Community Response to Central High Incident
An assistant principal at Central High School in Providence has resigned after a video of him forcefully pinning down a male student in the cafeteria was posted on social media yesterday. According to the Providence Journal, Assistant Principal Tom Bacon said he was attempting to stop...
An assistant principal at Central High School in Providence has resigned after a video of him forcefully pinning down a male student in the cafeteria was posted on social media yesterday. According to the Providence Journal, Assistant Principal Tom Bacon said he was attempting to stop 15-year-old Amare Pemberton from cutting in line at the cafeteria when the situation escalated into a physical altercation. The video, taken by a student standing nearby the incident, shows Bacon holding Pemberton down while a voice yelling “Tell him to get off!” can be heard in the background.
Today, Mayor Jorge Elorza and the district’s superintendent Donna L. Libutti met with various community organizations to debrief the situation and discuss the next steps that should be taken. The video of the incident raised protests from organizations like the Providence Student Union (PSU), which has been an active voice in empowering students in the city since 2010. Tati Hall, the PSU Campaign Organizer, spoke about some of the concerns that arose during the Central High School PSU chapter meeting.
“Something that stood out to me at this chapter meeting was that they felt like they didn’t have power,” Hall said. “They felt like they couldn’t do anything about this situation because we’re raised to think that adults are the only ones who have power.”
The school will be holding a community forum at the beginning of next week in order to give the students a direct voice in addressing the systemic issues that cause tensions between school authorities and students.