Federal Safety Report Says School Shootings, Cyberbullying Rising
In fact, according to federal data reported by the Washington Post, school shootings for 2020-21 were the highest in two decades. The same report says cyberbullying is also rising, as is verbal abuse of teachers. Separately, media outlets cover red flag laws and their implementation to limit gun use.
The Washington Post:
School Safety Report Shows Rise In Shootings, Increase In Cyberbullying
School shootings in 2020-21 soared to the highest number in two decades, according to a new federal report that examines crime and safety in schools across the United States. The 31-page report, released Tuesday by the National Center for Education Statistics, also pointed to a rise in cyberbullying and in verbal abuse or disrespect of teachers over the decade that ended with the onset of the pandemic in spring 2020. (St. George, 6/28)
Stateline:
States Want To Make It Easier To Use Red Flag Laws
With President Joe Biden signing legislation that will incentivize states to enact red flag laws, some states already are trying to find ways to make their current red flag laws more effective in preventing gun violence. Nineteen states and Washington, D.C., have laws that allow law enforcement—and sometimes family members and school administrators—to petition civil courts to confiscate firearms from people who may be a danger to themselves or others. Judges decide whether to grant petitions, often called extreme risk protection orders, after a hearing. The orders usually last a year. (Vasilogambros, 6/27)
KHN:
Sheriffs Who Denounced Colorado’s Red Flag Law Are Now Using It
Dolores County Sheriff Don Wilson never expected to use Colorado’s red flag law when it was passed in 2019. He thought the law made it too easy to take a person’s guns away. The statute allows law enforcement officers or private citizens to petition a county court to confiscate firearms temporarily from people who pose an imminent threat to themselves or others. “All it is is one person’s word against another,” said Wilson, whose sparsely populated territory is in southwestern Colorado near the Utah border. (Hawryluk, 6/28)
In other health news from across the U.S. —
The Boston Globe:
Fears Of Drugged Drinks At Boston Bars Are Widespread And Growing
Ashley Nichols rarely drinks, but she made an exception on a Saturday in late April, rendezvousing with co-workers attending a medical conference at a Quincy hotel. Nichols, 36, a surgical tech, arrived at the pub at Best Western Adams Inn around 2 p.m., after pulling an extra shift at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. She ordered a cocktail and a plate of nachos to share. She had two more cocktails over the next two and half hours before she and her friends decided to leave. The next thing she remembers is waking up on a gurney, covered in vomit and missing a shoe, her worried husband hovering beside her, cradling their infant son. (Pan, 6/27)
St. Louis Public Radio:
Chestnut Health Pilot Program Sees Results On Metro Transit
A pilot program that puts teams of health specialists on Metro Transit trains and regional hubs is seeing early results — and its organizers are eying further expansion. Run by the nonprofit health provider Chestnut Health Systems, the program debuted in St. Clair County, Illinois, in April 2021. By March 2022, the company reported that its specialists connected 177 riders with services like drug treatment, emergency housing and food. “Our main thing that we are addressing is the unhoused population, followed by substance use and mental health,” Emily Schwaegel, Chestnut Health’s MetroLink project coordinator, said on Monday. (Wicentowski, 6/27)
The Kansas City Beacon:
Missouri Declines To Extend Postpartum Health Care, But Moms Say 'We Need More Time'
Women in Missouri die from complications related to pregnancy and childbirth at higher rates than women in just six other states. And Black mothers in the state are four times as likely as white women to die from pregnancy-related issues, higher than the nationwide average. Yet Missouri is not among the many states that are seeking to take advantage of an offer from the federal government to pay for extended health care for postpartum mothers. Currently, Missouri provides coverage to low-income mothers during pregnancy and up to 60 days after childbirth. In an effort to improve maternal health and address racial disparities, the American Rescue Plan Act, which Congress approved last year, allows states to extend their postpartum Medicaid coverage up to a year after birth. The new option is available to states for five years, starting April 1 of this year. (Cunningham, 6/27)
Colorado Sun:
In Colorado, Fixing The Health Care System Is About More Than Insurance
For years, Colorado lawmakers have worked relentlessly to reform the state’s health care system. But that work has often focused on just one narrow area: health insurance. From expanding access to Medicaid, to setting up a state health insurance exchange, to engineering a complicated reinsurance program to creating the Colorado Option, a government-designed health plan, the brightest minds in health policy in Colorado have spent a lot of the last decade thinking about how to get more people covered at lower prices. That focus is now starting to change, though, simply because there’s not a lot left to do on insurance, according to one of the state’s most prominent thinkers on health care and reform. (Ingold, 6/27)
Oklahoman:
State Superintendent Candidates Talk Mental Health In Oklahoma Schools
After two years of pandemic disruptions for Oklahoma students, all candidates for state schools superintendent say mental health services should remain a priority in public schools, but some question certain counseling initiatives. For the past eight years of Superintendent Joy Hofmeister’s tenure, the Oklahoma State Department of Education boosted the number of counselors in schools, hosted yearly summits on student trauma and organized a statewide counseling team to deploy to schools in crisis. The four Republicans and lone Democrat in the race to succeed Hofmeister, who is term-limited, say the agency should continue to focus on programs supporting mental health. The candidates differ on how schools should deliver those services. (Martinez-Keel, 6/27)
Miami Herald:
Why Should You Stop Frolicking In Miami-Dade Floodwater? It’s Probably Full Of Poop
Flooded streets have become such a way of life in South Florida that most people wade right through the puddles. Sometimes, when the ponds are a bit deeper, they even pull out kayaks, paddleboards or wakeboards. That makes public health experts cringe because that floodwater is likely pretty gross, often tainted with human and animal waste, among other foul things. It’s so gross that Miami-Dade County regularly warns residents to stay out of it or scrub up after touching it. “It is absolutely full of bacteria and god knows what else,” said Rachel Silverstein, Miami Waterkeeper. “I don’t even want to think about all the industrial runoff.” (Harris, 6/27)
