On Monday, a 15-year-old boy was stabbed to death and another was hospitalized after a brawl at Southeast Raleigh High School. The situation was complicated, with the family of the 14-year-old boy charged with the crimes saying that he had been targeted for violence by those he stabbed. A video of the incident circulated widely...
This time of year, most people are getting ready to celebrate the Christmas holiday season. All the joys and happiness of family gatherings and celebrating a hopefully-better new year. Unfortunately, the Wake County family of a Southeast Raleigh High School student, Devin Ferrell, will not be celebrating this holiday season; they will instead be celebrating...
As the second half of the 2022-2023 school year begins, school safety remains among the most important topics to discuss. Some questions parents should consider are: What is your child’s life worth? Who do you want disarming a school shooter — someone with zero training related to that scenario or someone with extensive training? In...
A new school year is weeks away, bringing new strategies for keeping kids safe. Topping the list: A smartphone app leveraging the eyes, ears, and savvy of students. Called Say Something, the app enables students to submit anonymous tips about threats on social media or at school. It’s a smart strategy built on this reality: Early...
“Hurt people hurt people.” That’s how one middle school principal summed up the origins of bullying for me. My interview with her was one of many I conducted, years ago, for a parenting book I wrote — yet her concise description of why kids bully has always stayed with me. It makes even more sense...
We need to look out far and in deep to address chief causes of the problem.
Incidents of school violence reveal a disturbing picture of kids’ views about acts of aggression.
RALEIGH — Recent episodes of school-related violence provide a disturbing snapshot of the consciences of American youth. Not only do these incidents spotlight brutal aggression and its ongoing threat to students, they also offer emerging anecdotal evidence that kids’ reasons for engaging in violence are changing, as are their perceptions of it.
Bullying on K-12 campuses is a serious problem that merits our renewed attention. Recent data from the National Center for Education Statistics indicate that 28 percent of students between the ages of 12 and 18 are harassed at school.
Recent news reports are likely to arouse parental concern about school safety. On Tuesday, four students were shot just after their dismissal from Ballou High in Washington, D.C. Closer to home, a fifth-grader in Charlotte, North Carolina brought a loaded .32-caliber revolver to Sterling Elementary last week, ostensibly to impress classmates.
This week my usual education commentary seems to fade into insignificance. Like many of us, I continue to be saddened by Monday’s tragic shootings at Virginia Tech. As the mother of a college senior, I am especially shaken by these events, recognizing that my son’s university could just as easily have been attacked.
