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Safety Law News for 11/15/12

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  • A Memphis high school newspaper describes a gang awareness assembly that resonated with students, despite their initial apathy toward the speaker.
  • A high school principal in Massachusetts, who is often asked how parents should be involved in their children’s lives, writes about effective parental involvement.
  • Under state law, Ohio’s Department of Education currently tracks almost 1.9 million students without names, addresses, or Social Security numbers. Some policymakers are urging a legal change that would grant the state access to this juvenile information.
  • Maryland educators are questioning the effectiveness of an alcohol policy, which allows schools to discipline student athletes for off-campus drinking.
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Safety Law News for 11/12/12

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  • Relationships with students are the priority: an open letter from the superintendent of Stillwater Public Schools in Oklahoma, where an eighth grade student died from a self-inflicted gun wound at school on September 26.
  • Many Texas teachers are cutting back on mentoring and reducing after school communications with students, as an increasing number of teachers is investigated for inappropriate conduct with students.
  • A New Hampshire student is appealing her school’s dress code ban on sleeveless attire—and, while the dress code appears to enjoy wide support, the superintendent was so impressed with the student’s presentation that he asked the school board to reconsider its policy.
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Safety Law News for 10/31/12

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  • When an off-campus Facebook dispute led to an on-campus knife confrontation, educators handled the incident like they would any knife threat on campus.
  • Rather than ruling on a high profile strip search case, the North Carolina Supreme Court has returned the case to a lower court. The justices say that more facts are necessary to decide the case, including an understanding of who witnessed the search.
  • Students in New York City are paying for cell phone valets—van-based services that watch their phones for the day—rather than handing their phones over to their schools.
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Safety Law News for 10/29/12

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  • When a Los Angeles Unified SRO was unable to break up a hallway brawl and rescue a fallen student, he released pepper spray into the crowd of about 50 students.
  • An Illinois mother is suing her son’s school for strip searching the student, while the superintendent denies that any search occurred.
  • An African American student said that a noose was put around his neck by other students in Arkansas. The superintendent claimed that nothing criminal happened and the school board voted to suspend the offenders for one semester each, rather than the entire year recommended by the superintendent.
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Safety Law News for 10/23/12

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  • Teen drinking and driving appears to have dropped nearly 54 percent during the last two decades and the CDC credits both tougher laws and parental involvement.
  • Bullying reports have risen 50 percent in New Jersey schools—while violence, vandalism, and crime rates have all decreased. Educators continue to debate whether the new state law, which expands the definition of bullying, is serving students well.
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Safety Law News for 10/18/12

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  • North Carolina students gathered in a hallway for a group “hugging protest,” in response to their principal’s announcement of a no hugging policy on campus.
  • A Wisconsin student was expelled for fighting, but in an unusual turn of events, never missed a school day under the expulsion.
  • Educators and SROs are discussing how they respond to drugs, as the data suggests that 25% of middle and high school students in the Las Vegas area are involved in on-campus drug use.