FEATURED

April 9, 2013, Spring Valley, NY, USA: Students, parents, and activists protest at the  school board meeting discussing the budget for the 2013-2014 school year.

UPDATE: Ramapo Revisited, School Board Election and the Future of a Community

Next Tuesday’s election for seats to the East Ramapo Central School District’s board isn’t about politics in the traditional sense, it’s about the divisions between the black and Latino residents who see the public school system as a civic stepladder to a better life, and the Hasidim, a mystical religious sect, that sees it as a threat to its way of life.

What Drives a Boy to Kill?

what_drives?

Dr. Michael Kimmel, professor of sociology at the Stony Brook University, has written more than a dozen books on constructs of “masculinity” in culture. When evaluating recent school shootings, he notices several commonalities that may provide vital clues as to why young men engage in such acts of bloodshed. Continue Reading →

Common Sense Approach to Safe Schools

Nash.Michael

LOS ANGELES — I have the privilege of serving as the current president of the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ). Our organization is the nation’s oldest judicial membership organization with approximately 2,000 members nationwide, mostly judicial officers. NCJFCJ’s function is to provide education, technical assistance and research for our nation’s juvenile and family court judges and others working in our child welfare and juvenile justice systems.  In addition, NCJFCJ often weighs in on, or is asked to weigh in on, important policy issues impacting children and families. In January of this year, NCJFCJ was asked by representatives of Vice President Joe Biden to provide input to the committee he chaired that was tasked to make recommendations to President Barack Obama after the Newtown school shootings. Specifically, our organization was asked our views on increased school security in schools. Continue Reading →

Texas County Credits Programs, Focus on Attitudes for Drop in Juvenile Referrals

Bell County Courthouse, Bell County, Texas.

Since 2009, the number of juvenile court referrals in Bell County, Texas has plummeted from 1,365 to 857 — a decrease of almost 40 percent over the last four years. During the same timeframe, the county — home to more than 300,000 people — has seen its juvenile felony cases decrease by a quarter, falling from 202 in 2009 to just 153 in 2012. According to Judge Ed Johnson, a juvenile court judge in the central Texas county for more than a quarter century, family relationships and how communities respond to young people displaying delinquent behavior is pivotal in the rehabilitation process of young offenders. “In the last 20 years, they have also realized that soldiers with better family lives are better soldiers, and so they have also implemented a lot of family-based programs to provide support for these young families and their children,” he told KWTX-TV. Juvenile suspension officer Chris Dart said that the children at the Bell County Juvenile Education Center in Harker Heights typically come from troubled homes and have experienced severe abuse prior to becoming involved with the juvenile justice system. Continue Reading →