“The instructional goal of our project is to educate the learner about the school-to-prison pipeline, its causes and ramifications, and engage them in creating and exploring possible solutions. The school-to-prison pipeline is the phrase used to describe the increasing pattern of children being funneled out of public schools into the juvenile and criminal justice system through changes made to disciplinary policies and practices by public institutions at the local and state level. The policies and practices disproportionately affect youth of color, specifically males. The reasons for this alarming trend include the lack of foresight for whole-child development, ignorance of proactive resiliency practices for children with socio-economic and domestic trauma, and implicit bias among administrators, teachers, parents, and policy makers. By creating this tool for spreading awareness about the school-to-prison pipeline we hope to decrease youth incarceration rates.”
Cody’s presentation of this project will involve a tour of the Minecraft build followed by a portal opening to the AGILE Minecraft Multiversity’s virtual Hawaiian Islands world where participants of the presentation and simulation are invited to imagine and co-create preferred futures beyond the school-prison pipeline/assemblage.