'Counselors Not Cops' Needed In Schools, NJ Student Group Says

NEW JERSEY — Students in Elizabeth's middle school and high school were the latest to have joined a movement of youths across America who stay schools need more counselors and fewer security guards and police.

Throughout the summer, students at other schools in New Jersey have held demonstrations and petition drives, hoping for more people to guide them — rather than punish or patrol.

"Fourteen million students are in schools [across America] with police but no counselor, nurse, psychologist, or social worker," reports the ACLU.

Recently, the group Make The Road New Jersey has been helping local students raise awareness for the national "#counselorsnotcops" movement. The group's overall goal is to build "the power of immigrant and working class communities to achieve dignity and respect."

The group led a petition drive over the summer to increase awareness by gathering signatures at parks in Elizabeth, Perth Amboy, and Passaic.

Last week, the demonstrations continued with middle and high school students in Elizabeth.

“When I was in middle school, there were more guards than there were nurses and counselors combined,” said Elizabeth teen Danielle Reyes in a story in NorthJersey.com. She was part of a protest that brought 25 teens to Mattano Park in Elizabeth last week.

The teens asked for funds for policing to be used instead, for textbooks, field trips, air conditioning, and help with access to college, according to the story.

Back in May, teens in Newark asked for mental health programs and counselors, rather than police in their schools. READ MORE: Young Activists Protest In Newark: 'We Want Counselors, Not Cops'

The protests came at a time when federal funding was being sent to communities and schools to help those affected by COVID.

Organizers from Make the Road explained their goals in a statement, at the time.

They said, "In response to the over-policing and lack of support staff and programming in school districts with majority Black and Brown student populations in New Jersey and the recent high-profile murders by police of Ma'Khia Bryant (16), Adam Toledo (13), Anthony J. Thompson (17), and Daunte Wright (20), four Black and Brown youth who also lacked supportive services in their schools, New Jersey youth are organizing to demand investment in #CounselorsNotCops."

Black students were 5.4 times more likely to face out-of-school suspension compared with white students, while Hispanic students were 2.4 times more likely, according to a ProPublica analysis. New Jersey's disparities outpace national disparities, according to the statistics in a previous Patch story.

Make the Road New Jersey has led a number of efforts for legislation to help youths (including young immigrants and funding for various youth programs). Find out more about the organization here.

Eric Kiefer contributed reporting to this story.

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