There’s been countless cases in NYC of students being disciplined for carrying Category 2 Weapons (Such as Pepper Spray). Just recently, a friend of mine, June Yan, is being investigated by a Manhattan NYC Public school for having pepper spray in her bag. The investigation launched into the incident will likely result in June being given some form of disciplinary action in response to it. While this is not confirmed, her action of bringing pepper spray into school is a violation of the DOE school code, meaning she will receive some sort of disciplinary response.

While the DOE rulebook does prohibit weapons such as guns and knives, they also prohibit “dangerous chemicals” such as pepper spray (Citywide Behavioral Expectations to Support Student Learning Grades 6–12. pg.31). However, my friend has not had a record of any suspensions, disturbance to school activities, or anything out of the ordinary. In fact, she's very well off academically and also leads the Key club, a school club with many members who take time out of their school life and personal life to volunteer at different locations. She brought the spray as a means of self defense. Pepper spray is a rather popular item for self defense, especially in women. According to a national DOJ study, roughly 60% of sexual assault cases and crimes are not reported to the police. A CDC survey also revealed that 18% of women have been raped in their lifetime, and 1.1% of women have experienced so last year. The New York City Alliance Against Sexual Assult (NYCAASA) estimates that 50,000 women are raped annually in NYC, excluding other forms of sexual assault. However, only about 1,500 cases are reported to the police. 

It's very clear that we live in a very corrupt society, where such a small percentage of women report Sexual Assault cases. This could be due to the fear of retaliation, shame, a corrupt legal system, lack of evidence, and many others reasons. With the rise of social media, many victims or those who know a victim have bravely shared their story, and recieved much support for surviving such a horrific attack. This also led onto the rise of self defense weapons, and pepper spray is a prime example. Pepper Spray contains OC, which is an oily resin derived from chili peppers, which contains capsaicinoids, a chemical irritant. It's very accessable both online and in person, and is fairly cheap and non-lethal. It's not as expensive as owning a gun, and it's not as deadly as something like a knife. Pepper spray casues irritation to the area that it's sprayed to, with light skin irritation and a stronger stinging sensation to the eyes or lungs. A research conducted by DOJ stated that from 1990-1998, only 63 individuals have been reported to have died from the use of pepper spray, to which roughly 60% was in combination with another factor such as drug use or asmtha (U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, National Institute of Justice; The Effectiveness and Safety of Pepper Spray). While this information is quite old, the numbers of deaths to pepper spray hasn't had a dramatic increase proportional to the amount of people using it. 

If you've been keeping up with NYC news at all, you would know how dangerous this city is. This is especially true for a 16 year-old, petite high school girl. It's difficult enough walking through the city without being sexually harrassed verbally or physically, not to mention the threat of being sexually assulted. As a result, she had decided to carry pepper spray around as a means of self defense as her commute to school involves a trip from Staten Island to Lower Manhattan, a 2-hour trip back and forth each day through the South Ferry and the Staten Island subway system. To top that off, she has to meet and lead her Club every Thursday, and also stays at school after dismissal to finish up her homework and attend after-school help. With such a packed schedule, it is no question that she gets home very late each night. That only adds onto the dangers of the city. It would only make sense that a high schooler like that would carry pepper spray out of fear for her own safety, and the DOE has taken even that from her.

What if something were to happen to her outside of school hours? With a two hour commute twice a day, she’s very prone to the dangers lurking outside. How would the DOE defend themselves then? We won't sit around to find out, because we, are going to call for change. This corrupt system ran by these oblivious higher-ups need to stop. We need recognition of issues that very much do exist in this world, and in this city. We need to unite as one, and put and end to the banning such a valuable and potentionally life-saving self-defense tool. This may not save lives overnight, but will certainly save thousands each year.

Note: This post is not meant to directly or indirectly attack any specific individual or school, but rather a call for change in the NYCDOE system. Information stated in this post are not intended to paint any race, gender, sex, etc in a bad light. The intention of this post is only to highlight the dangers of the city and the ban of pepper spray in NYC Public school, and how this contributes to cases of sexual assault. The goal is to be able to reach and contact higher-ups in the DOE system, and protest to change this rule. This transcends school policy, and the administrators were simply doing their job. We understand that and respect that, but the problem we have here is not with the school or any individual running it, it's with the people who created this rule without consideration of outside factors. Please do not slander the school or any administrators. We are purely aiming to change this rule as per the DOE handbook, rather than ruining the reputation of the school. Please understand that this is a very important matter, and that your comments against the school or the administrators are harmful and unnecessary.

Sources cited:

NYCAASA Research on Sexual Assault; https://www.svfreenyc.org/research/

OPJ, The Effectiveness and Safety of Pepper Spray; https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/nij/195739.pdf

NYCDOE, Citywide Behavioral Expectations to Support Student Learning Grades 6–12; https://www.schools.nyc.gov/docs/default-source/default-document-library/discipline-code-grade-6-12-english