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  Shirin Vossoughi Vossoughi is a third-year history and international development studies student. Speak your mind and e-mail her at shirinv@ucla.edu. Click Here for more articles by Shirin Vossoughi

Fourteen-year old Nathaniel Brazill pulled back the slide on a .25 caliber handgun in a packed courtroom under direction of a prosecution that grilled the Florida youth for the recent murder of his teacher. “You want it to be an accident, don’t you?” said prosecutor Marc Shiner. “You don’t want anyone to believe you were angry enough to kill another human being, do you?” (Los Angeles Times, May 10, 2001.)

Shiner said Brazill felt in control with the gun and mocked the young man, “I’m going to show these girls that I’m a big man and maybe they should go out with me … I’m Nate Brazill. I have a gun.” (Los Angeles Times, May 15, 2001.)

Earlier this month, Brazill was charged as an adult for a murder the defense claims was accidental. The jury found the young Brazill guilty of second-degree murder, a verdict that could land him in prison for the rest of his life. This prompted protests by groups such as Amnesty International, which argue that the sentencing of children to life in prison without parole is a violation of international law.

These trials raise crucial questions regarding the criminalization of our youth on an institutional level. But more importantly, they reveal how the patronizing, disrespectful treatment youths receive from adults like prosecutor Shiner is supported by a system that throws children in jail and then ponders why in God’s name many young people have trouble in school or wind up in court.

Bob Hatcher, principal of Brazill’s middle school, praised the verdict, stating that “the justice system worked.” As a school principal, his applause of such blatant injustice divulges the depth of the United States’ violent attitude toward its young people.

The roots of this attitude must be traced to the classroom where young people whose life experiences often complicate their learning are labeled from the jump as “troublemakers” and punished. 

Witness a recent Los Angeles Times special about “disruptive students” testing novice teachers. Addressing the difficulties of discipline, Duke Helfand said, “The challenge grows exponentially in secondary schools, where adolescence turns cuddly children into walking hormones.” These labels deny that youths are, first and foremost, human beings. We fail to treat them as such, yet continue to expect kids who are not regarded as equals to act like adults and face adult consequences to their actions.

Helfand goes on to compare the classroom experience to dodging shrapnel in a foxhole. With such war-like metaphors, youths are painted as violent and uncontrollable individuals on the other side of a battle rather than equal members of a community who are striving to learn.

  Illustration by Kristen Gillette/Daily Bruin In addition, students are blamed for situations out of their control, such as difficulties in learning or lack of concentration that frequently stem from unaddressed personal or societal problems. Youths often feel that adults either fear them or are simply against them, a disempowering emotion that can lead to anger and resentment.

As one educator said, “I help those kids who want to learn. You want everybody to succeed, but you can’t help everybody.” (Los Angeles Times, May 23.) That’s the spirit. Give the most help to the students who already have the drive to learn and let the rest fall by the wayside. It’s their fault anyway, right?

Some adults sure think so. In a letter to the Los Angeles Times titled “This Is Why We Can’t Read” (May 5, 2001), Los Angeles high-school seniors describe the deplorable conditions under which they are expected to learn. Amidst all the hoopla of education as a hot election issue and politicians running around declaring what’s best for the city’s youth, it seems no one thought of asking the kids they so sincerely aim to help.

As the students wrote, “Despite all the scratching of so many wise heads, nobody seems to be able to figure out what the problem is. ... You, the adults out there, remain clueless. The real problem is that you have not asked us. As far we are concerned, the reasons are simple and the solutions are clear. If you would only listen.”

Their solutions include starting school at a reasonably later hour, access to a decent breakfast, adequate desks and books and adults who set a good example. “We don’t need more strip malls, video arcades, food courts or movie theatres,” they write. “Give us a school in good shape, with trees and grass instead of concrete and broken glass and most of us will try to take care of it, to make it a place we will want to come back to and support rather than try to get away from as soon as we can.”

Despite such an honest plea, adults like Sid Lazarow from Orange Country tell the youth to look for sympathy elsewhere, saying, “Sorry, if you are in a mess, you are responsible and nobody else.” Thus adults continually turn a deaf ear toward youths and then revile them for giving up on school, a place where many adults have already given up on them.

It is adults who need to open their eyes to the reality of a system that turns its back on youths and then scrambles to find explanations for increased drug use, high drop-out rates and young people committing “adult” crimes.

It is within this system that the House of Representatives approved plans to expand school testing last week from grades three through eight, endorsing a cornerstone of Bush’s education scheme that will use testing to punish “failing” schools.

One principal, from Sherman Oaks Elementary school, went so far as to call funds that reward high test scores “blood money.” (Los Angeles Times, May 24, 2001.) Senate Republicans also succeeded in rejecting an initiative to bolster the teaching corps in such schools and as Sen. Patty Murray said, “Bipartisanship crashed in our kids’ classrooms today.” (Los Angeles Times, May 18, 2001.)

But aside from all the political rhetoric, every branch of the current system spells out where our real priorities lie, and it is far from creating a safe and healthy environment for kids.

Beyond education, the attack on youths from all sides continues as Bush and his lackeys at the National Rifle Association push to quell any restrictions on access to firearms. The centerpiece of Bush’s plan is a proposal to spend $15 million to hire 113 additional assistant U.S. attorneys to prosecute gun charges. (Los Angeles Times, May 15, 2001.) Better to enlist more prosecutors like Marc Shiner who know how to lock away our youth than spend a dime on teachers or better schools.

With capricious politicians battling one another, adults patronizing youth and many teachers giving up, where does the responsibility for our children’s futures lie? While the rehashing of our attitudes toward youths must be a community effort, much of the responsibility lies with us.

As college students, we clearly remember and still confront the feeling of youth, of being underestimated, ignored or belittled. Having entered a place where our voices are heard (to an extent) and where there is power to affect policy, the education system and the prison system lie in our hands. We must listen to those who will momentarily take our place in order to ensure that they do.