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School Climate & School Violence
Click here for information on School Climate from Bridges4Kids.
Controversy Over 'Zero Tolerance' - Chris McCarthy had been
looking forward to his junior year at Upper Moreland High School.
Elected president of his class, McCarthy, 16, had been named to the
National Honor Society. His extracurricular activities included the
soccer team, the drama club, and the annual blood drive. Then, in
November, a pocketknife put his high school career on hold - and
placed him in the center of a growing controversy surrounding
"zero-tolerance" policies.
Schools Working to Distinguish Misbehaving From Criminal Acts -
The high-school senior thought he was just pulling a harmless prank
when he mooned a bus from his car in the parking lot. But he wound up
in court, facing a charge of open or gross lewdness. The legal action
threatened his graduation, his college scholarships and his permanent
record and could have forced him to register as a sex offender if
convicted, a school official said.
The U.S. Department of Education in
partnership with the U.S. Secret Service published
Threat Assessment in Schools: A
Guide to Managing Threatening Situations and to Creating Safe
School Climates, which outlines research
findings on student-instigated school violence. To access the
guide and the final report, visit
http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/osdfs/resources.html or
http://www.secretservice.gov/ntac.shtml or call 1-877-4ED-PUBS.
School Climate:
Teachers’ Dirty
Looks - Less Dramatic Than
Paddling, But Emotional Abuse Still Hurts.
Teachers may not
realize the long-lasting effects of intimidating their students.
Some students remember the humiliation decades later.
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