I have responded to calls from people who were attacked by gang members because of their tattoos or their outfit having a certain color in the wrong part of town.
That depends on you. Can you afford not to work for a period of time, if yes then just focus only on school. But if you have to work to pay for the family, then do part time. Either way it will be hard, but well worth it.
The idea behind that is they can't taser someone if you don't know the effects it could have. The officer would have to know what pain they are inflicting and judge if its justifiable.