Viewing the video of Tyre Nichols can be a challenge especially when it comes to younger adults and children.
Published: Jan. 27, 2023 at 10:43 PM CST
MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) - Viewing the video of Tyre Nichols can be a challenge especially when it comes to younger adults and children.
A mom who raised three Black sons and a Black clinical psychologist explained its effects. Andreal Davis said the death of Nichols hurts.
“How can you do that to another human being, you know another human being who looks like you,” Davis said.
Davis says she educated her sons and black boys in the community on police safety.
“We explicitly taught the Black boys in their program what they should do if they were ever pulled over by the police--what kind of communication should be taking place, where their hands should be placed,” Davis said.
Davis says being a mom to black men made her feel Tyre’s mom’s pain.
“And when he cried out for his mom, I just thought about my own children,” Davis said.
Clinical Psychologist Alvin Thomas says seeing videos of police brutality can make kids envision themselves.
“That guy is a black guy--that could be my dad or hear or see the dad talk about the situation and talk about how they may have had run ins or their concerns and fears of the police,” Thomas said.
Police brutality can waiver a child’s view of the world.
“And how do you help a child continue to trust in authority figures in adults when something like that happens, and so you need to have those conversations,” Thomas said.
Thomas says even if a black person is not related to Tyre they still feel his suffering.
“What America seems not to be able to do yet is to tap into and connect with the pain that is that belies the cries,” Thomas said.
Thomas says if your child is under 15, they should not be watching the video without a parent present. He says this is hard to watch but it’s important parents try have these tough conversations with their child.
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