Reported bullying, bias and hate speech numbers are climbing in the state, especially affecting students from marginalized communities.

Written by Dorothy Wigmore, njea.org

Many forms of violence in New Jersey schools—and elsewhere—seem to be getting worse.

At violence workshops, teachers now talk about broken jaws and ask when to call the police, says Cecelia Leto, New Jersey Work Environment Council’s project director.

“They’re not getting the support they need,” Leto says.

Committees should get a handle on all the district players involved around violence, including the new teams, trying to coordinate with them about reporting, training and prevention with a health and safety focus.

Read the full article here.

Educators are worried about being blamed for “attacking” students when it’s the other way around.

What about “threat assessment teams?”

Districts now must establish and train multidisciplinary “threat assessment teams” to identify and assess students demonstrating “concerning communications or behavior.”

Written By Dorothy Wigmore of the New Jersey Education Association (NJEA)

Many forms of violence in New Jersey schools—and elsewhere—seem to be getting worse.

Reported bullying, bias and hate speech numbers are climbing in the state, especially affecting students from marginalized communities. New types of violence are being reported. Two recent Canadian studies warn that low-level anti-social classroom behavior, or incivility, increased since the pandemic started and found it can lead to bullying.

Read the full article here.

Photo by Stephen Harlan on Unsplash

Threat assessment teams are required, but their impact remains uncertain due to implementation concerns.

By Hannah Gross, NJ Spotlight News

“We appreciate that lawmakers intended to better protect New Jersey students and educators by passing this law. However, based on our understanding of school discipline disparities and threat assessment team best practices, we are concerned that implementing this law will negatively impact New Jersey students…”

Read the full article here.