A high school junior from Staten Island, testifies as a youth leader for Make The Road New York and Urban Youth Collaborative. She advocates for increased funding for restorative justice and mental health resources in schools, while calling for a reduction in school policing budgets.
- She shares her personal experience of being mistreated by a school police officer as an elementary student new to the country.
- She highlights the benefits of restorative justice practices in her current school, which helped resolve a conflict with a peer.
- The testimony calls for a hiring freeze on school cops, reallocation of funds from vacant positions, and expansion of restorative justice and mental health support in all schools.
High School Student
7:11:36
Hello.
7:11:37
My name is Guadalupe.
7:11:38
My pronouns are sheher.
7:11:39
I am a junior in high school in Staten Island, and I am a youth leader with Make The Road New York and the European Youth Collaborative.
7:11:46
Students deserve to be in supportive and welcoming schools without the worry of being seen as a threat.
7:11:50
Mayor Adams has spoken about adding the best budget ever, yet it allocates just 12,000,000 to restorative justice with half of that set to expire by 2026.
7:11:59
At the same time, the NYPD and DOE spend over $450,000,000 in school policing.
7:12:04
This budget shows a clear priority, investing in punitive measures over meaningful support like mental health resources and restorative justice practices that truly benefit students.
7:12:14
In my personal experience, I've been mistreated and stereotyped by a police officer working in my school over a simple misunderstanding.
7:12:20
At that time, I was just an elementary school student who had recently arrived into the country and was still adapting to the new language and environment.
7:12:28
What I needed and deserved was care and compassion and instead was punished.
7:12:32
I believe that all students, no matter their age, deserve to be in schools that feel safe and that respect them.
7:12:37
This is why I'm here to demand a hiring freeze on school cops that does not allow to fill for attrition, cutting the funding for the remaining vacant school cop positions, as well as using the funding from both of these divestments to protect and expand restorative justice and mental health practices that help students thrive and learn.
7:12:53
I believe that restorative justice and mental health support is something that should exist inside of every school.
7:12:58
In my school, we practice restorative justice, and it has allowed many of my peers and myself to be understood and seen beyond our moments of conflict.
7:13:06
I was involved into a verbal articulation with one of the students and it was restorative justice that helped us both get to the root of the problem.
7:13:13
We were given the opportunity to express how we felt and how we were impacted.
7:13:17
My peer ended up sharing that they were going through some personal things and apologized for lashing it out on me.
7:13:22
Since then we haven't had any conflict.
7:13:25
With restorative justice we can fully share our thoughts and receive support and guidance to grow in a calm and caring place instead of being constantly targeted or degraded.
7:13:33
Penalizing students over their actions without taking into consideration what they could be going through will only make them feel like they don't have a safe place to share their emotions or worries.
7:13:43
Like many young people here today, I am here to advocate for myself.
7:13:47
For those who had similar experiences like me, we deserve to attend school without fear of being judged or criminalized.
7:13:53
We deserve to feel safe and understood inside of our schools.
7:13:56
We deserve to have a budget that reflects those needs.
7:13:59
Thank you.