In this reflective essay, Alan McCullough Jr., Felton Morrell Jr., Bernard Thomas III, Vincente Waugh, and Nicholas Shubert with their teacher, Amy Donofrio, share the youth self-authorship methods that empowered them to transform their labels from "at-risk youth" to "at-hope youth leaders" in Jacksonville, Florida. After…

This article is a response to Carolina Castano's article "Extending the purposes of science education." Drawing on personal memories of life in Bogota, I raise questions about the nature of violence in Colombia broadly, and ask how the intervention Castano proposes changes the ecology of violence in that country. It also ponders the…

Echoing Henry Giroux's concerns for the current state of youth and education, this article seeks to provide a cultural history that focuses on the cycles of violence and non-violence happening within public education systems in North American democracies like Canada, with Ontario being the author's primary focus. More specifically, the author…

The reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) is 3 years overdue, and the Obama administration, through Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, has explained the urgency of revising and reauthorizing the law. Attention has been focused most acutely on the provisions that directly relate to academic performance and accountability.…

In this testimony, Quinton Roman Nose talks on behalf of the National Indian Education Association about the shocking disparity in the safety of Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) schools. NIEA advocates for the unique educational and culturally related academic needs of Native students, working to ensure that the federal government upholds its…

Presents the opinions of four security experts on the issue of guns in schools. The experts respond to the following questions: will schools ever be free of weapons; will card access systems become common in public schools; will metal detectors solve school security problems; and will students ever be issued bullet-proof vests along with…

Investigates what makes a vigorous interaction violent and how much vigorous interaction is permissible in the schools. Suggests that the justice of punishment, or its cruelty, can be judged independently of the vigor of its interactions. (JOW)

This paper addresses the concerns about the violence in U.S. public schools and provides suggestions for preventing school violence by increasing the attention that children with behavioral problems receive. Some strategies for reform are: (1) listen to the problems of children; (2) increase the effectiveness of the programs designed to help…

Suggests peer mediation as an alternative dispute resolution approach. Indicates the need to shift the focus from crisis intervention to prevention and to integrate dispute resolution skills into the school environment. (JOW)

In the April 1999 issue of this journal, Michael Ferraraccio argues that the justifications advanced for using metal detectors in schools are not sufficiently compelling to outweigh students' Fourth Amendment privacy rights. In the accompanying Counterpoint, Robert Johnson cites lower court cases to support the constitutionality of their used on a…

Discusses major causes of home and school violence, and ways federal and state legislation, communities, and schools can work to reduce such violence. (BB)

In "United States v.Lopez," a highly fractured United States Supreme Court, in a five-to-four ruling that generated six different opinions, affirmed that Congress had exceeded its authority in adopting the Gun-Free School Zones Act. Provides an in-depth examination of the Court's ruling and concludes with an analysis of the legal issues…

The Arizona Court of Appeals, in the first court decision regarding public school uniform policies, held that mandatory school uniforms do not violate students' First Amendment rights. Discusses the Arizona decision and its effect on the structuring of school uniform policies and their potential successful institution at the high school level. (31…

This workbook for delegates to the White House Conference on Families (WHCF) is intended to perform three basic functions: (1) focus attention on the themes of the WHCF; (2) provide brief background information on the issues to be discussed in the Conference workgroups; and (3) summarize recommendations for which there was consensus across most…

Examines two legal issues related to the use of metal detectors in public schools: their legality under the Fourth Amendment and the potential liability of schools who fail to use them to keep weapons out of their buildings. (91 footnotes) (MLF)