BLACK TROUBLED TEENS

More and more we are reading or hearing about Black teenage girls who are in some kind of trouble. Without doubt, there are some girls who set themselves on a destined path to get into trouble and to stay in trouble. Nothing positive or good can result from such activity.

Of a few Black girls who will speak out share their stories, one has to wonder if the system is failing Black girls.

According to Monica Rhor, USA Today, "Black girls don't misbehave more than white girls, experts say, yet they often receive more severe penalties for the same behavior as white peers."When a Black teen girl does wrong and it is the same infraction as a white peer, she is punished much more severe than the white girl.

Two girls had a fight at school and were both sent to an alternative school. After three days, the white girl was admitted back in school, but the Black girl had to spend the rest of the school year there and was not allowed to move ahead with her class, even though she was doing her lessons.

When her family members inquired about the punishment, they were sent from one administrator to the other, only to be told that this is school policy. The Black teen felt a long-lasting scar and became embittered against the system. She started breaking any laws she could because she was so angry.

Finally, she ended up in a facility where she was assigned to a counselor who listened and realized that these were deep-rooted problems. The counselor recommended therapeutic intense therapy. This Black girl got help and was removed from the system. Most of them do not get a second chance. They are written off as angry when they are actually trying to learn, hampered by teachers who are swift to punish, but not to listen.

In interviews conducted with researchers, educators, juvenile justice advocates, legal experts and Black girls, the same message is there that they are robbed of concern and counseling. School discipline policies tend to push Black girls out of school and punish them more harshly than their white peers. These experts believe that so much of the problem starts in schools.

The Council of State Governments Justice Center concluded that Black girls are at greater risk of dropping out or being held back, which in turn leads to an increase in the chances of becoming entangled in the juvenile justice system, and later, in the adult system.