Mass shootings: American flag in background with centered yellow and black school crossing sign with 7 bullet holes.

Georgia high school shooting shows how hard it is take action even after police see warning signs

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Most school shootings don’t just happen out of nowhere – there are typically warning signs. This past September 4, a 14-year-old boy was arrested for allegedly opening fire in his Georgia high school math class – killing two teachers and two students. Only a year ago, authorities visited his home to investigate several anonymous tips about online threats to commit a school shooting. What went wrong in Georgia and how can we prevent this from happening in the future?

Restorative justice group: Very large circle of people hold hands indoors

New book by an author who journeyed from incarcerated juvenile to college professor teaching restorative justice

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Felix Rosado recently joined the Chestnut Hill College community as an inspiring and unconventional adjunct professor. Just two years ago he was serving a sentence of death by incarceration -- more commonly known as life without parole. He was freed via governor clemency after 27 years. Students say the class takeaways are improvements in their personal and professional lives -- worth the class time.

Arming teachers in Tennessee: Back view of several people holding up hand-printed signs seated in second story gallery overlooking government officials in session on first floor

Tennessee law to let teachers carry guns in schools caused a ruckus, but has drawn little interest

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A new state law lets teachers carry a gun at school. James Arrowood, who’s had a handgun permit for 15 years, is open to doing so if it can provide an extra layer of security against a school shooting. But between concerns about his personal liability and ambivalence about the new law from local school leaders, many teachers won’t be carrying guns to class this school year.

Active shooting training: White crossed with names in black paint and flowers on them in grassy area

Uvalde city officials release records of Robb Elementary shooting that provide new details, reaffirm previous reporting

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Police video, audio, texts and emails released Saturday by Uvalde, Texas, city officials offer new details about the Robb Elementary school shooting while also largely reaffirming reporting about law enforcement’s failure to engage a gunman who killed 19 children and two teachers.

The release comes after a yearslong legal battle involving nearly two dozen news outlets.

Illustration black ink on bright yellow background or two adults on their knees at head and feet of small child pinning him face-down to the ground

Advocates fear Minnesota students will again be subject to restraint used on George Floyd

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When they voted earlier this year to let police officers use a dangerous form of restraint on students in schools, Minnesota Democratic lawmakers said they did so because they had brokered a compromise. A task force made up of law enforcement agencies, disability advocates and others would create a model policy aimed at minimizing the use of prone restraint — the face-down hold Minneapolis police officers used to immobilize George Floyd as he suffocated.

Uvalde indictment: Bald white man in white business shirt and dark tie stands staring seriously into camera under blue sky with green trees in the background.

Former Uvalde schools police chief indicted for role in Robb Elementary shooting response

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A Uvalde County grand jury has indicted former school district police Chief Pete Arredondo and another former district officer on charges of child endangerment, the first criminal charges brought against law enforcement for the botched response to the deadliest school shooting in Texas history, the San Antonio Express-News first reported. Arredondo and Adrian Gonzales face felony charges of abandoning or endangering a child, the newspaper reported.

Youth in a blue prisoner jumper holds a book behind his back and is the last in a line of juveniles who are at a detention center get books as a part of a summer reading program.

National report highlights severe cost of inadequate juvenile justice system

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Washington, D.C. – Fight Crime: Invest in Kids released their report “Costly, Punitive Juvenile Justice Approaches Undermine Healthy Adolescent Development,” during a virtual briefing that brought together experts to discuss the urgent need for reform in the juvenile justice system. One key highlight: Rather than helping to fix juvenile crime in America, our current justice system often makes it worse. The report shows that our juvenile justice system often fails to consider the realities of adolescent development. Adolescents, unlike adults, are still maturing cognitively, meaning they lack the capacity to effectively self-regulate, plan for the future, or control impulses.

Tennessee arms teachers: Several adults stand and sit in balcony gallery area, many holding signs with language protesting arming teachers in schools

A school shooting in Tennessee sparked activism — and now frustration

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Ibtihal “Ibti” Cheko, 17, thought she would spend the legislative session in Tennessee advocating for laws about how guns should be stored and implementing background checks for those who want to buy them. Instead, Cheko and other organizers with Students Demand Action pivoted to trying to make sure Senate Bill 1325, which would permit faculty and staff to carry handguns at school, did not pass. They weren’t successful. The bill passed in both chambers in April.

Schools and teen violence: Black male teen sits sullenly in classroom chair listening to Black male teacher both in front of green chalkboard

School interventions offer best shot at reducing youth violence

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Black youth show up in emergency rooms with gunshot wounds or other violent injuries at an alarming and disproportionate rate in the United States. Some hospitals have violence interventions that can be effective in keeping these kids safer after they are treated, but in most cases victims are sent back into the world to continue their struggles. What if, years earlier, we could identify factors that predict which children are most likely to head down paths to violence?