Friendly Faces, Dangerous Narratives: Examining Copaganda in K–16 Schools

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Friday 3:45 pm - Gold 3
  In Roundtable Session: Critical Work in Hard Times: Challenging Carcerality in Schools

Abstract

This research investigates how copaganda—media and messaging that portray police as inherently benevolent and necessary—is embedded in K–16 schools through curriculum, school events, and everyday interactions (Karakatsanis, 2022, 2025; Makam, 2020). The study aims to identify how these narratives shape students’ perceptions of policing, safety, and justice, particularly for Black, Indigenous, and other students of color targeted by school discipline and surveillance (Camp, 2016; Gottlieb 2019). This study also provides examples of how students, educators, and community members push back against these narratives, reenvisioning how we keep each other safe in schools and elsewhere.

Grounded in critical race theory, carceral studies, and critical media literacy, this research views copaganda as a pedagogical tool that normalizes policing and obscures its role in perpetuating racialized structural violence (Rojas, 2017; Schept, 2015). By examining how copaganda is reproduced in the current political moment through elementary school curricula, media portrayal of university Palestine solidarity organizing, and police training in universities, this study draws on abolitionist educational frameworks to question the place of police in educational environments and to imagine other models of safety and care (Baggett, 2024; Cabral, 2022; Davis, 2016; Dixon, 2020; Naber, 2023).

Using a multi-method qualitative design, the project analyzes curricular materials, school-based events such as “Coffee with a Cop” and D.A.R.E. programs, media portrayals and statements by school administrators and politicians, and abolitionist grassroots campaign literature (Felker-Kantor, 2024). Discourse and content analysis are used to examine how police are represented and discussed in schools.

By exposing how copaganda functions as a hidden curriculum, this research challenges the uncritical presence of police in schools and highlights its impact on students’ understandings of justice and authority. It contributes to broader efforts to resist carceral logics in education and supports the development of anti-racist, abolitionist pedagogies. The findings offer practical insights for educators, policymakers, and activists seeking to dismantle harmful narratives and reimagine what safety and justice could look like in schools without police.

Authors

• Noelle Mapes, Graduate Center - CUNY

• Jennifer Queenan, Graduate Center - CUNY

• Lucien Baskin, Graduate Center - CUNY