PLBC hosts student town hall

	FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
State Rep. Ronald Waters D-Delaware/Phila. www.pahouse.com/waters

PLBC hosts student town hall

HARRISBURG, Nov. 18 – State Rep. Ronald G. Waters, D-Phila./Delaware, chairman of the Pennsylvania Legislative Black Caucus, and other members of the PLBC hosted a youth town hall meeting last night, focusing on education to reduce crime and incarceration.

The event, held in the nearly full auditorium of West Philadelphia High School, was moderated by student representatives from Youth United for Change and the Philadelphia Student Union. State Reps. Ronald Waters, Vanessa Lowery Brown, vice chairwoman of the PLBC, and James Roebuck, chairman of the House Education Committee, were joined by Leroy Nunery, acting Philadelphia School District superintendent and CEO, and West Philadelphia High School Principal Mary Dean who welcomed all in attendance. Other speakers included Sam Staten Jr., business manager of Laborers’ Local 332 of the Laborers’ International Union of North America, and Judge James M. Deleon of the Philadelphia Municipal Court.

The theme of the evening was encouraging education as a way to reduce crime and prison sentences for city youth. Among the topics the youth discussed were violence and the presence of metal detectors in schools, zero tolerance rules and city curfew ordinances, and Act 104, the state’s school code. The audience included students, parents and others from the community interested in student education.

Much of the evening’s discussion focused on restorative justice, an attempt to work with both victims and offenders, where offenders take responsibility for their actions and make reparations to the victims, while the victims take an active role in setting the offenders’ terms. The goal is to keep the person out of the criminal system while establishing the offense was against a person, not the state, in the hope of preventing repeat offenders.

The students expressed their concerns that current rules and regulations make them all feel like criminals, and without improving their safety. Passing through metal detectors daily makes them feel imprisoned already, and the zero tolerance rules can lead to a criminal record and school expulsion even for those who are trying to protect themselves from violence started by another student.

Youth United for Change defined zero tolerance as: A group of polices that create an atmosphere where young people are criminalized for minor offenses and given mandatory exclusionary sentences for misconduct. Those policies include the Memorandum of Understanding, Student Code of Conduct, and Reporting Protocol.

The students also expressed their interest in keeping open the lines of communication between the students and community and educational leaders.

Waters encouraged the students to graduate high school and pursue higher education, as well.

“Study after study shows a quality education is the best way out of the circle of crime and poverty. There is no better way for a young person to create a stable and secure life than through education. A high school diploma, followed with a college degree, provides the best way to get ahead in today’s society,” Waters said.