Teenagers should be taught how to interact with cops ?

I remember we discussed in class about John Whitmire, who is the Chairman of the Senate Criminal Justice Committee, and his proposition for developing the new curriculum for ninth graders. “What should we teach ninth graders so police won't shoot them?” is written by Scott Henson, aka, Grits for Breakfast in order to address his perspective on the issue discussed in the Whitmire’s proposal. The writer intended his audience to be the legislators. The writer Scott Henson is a former journalist and political opposition researcher. He has experiences in criminal-justice as he worked for the Texas' Criminal Justice Reform Movement for more than two decades. His perspective on this issue is creditable.  Henson states that kids should not be taught that they need to comply with the police regardless of whether their rights are violated, whereas John Whitmire says that “if you feel an officer does you wrong, you don't take it up with them out on the street, you take it up with an administrator…” However, Henson is concerned that the police officers will not be held accountable when the citizens complain even if there is video. The writer also addresses the fact that kids need to be aware of the different reactions of police officers to particular races. The white kids need to recognize the fact that skin color can cause things to be different for some of their minority classmates. Henson wants the new curriculum to teach teenagers how to interact with cops in a way that will protect their rights while also teaching them that police can arrest them for an offense like not using a turn signal when changing lanes and take them to jail, even when the law does not call for jail time as punishment for the offense. The writer states “a curriculum which taught students the legal limits of their personal rights when interacting with police might be useful”.  Henson concludes that the unnecessary aggressive interaction of some police officers to the public is another issue about which we need to be concerned. He further believes that any proposed legislation should require more training for police officers. He wrote that the police are the agents of the state, and they should be responsible.

I totally agree with this article.  The new curriculum should show kids what they should do when they are interacting with cops. However, it should educate them with facts and reality, not mislead them. In addition, the system needs to acknowledge that some police officers overuse their power to violate others’ rights because of their emotional and aggressive behavior.