Jacob Blake's police shooting highlights the hidden victims of police violence

And our kids are watching.Whether their exposure occurs as direct victims, direct witnesses or inadvertent consumers processing video playbacks on TV or social media — children and youth are observing and affected by police surveillance, brutality and violence. And when children witness violence, in person and virtually, it results in poor self-reported physical health, mental health conditions such as depression and post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD, and impaired school performance.When police violence, in particular, is directed at members of their immediate family, acute effects include the separation of children from their caregivers (either through their arrest, incarceration or death). And as devastating as it is to admit, Black children, and children of color more broadly, are no different.Police raids are profoundly traumatic and the associated harms can be long-lasting for children.Children of color lack sanctuary at home. But rather than address the roots of racism that disproportionately ensnare families of color in poverty, child welfare agencies, with the consent of reporting professionals that include their health care providers, often extend the threatening and coercive surveillance of police into children’s homes and core relationships.