If … there be kindness I can show, or any good thing I can do to any fellow being, let me do it now, and not defer or neglect it, as I shall not pass this way again. ~ Etienne Grellet
Though the overwhelming majority of postsecondary educators don’t want guns on their campuses and most states, in keeping with centuries’ old wisdom, have refused to expand guns to their campuses, two more states are set to bring firearms to higher ed. Arkansas and Kansas are joining Colorado, Idaho, Mississippi, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Wisconsin... Continue Reading →
I can't stop thinking about Deserae Turner. Like, all night long some nights, for several weeks now. In February, Turner, 14, was lured into an isolated location near Logan, Utah, by two 16 year old boys and shot in the head. They'd talked about slitting her throat but "could not go through with it," so... Continue Reading →
Content alert: LGBT teen suicide, white nationalist politics, homophobia in politics The drama began with Drama, Raina Telgemeier’s graphic novel about a middle school play. My daughter had enjoyed her Smile and Sisters, and I was probably more excited than an adult should be about her re-vamping of The Babysitters Club series. We’d given Telgemeier’s... Continue Reading →
White supremacist Dylann Roof stands trial this week for the June 2015 deaths of nine black parishioners in this historic church, the oldest black congregation south of Baltimore. Above, Mother Emanuel AME Church, Charleston, SC Early in its history, in 1814, its leaders were arrested for violating a state law prohibiting the gathering of enslaved... Continue Reading →
How can we know or trust the intentions of someone with a gun on campus? On Friday, I shared some of the reasons why guns on campus are a threat to public safety. That same day, in Jonesboro, Arkansas, Brad Bartelt was sentenced to 18 years in prison—18 years for terroristic threatening (which involves a... Continue Reading →
But we can't ban students, so let's discourage guns School is back in session in Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Mississippi, Oregon, Texas, Utah and Wisconsin, all places where guns are now or are soon slated to be permitted on college campuses. Like a lot of post-secondary educators, I have a lot of thoughts on the matter,... Continue Reading →
How do I respond to students for whom the presence of a gunman triggers a PTSD flashback? I'm thinking specifically of my many Iraq and Afghanistan War veterans--I usually teach a few in every class because of my discipline--some of whom have PTSD diagnoses, but I imagine this can also apply to those who have... Continue Reading →
In Judaism, when you hear a fire engine’s siren, you cannot pray, “Please, not my house.” When you pull to the side of the road to let an ambulance pass, you cannot pray, “Please not my child.” Someone’s house is burning, and someone’s child is injured, maybe dying or already dead, and the siren has... Continue Reading →