Lilia Martinez, 15, a student in Michigan “estimates that of the 28 books she read over the last school year, both for pleasure and schoolwork, as many as 20 of them had themes of school violence,” write Walsh. In addition to books, “movies, TV shows, and other popular entertainment” have featured school shootings, writes Walsh. Here’s Ed Week‘s gallery movies, TV and fiction with school violence themes. Teachers believe the genre motivates teens to read. “The biggest way to

School safety fears are pushing parents to consider homeschooling, writes Valerie Richardson in the Washington Times. After a gunman opened fire on students in Parkland, Florida, the phones started ringing at the Texas Home School Coalition, and they haven’t stopped yet. . . . “When the Parkland shooting happened, our phone calls and emails exploded,” said coalition president Tim Lambert. “In the last couple of months, our numbers have doubled. We’re dealing with probably bet

What if kids walked out demanding better schools? Erika Sanzi imagines demands for school quality and protests of racial/ethnic achievement gaps, students holding posters proclaiming “18 percent of Black eighth-graders read at grade level” and “28 percent of my teachers are chronically absent.” Imagine cities across America filled with students, teachers, parents and celebrities chanting in unison about the belief gap, classroom conditions and single-digit math proficiency wh

School is a safe haven from the streets, students at Baltimore’s Excel Academy tell Kevin Rector, a Baltimore Sun reporter. Seven students at the alternative school have been shot to death in the neighborhood in the last two years. Many students have lost family members to street violence. Deaundra Fisher said her older brother was killed about five years ago. She later witnessed the shooting of her young nephew. . . . Dajona Bass, an 18-year-old senior, said her father was k

Parkland, Florida students and teachers are returning to Stoneman Douglas High this week, though not to the freshman building where a former student killed most of his 17 victims. Classes resume Wednesday on a modified schedule. Could the school system have done more to protect students from a troubled classmate? Walter Olson on Overlawyered wonders. Starting in middle school, Nikolas Cruz repeatedly “kicked doors, cursed at teachers, fought with and threatened classmates,” r

Lonely and miserable, the Florida shooter played video games for as much as 15 hours a day, Paul Gold, a former neighbor, told the Miami Herald. “It was kill, kill, kill, blow up something, and kill some more, all day.” There’s no link between shoot-em-up video games and real-world violence, argues Christopher J. Ferguson, a Stetson psychology professor, on The Conversation. Grand Theft Auto is accused often of making violence seem like fun. After the Valentine’s Day shooting

Do teachers have a right to know when a student has been charged with a violence crime? “Most states allow law enforcement agencies and courts to notify school districts of potentially criminal juveniles, writes Rebecca Beitsch on Stateline. Now a Wisconsin lawmaker wants to require law enforcement officials to notify schools within 24 hours of a student’s arrest for violence. The proposal came in response to an attack at a Milwaukee high school in August, reports Beitsch. “T