The parents’ and children’s advocacy groups Gwinnett SToPP, The Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities, and The Interfaith Children’s Movement are continuing their quest to educate the community about the inherit dangers black boys in special education face in school daily.  The purpose of these community meetings is to provide quality education for all children, which is important to uplifting the community. The movement called, From Lockers to Lockdown:  Black Boys, Special Education, and the School to Prison Pipeline (STPP) rolled through Gwinnett county last weekend where they met at the Busbee Center on the campus of Gwinnett Technical College to discuss at length what educational resources are needed in their communities.  Those resources included such things as mental health supports, culturally relevant curriculum, research-based training for teachers, and more restorative discipline, among others were discussed at length.

This group of like-minded community members agreed that the most significant educational resources that were needed in all communities was a goal of helping students succeed instead of failing and more restorative discipline; this would be a given as the groups seeks to eradicate the STPP.

In addition, View Point Health’s Program Manager, Yuki Reese gave an eye-opening presentation on services provided to youth. These services seek to address mental, behavioral, or substance abuse problems young people face. Those services included: APEX school based behavioral services, Kidsnet school prevention service, Creating Lasting Family Connection (CLFC), and Zero Suicide.

These education advocates will continue their trek across the metro area this weekend where they will meet in the Decatur area at Greater Smith Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church located at 183 Mayson Avenue NE, Atlanta, Georgia 30307.

If you have a school-age child who receives special education services, male or female, you should plan to attend. You will certainly learn something.