Racial slurs hurt our children. Kudos to Shawnee Mission schools for taking a stand | Opinion
Policy creates change. While updating the student code of conduct may not totally eliminate racist language in Shawnee Mission schools, kudos to district officials for addressing the issue with palpable results.
And I must take this time to applaud students and stakeholders there for taking a stance against bigotry and the use of racist slurs, and demanding action from the Shawnee Mission School District Board of Education. It’s not every day that young people are heard.
This week, The Star’s Sarah Ritter reported that the Shawnee Mission school board voted 7-0 last month to update its student handbook to spell out specific discipline for the use of racist language.
In this case, not only did the adults in the room listen to students concerned about racial violence in Shawnee Mission schools — the folks in charge actually made the necessary changes to protect minority students in one of the metropolitan area’s largest school districts.
Using racial or derogatory terms with impunity should never be tolerated in Shawnee Mission schools or anywhere. Each and every school district in the Kansas City area must take the necessary steps to eliminate hate speech and racial discrimination on campus.
Under its previous student code of conduct, the Shawnee Mission district did a poor job of spelling out punishment for the use of racial slurs or hate speech. That is no longer the case, according to Ritter’s reporting. Now specific punishments are listed for such abhorrent acts committed by students.
First-time offenders using racial slurs in Shawnee Mission schools could face penalties ranging from an office referral, detention or an apology, Ritter reported. Repeat offenders are subjected to a short-term, out-of-school suspension or even expulsion for more serious, repeated offenses. This new policy has some teeth. Better late than never.
Last winter, I wrote about an ugly incident at Shawnee Mission East High School that led to a fight between a Black 15-year-old female student and a white male student. The melee started with the male student’s repeated use of the n-word, and ended with the female student receiving treatment for a broken nose, swollen jaw, cut lip, scratches to the face and other injuries, the girl’s parents told me then.
After the girl’s parents filed a police report with Prairie Village police, the male student was charged as a juvenile with felony aggravated battery in Johnson County District Court. In May, the teenager pleaded guilty to a single felony of aggravated battery, according to Ritter’s report. His punishment included 18 months in juvenile detention and 12 months of state-supervised after care.
Another unrelated domestic felony case from 2023 against the boy was dismissed, Ritter wrote.
After the female student was suspended — unjustly, if you ask me — some of her classmates sprang into action. A few days later, Shawnee Mission East students led a walkout to protest the school’s inadequate response to that incident and several others involving racist rhetoric.
After several meetings and listening sessions conducted over the winter among district officials and students, the Shawnee Mission school board responded by approving its updated student handbook during its June 24 meeting.
Students wanted the district to issue harsher punishments for hate speech and racial discrimination — and they got it.
Shawnee Mission isn’t the only area school district with issues involving a student’s use of racist or demeaning language. There are others. But much like neighboring Olathe Public Schools, Shawnee Mission just made it tougher for students to escape serious consequences for racial harassment or using hate speech.
And for that, students there must be commended for being the impetus for change.
