It wasn’t the first fight to break out between students on a Friday at lunch. But on March 4, 2022, a cafeteria fight at Lincoln Middle School in Kenosha, Wisconsin ended in a horrifying sight – a white officer with his knee on the NECK of a 12-year-old Black girl.
37-year-old Shawn Guetschow was contracted as a school resource officer (SRO) from the Kenosha Police Department. But despite the utterly disturbing incident, Guetschow is only on paid leave from the school – and can still patrol the streets Kyle Rittenhouse disrupted two years ago.
Both Rittenhouse and Guetschow got off easy, but 12-year-old Jannell’s life has been turned upside down.
From a sprained neck to a concussion, Jannell’s physical AND mental health have taken a serious hit. The traumatized middle-schooler fears returning to school, struggles with sleep, and cries way more than usual.
But Jannell’s school is nearly as useless as the police department scrambling to repair their image after this incident.
After everything, all they offered her was one therapy session! And Jannell still may be facing charges after the officer claimed she injured HIM.
But the reality is: SROs statistically target Black children, and research shows that they don’t make schools safer! Students need counselors, NOT cops. To save our children, we need to get police and SROs out of their schools.