But Did She Do It?

Culling from the same piece:

Mikia’s case is not unique. At a sparsely attended committee meeting in Henry County where school officials, advocates and elected officials gathered to address discipline methods in the county, a handful of parents of black girls shared their stories. Sakinah White, a single mother of three who is an elementary schoolteacher in nearby Clayton County, said her 17-year-old daughter had been treated unfairly after she was expelled from her high school over an incident in which she was accused of hitting a white male student with a book. Criminal charges were also filed in the juvenile court system, Ms. White said.

“It’s a form of child abuse,” she said.

After a semester-long expulsion, her daughter became suicidal, Ms. White said, and began cutting herself with soda can tops. Ultimately, the criminal charges were dropped, Ms. White said, and the state board of education reversed the expulsion.

Dropped criminal charges doesn't mean the incident didn't happen. As someone has has in fact been hit by a female while in school, at that age, I know it could have happened. We can debate whether or not it was appropriate to have criminal charges brought against the girl, we should NOT overlook whether the incident actually happened. If she did in fact hit the boy with the book, then she should have faced disciplinary proceedings. expulsion may be over top given the public school mandate to educate all students. But I'm bothered by the entire fuss about the consequences rather than why the accusation came up in the first place.