LAKELAND, Tenn. — Lakeland Preparatory School is finishing up their first year offering a criminal justice class to ninth grade students. So far, it’s been a hit.
Officer Kittrel Robinson teaches the school's new course and is changing the way young people view criminal justice.
“This was a class that I wish was accessible too when I was in high school,” Robinson said.
Now, Robinson paving the way for future generations to have early, hands-on classes covering legal cases; crime scene management, forensics and investigations.
“It gives them theoretical and real-world experiences as it relates to criminal justice, and I always teach my class that they are the new face of criminal justice,” Robinson said. “I call it cultivating the new images of criminal justice building a bridge with the community and starting with the kids.”
One of the real-world simulations/experiences in the class is a murder investigation alongside a death investigator from the West Tennessee Regional Forensic Center. With mock-crime scenes and spectators, Robinson covers every base when creating group projects.
His students said these activities are exactly what piqued their interest in criminal justice.
“We look at real cases like court cases and we have to write essays on that,” student Tatum Madden said. “It really helps me see the law enforcement side and how much work it is but how fun it is as well, and it helped me to learn that I actually did want to go into law enforcement because I wanted to be a lawyer walking in here.”
Not only is the class opening students’ minds up to different career paths, but it’s also keeping some of them out of trouble.
“[It] definitely helped me stay out of trouble because one day a kid made me mad and I was gonna punch him, and then Mr. Robinson came over there,” one student said.
He continued by explaining the 30 v. 30 method Mr. Robinson taught him.
The method teaches students that 30 seconds of thinking about a situation before reacting could potentially save them from spending 30 years behind bars for an impulsive reaction.
“I feel like Mr. Robinson tries to challenge us sometimes with some of the assignments,” student Zoey Moore said. “But also, I feel like it’s good to be challenged by that because if you want to go into law enforcement or something of the kind then you definitely need experience.”
Experience in the criminal justice field is exactly what Officer Robinson and other MPD officers are hoping to bring to schools all across the Mid-South.