Students Disciplined in Texas Public Schools More Likely to Enter Juvenile Justice System

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Educators are reacting to a recent study of Texas public schools that found students who were disciplined were more likely to be involved in the juvenile justice system and do poorly academically. The study, by the Council of State Governments Justice Center, also found that 60 percent of Texas public school students received some form of punishment at least once between seventh and 12th grades. “Policymakers should be asking if the school discipline system is getting the outcomes they want it to get,” Michael Thompson, director of the center, told The Washington Post. The study was co-authored by Texas A&M University’s Public Policy Research Institute. Researchers collected data from about 1 million public school students who began seventh grade in 2000, 2001 or 2002. Nearly 15 percent were involved in some way with the juvenile justice system.

Benjamin Chambers On the School-to-Prison Pipeline

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How do you reduce the number of kids going into the juvenile justice system? Overhaul school disciplinary policies. Here's a quick overview of research on the problem, a great video that puts a human face on the issue in Connecticut, and some things you can do. Just yesterday, the Council of State Governments Justice Center released Breaking Schools’ Rules: A Statewide Study of How School Discipline Relates to Students’ Success and Juvenile Justice Involvement. The report is based on a groundbreaking study of nearly 1 million secondary school students in Texas.

From She To He: A Transgender Journey of Self-Discovery

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Just don't use pronouns in public. That's what C.G. usually tells his mother before they go out. Just call me by my nickname. G. is not obsessed with grammar, but being born a female now living as a male, makes common pronouns like “he” and “she” a complicated issue. The transgender distinction is one that even the most shunned of the gay and lesbian community will often agree has the hardest plight of the oft-embattled LGBT community.

Best Buy Helps Give Best to Kids

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The Best Buy Children’s Foundation is offering the @15 Community Grants Program. This grant enables teens to thrive by helping them excel in school, engage in communities and develop life and leadership skills. The Foundation offers a number of grants ranging anywhere from $3,000 to $5,000 to nonprofits that serve kids between the ages of 13-18. The deadline to apply for this grant is August 1, 2011.

Start Strong Innovations — A Photo Gallery

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Eleven Start Strong community projects have been up and running now for nearly two years. At a May 3-4 meeting in Atlanta, members got to share with each other the most innovative and effective programs they’ve come up with to help middle school students learn about healthy relationships and how to avoid potentially violent ones. We wrote about that meeting and the Start Strong national initiative on May 6.  

But here’s a look at six innovative programs, all developed at the local level, that we found particularly interesting.  

Keep It Strong song and dance

“Middle school teens love interaction, as well as entertainment, but they also value learning from older teens,” writes Jacqueline Davis of Start Strong Atlanta.

Marijuana Found in 5-Year-Old’s Backpack

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A mother is accused of putting marijuana in her 5-year-old daughter's school backpack in Gwinnett County, Ga., according to wsbtv.com. When the girl got on her school bus the driver noticed a strange  smell coming from her clothing and her backpack. When the driver asked the child about it, the girl pulled out 10 small baggies of marijuana packaged for sale. She told the driver her mom put it there. After police obtained a search warrant  to the child’s home, investigators found a relaxant and two grams of crack cocaine.

Georgia Bill Aims to protect Kids online

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Georgia students may want to think twice about bullying someone online, especially if HB 310 passes. HB 310, better known as “The End to Cyberbullying Act,” will take the current law and expand it to include any form of cyber communication that would be considered bullying. Currently, the law in Georgia prohibits any form of bullying of another student only on school property, busses, bus stops and at school events. If the new provision were to become law, school officials could act even if the cyberbullying didn’t occur on school property. For example, if a student decides to send a threatening message through Facebook while at home to another student, the student who sent the harassing message can still be disciplined by school officials.

Guns in Schools: New Push to Allow Concealed Weapons on Campus

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Georgia is one of nine states with proposals to allow guns on college campuses. Some states are even considering lifting their gun bans at K-12 public schools. HB 55 would allow gun owners to carry their weapons at colleges in Georgia. It is currently before the House Judiciary Non-Civil Committee. A spate of lawsuits filed by gun-rights groups have opened the door to new debate about campus guns in Utah and Colorado, Florida, Texas, Michigan, Kansas and Arizona, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education.

9-Year-Old Caught With BB Gun in School

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An Atlanta third-grader has been suspended for bringing a gun to school.  After being alerted by other students, a teacher at Sarah Smith Intermediate School discovered the weapon in the 9-year-old boy’s backpack. Atlanta Public Schools spokesman Keith Bromery told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the gun was not loaded and was believed to be a BB or air gun. School officials alerted Atlanta police.  The boy is suspended pending the result of a tribunal.