The Black Child Agenda
About us
The UK's Only Independent Legal Advocacy Services for The Black Child & Family
The Black Child Agenda CIC is an international multi-award winning organisation, supporting children and families who face discrimination, overt & covert racism, and permanent exclusion from mainstream education. Bullying & isolation is a major issue that black children face within UK school’s and usually goes unchallenged by those who are put in a position to safeguard children.
Government data shows that Black children and young people who have SEN are disproportunately excluded from mainstream education compared to their counterparts. Many of our cases find that despite many efforts by parents, Black children and young people are being systematically failed by the UK education system which in turn leads to the School’s to Prison Pipeline.
What is the Schools to Prison Pipeline?
The School-to-Prison Pipeline is a term which we first coined from the USA, where there is much more research that has been done and long term evidence on the impact of the harsh and often racist treatment of Black students in the education system.
The Schools to Prison Pipeline is a process through which students are pushed out of formal education, based on racial bias and assumptions by leadership teams and teachers into Pupil Referral Units (PRU’s) then prisons.
In other words, it is a process of criminalising youth that is carried out by disciplinary policies and practices within schools that put students into contact with law enforcement. Once they are put into contact with law enforcement for disciplinary reasons, many are then pushed out of the educational environment and into the juvenile and criminal justice systems.