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"content": "\u003cp>Cynicism is all around us; it’s contagious, and it can permeate an entire generation’s thinking quickly. Young people today are faced with mental health, physical health, social, democracy and climate crises in the classroom. And when crisis is all around us, it can be easy to fall into patterns of cynicism.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to Jamil Zaki, a professor of psychology at Stanford University, Gen Z is the most cynical generation and this is learned behavior. An \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/64886/the-benefits-of-raising-hopeful-kids-in-cynical-times\">uptick in cynicism\u003c/a> has also led to a glamorization of a cynical mindset or the illusion of the “cynical genius,” said Zaki at the \u003ca href=\"https://www.learningandthebrain.com/\">Learning & the Brain\u003c/a> conference earlier this year. Cynicism isn’t isolated to our attitudes; it can lead to chronic stress, earlier mortality, social division and extremism, and broken social relationships, Zaki added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12022760/wired-for-connection-what-science-tells-us-about-why-we-should-be-hopeful-even-in-hard-times\">But there’s hope\u003c/a> – or at least, the science of hope, a measurable ability to set goals, push forward and track your own path to completion of those goals, according to \u003ca href=\"https://www.uttyler.edu/directory/som-student-affairs/crystal-bryce.php\">Crystal Bryce\u003c/a>, an associate professor and assistant dean at The University of Texas at Tyler, who also presented at this year’s conference.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It wasn’t until Bryce was in the early stages of her career that she realized that hope could be measured. Previously, Bryce had done research focused on how to promote hope by studying the benefits of having a caring teacher, positive peer interactions and student motivation. But as it turns out, hope is tangible, “and it is something that we can teach,” Bryce told me.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This isn’t the type of hope that we use to define blanket optimism in our everyday life; this type of hope is a cognitive skill, Bryce continued, and it “helps us reach our goals by helping us identify how we get there.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Using \u003ca href=\"https://ppc.sas.upenn.edu/resources/questionnaires-researchers/adult-hope-scale\">Snyder’s Adult Hope Scale\u003c/a>, Bryce and her team were able to measure pathway thinking, which helps people get from a to b, and agency thinking, which demonstrates a person’s belief in their ability to reach their goals. Bryce’s team found that increased hope outcomes were related to greater academic achievement, reduced stress and anxiety; and for college students, increased hope was related to \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2023/06/17/1182941164/to-improve-student-retention-some-colleges-consider-ungrading\">higher retention rates\u003c/a> from their first to their second year of college.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then, her team applied \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/38827/why-understanding-obstacles-is-essential-to-achieving-goals\">WOOP\u003c/a> — wish, outcome, obstacle, plan — which creates a framework for hope in the classroom. Developed by psychologist Gabriele Oettingen, the WOOP method allows educators to guide students throughout an effective \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/41110/how-writing-down-specific-goals-can-empower-struggling-students\">goal-setting\u003c/a> process. The wish and outcome steps of WOOP are self explanatory; a basic scaffold for a project, lesson, or the school year can be created by having students state their goal and desired outcome.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to Bryce, the obstacle and planning steps of the WOOP method are the most important. Identifying potential obstacles during goal setting allows students to think about the future and build extra scaffolding to help them reach their goals and desired outcomes. And planning practice helps to build students’ self-confidence — increasing their hopefulness, and strengthening their ability to pivot when faced with barriers.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Extending Hope Into Later Years\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Hope isn’t just a scientific practice; it can also come organically. Young children are really good at having hope, said Bryce. Take a 4-year-old attempting and failing to climb to the top of a structure at the playground. They might fall, but they believe in their ability to reach their goal and will naturally get up to try again, and maybe even try again in a different way. As kids get older, Bryce continued, they start to doubt themselves and their ability to reach their goals. Bryce suggested that this could be due to growing cynicism in early adolescence, or a dwindling support system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bryce and fellow researchers have found that there is a marked decline in hope for adolescents in eighth grade. And this finding was consistent across countries. While there is no definitive answer for why the decline exists for this particular age group, Bryce postulated that the decrease could be related to a combination of puberty, developmental changes, and the generally difficult \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/59687/middle-schoolers-are-social-what-opportunity-does-that-create-for-learning\">transitional period between seventh and ninth grades\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ultimately, having a peer or older adult as a sounding board can help combat cynicism and keep you looking forward to the future, said Bryce. That sounding board isn’t necessarily there to commiserate or ruminate. “They’re going to say, ‘yeah let’s keep going; what is the next step?’” according to Bryce.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Using \u003ca href=\"https://ppc.sas.upenn.edu/resources/questionnaires-researchers/adult-hope-scale\">Snyder’s Adult Hope Scale\u003c/a>, Bryce and her team were able to measure pathway thinking, which helps people get from a to b, and agency thinking, which demonstrates a person’s belief in their ability to reach their goals. Bryce’s team found that increased hope outcomes were related to greater academic achievement, reduced stress and anxiety; and for college students, increased hope was related to \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2023/06/17/1182941164/to-improve-student-retention-some-colleges-consider-ungrading\">higher retention rates\u003c/a> from their first to their second year of college.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then, her team applied \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/38827/why-understanding-obstacles-is-essential-to-achieving-goals\">WOOP\u003c/a> — wish, outcome, obstacle, plan — which creates a framework for hope in the classroom. Developed by psychologist Gabriele Oettingen, the WOOP method allows educators to guide students throughout an effective \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/41110/how-writing-down-specific-goals-can-empower-struggling-students\">goal-setting\u003c/a> process. The wish and outcome steps of WOOP are self explanatory; a basic scaffold for a project, lesson, or the school year can be created by having students state their goal and desired outcome.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to Bryce, the obstacle and planning steps of the WOOP method are the most important. Identifying potential obstacles during goal setting allows students to think about the future and build extra scaffolding to help them reach their goals and desired outcomes. And planning practice helps to build students’ self-confidence — increasing their hopefulness, and strengthening their ability to pivot when faced with barriers.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Extending Hope Into Later Years\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Hope isn’t just a scientific practice; it can also come organically. Young children are really good at having hope, said Bryce. Take a 4-year-old attempting and failing to climb to the top of a structure at the playground. They might fall, but they believe in their ability to reach their goal and will naturally get up to try again, and maybe even try again in a different way. As kids get older, Bryce continued, they start to doubt themselves and their ability to reach their goals. Bryce suggested that this could be due to growing cynicism in early adolescence, or a dwindling support system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bryce and fellow researchers have found that there is a marked decline in hope for adolescents in eighth grade. And this finding was consistent across countries. While there is no definitive answer for why the decline exists for this particular age group, Bryce postulated that the decrease could be related to a combination of puberty, developmental changes, and the generally difficult \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/59687/middle-schoolers-are-social-what-opportunity-does-that-create-for-learning\">transitional period between seventh and ninth grades\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ultimately, having a peer or older adult as a sounding board can help combat cynicism and keep you looking forward to the future, said Bryce. That sounding board isn’t necessarily there to commiserate or ruminate. “They’re going to say, ‘yeah let’s keep going; what is the next step?’” according to Bryce.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Inauguration Day was a time of hope for the MAGA faithful who watched President Donald Trump take his second oath of office in the Capitol rotunda. But less than a mile away, at the Department of Education, fear and uncertainty reigned.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Researchers, contractors and federal staff — the corner of the Education Department that I cover — braced for potentially devastating upheaval. Would the department itself be eliminated, as Trump had promised during the campaign? Would congressionally mandated research and statistical programs move to other agencies? And, if so, which ones?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Amid the unease, a small but determined force was already at work. The consequences would be profound. As many as 16 members from Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) team embedded within the agency in early February, according to news reports. These Young Turks reviewed contracts, identified vulnerabilities and quietly plotted what some would later call a blitzkrieg against federal research. As one senior researcher told me, decades of painstaking work vanished overnight in an attack by an inexperienced and ideologically driven staff intent on dismantling the bureaucracy without understanding its purpose.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>February: The carnage begins\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The first blow came in early February. In a single week, DOGE terminated more than \u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/proof-points-doge-death-blow-education-studies/\">100 research contracts\u003c/a> collectively worth over a billion dollars on paper. The consequences were immediate and staggering. Ten Regional Educational Laboratories (RELs), which had helped states pilot literacy and math interventions, were among these early casualties. Mississippi’s remarkable turnaround in reading achievement, commonly called the “Mississippi Miracle,” was nurtured by the Southeast laboratory, and the sudden loss of this infrastructure created uncertainty for other states in the midst of trying to copy Mississippi.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>DOGE canceled an 11-year longitudinal study tracking youth with disabilities through high school into college and the workforce. Data painstakingly collected over five years was effectively discarded overnight. Instruction and support was suddenly yanked from 1,000 students in the study. Disability advocates described it as a “crushing loss.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even core federal datasets were not spared. The termination of a contract for EDFacts, which collects demographic data about students, was inconceivable. The data is essential for administering the highly regarded National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), the federal test that tracks reading and math achievement. It is also critical for allocating $18 billion for the Title I program, which gives federal subsidies to high-poverty schools. DOGE killed evidence-based teacher guides for math instruction. Even data on homeschooling — long a conservative priority — was cut. A department spokeswoman said the cuts eliminated “waste, fraud and abuse.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Much of the agency’s work is conducted by outside contractors, and DOGE pressured vendors to accept massive contract reductions; some payments were frozen entirely. The ripple effects were immediate: Research labs, university offices and federal contractors were thrown into chaos, scrambling to save data and unsure of their jobs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The month ended with a shocking firing at the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a major source of reliable data. The commissioner, \u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/proof-points-peggy-carr-interview-nces/\">Peggy Carr\u003c/a>, was escorted out of the building by a security guard under circumstances that remain unclear. She was one of the first in a string of senior Black officials across the federal government who were tossed out by the Trump administration. Former department employees told me Carr had resisted DOGE’s demand to make severe cuts to NAEP. Her removal sent a clear signal that resistance would have consequences.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>March: Mass firings\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The unprecedented devastation continued in March, when nearly half of the Education Department’s workers lost their jobs, including almost 90 percent of staffers assigned to the research and statistics division. The agency Carr led was reduced to a skeletal staff of \u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/proof-points-chaos-confusion-statistics-education/\">three employees\u003c/a> from about 100. In another sign of the internal chaos, Chris Chapman, who had been installed to replace Carr, was fired after only 15 days, adding to the confusion about who, if anyone, was in charge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Linda McMahon, newly confirmed as education secretary, publicly defended the cuts, describing them as “a first step” toward closing the agency. With so few staffers to oversee contracts, NAEP test development stalled. DOGE even suggested substituting off-the-shelf tests from private vendors, sources said, undermining decades of federal assessment development.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My job was to make sure that the limited public dollars for education research were spent as best as they could be,” a former education official said in March. Her job was to issue grants for the development of new innovations. “We make sure there’s no fraud, waste and abuse. Now there’s no watchdog to oversee it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>April: More cuts, more chaos\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>By April, the board that oversees the NAEP exam reluctantly killed more than a \u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/proof-points-smaller-naep/\">dozen assessments\u003c/a> scheduled over the next seven years. The cuts were painful. They meant not measuring how much American students know in science and history or measuring writing skills. They also meant eliminating some state comparisons, diminishing the ability to highlight states that are making progress. But board members described how DOGE threatened the whole NAEP program, and they hoped that these cuts would be enough to preserve the quality of the main biennial tests in math and reading. The board had effectively amputated limbs to save the brain and heart.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The destruction spread beyond the Education Department. At the National Science Foundation, DOGE-directed cuts targeted education more than any other area. Of the billion dollars in NSF grants that DOGE eliminated, \u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/proof-points-three-fourths-nsf-funding-cuts-education/\">three-quarters were for education\u003c/a> research, largely conducted at universities. Many of the killed projects focused on increasing the participation of women and minorities in the STEM fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics and on combating misinformation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By chance, thousands of researchers and statisticians were in Denver for the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA) as DOGE was destroying their field. They fought back. Three lawsuits, including one led by AERA, challenged the legality of contract terminations and mass firings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Public outcry grew. McMahon publicly admitted that some cuts had gone too far. “When you are restructuring a company, you hope that you’re just cutting fat,” McMahon said before Congress. “Sometimes you cut a little in the muscle.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But by then the damage was deep and far-reaching. Data collections were paused midstream, rendering them useless. Evaluations of efforts to improve teaching and learning were left incomplete.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Years of work have gone into these studies,” said Dan McGrath, a Democracy Forward lawyer who is representing plaintiffs in one of the lawsuits. “At some point it won’t be possible to put Humpty Dumpty back together again.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Researchers were left navigating a landscape that had been transformed overnight, with no clear road map for survival. LinkedIn was flooded with new “open to work” updates. Many fled Washington and the field of education altogether, taking decades of institutional knowledge with them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the destruction continued, public scrutiny began to influence the department’s actions. Two days after I wrote a \u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/proof-points-eric-under-threat/\">column on the defunding\u003c/a> of the Education Resources Information Center, an online library of critical educational documents known as ERIC, the department restarted it — albeit with only half its previous budget.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>May and June: Mixed signals\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>By late spring, the relentless onslaught of destruction shifted into a more confusing narrative of tentative reversals, with some contracts restarted and some staff rehired. The flagship “Condition of Education” report, a comprehensive data compilation about U.S. schools, students and teachers, wasn’t published by its June 1 deadline for the first time in history. Hours after I wrote \u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/proof-points-condition-of-education/\">about the missed deadline\u003c/a>, which is mandated by Congress, the department hastily posted some “coming soon” declarations on its website, but the information was late and incomplete. The 2025 report remains unfinished.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>McMahon recognized that she could not operate her agency on such a thin staff. In May, she disclosed that she had quietly brought back \u003ca href=\"https://www.nasfaa.org/news-item/36360/McMahon_Defends_President_Trump_s_Skinny_Budget_and_ED_s_Restructuring_at_House_Appropriations_Hearing#:~:text=During%20questioning%2C%20McMahon%20confirmed%20that%20the%20department,who%20were%20initially%20eliminated%20as%20part%20of\">74 of those who had\u003c/a> been fired. Five employees of the board that oversees NAEP were loaned to the Education Department to keep the 2026 exam in reading and math on track. Of course, these numbers are a tiny fraction of the 2,000 employees who were let go, but they were also a sign that the Trump administration saw value in some of the department’s work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More reversals — at least partial ones — followed. Lawsuits and public scrutiny prompted the \u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/proof-points-restart-ed-contracts/\">restart of roughly 20 research and data contracts\u003c/a> and the preservation of data access for researchers. EDFacts was among them. Even so, restorations were often incomplete, sometimes no more than symbolic and with little practical effect.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In one example, the department said it was reinstating a contract for operating the What Works Clearinghouse, a website that informs schools about evidence-based teaching practices, a congressionally mandated function. But, in that same legal disclosure, the department also said that it was not planning to reinstate any of the contracts to produce new content for the site.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Throughout the Institute of Education Sciences, budgets were slashed, leaving programs under-resourced. And no new research was being reviewed or approved for funding. Trump’s budget proposed slashing IES’ 2026 budget by two-thirds, a move that Republican Senate appropriators would later reject.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, there was a glimmer of hope: At the end of May, McMahon tapped Amber Northern, a respected researcher, to lead an effort to revamp and modernize IES.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>July–September: A Supreme Court ruling\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The fallout continued in July. NAEP scores were delayed because of a leadership vacuum. Matt Soldner, juggling multiple roles inside the Education Department, was assigned yet another one — acting director of NCES — in order to release reports. In August, the administration ordered a new data collection on college admissions, a politically charged project undertaken without sufficient staff or funding. Experts warned it could be weaponized to accuse universities of reverse discrimination. Still, it was an indication that the Trump administration had discovered that the Education Department could be useful in enforcing its political priorities, even if it wasn’t yet willing to fund them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By September, some NAEP results were finally released, three months behind schedule. Higher education data slowly emerged, albeit incomplete. New job postings and public comment requests hinted at a slow rebuilding, but the system remained fragile. Across states, districts and universities, the consequences of eight months of disruption were already visible: delayed reports, stalled research and weakened trust in federal statistics.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the spring, a federal court in Boston ordered the return of fired staffers, but in July, the Supreme Court sided with the Trump administration: The employees would remain fired. In addition, the vast majority of the research contracts would remain terminated while lawsuits slowly moved through the court system — which could take years. The damage was done and probably irreversible.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>October and November: Shutdown and uncertainty\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>On Oct. 1, everything stopped. More than \u003ca href=\"https://www.regulations.gov/docket/ED-2025-IES-0844\">400 comments\u003c/a> on how to reform IES poured in by the Oct. 15 deadline, but the department couldn’t post them because of the government shutdown.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Nov. 18, McMahon announced she was outsourcing a host of Education Department functions to other agencies, creating an end-run around Congress because she wasn’t technically transferring these divisions. (Only Congress has the authority to eliminate the department or transfer its congressionally mandated activities elsewhere.) But research and statistics weren’t mentioned on McMahon’s outsourcing list, and the fate of IES remained unclear. The Education Department didn’t respond to my requests in November to interview an official about IES’ future.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Looking ahead\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Federal education research occupies a narrow but indispensable space. Unlike private foundations, which often chase novelty or seek to make a visible mark on the field, the federal system is designed for the slow, unglamorous work of establishing baseline data in reading and math, conducting large-scale evaluations and studying interventions that schools actually adopt. The system had its flaws — outdated methodologies, expensive vendor contracts, research adrift from classroom needs — and critics had long pushed for reform. But even those critics agreed that you don’t fix a system by gutting it midstream. Real reform requires investment, not indiscriminate cuts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some consequences are already evident. Almost no new grants or contracts for fresh research were awarded in 2025, meaning that a generation of studies may never materialize. There were exceptions. On the eve of the shutdown, IES quietly pushed through \u003ca href=\"https://ies.ed.gov/search-results?searchTerms=From%20Seedlings%20to%20Scale%20Grants%20Program%20(ALN%2084.305J)\">nine small education technology innovation grants\u003c/a>, initiated during the Biden administration, totaling $450,000. Then after the shutdown, IES announced \u003ca href=\"https://ies.ed.gov/funding/research/programs/small-business-innovation-research-sbir/sbir-awards?&mcontenttype=Contract&lawardstatus=Open&lyearaward=2025&pageNum=1\">$14 million in contracts \u003c/a>to 25 small businesses to develop and test new ed tech products.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Public confidence in federal data faltered as publications arrived late, abbreviated or not at all. What had once been the backbone of the American educational system began to feel fragile and unreliable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Partial restorations have taken place, but they reveal the limits of what can be reclaimed. The online library ERIC survived on half its funding; NAEP continued, though scaled back; and the regional laboratories that were slated to restart still haven’t. Inside IES, the workforce had been gutted, leaving few people to execute the remaining programs. These restorations highlight the importance of public scrutiny, lawsuits and reporting, yet they cannot undo the carnage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The damage is cumulative and will unfold over years. Longitudinal studies were cut off midstream, multiyear research programs collapsed, and promising lines of inquiry vanished before they could mature. Careers were derailed, but the deeper loss belongs to the children and teachers who will never benefit from the knowledge that would have been generated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a fragmented system where every district makes its own choices, evidence is one of the few forces capable of offering coherence. And the statistics that track the nation’s schools — achievement, inequality, enrollment, finances — are irreplaceable. As it stands now, there is a lot we won’t know, measure or trust in the future of education.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The deeper irony is that the cuts did not simply weaken the field of education research, they compromised the country’s ability to see its own school system clearly. Reform may indeed be overdue. But rebuilding confidence in federal data — and recovering the institutional knowledge lost in a single chaotic year — will take far longer than the dismantling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story about the \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/proof-points-trump-upended-education-research-2025/\">\u003cem>Trump administration and the Education Department\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> was produced by \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/special-reports/higher-education/\">The Hechinger Report\u003c/a>\u003cem>, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/proofpoints/\">\u003cem>Proof Points\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> and other \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/newsletters/\">\u003cem>Hechinger newsletters\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Inauguration Day was a time of hope for the MAGA faithful who watched President Donald Trump take his second oath of office in the Capitol rotunda. But less than a mile away, at the Department of Education, fear and uncertainty reigned.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Researchers, contractors and federal staff — the corner of the Education Department that I cover — braced for potentially devastating upheaval. Would the department itself be eliminated, as Trump had promised during the campaign? Would congressionally mandated research and statistical programs move to other agencies? And, if so, which ones?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Amid the unease, a small but determined force was already at work. The consequences would be profound. As many as 16 members from Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) team embedded within the agency in early February, according to news reports. These Young Turks reviewed contracts, identified vulnerabilities and quietly plotted what some would later call a blitzkrieg against federal research. As one senior researcher told me, decades of painstaking work vanished overnight in an attack by an inexperienced and ideologically driven staff intent on dismantling the bureaucracy without understanding its purpose.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>February: The carnage begins\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The first blow came in early February. In a single week, DOGE terminated more than \u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/proof-points-doge-death-blow-education-studies/\">100 research contracts\u003c/a> collectively worth over a billion dollars on paper. The consequences were immediate and staggering. Ten Regional Educational Laboratories (RELs), which had helped states pilot literacy and math interventions, were among these early casualties. Mississippi’s remarkable turnaround in reading achievement, commonly called the “Mississippi Miracle,” was nurtured by the Southeast laboratory, and the sudden loss of this infrastructure created uncertainty for other states in the midst of trying to copy Mississippi.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>DOGE canceled an 11-year longitudinal study tracking youth with disabilities through high school into college and the workforce. Data painstakingly collected over five years was effectively discarded overnight. Instruction and support was suddenly yanked from 1,000 students in the study. Disability advocates described it as a “crushing loss.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even core federal datasets were not spared. The termination of a contract for EDFacts, which collects demographic data about students, was inconceivable. The data is essential for administering the highly regarded National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), the federal test that tracks reading and math achievement. It is also critical for allocating $18 billion for the Title I program, which gives federal subsidies to high-poverty schools. DOGE killed evidence-based teacher guides for math instruction. Even data on homeschooling — long a conservative priority — was cut. A department spokeswoman said the cuts eliminated “waste, fraud and abuse.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Much of the agency’s work is conducted by outside contractors, and DOGE pressured vendors to accept massive contract reductions; some payments were frozen entirely. The ripple effects were immediate: Research labs, university offices and federal contractors were thrown into chaos, scrambling to save data and unsure of their jobs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The month ended with a shocking firing at the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a major source of reliable data. The commissioner, \u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/proof-points-peggy-carr-interview-nces/\">Peggy Carr\u003c/a>, was escorted out of the building by a security guard under circumstances that remain unclear. She was one of the first in a string of senior Black officials across the federal government who were tossed out by the Trump administration. Former department employees told me Carr had resisted DOGE’s demand to make severe cuts to NAEP. Her removal sent a clear signal that resistance would have consequences.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>March: Mass firings\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The unprecedented devastation continued in March, when nearly half of the Education Department’s workers lost their jobs, including almost 90 percent of staffers assigned to the research and statistics division. The agency Carr led was reduced to a skeletal staff of \u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/proof-points-chaos-confusion-statistics-education/\">three employees\u003c/a> from about 100. In another sign of the internal chaos, Chris Chapman, who had been installed to replace Carr, was fired after only 15 days, adding to the confusion about who, if anyone, was in charge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Linda McMahon, newly confirmed as education secretary, publicly defended the cuts, describing them as “a first step” toward closing the agency. With so few staffers to oversee contracts, NAEP test development stalled. DOGE even suggested substituting off-the-shelf tests from private vendors, sources said, undermining decades of federal assessment development.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My job was to make sure that the limited public dollars for education research were spent as best as they could be,” a former education official said in March. Her job was to issue grants for the development of new innovations. “We make sure there’s no fraud, waste and abuse. Now there’s no watchdog to oversee it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>April: More cuts, more chaos\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>By April, the board that oversees the NAEP exam reluctantly killed more than a \u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/proof-points-smaller-naep/\">dozen assessments\u003c/a> scheduled over the next seven years. The cuts were painful. They meant not measuring how much American students know in science and history or measuring writing skills. They also meant eliminating some state comparisons, diminishing the ability to highlight states that are making progress. But board members described how DOGE threatened the whole NAEP program, and they hoped that these cuts would be enough to preserve the quality of the main biennial tests in math and reading. The board had effectively amputated limbs to save the brain and heart.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The destruction spread beyond the Education Department. At the National Science Foundation, DOGE-directed cuts targeted education more than any other area. Of the billion dollars in NSF grants that DOGE eliminated, \u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/proof-points-three-fourths-nsf-funding-cuts-education/\">three-quarters were for education\u003c/a> research, largely conducted at universities. Many of the killed projects focused on increasing the participation of women and minorities in the STEM fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics and on combating misinformation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By chance, thousands of researchers and statisticians were in Denver for the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA) as DOGE was destroying their field. They fought back. Three lawsuits, including one led by AERA, challenged the legality of contract terminations and mass firings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Public outcry grew. McMahon publicly admitted that some cuts had gone too far. “When you are restructuring a company, you hope that you’re just cutting fat,” McMahon said before Congress. “Sometimes you cut a little in the muscle.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But by then the damage was deep and far-reaching. Data collections were paused midstream, rendering them useless. Evaluations of efforts to improve teaching and learning were left incomplete.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Years of work have gone into these studies,” said Dan McGrath, a Democracy Forward lawyer who is representing plaintiffs in one of the lawsuits. “At some point it won’t be possible to put Humpty Dumpty back together again.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Researchers were left navigating a landscape that had been transformed overnight, with no clear road map for survival. LinkedIn was flooded with new “open to work” updates. Many fled Washington and the field of education altogether, taking decades of institutional knowledge with them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the destruction continued, public scrutiny began to influence the department’s actions. Two days after I wrote a \u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/proof-points-eric-under-threat/\">column on the defunding\u003c/a> of the Education Resources Information Center, an online library of critical educational documents known as ERIC, the department restarted it — albeit with only half its previous budget.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>May and June: Mixed signals\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>By late spring, the relentless onslaught of destruction shifted into a more confusing narrative of tentative reversals, with some contracts restarted and some staff rehired. The flagship “Condition of Education” report, a comprehensive data compilation about U.S. schools, students and teachers, wasn’t published by its June 1 deadline for the first time in history. Hours after I wrote \u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/proof-points-condition-of-education/\">about the missed deadline\u003c/a>, which is mandated by Congress, the department hastily posted some “coming soon” declarations on its website, but the information was late and incomplete. The 2025 report remains unfinished.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>McMahon recognized that she could not operate her agency on such a thin staff. In May, she disclosed that she had quietly brought back \u003ca href=\"https://www.nasfaa.org/news-item/36360/McMahon_Defends_President_Trump_s_Skinny_Budget_and_ED_s_Restructuring_at_House_Appropriations_Hearing#:~:text=During%20questioning%2C%20McMahon%20confirmed%20that%20the%20department,who%20were%20initially%20eliminated%20as%20part%20of\">74 of those who had\u003c/a> been fired. Five employees of the board that oversees NAEP were loaned to the Education Department to keep the 2026 exam in reading and math on track. Of course, these numbers are a tiny fraction of the 2,000 employees who were let go, but they were also a sign that the Trump administration saw value in some of the department’s work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More reversals — at least partial ones — followed. Lawsuits and public scrutiny prompted the \u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/proof-points-restart-ed-contracts/\">restart of roughly 20 research and data contracts\u003c/a> and the preservation of data access for researchers. EDFacts was among them. Even so, restorations were often incomplete, sometimes no more than symbolic and with little practical effect.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In one example, the department said it was reinstating a contract for operating the What Works Clearinghouse, a website that informs schools about evidence-based teaching practices, a congressionally mandated function. But, in that same legal disclosure, the department also said that it was not planning to reinstate any of the contracts to produce new content for the site.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Throughout the Institute of Education Sciences, budgets were slashed, leaving programs under-resourced. And no new research was being reviewed or approved for funding. Trump’s budget proposed slashing IES’ 2026 budget by two-thirds, a move that Republican Senate appropriators would later reject.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, there was a glimmer of hope: At the end of May, McMahon tapped Amber Northern, a respected researcher, to lead an effort to revamp and modernize IES.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>July–September: A Supreme Court ruling\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The fallout continued in July. NAEP scores were delayed because of a leadership vacuum. Matt Soldner, juggling multiple roles inside the Education Department, was assigned yet another one — acting director of NCES — in order to release reports. In August, the administration ordered a new data collection on college admissions, a politically charged project undertaken without sufficient staff or funding. Experts warned it could be weaponized to accuse universities of reverse discrimination. Still, it was an indication that the Trump administration had discovered that the Education Department could be useful in enforcing its political priorities, even if it wasn’t yet willing to fund them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By September, some NAEP results were finally released, three months behind schedule. Higher education data slowly emerged, albeit incomplete. New job postings and public comment requests hinted at a slow rebuilding, but the system remained fragile. Across states, districts and universities, the consequences of eight months of disruption were already visible: delayed reports, stalled research and weakened trust in federal statistics.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the spring, a federal court in Boston ordered the return of fired staffers, but in July, the Supreme Court sided with the Trump administration: The employees would remain fired. In addition, the vast majority of the research contracts would remain terminated while lawsuits slowly moved through the court system — which could take years. The damage was done and probably irreversible.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>October and November: Shutdown and uncertainty\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>On Oct. 1, everything stopped. More than \u003ca href=\"https://www.regulations.gov/docket/ED-2025-IES-0844\">400 comments\u003c/a> on how to reform IES poured in by the Oct. 15 deadline, but the department couldn’t post them because of the government shutdown.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Nov. 18, McMahon announced she was outsourcing a host of Education Department functions to other agencies, creating an end-run around Congress because she wasn’t technically transferring these divisions. (Only Congress has the authority to eliminate the department or transfer its congressionally mandated activities elsewhere.) But research and statistics weren’t mentioned on McMahon’s outsourcing list, and the fate of IES remained unclear. The Education Department didn’t respond to my requests in November to interview an official about IES’ future.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Looking ahead\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Federal education research occupies a narrow but indispensable space. Unlike private foundations, which often chase novelty or seek to make a visible mark on the field, the federal system is designed for the slow, unglamorous work of establishing baseline data in reading and math, conducting large-scale evaluations and studying interventions that schools actually adopt. The system had its flaws — outdated methodologies, expensive vendor contracts, research adrift from classroom needs — and critics had long pushed for reform. But even those critics agreed that you don’t fix a system by gutting it midstream. Real reform requires investment, not indiscriminate cuts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some consequences are already evident. Almost no new grants or contracts for fresh research were awarded in 2025, meaning that a generation of studies may never materialize. There were exceptions. On the eve of the shutdown, IES quietly pushed through \u003ca href=\"https://ies.ed.gov/search-results?searchTerms=From%20Seedlings%20to%20Scale%20Grants%20Program%20(ALN%2084.305J)\">nine small education technology innovation grants\u003c/a>, initiated during the Biden administration, totaling $450,000. Then after the shutdown, IES announced \u003ca href=\"https://ies.ed.gov/funding/research/programs/small-business-innovation-research-sbir/sbir-awards?&mcontenttype=Contract&lawardstatus=Open&lyearaward=2025&pageNum=1\">$14 million in contracts \u003c/a>to 25 small businesses to develop and test new ed tech products.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Public confidence in federal data faltered as publications arrived late, abbreviated or not at all. What had once been the backbone of the American educational system began to feel fragile and unreliable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Partial restorations have taken place, but they reveal the limits of what can be reclaimed. The online library ERIC survived on half its funding; NAEP continued, though scaled back; and the regional laboratories that were slated to restart still haven’t. Inside IES, the workforce had been gutted, leaving few people to execute the remaining programs. These restorations highlight the importance of public scrutiny, lawsuits and reporting, yet they cannot undo the carnage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The damage is cumulative and will unfold over years. Longitudinal studies were cut off midstream, multiyear research programs collapsed, and promising lines of inquiry vanished before they could mature. Careers were derailed, but the deeper loss belongs to the children and teachers who will never benefit from the knowledge that would have been generated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a fragmented system where every district makes its own choices, evidence is one of the few forces capable of offering coherence. And the statistics that track the nation’s schools — achievement, inequality, enrollment, finances — are irreplaceable. As it stands now, there is a lot we won’t know, measure or trust in the future of education.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The deeper irony is that the cuts did not simply weaken the field of education research, they compromised the country’s ability to see its own school system clearly. Reform may indeed be overdue. But rebuilding confidence in federal data — and recovering the institutional knowledge lost in a single chaotic year — will take far longer than the dismantling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story about the \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/proof-points-trump-upended-education-research-2025/\">\u003cem>Trump administration and the Education Department\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> was produced by \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/special-reports/higher-education/\">The Hechinger Report\u003c/a>\u003cem>, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/proofpoints/\">\u003cem>Proof Points\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> and other \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/newsletters/\">\u003cem>Hechinger newsletters\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>The teaching profession is one of the most female-dominated in the United States. Among elementary school teachers, 89 percent are women, and in kindergarten, that number is almost 97 percent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many sociologists, writers and parents have questioned whether this imbalance hinders young boys at the start of their education. Are female teachers less understanding of boys’ need to horse around? Or would male role models inspire boys to learn their letters and times tables? Some advocates point to research that lays out why boys ought to do better with male teachers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But a new national analysis finds no evidence that boys perform or behave better with male teachers in elementary school. This challenges a widespread belief that boys thrive more when taught by men, and it raises questions about efforts, such as \u003ca href=\"https://www.nyc.gov/site/ymi/teach/nyc-men-teach.page\">one in New York City\u003c/a>, to spend extra to recruit them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was surprised,” said Paul Morgan, a professor at the University at Albany and a co-author of the study. “I’ve raised two boys, and my assumption would be that having male teachers is beneficial because boys tend to be more rambunctious, more active, a little less easy to direct in academic tasks.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re not saying gender matching doesn’t work,” Morgan added. “We’re saying we’re not observing it in K through fifth grade.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Middle and high school students might see more benefits. Earlier research is mixed and inconclusive. A \u003ca href=\"https://cepa.stanford.edu/content/teachers-and-gender-gaps-student-achievement\">2007 analysis\u003c/a> by Stanford professor Thomas Dee found academic benefits for eighth-grade boys and girls when taught by teachers of their same gender. And studies where researchers observe and interview a small number of students often show how students feel more supported by same-gender teachers. Yet many quantitative studies, like this newest one, have failed to detect measurable benefits for boys. At least 10 since 2014 have found zero or minimal effects. Benefits for girls are more consistent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This latest study, “Fixed Effect Estimates of Teacher-Student Gender Matching During Elementary School,” is a working paper not yet published in a peer-reviewed journal.* Morgan and co-author Eric Hu, a research scientist at Albany, shared a draft with me.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Morgan and Hu analyzed a U.S. Education Department dataset that followed a nationally representative group of 8,000 students from kindergarten in 2010 through fifth grade in 2017. Half were boys and half were girls.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More than two-thirds — 68 percent — of the 4,000 boys never had a male teacher in those years while 32 percent had at least one. (The study focused only on main classroom teachers, not extras like gym or music.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Among the 1,300 boys who had both male and female teachers, the researchers compared each boy’s performance and behavior across those years. For instance, if Jacob had female teachers in kindergarten, first, second and fifth grades, but male teachers in third and fourth, his average scores and behavior were compared between the teachers of different genders.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The researchers found no differences in reading, math or science achievement — or in behavioral and social measures. Teachers rated students on traits like impulsiveness, cooperation, anxiety, empathy and self-control. The children also took annual executive function tests. The results did not vary by the teacher’s gender.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most studies on male teachers focus on older students. The authors noted one other elementary-level study, in Florida, that also found no academic benefit for boys. This new research confirms that finding and adds that there seems to be no behavioral or social benefits either.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For students at these young ages, 11 and under, the researchers also didn’t find academic benefits for girls with female teachers. But there were two non-academic ones: Girls taught by women showed stronger interpersonal skills (getting along, helping others, caring about feelings) and a greater eagerness to learn (represented by skills such as keeping organized and following rules).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When the researchers combined race and gender, the results grew more complex. Black girls taught by Black women scored higher on an executive function test but lower in science. Asian boys taught by Asian men scored higher on executive function but had lower ratings on interpersonal skills. Black boys showed no measurable differences when taught by Black male teachers. (Previous research has sometimes \u003ca href=\"https://hub.jhu.edu/2018/11/12/black-students-black-teachers-college-gap/\">found benefits\u003c/a> for Black students taught by Black teachers and \u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/proof-points-black-and-white-teachers-from-hbcus-are-better-math-instructors-study-finds/\">sometimes hasn’t.\u003c/a>)**\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even if data show no academic or behavioral benefits for students, there may still be compelling reasons to diversify the teaching workforce, just as in other professions. But we shouldn’t expect these efforts to move the needle on student outcomes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you had scarce resources and were trying to place your bets,” Morgan said, “then based on this study, maybe elementary school isn’t where you should focus your recruitment efforts” to hire more men.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To paraphrase Boyz II Men, it’s so hard to say goodbye — to the idea that young boys need male teachers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>*Clarification: The article has not yet been published in a peer-reviewed journal but has undergone some peer review.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>**Correction: An earlier version incorrectly characterized how researchers analyzed what happened to students of different races. The researchers focused only on the gender of the teachers, but drilled down to see how students of different races responded to teachers of different genders.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This story about \u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/proof-points-male-teachers-elementary-school/\">\u003cem>male teachers\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> was produced by \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/special-reports/higher-education/\">The Hechinger Report\u003c/a>\u003cem>, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/proofpoints/\">\u003cem>Proof Points\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> and other \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/newsletters/\">\u003cem>Hechinger newsletters\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The teaching profession is one of the most female-dominated in the United States. Among elementary school teachers, 89 percent are women, and in kindergarten, that number is almost 97 percent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many sociologists, writers and parents have questioned whether this imbalance hinders young boys at the start of their education. Are female teachers less understanding of boys’ need to horse around? Or would male role models inspire boys to learn their letters and times tables? Some advocates point to research that lays out why boys ought to do better with male teachers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But a new national analysis finds no evidence that boys perform or behave better with male teachers in elementary school. This challenges a widespread belief that boys thrive more when taught by men, and it raises questions about efforts, such as \u003ca href=\"https://www.nyc.gov/site/ymi/teach/nyc-men-teach.page\">one in New York City\u003c/a>, to spend extra to recruit them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was surprised,” said Paul Morgan, a professor at the University at Albany and a co-author of the study. “I’ve raised two boys, and my assumption would be that having male teachers is beneficial because boys tend to be more rambunctious, more active, a little less easy to direct in academic tasks.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re not saying gender matching doesn’t work,” Morgan added. “We’re saying we’re not observing it in K through fifth grade.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Middle and high school students might see more benefits. Earlier research is mixed and inconclusive. A \u003ca href=\"https://cepa.stanford.edu/content/teachers-and-gender-gaps-student-achievement\">2007 analysis\u003c/a> by Stanford professor Thomas Dee found academic benefits for eighth-grade boys and girls when taught by teachers of their same gender. And studies where researchers observe and interview a small number of students often show how students feel more supported by same-gender teachers. Yet many quantitative studies, like this newest one, have failed to detect measurable benefits for boys. At least 10 since 2014 have found zero or minimal effects. Benefits for girls are more consistent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This latest study, “Fixed Effect Estimates of Teacher-Student Gender Matching During Elementary School,” is a working paper not yet published in a peer-reviewed journal.* Morgan and co-author Eric Hu, a research scientist at Albany, shared a draft with me.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Morgan and Hu analyzed a U.S. Education Department dataset that followed a nationally representative group of 8,000 students from kindergarten in 2010 through fifth grade in 2017. Half were boys and half were girls.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More than two-thirds — 68 percent — of the 4,000 boys never had a male teacher in those years while 32 percent had at least one. (The study focused only on main classroom teachers, not extras like gym or music.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Among the 1,300 boys who had both male and female teachers, the researchers compared each boy’s performance and behavior across those years. For instance, if Jacob had female teachers in kindergarten, first, second and fifth grades, but male teachers in third and fourth, his average scores and behavior were compared between the teachers of different genders.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The researchers found no differences in reading, math or science achievement — or in behavioral and social measures. Teachers rated students on traits like impulsiveness, cooperation, anxiety, empathy and self-control. The children also took annual executive function tests. The results did not vary by the teacher’s gender.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most studies on male teachers focus on older students. The authors noted one other elementary-level study, in Florida, that also found no academic benefit for boys. This new research confirms that finding and adds that there seems to be no behavioral or social benefits either.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For students at these young ages, 11 and under, the researchers also didn’t find academic benefits for girls with female teachers. But there were two non-academic ones: Girls taught by women showed stronger interpersonal skills (getting along, helping others, caring about feelings) and a greater eagerness to learn (represented by skills such as keeping organized and following rules).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When the researchers combined race and gender, the results grew more complex. Black girls taught by Black women scored higher on an executive function test but lower in science. Asian boys taught by Asian men scored higher on executive function but had lower ratings on interpersonal skills. Black boys showed no measurable differences when taught by Black male teachers. (Previous research has sometimes \u003ca href=\"https://hub.jhu.edu/2018/11/12/black-students-black-teachers-college-gap/\">found benefits\u003c/a> for Black students taught by Black teachers and \u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/proof-points-black-and-white-teachers-from-hbcus-are-better-math-instructors-study-finds/\">sometimes hasn’t.\u003c/a>)**\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even if data show no academic or behavioral benefits for students, there may still be compelling reasons to diversify the teaching workforce, just as in other professions. But we shouldn’t expect these efforts to move the needle on student outcomes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you had scarce resources and were trying to place your bets,” Morgan said, “then based on this study, maybe elementary school isn’t where you should focus your recruitment efforts” to hire more men.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To paraphrase Boyz II Men, it’s so hard to say goodbye — to the idea that young boys need male teachers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>*Clarification: The article has not yet been published in a peer-reviewed journal but has undergone some peer review.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>**Correction: An earlier version incorrectly characterized how researchers analyzed what happened to students of different races. The researchers focused only on the gender of the teachers, but drilled down to see how students of different races responded to teachers of different genders.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This story about \u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/proof-points-male-teachers-elementary-school/\">\u003cem>male teachers\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> was produced by \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/special-reports/higher-education/\">The Hechinger Report\u003c/a>\u003cem>, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/proofpoints/\">\u003cem>Proof Points\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> and other \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/newsletters/\">\u003cem>Hechinger newsletters\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#episode-transcript\">\u003ci>View the full episode transcript.\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In recent years, educators and academics have studied many aspects of how students learn. The role of grit, resilience and growth mindset, for example, have been closely studied and strategies to develop them widely shared.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Additionally, the connection between \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/45201/why-emotions-are-integral-to-learning\">emotions and learning\u003c/a> has acquired more attention, as has the role of \u003ca href=\"https://ggsc.berkeley.edu/images/uploads/GGSC-JTF_White_Paper-Awe_FINAL.pdf\">awe in human development\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>K-12 educator Deborah Farmer Kris wrote about the benefits of awe in our daily lives in her book, “\u003ca href=\"https://www.teachercreatedmaterials.com/products/raising-awe-seekers-how-the-science-of-wonder-helps-our-kids-thrive-153673\">Raising Awe Seekers: How The Science of Wonder Helps our Kids Thrive,\u003c/a>” and joined the MindShift Podcast to talk about her surprising findings. She also has tips on how to\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/65520/how-experiencing-wonder-helps-kids-learn\"> cultivate awe in children and adults\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And as someone who has taught for two decades, she has advice on what educators can do to find the wonder in subjects they teach several times a day, year over year, to a large number of students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm?e=KQINC9148141574\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 id=\"episode-transcript\">Episode Transcript\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ki Sung:\u003c/strong> Welcome to the MindShift Podcast where we explore the future of learning and how we raise our kids. I’m Ki Sung. Today I’m speaking to longtime MindShift contributor Debra Farmer Kris. She’s a child development expert and author of the book, “\u003ca href=\"https://www.teachercreatedmaterials.com/products/raising-awe-seekers-how-the-science-of-wonder-helps-our-kids-thrive-153673\">Raising Awe Seekers: How The Science of Wonder Helps our Kids Thrive\u003c/a>.” During the depths of pandemic-era parenting, Deborah Farmer Kris discovered that awe is an often overlooked but powerful emotion. We’ll discuss how parents and educators can use awe to drive engagement with classroom materials and connection with the world around us. That conversation, coming up right after this.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ki Sung: \u003c/strong>Let’s start by diving right into the title of your book, “Raising Awe Seekers.” We hear the word awe and its variations like awesome all the time, but let’s take a step back and have you define for us what awe is and why it’s important for human development.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Deborah Farmer Kris :\u003c/strong> So first awe is an emotion, and that is important because as an emotion, it is something we can feel, uh, and we can recognize when we’re feeling it. And so when you look at emotions, um, you have kind of your core four, like happy, mad, sad, scared, and you have variations of those. So underneath mad, you might have irate or frustrated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Awe is more of a subset of surprise and a is what you feel when you encounter something that is vast. That is, um, wondrous, that is beyond your ordinary frame of reference. You might see something new that moves you, that touches you, that excites you. And the way researchers often talk about how you know you’re feeling it is things like, uh, chills or goosebumps for some people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Um, maybe your eyes involuntarily spring you with tears, uh, the sound. Wow. Or whoa, you know, you have somebody choose a half court shot and it goes in and people aren’t saying That was an amazing shot. Now they’re making a all guttural sound of Wow. And I think for children as a, as an educator and as a parent, I would put in that category, this wide eyes that it’s almost like they want to absorb what they’re seeing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The really neat thing about this particular emotion is that there is a wealth of research, uh, about 25 years now, most of it out of the \u003ca href=\"https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/topic/awe\">Greater Good Science Center at University of California Berkeley\u003c/a>,\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>and it turns out that, most good things we want for our kids from, uh, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/38260/whats-going-on-inside-the-brain-of-a-curious-child\">curiosity and cognitive development\u003c/a> to a sense of mental and emotional wellness, to a sense of connectedness, awe supports all of those outcomes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ki Sung:\u003c/strong> it’s interesting that the research has been out for 25 years or around for 25 years because, you know, we see a lot of different types of behaviors getting academic and media scrutiny, like, you know, the popular ones :grit, resilience, anxiety, growth, mindset, but all doesn’t quite get as much attention. Do you know why?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Deborah Farmer Kris :\u003c/strong> You know, I think there wasn’t really the popularized book for the moment, you know, \u003ca href=\"https://ggsc.berkeley.edu/images/uploads/GGSC-JTF_White_Paper-Awe_FINAL.pdf\">Dacher Keltner\u003c/a>, who’s the main researcher on this, one of the lead ones, a year and a half ago, came out with a \u003ca href=\"https://www.amazon.com/Awe-Science-Everyday-Wonder-Transform/dp/1984879685\">wonderful book\u003c/a> that has been getting more press.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So I think awe is beginning to have a bit of a moment now. But before then you had to kind of be like me, the, the kind of the nerd looking through the journals and looking through the articles and, you know, I was always kind of, because I write for Mind Shift and other sources on the lookout for good research that could be translated, for teachers and parents. And so while it was there, it really hadn’t had its, um, you know it, it’s social moment yet, and I think hopefully we’re at the beginnings of that right now\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ki Sung:\u003c/strong> What does awe have to do with, say, being able to pay attention in class, especially for kids who are overscheduled or have a high amount of screen time?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Deborah Farmer Kris :\u003c/strong> Mm-hmm. So where awe is really helpful. Academically is that it is highly correlated with curiosity. And one thing we know about curiosity from reams of research is that curiosity is a key indicator of academic success. ’cause it relates to internal motivation. I mean, think about it. You have curious about something, you want to learn it, you’re motivated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Um, and so the link between awe and curiosity is just really tight because you see something you don’t understand. And awe is often related to this wow moment of, you know, I’m, I’m looking at these stars and I’m wondering, I have these, I, I wish I knew more. And that feeling, that curiosity is what propels kids to, to want to learn. And one of the really cool pieces of research that I describe in the book was that when you’re curious about something, it actually primes the brain to remember things. And I, I think about this often with very young children, how you might have a 4-year-old who can memorize the names of all the dinosaurs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So they might be talking about the diplodocus. But they might be struggling with some of their other more basic vocabulary, but because their interest level is so high, they are primed to remember. And so really deep learning often happens at this intersection of, you know, of focus and interest. And so, um, one of the things they have.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Researchers have also found is that when the brain is primed with curiosity on wonder that even say 30 minutes later when you’re engaged in an activity that’s not as interesting, not as awe inspiring, your brain is still primed to learn. And so that gets me thinking about how it maybe a class is organized, right?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So am I doing something at the beginning of class that’s really capturing the imagination or the wonder, um, or the curiosity of students, uh. To prime their brain to remember something that later in the class may be important, but not necessarily as, um, wondrous for them. And so I think this is an interesting way for us to think about students who may not be as engaged,\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If they’re not as engaged in everything, can we find the one thing? Can we find the thing that excites them, that sparks that awe, that lights them up, and use that as kind of a foundation for other academic learning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ki Sung:\u003c/strong> I wanna talk about parents real quick. Um, when you talk about wonder, I don’t know if I have time for it, because we’re literally so busy. Um, what is the benefit of making the time to wonder, um, how should I exercise restraint in not wanting to rush, Um, tell me how to restrain myself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Deborah Farmer Kris :\u003c/strong> So researching awe has absolutely in subtle but profound ways transformed how I parent my kids, um, partly because it has made me more attentive to the world around me. Many of the sources of awe are deeply tied to our sensory system, so sounds, sight, smells, what we’re taking in. One of the great things about awe that you, you don’t need to go to the Sistine Chapel or the Grand Canyon, that it’s a very everyday ordinary emotion, and it’s more about putting ourselves in, in the path of it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So for me as a parent, the first thing I had to do was make sure I was making some space for it myself. And the simplest way I, I did this, um, was by adopting, um, one of the practices from research, which was taking an a walk. Now I have a dog, so I am outside with the dog at least three times a day, usually morning, midday, and evening.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And I made the decision that one of those. Times I was outside, even for five or 10 minutes, I would not have my phone on, I would not be listening to music. I would just be paying attention. I’d be looking up, uh, I would be looking at the trees. Um, and I, I, I literally call it my awe walk, right? Five minutes a day, 10 minutes a day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And I noticed that. Over the course of nearly two years now, this has transformed my relationship with my neighborhood. And I don’t just mean my neighbors, although being outside has helped me connect with them. But the trees, the, the birds who I really didn’t even notice were in the neighborhood. And now I can identify so many of them, the, the changing of the seasons.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Um, and then I made the very conscious decision as a parent that when I did notice these things, I was going to be more active about sharing them. Uh, and that means that, you know, if I hear a story that of say a human being kind or brave, which is a key source of awe and wonder. Um, I’m gonna talk to my kids about it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Um, if I see a really beautiful sunset, I am going to be the mom who says, come out and look. Just the other day we were driving home and there was a incredible double rainbow. And I pulled over, I was driving my son home from piano lessons and behind me another parent pulled over with their four or 5-year-old and the two of us were standing out there with our two children in the drizzling rain looking at this gorgeous rainbow.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And I just, you know, thought this was a moment where it’s gonna take me two minutes longer to get home, but this will be something my child remembers where typically a drive home you don’t remember. so it, it’s really not about the big experience, it’s about the little moments in the day of the song, the what you see, the smell that you pause, you notice, and then you take the next step to share.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Uh, because one of the things I have found slowly over time is that because I do so much sharing of my awe moments, and Itry to just be super authentic in how I do it, because I. Do love sharing and talking to my kids. They are much more likely to share them with me, to tell me their stories or to send me the picture they find or the song they think I will like.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And so for me, it becomes almost this very authentic way of just sharing our day together and paying attention to what lights me up and what lights my kids up. And yes, that requires a little bit of slowing down, but it doesn’t require. You know, this is gonna be a day of no screens and nothing, or we’re gonna get, take an entirely unplugged vacation for a week, which none of us have the time or resources to do.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ki Sung:\u003c/strong> It’s quite, um. Uh, contrast I think to maybe how our brains are wired to think about only bad things that are very sticky or, um, uh, the worst things that can happen to us. I think a lot of us are just inclined to, um, you know, think negatively, um, and dwell on those things, but seeing the beautiful positive things in the world, um, may also provide a more accurate. Picture or depiction of our daily lives that there are beautiful wonder, wonderful things around us if we just take the time, uh, time to look.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Deborah Farmer Kris :\u003c/strong> Yeah, sometimes I describe awe as the ultimate and emotion. So, you know, awe is different than gratitude. Gratitude is actually, um, it can be quite a cerebral. Emotion where you think back and even though in the moment you didn’t appreciate it, now you do and you’re grateful for that. Um, awe is very involuntary emotion, right?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You see something beautiful, you feel it. And you know, for me, I call it the “and” emotion because you know, I may be having a really tough day and I’m disturbed by something on the news and just before coming up here, Ki, there was this mass of robins, um, outside that was chattering so loudly. I didn’t actually think they were robins because it was midday. And normally they’re not as that loud midday. And I pulled out my Merlin app to see what they were, and I’m watching them hovering. And I’m wondering, like, I actually Googled, like, why would there be the swarm of Robin’s midday? Um, and it was just a, a brief moment where it was. Again, this, you know, the world is difficult. The world is messy. The world is complicated, and people are doing brave, kind, wonderful things every day. And there are artists making incredible works that will move us. And there’s a natural world out there that is. You know, still full of such mystery.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And so it’s not, you know, as somebody would talk about toxic positivity saying, you know, just look on the bright side, it’s more of just acknowledging that you can have a difficult day and, you know, taking a step outside, taking a deep breath and hearing that bird song or getting that text from a friend who brings you a moment of, of, of warmth and kindness. Um, those moments can coexist.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ki Sung:\u003c/strong> So speaking of bird song or something that has that resonant rhythm, um, you interviewed Dacher Keltner of UC, Berkeley, and he had some advice on finding awe that you wrote about a. In your book, uh, can you read to me what his advice was?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Deborah Farmer Kris :\u003c/strong> Yes, I actually structure it like a poem, uh, in the book. And while I was interviewing him, he was actually out on a walk, which I find quite lovely. And so I said to him, you know, what is your best advice for finding awe? And this is what he said. How do you find awe? You allow unstructured time. How do you find awe?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You wander, you drift through. You take a walk with no aim. How do you find awe? You slow things down. You allow for mystery and open questions rather than test driven answers, you allow people to engage in the humanities of dance and visual art and music.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ki Sung:\u003c/strong> That really is beautiful. so let’s break it down a little bit. Uh, you have spent 20 years as a K to 12 teacher. What does awe look like for the different age groups? for elementary years, the middle school years, or maybe even the high school years?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Deborah Farmer Kris :\u003c/strong> That’s a great question, and I think to answer this, I, I first need to just very briefly talk about the sources because some of these sources will look different at different ages. So when you think about. General categories where people find awe. You have nature and music, the arts, big questions, big ideas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Uh, that feeling of belonging and this, uh, this life cycle. And of course kinda human goodness. So people being kind and brave, and I think at different ages, different of those take priorities. So, you know, for a 4-year-old, one of the things they’re really driven by are why questions. You know, why is this happening?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In fact, there’s some research. That shows, depending on the source, that four year olds can ask, you know, between kind of 70 and a hundred questions a day. Uh, and if you’re raising a kid that age that may actually feel like, you know, a low estimate, but they’re really trying to understand their world and so they’re constantly asking questions, engaging with their world.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And so. That’s really exciting and, and in fact, one of the challenges I think for educators and parents are how do you get high schoolers to still want to have that sense of wonder and engagement with their world? You know, when your kids are hitting the, the middle of high school years, the. The wonder of belonging.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Um, there’s a, an expression from Émile Durkheim called Collective Effervescence. Um, that is really key because they want to be part of a group. And collective effervescence basically means that you’re part of a group that is doing, uh, engaged harmoniously toward a common good cause. And so you might think of a sports team or a choral group, or even a Model UN or d and d or robotics club where people are working together toward this common aim, and that feels really good. Um, so when kids, especially teenagers, don’t find that they’re missing out on a. A source of wonder that they’re actually biologically primed for, because this is an age where they’re pulling away from parents and looking to be part of a peer group.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And so that becomes a really important thing to help kids navigate. How do you find the in-person, peer group?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Deborah Farmer Kris :\u003c/strong> Um, I think. You know, for any age group being out in nature, um, engaging with art, finding music that speaks to them and that may change dramatically their musical tastes. Um. Those are all kind of ready-made sources of awe that we can be tapping into as, as teachers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of the things I really love about the whole developmental range of childhood is that interest change and that what makes them tick, what lights them up, change, and, um I’ve taught almost every grade K through 12, and really one of my favorites is middle school, partly because it’s such a time of intense change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And I think for parents and educators, it can feel tricky when it looks like they are, um, letting go of things that used to make them happy with sources of awe and, and, and wonder for them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And so it might look like they’re just getting jaded or cynical when in fact they’re undergoing a very natural transition into. Perhaps what is going to be the new face. And so being patient with them and kind of going with it and getting curious, um, have practicing some radical curiosity about, okay, so your kid doesn’t really like soccer anymore after all these years on a, you know, soccer squad, but it looks like they might be interested in joining, um, a drama troupe. And so I’m gonna take a deep breath and go with that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Or there might be a sticky time in between where they don’t know who their friend group is and what their interests are. But that is such a great identity formation time, and I feel like awe and wonder are a great tool for parents during that identity formation because if you can start just paying attention to, okay, so what is sparking their interests? What does light them up? What? Where can I see that their eyes did grow wide? And maybe we explore that a little bit. Maybe it sticks, maybe it doesn’t, and that’s okay. But these are all pathways in to mental wellness, emotional wellness, and even academic growth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ki Sung:\u003c/strong> That sounds like great advice and you cited, uh, Benjamin Bloom’s research, I believe, when describing that spark.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Deborah Farmer Kris :\u003c/strong> Yeah\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ki Sung:\u003c/strong> Um, and parents, you know, encouraging kids along that path. Uh. I do have a question for you, for educators. What amazes me whenever I observe teachers in the classroom is how they can be still enthusiastic teaching the same topic, bringing the sense of awe to 30 different kids six times a day for the many, many years they’ve been teaching. How do awe and wonder continue to exist in a classroom when one might get a little tired of doing the same thing over and over again?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Deborah Farmer Kris :\u003c/strong> I love that question. I was an English teacher for years as well as an elementary school teacher. And I, I think between reflecting on my own teaching experience. And now this research, I had a bit of an aha moment\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>uh, what kept it fresh was watching my students first encounter with it. their moments of awe, I remember a student coming in and we had just finished Taylor two cities, and she came in and she was crying and she was angry and she threw the book down. She had finished the book in the hallway and she said. It’s not supposed to end this way. And I thought, you know, I’ve read this book a dozen times, but for the first time here, she’s experiencing this emotional catharsis of seeing this kind of final sacrifice of the, the protagonist of this book. And, um, you know, that’s a really exciting thing as a teacher.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You know, I, I write about my freshman year in college ’cause it’s still so transformational to me. I had this professor who took us out of the classroom. He was an education professor, but he took us to the Museum of Fine Arts. He took us to the Isabella Stewart Garden Museum in Boston. And, um. At one point, uh, you know, I, it was several weeks later I was reading, uh, I, I went to the Isabella Stewart Gardner to, to do some homework.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was cold in Boston. It was a beautiful courtyard. Um, and he ended up capturing a picture of, of me reading something and giving that to me as a gift. This kind of emblem of, you know, me reading a book in an art museum. And I actually kept that picture in my classroom for years as kind of this reminder of a teacher who saw me, a teacher, introduced me to beauty, uh, and that that was the type, even though I didn’t have the word awe for it at the time, it was absolutely what drew me back to that place. Um, and so I knew almost intuitively that that was the emotion that I wanted to connect with, with the students. And so, you know, if I am bored with what I’m teaching, I need to freshen it up a little bit. Um, but it may be that I just. I also need to tune into the kids in front of me in a way that what sparks me is their spark, um, more than the content itself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ki Sung:\u003c/strong> I think what I’m hearing you say is awe is this connective feeling that motivates you, motivates the students, um, and maybe motivates a lot of people to shape their worlds into something different than what they had before or had been expecting for themselves.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Deborah Farmer Kris :\u003c/strong> I think that’s fair because one of the characteristics of awe is what scientists call the small self, uh, which is when you know. I think about this with teenagers where they, they think everybody’s staring at them. Uh, I think a lot of adults feel that too, right? I, I made a mistake. Everybody’s thinking about that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And anything that helps you zoom out and get a broader perspective, uh, is something that can help quiet that kind of internal chatter that we have, um, and just kind of realign. Our understanding of the world and our place in it. And one of my favorite pieces of research, uh, and I, I share this with kids a lot and they love it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/strong>Um, it, it was conducted at uc, Berkeley, and there’s a science building, which from the back is really a nondescript brick building. Nothing particularly awe inspiring about that architecture. But if you turn your body around, there’s this grove of, um, old growth trees. And so the researchers had their subjects one by one come out and either face the nondescript brick building or face the beautiful grove of trees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And then after a span of time, somebody else in the study, unbeknownst to the test subject, wanders by and drops things. And they were measuring like, well, who’s gonna help the stranger pick up their things? And it turns out. At a statistically significant level, those who were staring at the trees, uh, were more likely to help a stranger than those staring at a brick building.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And what I love about the study is that it’s just, it’s such a metaphor for life in the sense that we can be standing in the exact same place. Right, the same circumstances, but where we direct our gaze, um, what we choose to see also can increase our sense of connectedness, um, to people around us. And one of the other things we know is that, um performing acts of kindness, right? That is a boost to wellbeing as well. Uh, that when somebody is feeling lonely or down or depressed, that acts of service turned out to be a really, really effective and powerful intervention. And so, you know, I. Researchers speculate. Why have we evolved to feel this?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Because all feelings have functions, right? Disgust is there because we don’t want to eat the rotten chicken and fear motivates us to avoid danger. Uh, so the hypothesis is that awe is designed to help us um be more connected to our communities, um, to kind of bind people toward a common purpose, right? If you know, I, I think about the eclipse and how I was near the path of totality and how the entire neighborhood came out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And here we are, the whole neighborhood staring up at the sky together. Like these are moments. Um. You think of all the people who, who go to a World Series game, um, to cheer together that are, are binding us as a community. And those are things that help us with wellbeing and even survival. And so that’s, that’s a hypothesis and it’s, it’s one I, I think we should continue to explore.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ki Sung:\u003c/strong> Deborah, thanks so much for bringing awe to our attention. I hope that just by bringing this topic into the world or sharing it more with a wider audience, that more people create this positive impact to create a better world. It sounds like we’re already on our way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Deborah Farmer Kris :\u003c/strong> Thanks so much.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ki Sung: \u003c/strong>Debra Farmer Kris is a child development expert and author of “\u003ca href=\"https://www.teachercreatedmaterials.com/products/raising-awe-seekers-how-the-science-of-wonder-helps-our-kids-thrive-153673\">Raising Awe Seekers, how The Science of Wonder Helps our Kids Thrive\u003c/a>.” She’s also a longtime MindShift contributor who’s written a lot about emotion so I encourage you to look up those stories. And she also works for PBS Kids as a show consultant.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You can also check out her children’s book series “All the Time” and “I See You”.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ki Sung\u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/strong>The MindShift team includes me, Ki Sung, Nimah Gobir, Marlena Jackson-Retondo and Marnette Federis. Our editor is Chris Hambrick. Seth Samuel is our sound designer. Jen Chien is our head of podcasts. Katie Sprenger is podcast operations manager and Ethan Toven Lindsey is our editor in chief. We receive additional support from Maha Sanad.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MindShift is supported in part by the generosity of the William & Flora Hewlett Foundation and members of KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some members of the KQED podcast team are represented by The Screen Actors Guild, American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. San Francisco Northern California Local.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thanks for listening to MindShift.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#episode-transcript\">\u003ci>View the full episode transcript.\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In recent years, educators and academics have studied many aspects of how students learn. The role of grit, resilience and growth mindset, for example, have been closely studied and strategies to develop them widely shared.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Additionally, the connection between \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/45201/why-emotions-are-integral-to-learning\">emotions and learning\u003c/a> has acquired more attention, as has the role of \u003ca href=\"https://ggsc.berkeley.edu/images/uploads/GGSC-JTF_White_Paper-Awe_FINAL.pdf\">awe in human development\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>K-12 educator Deborah Farmer Kris wrote about the benefits of awe in our daily lives in her book, “\u003ca href=\"https://www.teachercreatedmaterials.com/products/raising-awe-seekers-how-the-science-of-wonder-helps-our-kids-thrive-153673\">Raising Awe Seekers: How The Science of Wonder Helps our Kids Thrive,\u003c/a>” and joined the MindShift Podcast to talk about her surprising findings. She also has tips on how to\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/65520/how-experiencing-wonder-helps-kids-learn\"> cultivate awe in children and adults\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And as someone who has taught for two decades, she has advice on what educators can do to find the wonder in subjects they teach several times a day, year over year, to a large number of students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm?e=KQINC9148141574\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 id=\"episode-transcript\">Episode Transcript\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ki Sung:\u003c/strong> Welcome to the MindShift Podcast where we explore the future of learning and how we raise our kids. I’m Ki Sung. Today I’m speaking to longtime MindShift contributor Debra Farmer Kris. She’s a child development expert and author of the book, “\u003ca href=\"https://www.teachercreatedmaterials.com/products/raising-awe-seekers-how-the-science-of-wonder-helps-our-kids-thrive-153673\">Raising Awe Seekers: How The Science of Wonder Helps our Kids Thrive\u003c/a>.” During the depths of pandemic-era parenting, Deborah Farmer Kris discovered that awe is an often overlooked but powerful emotion. We’ll discuss how parents and educators can use awe to drive engagement with classroom materials and connection with the world around us. That conversation, coming up right after this.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ki Sung: \u003c/strong>Let’s start by diving right into the title of your book, “Raising Awe Seekers.” We hear the word awe and its variations like awesome all the time, but let’s take a step back and have you define for us what awe is and why it’s important for human development.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Deborah Farmer Kris :\u003c/strong> So first awe is an emotion, and that is important because as an emotion, it is something we can feel, uh, and we can recognize when we’re feeling it. And so when you look at emotions, um, you have kind of your core four, like happy, mad, sad, scared, and you have variations of those. So underneath mad, you might have irate or frustrated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Awe is more of a subset of surprise and a is what you feel when you encounter something that is vast. That is, um, wondrous, that is beyond your ordinary frame of reference. You might see something new that moves you, that touches you, that excites you. And the way researchers often talk about how you know you’re feeling it is things like, uh, chills or goosebumps for some people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Um, maybe your eyes involuntarily spring you with tears, uh, the sound. Wow. Or whoa, you know, you have somebody choose a half court shot and it goes in and people aren’t saying That was an amazing shot. Now they’re making a all guttural sound of Wow. And I think for children as a, as an educator and as a parent, I would put in that category, this wide eyes that it’s almost like they want to absorb what they’re seeing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The really neat thing about this particular emotion is that there is a wealth of research, uh, about 25 years now, most of it out of the \u003ca href=\"https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/topic/awe\">Greater Good Science Center at University of California Berkeley\u003c/a>,\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>and it turns out that, most good things we want for our kids from, uh, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/38260/whats-going-on-inside-the-brain-of-a-curious-child\">curiosity and cognitive development\u003c/a> to a sense of mental and emotional wellness, to a sense of connectedness, awe supports all of those outcomes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ki Sung:\u003c/strong> it’s interesting that the research has been out for 25 years or around for 25 years because, you know, we see a lot of different types of behaviors getting academic and media scrutiny, like, you know, the popular ones :grit, resilience, anxiety, growth, mindset, but all doesn’t quite get as much attention. Do you know why?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Deborah Farmer Kris :\u003c/strong> You know, I think there wasn’t really the popularized book for the moment, you know, \u003ca href=\"https://ggsc.berkeley.edu/images/uploads/GGSC-JTF_White_Paper-Awe_FINAL.pdf\">Dacher Keltner\u003c/a>, who’s the main researcher on this, one of the lead ones, a year and a half ago, came out with a \u003ca href=\"https://www.amazon.com/Awe-Science-Everyday-Wonder-Transform/dp/1984879685\">wonderful book\u003c/a> that has been getting more press.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So I think awe is beginning to have a bit of a moment now. But before then you had to kind of be like me, the, the kind of the nerd looking through the journals and looking through the articles and, you know, I was always kind of, because I write for Mind Shift and other sources on the lookout for good research that could be translated, for teachers and parents. And so while it was there, it really hadn’t had its, um, you know it, it’s social moment yet, and I think hopefully we’re at the beginnings of that right now\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ki Sung:\u003c/strong> What does awe have to do with, say, being able to pay attention in class, especially for kids who are overscheduled or have a high amount of screen time?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Deborah Farmer Kris :\u003c/strong> Mm-hmm. So where awe is really helpful. Academically is that it is highly correlated with curiosity. And one thing we know about curiosity from reams of research is that curiosity is a key indicator of academic success. ’cause it relates to internal motivation. I mean, think about it. You have curious about something, you want to learn it, you’re motivated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Um, and so the link between awe and curiosity is just really tight because you see something you don’t understand. And awe is often related to this wow moment of, you know, I’m, I’m looking at these stars and I’m wondering, I have these, I, I wish I knew more. And that feeling, that curiosity is what propels kids to, to want to learn. And one of the really cool pieces of research that I describe in the book was that when you’re curious about something, it actually primes the brain to remember things. And I, I think about this often with very young children, how you might have a 4-year-old who can memorize the names of all the dinosaurs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So they might be talking about the diplodocus. But they might be struggling with some of their other more basic vocabulary, but because their interest level is so high, they are primed to remember. And so really deep learning often happens at this intersection of, you know, of focus and interest. And so, um, one of the things they have.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Researchers have also found is that when the brain is primed with curiosity on wonder that even say 30 minutes later when you’re engaged in an activity that’s not as interesting, not as awe inspiring, your brain is still primed to learn. And so that gets me thinking about how it maybe a class is organized, right?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So am I doing something at the beginning of class that’s really capturing the imagination or the wonder, um, or the curiosity of students, uh. To prime their brain to remember something that later in the class may be important, but not necessarily as, um, wondrous for them. And so I think this is an interesting way for us to think about students who may not be as engaged,\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If they’re not as engaged in everything, can we find the one thing? Can we find the thing that excites them, that sparks that awe, that lights them up, and use that as kind of a foundation for other academic learning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ki Sung:\u003c/strong> I wanna talk about parents real quick. Um, when you talk about wonder, I don’t know if I have time for it, because we’re literally so busy. Um, what is the benefit of making the time to wonder, um, how should I exercise restraint in not wanting to rush, Um, tell me how to restrain myself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Deborah Farmer Kris :\u003c/strong> So researching awe has absolutely in subtle but profound ways transformed how I parent my kids, um, partly because it has made me more attentive to the world around me. Many of the sources of awe are deeply tied to our sensory system, so sounds, sight, smells, what we’re taking in. One of the great things about awe that you, you don’t need to go to the Sistine Chapel or the Grand Canyon, that it’s a very everyday ordinary emotion, and it’s more about putting ourselves in, in the path of it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So for me as a parent, the first thing I had to do was make sure I was making some space for it myself. And the simplest way I, I did this, um, was by adopting, um, one of the practices from research, which was taking an a walk. Now I have a dog, so I am outside with the dog at least three times a day, usually morning, midday, and evening.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And I made the decision that one of those. Times I was outside, even for five or 10 minutes, I would not have my phone on, I would not be listening to music. I would just be paying attention. I’d be looking up, uh, I would be looking at the trees. Um, and I, I, I literally call it my awe walk, right? Five minutes a day, 10 minutes a day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And I noticed that. Over the course of nearly two years now, this has transformed my relationship with my neighborhood. And I don’t just mean my neighbors, although being outside has helped me connect with them. But the trees, the, the birds who I really didn’t even notice were in the neighborhood. And now I can identify so many of them, the, the changing of the seasons.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Um, and then I made the very conscious decision as a parent that when I did notice these things, I was going to be more active about sharing them. Uh, and that means that, you know, if I hear a story that of say a human being kind or brave, which is a key source of awe and wonder. Um, I’m gonna talk to my kids about it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Um, if I see a really beautiful sunset, I am going to be the mom who says, come out and look. Just the other day we were driving home and there was a incredible double rainbow. And I pulled over, I was driving my son home from piano lessons and behind me another parent pulled over with their four or 5-year-old and the two of us were standing out there with our two children in the drizzling rain looking at this gorgeous rainbow.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And I just, you know, thought this was a moment where it’s gonna take me two minutes longer to get home, but this will be something my child remembers where typically a drive home you don’t remember. so it, it’s really not about the big experience, it’s about the little moments in the day of the song, the what you see, the smell that you pause, you notice, and then you take the next step to share.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Uh, because one of the things I have found slowly over time is that because I do so much sharing of my awe moments, and Itry to just be super authentic in how I do it, because I. Do love sharing and talking to my kids. They are much more likely to share them with me, to tell me their stories or to send me the picture they find or the song they think I will like.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And so for me, it becomes almost this very authentic way of just sharing our day together and paying attention to what lights me up and what lights my kids up. And yes, that requires a little bit of slowing down, but it doesn’t require. You know, this is gonna be a day of no screens and nothing, or we’re gonna get, take an entirely unplugged vacation for a week, which none of us have the time or resources to do.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ki Sung:\u003c/strong> It’s quite, um. Uh, contrast I think to maybe how our brains are wired to think about only bad things that are very sticky or, um, uh, the worst things that can happen to us. I think a lot of us are just inclined to, um, you know, think negatively, um, and dwell on those things, but seeing the beautiful positive things in the world, um, may also provide a more accurate. Picture or depiction of our daily lives that there are beautiful wonder, wonderful things around us if we just take the time, uh, time to look.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Deborah Farmer Kris :\u003c/strong> Yeah, sometimes I describe awe as the ultimate and emotion. So, you know, awe is different than gratitude. Gratitude is actually, um, it can be quite a cerebral. Emotion where you think back and even though in the moment you didn’t appreciate it, now you do and you’re grateful for that. Um, awe is very involuntary emotion, right?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You see something beautiful, you feel it. And you know, for me, I call it the “and” emotion because you know, I may be having a really tough day and I’m disturbed by something on the news and just before coming up here, Ki, there was this mass of robins, um, outside that was chattering so loudly. I didn’t actually think they were robins because it was midday. And normally they’re not as that loud midday. And I pulled out my Merlin app to see what they were, and I’m watching them hovering. And I’m wondering, like, I actually Googled, like, why would there be the swarm of Robin’s midday? Um, and it was just a, a brief moment where it was. Again, this, you know, the world is difficult. The world is messy. The world is complicated, and people are doing brave, kind, wonderful things every day. And there are artists making incredible works that will move us. And there’s a natural world out there that is. You know, still full of such mystery.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And so it’s not, you know, as somebody would talk about toxic positivity saying, you know, just look on the bright side, it’s more of just acknowledging that you can have a difficult day and, you know, taking a step outside, taking a deep breath and hearing that bird song or getting that text from a friend who brings you a moment of, of, of warmth and kindness. Um, those moments can coexist.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ki Sung:\u003c/strong> So speaking of bird song or something that has that resonant rhythm, um, you interviewed Dacher Keltner of UC, Berkeley, and he had some advice on finding awe that you wrote about a. In your book, uh, can you read to me what his advice was?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Deborah Farmer Kris :\u003c/strong> Yes, I actually structure it like a poem, uh, in the book. And while I was interviewing him, he was actually out on a walk, which I find quite lovely. And so I said to him, you know, what is your best advice for finding awe? And this is what he said. How do you find awe? You allow unstructured time. How do you find awe?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You wander, you drift through. You take a walk with no aim. How do you find awe? You slow things down. You allow for mystery and open questions rather than test driven answers, you allow people to engage in the humanities of dance and visual art and music.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ki Sung:\u003c/strong> That really is beautiful. so let’s break it down a little bit. Uh, you have spent 20 years as a K to 12 teacher. What does awe look like for the different age groups? for elementary years, the middle school years, or maybe even the high school years?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Deborah Farmer Kris :\u003c/strong> That’s a great question, and I think to answer this, I, I first need to just very briefly talk about the sources because some of these sources will look different at different ages. So when you think about. General categories where people find awe. You have nature and music, the arts, big questions, big ideas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Uh, that feeling of belonging and this, uh, this life cycle. And of course kinda human goodness. So people being kind and brave, and I think at different ages, different of those take priorities. So, you know, for a 4-year-old, one of the things they’re really driven by are why questions. You know, why is this happening?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In fact, there’s some research. That shows, depending on the source, that four year olds can ask, you know, between kind of 70 and a hundred questions a day. Uh, and if you’re raising a kid that age that may actually feel like, you know, a low estimate, but they’re really trying to understand their world and so they’re constantly asking questions, engaging with their world.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And so. That’s really exciting and, and in fact, one of the challenges I think for educators and parents are how do you get high schoolers to still want to have that sense of wonder and engagement with their world? You know, when your kids are hitting the, the middle of high school years, the. The wonder of belonging.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Um, there’s a, an expression from Émile Durkheim called Collective Effervescence. Um, that is really key because they want to be part of a group. And collective effervescence basically means that you’re part of a group that is doing, uh, engaged harmoniously toward a common good cause. And so you might think of a sports team or a choral group, or even a Model UN or d and d or robotics club where people are working together toward this common aim, and that feels really good. Um, so when kids, especially teenagers, don’t find that they’re missing out on a. A source of wonder that they’re actually biologically primed for, because this is an age where they’re pulling away from parents and looking to be part of a peer group.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And so that becomes a really important thing to help kids navigate. How do you find the in-person, peer group?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Deborah Farmer Kris :\u003c/strong> Um, I think. You know, for any age group being out in nature, um, engaging with art, finding music that speaks to them and that may change dramatically their musical tastes. Um. Those are all kind of ready-made sources of awe that we can be tapping into as, as teachers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of the things I really love about the whole developmental range of childhood is that interest change and that what makes them tick, what lights them up, change, and, um I’ve taught almost every grade K through 12, and really one of my favorites is middle school, partly because it’s such a time of intense change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And I think for parents and educators, it can feel tricky when it looks like they are, um, letting go of things that used to make them happy with sources of awe and, and, and wonder for them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And so it might look like they’re just getting jaded or cynical when in fact they’re undergoing a very natural transition into. Perhaps what is going to be the new face. And so being patient with them and kind of going with it and getting curious, um, have practicing some radical curiosity about, okay, so your kid doesn’t really like soccer anymore after all these years on a, you know, soccer squad, but it looks like they might be interested in joining, um, a drama troupe. And so I’m gonna take a deep breath and go with that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Or there might be a sticky time in between where they don’t know who their friend group is and what their interests are. But that is such a great identity formation time, and I feel like awe and wonder are a great tool for parents during that identity formation because if you can start just paying attention to, okay, so what is sparking their interests? What does light them up? What? Where can I see that their eyes did grow wide? And maybe we explore that a little bit. Maybe it sticks, maybe it doesn’t, and that’s okay. But these are all pathways in to mental wellness, emotional wellness, and even academic growth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ki Sung:\u003c/strong> That sounds like great advice and you cited, uh, Benjamin Bloom’s research, I believe, when describing that spark.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Deborah Farmer Kris :\u003c/strong> Yeah\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ki Sung:\u003c/strong> Um, and parents, you know, encouraging kids along that path. Uh. I do have a question for you, for educators. What amazes me whenever I observe teachers in the classroom is how they can be still enthusiastic teaching the same topic, bringing the sense of awe to 30 different kids six times a day for the many, many years they’ve been teaching. How do awe and wonder continue to exist in a classroom when one might get a little tired of doing the same thing over and over again?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Deborah Farmer Kris :\u003c/strong> I love that question. I was an English teacher for years as well as an elementary school teacher. And I, I think between reflecting on my own teaching experience. And now this research, I had a bit of an aha moment\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>uh, what kept it fresh was watching my students first encounter with it. their moments of awe, I remember a student coming in and we had just finished Taylor two cities, and she came in and she was crying and she was angry and she threw the book down. She had finished the book in the hallway and she said. It’s not supposed to end this way. And I thought, you know, I’ve read this book a dozen times, but for the first time here, she’s experiencing this emotional catharsis of seeing this kind of final sacrifice of the, the protagonist of this book. And, um, you know, that’s a really exciting thing as a teacher.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You know, I, I write about my freshman year in college ’cause it’s still so transformational to me. I had this professor who took us out of the classroom. He was an education professor, but he took us to the Museum of Fine Arts. He took us to the Isabella Stewart Garden Museum in Boston. And, um. At one point, uh, you know, I, it was several weeks later I was reading, uh, I, I went to the Isabella Stewart Gardner to, to do some homework.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was cold in Boston. It was a beautiful courtyard. Um, and he ended up capturing a picture of, of me reading something and giving that to me as a gift. This kind of emblem of, you know, me reading a book in an art museum. And I actually kept that picture in my classroom for years as kind of this reminder of a teacher who saw me, a teacher, introduced me to beauty, uh, and that that was the type, even though I didn’t have the word awe for it at the time, it was absolutely what drew me back to that place. Um, and so I knew almost intuitively that that was the emotion that I wanted to connect with, with the students. And so, you know, if I am bored with what I’m teaching, I need to freshen it up a little bit. Um, but it may be that I just. I also need to tune into the kids in front of me in a way that what sparks me is their spark, um, more than the content itself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ki Sung:\u003c/strong> I think what I’m hearing you say is awe is this connective feeling that motivates you, motivates the students, um, and maybe motivates a lot of people to shape their worlds into something different than what they had before or had been expecting for themselves.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Deborah Farmer Kris :\u003c/strong> I think that’s fair because one of the characteristics of awe is what scientists call the small self, uh, which is when you know. I think about this with teenagers where they, they think everybody’s staring at them. Uh, I think a lot of adults feel that too, right? I, I made a mistake. Everybody’s thinking about that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And anything that helps you zoom out and get a broader perspective, uh, is something that can help quiet that kind of internal chatter that we have, um, and just kind of realign. Our understanding of the world and our place in it. And one of my favorite pieces of research, uh, and I, I share this with kids a lot and they love it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/strong>Um, it, it was conducted at uc, Berkeley, and there’s a science building, which from the back is really a nondescript brick building. Nothing particularly awe inspiring about that architecture. But if you turn your body around, there’s this grove of, um, old growth trees. And so the researchers had their subjects one by one come out and either face the nondescript brick building or face the beautiful grove of trees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And then after a span of time, somebody else in the study, unbeknownst to the test subject, wanders by and drops things. And they were measuring like, well, who’s gonna help the stranger pick up their things? And it turns out. At a statistically significant level, those who were staring at the trees, uh, were more likely to help a stranger than those staring at a brick building.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And what I love about the study is that it’s just, it’s such a metaphor for life in the sense that we can be standing in the exact same place. Right, the same circumstances, but where we direct our gaze, um, what we choose to see also can increase our sense of connectedness, um, to people around us. And one of the other things we know is that, um performing acts of kindness, right? That is a boost to wellbeing as well. Uh, that when somebody is feeling lonely or down or depressed, that acts of service turned out to be a really, really effective and powerful intervention. And so, you know, I. Researchers speculate. Why have we evolved to feel this?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Because all feelings have functions, right? Disgust is there because we don’t want to eat the rotten chicken and fear motivates us to avoid danger. Uh, so the hypothesis is that awe is designed to help us um be more connected to our communities, um, to kind of bind people toward a common purpose, right? If you know, I, I think about the eclipse and how I was near the path of totality and how the entire neighborhood came out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And here we are, the whole neighborhood staring up at the sky together. Like these are moments. Um. You think of all the people who, who go to a World Series game, um, to cheer together that are, are binding us as a community. And those are things that help us with wellbeing and even survival. And so that’s, that’s a hypothesis and it’s, it’s one I, I think we should continue to explore.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ki Sung:\u003c/strong> Deborah, thanks so much for bringing awe to our attention. I hope that just by bringing this topic into the world or sharing it more with a wider audience, that more people create this positive impact to create a better world. It sounds like we’re already on our way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Deborah Farmer Kris :\u003c/strong> Thanks so much.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ki Sung: \u003c/strong>Debra Farmer Kris is a child development expert and author of “\u003ca href=\"https://www.teachercreatedmaterials.com/products/raising-awe-seekers-how-the-science-of-wonder-helps-our-kids-thrive-153673\">Raising Awe Seekers, how The Science of Wonder Helps our Kids Thrive\u003c/a>.” She’s also a longtime MindShift contributor who’s written a lot about emotion so I encourage you to look up those stories. And she also works for PBS Kids as a show consultant.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You can also check out her children’s book series “All the Time” and “I See You”.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ki Sung\u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/strong>The MindShift team includes me, Ki Sung, Nimah Gobir, Marlena Jackson-Retondo and Marnette Federis. Our editor is Chris Hambrick. Seth Samuel is our sound designer. Jen Chien is our head of podcasts. Katie Sprenger is podcast operations manager and Ethan Toven Lindsey is our editor in chief. We receive additional support from Maha Sanad.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MindShift is supported in part by the generosity of the William & Flora Hewlett Foundation and members of KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some members of the KQED podcast team are represented by The Screen Actors Guild, American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. San Francisco Northern California Local.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Even with the government shut down, lots of people are thinking about how to reimagine federal education research. Public comments on how to reform the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), the Education Department’s research and statistics arm, were due on Oct. 15. A total of 434 suggestions were submitted, but no one can read them because the department isn’t allowed to post them publicly until the government reopens. (We know the number because the \u003ca href=\"https://www.regulations.gov/docket/ED-2025-IES-0844\">comment entry page\u003c/a> has an automatic counter.)\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>A complex numbers game \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>There’s broad agreement across the political spectrum that federal education statistics are essential. Even many critics of the Department of Education want its data collection efforts to survive — just somewhere else. Some have suggested moving the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) to another agency, such as the Commerce Department, where the U.S. Census Bureau is housed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Diane Cheng, vice president of policy at the Institute for Higher Education Policy, a nonprofit organization that advocates for increasing college access and improving graduation rates, warns that shifting NCES risks the quality and usefulness of higher education data. Any move would have to be done carefully, planning for future interagency coordination, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Many of the federal data collections combine data from different sources within ED,” Cheng said, referring to the Education Department. “It has worked well to have everyone within the same agency.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She points to the \u003ca href=\"https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/\">College Scorecard\u003c/a>, the website that lets families compare colleges by cost, student loan debt, graduation rates, and post-college earnings. It merges several data sources, including the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), run by NCES, and the National Student Loan Data System, housed in the Office of Federal Student Aid. Several other higher ed data collections on \u003ca href=\"https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/npsas/\">student aid\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/bps/\">students’ pathways through college\u003c/a> also merge data collected at the statistical unit with student aid figures. Splitting those across different agencies could make such collaboration far more difficult.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If those data are split across multiple federal agencies,” Cheng said, “there would likely be more bureaucratic hurdles required to combine the data.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Information sharing across federal agencies is notoriously cumbersome, the very problem that led to the creation of the Department of Homeland Security after 9/11.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Hiring and $4.5 million in fresh research grants\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Even as the Trump administration publicly insists it intends to shutter the Department of Education, it is quietly rebuilding small parts of it behind the scenes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In September, the department \u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/proof-points-reforming-ies-education-research/\">posted eight new jobs\u003c/a> to replace fired staff who oversaw the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), the biennial test of American students’ achievement. In November, it advertised \u003ca href=\"https://www.usajobs.gov/job/849436800?fromemail=true\">four more openings for statisticians\u003c/a> inside the Federal Student Aid Office. Still, nothing is expected to be quick or smooth. The government shutdown stalled hiring for the NAEP jobs, and now a new Trump administration directive to form \u003ca href=\"https://www.semafor.com/article/11/05/2025/trump-administration-requires-federal-employee-hiring-committees-by-nov-17\">hiring committees by Nov. 17\u003c/a> to approve and fill open positions may further delay these hires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the same time, the demolition continues. Less than two weeks after the Oct. 1 government shutdown, 466 additional Education Department employees were terminated — on top of the roughly 2,000 lost since March 2025 through firings and voluntary departures. (The department employed about 4,000 at the start of the Trump administration.) A federal judge temporarily \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/15/us/politics/government-shutdown-trump-layoffs-unions.html\">blocked these latest layoffs\u003c/a> on Oct. 15.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are also other small new signs of life. On Sept. 30 — just before the shutdown — the department quietly awarded \u003ca href=\"https://ies.ed.gov/search-results?searchTerms=From%20Seedlings%20to%20Scale%20Grants%20Program%20(ALN%2084.305J)\">nine new research and development grants\u003c/a> totaling $4.5 million. The grants, listed on the department’s website, are part of a new initiative called, “\u003ca href=\"https://ies.ed.gov/funding/research/programs/seedlings-scale-grants-program\">From Seedlings to Scale Grants Program\u003c/a>” (S2S), launched by the Biden administration in \u003ca href=\"https://ies.ed.gov/funding/grants/2025/seedlings-scale-84-305j\">August 2024\u003c/a> to test whether the Defense Department’s DARPA-style innovation model could work in education. DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, invests in new technologies for national security. Its most celebrated project became the basis for the internet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Each new project, mostly focused on AI-driven personalized learning, received $500,000 to produce early evidence of effectiveness. Recipients include universities, research organizations and ed tech firms. Projects that show promise could be eligible for future funding to scale up with more students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to a person familiar with the program who spoke on background, the nine projects had been selected before President Donald Trump took office, but the formal awards were delayed amid the department’s upheaval. The Institute of Education Sciences — which lost roughly 90 percent of its staff — was one of the hardest hit divisions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Granted, $4.5 million is a rounding error compared with IES’s official annual budget of $800 million. Still, these are believed to be the first new federal education research grants of the Trump era and a faint signal that Washington may not be abandoning education innovation altogether.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story about \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/proof-points-risks-higher-ed-data/\">\u003cem>risks to federal education data\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> was produced by \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/special-reports/higher-education/\">The Hechinger Report\u003c/a>\u003cem>, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/proofpoints/\">\u003cem>Proof Points\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> and other \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/newsletters/\">\u003cem>Hechinger newsletters\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Even with the government shut down, lots of people are thinking about how to reimagine federal education research. Public comments on how to reform the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), the Education Department’s research and statistics arm, were due on Oct. 15. A total of 434 suggestions were submitted, but no one can read them because the department isn’t allowed to post them publicly until the government reopens. (We know the number because the \u003ca href=\"https://www.regulations.gov/docket/ED-2025-IES-0844\">comment entry page\u003c/a> has an automatic counter.)\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>A complex numbers game \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>There’s broad agreement across the political spectrum that federal education statistics are essential. Even many critics of the Department of Education want its data collection efforts to survive — just somewhere else. Some have suggested moving the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) to another agency, such as the Commerce Department, where the U.S. Census Bureau is housed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Diane Cheng, vice president of policy at the Institute for Higher Education Policy, a nonprofit organization that advocates for increasing college access and improving graduation rates, warns that shifting NCES risks the quality and usefulness of higher education data. Any move would have to be done carefully, planning for future interagency coordination, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Many of the federal data collections combine data from different sources within ED,” Cheng said, referring to the Education Department. “It has worked well to have everyone within the same agency.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She points to the \u003ca href=\"https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/\">College Scorecard\u003c/a>, the website that lets families compare colleges by cost, student loan debt, graduation rates, and post-college earnings. It merges several data sources, including the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), run by NCES, and the National Student Loan Data System, housed in the Office of Federal Student Aid. Several other higher ed data collections on \u003ca href=\"https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/npsas/\">student aid\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/bps/\">students’ pathways through college\u003c/a> also merge data collected at the statistical unit with student aid figures. Splitting those across different agencies could make such collaboration far more difficult.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If those data are split across multiple federal agencies,” Cheng said, “there would likely be more bureaucratic hurdles required to combine the data.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Information sharing across federal agencies is notoriously cumbersome, the very problem that led to the creation of the Department of Homeland Security after 9/11.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Hiring and $4.5 million in fresh research grants\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Even as the Trump administration publicly insists it intends to shutter the Department of Education, it is quietly rebuilding small parts of it behind the scenes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In September, the department \u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/proof-points-reforming-ies-education-research/\">posted eight new jobs\u003c/a> to replace fired staff who oversaw the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), the biennial test of American students’ achievement. In November, it advertised \u003ca href=\"https://www.usajobs.gov/job/849436800?fromemail=true\">four more openings for statisticians\u003c/a> inside the Federal Student Aid Office. Still, nothing is expected to be quick or smooth. The government shutdown stalled hiring for the NAEP jobs, and now a new Trump administration directive to form \u003ca href=\"https://www.semafor.com/article/11/05/2025/trump-administration-requires-federal-employee-hiring-committees-by-nov-17\">hiring committees by Nov. 17\u003c/a> to approve and fill open positions may further delay these hires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the same time, the demolition continues. Less than two weeks after the Oct. 1 government shutdown, 466 additional Education Department employees were terminated — on top of the roughly 2,000 lost since March 2025 through firings and voluntary departures. (The department employed about 4,000 at the start of the Trump administration.) A federal judge temporarily \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/15/us/politics/government-shutdown-trump-layoffs-unions.html\">blocked these latest layoffs\u003c/a> on Oct. 15.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are also other small new signs of life. On Sept. 30 — just before the shutdown — the department quietly awarded \u003ca href=\"https://ies.ed.gov/search-results?searchTerms=From%20Seedlings%20to%20Scale%20Grants%20Program%20(ALN%2084.305J)\">nine new research and development grants\u003c/a> totaling $4.5 million. The grants, listed on the department’s website, are part of a new initiative called, “\u003ca href=\"https://ies.ed.gov/funding/research/programs/seedlings-scale-grants-program\">From Seedlings to Scale Grants Program\u003c/a>” (S2S), launched by the Biden administration in \u003ca href=\"https://ies.ed.gov/funding/grants/2025/seedlings-scale-84-305j\">August 2024\u003c/a> to test whether the Defense Department’s DARPA-style innovation model could work in education. DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, invests in new technologies for national security. Its most celebrated project became the basis for the internet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Each new project, mostly focused on AI-driven personalized learning, received $500,000 to produce early evidence of effectiveness. Recipients include universities, research organizations and ed tech firms. Projects that show promise could be eligible for future funding to scale up with more students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to a person familiar with the program who spoke on background, the nine projects had been selected before President Donald Trump took office, but the formal awards were delayed amid the department’s upheaval. The Institute of Education Sciences — which lost roughly 90 percent of its staff — was one of the hardest hit divisions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Granted, $4.5 million is a rounding error compared with IES’s official annual budget of $800 million. Still, these are believed to be the first new federal education research grants of the Trump era and a faint signal that Washington may not be abandoning education innovation altogether.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story about \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/proof-points-risks-higher-ed-data/\">\u003cem>risks to federal education data\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> was produced by \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/special-reports/higher-education/\">The Hechinger Report\u003c/a>\u003cem>, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/proofpoints/\">\u003cem>Proof Points\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> and other \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/newsletters/\">\u003cem>Hechinger newsletters\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>When the school year began in Virginia this fall, teenagers entering public high schools have something new on their curriculum: instruction on how to better understand and avoid the risks of gambling. Funded by the state’s very own gambling industry, the lessons aim to educate students on luck and chance, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/65812/what-every-parent-should-know-about-online-gambling\">the risks of addiction, the nature of online betting\u003c/a> and other messages.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These education measures come into effect seven years after the Supreme Court lifted restrictions on gambling within states. Since the court’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/17pdf/16-476_dbfi.pdf\">\u003cem>Murphy\u003c/em>\u003c/a> decision, 38 states now permit wagering in various forms, much of it online. And while most states require players to be at least 21, many younger people have found a way in. According to the Massachusetts Department of Public \u003ca href=\"https://www.mass.gov/info-details/teens-gambling-its-a-risk\">Health\u003c/a>, 60-80% of teenagers report having gambled at least once over the past year by the time they reach high school. Problem gambling can start as young as 10, and 4-8% of young people struggle with it, versus just 1% of adults. Teenage gambling is also associated with use of illegal \u003ca href=\"https://www.ncpgambling.org/help-treatment/faqs-what-is-problem-gambling/\">drugs\u003c/a>, and gambling addiction is more apt to lead to \u003ca href=\"https://www.news5cleveland.com/news/local-news/problem-gamblers-have-highest-suicide-rate-of-any-addiction-disorder-studies-show\">suicide\u003c/a> than addiction to drugs or alcohol.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What’s startling about Virginia’s initiative was its original resistance to addressing problem gambling in any context. Along with eight other states, Virginia initially had earmarked scant \u003ca href=\"https://virginiamercury.com/2024/09/03/how-virginia-is-addressing-the-dark-side-of-gambling/\">funding\u003c/a> for research or support services for problem gamblers. But just two years after the state authorized online sports gambling, citizens began to stew over the fusillade of ads for DraftKings, FanDuel and BetMGM, especially as word spread about tax advantages the industry had secured. Parents called to share stories of young people swept up in wagering. Sam Rasoul, a delegate from the state’s 38\u003csup>th\u003c/sup> district, introduced legislation that promptly passed in 2022. “The political appetite was right,” said \u003ca href=\"https://consultbds.com/about/\">Brianne Doura-Schawohl\u003c/a>, a public health advocate who helped craft the legislation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://dbhds.virginia.gov/pgts-committee/\">Anne Rogers\u003c/a> oversaw the creation of the educational materials. The head of gambling prevention efforts throughout the state, Rogers worked with Virginia’s 40 community service boards to find effective lessons that would educate teenagers without teaching them how to gamble or entice them to give it a try. They settled on two primary materials: the \u003ca href=\"https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.hazelden.org%2Fstore%2Fitem%2F557330%3FStacked-Deck-Second-Edition&data=05%7C02%7Clinda%40flanagansnj.com%7C1a8f3b2d9edf4fdb02b308ddd363c13a%7C7d18c35e6a6640dcb037e7323831f1db%7C0%7C0%7C638899147811795431%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=W3Tt8kpYHMcgDLSY90eCxCJc2MjX4RqU%2BWasjkFLbCU%3D&reserved=0\">Stacked Deck curriculum\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8507822/\">“Who Really Wins?,”\u003c/a> a gambling prevention program designed in Croatia. Teachers suggested that school schedules wouldn’t allow for the recommended 7 to 8 sessions, so Rogers condensed the material into a single 90-minute lesson, some of it interactive, that could be divided up further as needed. The state also offers a free web-based \u003ca href=\"https://www.train.org/virginia/course/1130510/details\">system\u003c/a> on gambling that is available to anyone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The 90 minutes cover several subjects: understanding gaming, gambling and the laws around them; brain development; media literacy; the impact on physical and emotional health; signs of problem gambling; financial literacy; and how to keep from developing a problem.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We avoided discussion of myths vs facts,” Rogers explained, because research shows that students remember myths and confuse them with facts. Pulling from the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/62742/just-say-no-didnt-actually-protect-students-from-drugs-heres-what-could\">failures of the anti-drug D.A.R.E. Program\u003c/a>, the gambling materials tell kids what gambling is without showing them how to do it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re not teaching them how to gamble,” Rogers said. Small tests between sections indicate whether kids understand what they’ve been taught.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What are the prospects of more states picking this up?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s a lot of interest in states wanting to replicate what Virginia is doing,” Rogers said; Massachusetts and New Jersey are considering legislation now. At the same time, the lack of federal leadership impedes state efforts, because there’s no national plan to address problem gambling that states can simply adopt. Governments also can be slow to react to threats that don’t seem to pose imminent dangers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The school systems haven’t caught up with the health system, and the health system hasn’t caught up with the trends in the gambling industry,” Doura-Schawohl explained, noting that it took about 30 years to get action on the health risks associated with tobacco, alcohol and opioids. The fact that states receive revenue from legalized gambling also dampens enthusiasm for tough regulation; gambling proceeds provide a fresh source of state funds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not everyone who studies gambling addiction believes that mandatory, school-based lessons focusing on prohibition are the best approach to preventing problem gambling. \u003ca href=\"https://bri.ucla.edu/people/timothy-fong/\">Timothy Fong\u003c/a>, a psychiatrist and co-director of UCLA’s Gambling Studies Program, and who is passionate about studying all-things-gambling, told me that “addiction and loneliness feed off each other.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The young people who get swept up into addictive behaviors are looking for quick ways to obtain financial and social success; they can’t resist the promise of “easy” money coming to them from their own devices. “They think, ‘I need money fast in order to feel good about myself”,” Fong said. “What’s missing in their lives is developing kindness, empathy, gratitude, compassion and strengthening civics and pride in themselves and their communities.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of course, young people need a grounding in financial literary and probability, but it would be more effective to address false expectations and fantasies about striking it rich through betting, he added. Kids need connection with other humans more than immersion in anti-gambling curriculum, especially adult mentors who can counteract the messaging of social media and misinformation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There is no magic bullet,” Rogers said, acknowledging that tackling the problem will require more than one 90-minute session on the perils of gambling. Kids need tools on how to succeed and better ways of minimizing stress. “This is just one piece,” she added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.jonathandcohen.com/\">Jonathan Cohen\u003c/a>, author of \u003cem>Losing Big: America’s Reckless Bet On Spots Gambling\u003c/em>, told me that school principals have begun calling him, asking for guidance on how to handle their emerging problems, like middle school kids talking openly about gambling and bragging about their wins. Cohen believes parents and schools need to talk to kids about gambling, at the very least to challenge the dominant narrative propagated by social media influencers and celebrities on TV: that wagering is glamorous and fun and no harm can come from it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For her part, Doura-Schawohl is troubled by the pace of reform. “A lot of kids are going to die while policy makers wait around and figure out if we should do something, and what they should do,” she said. “And that’s a terrifying fact.”\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>When the school year began in Virginia this fall, teenagers entering public high schools have something new on their curriculum: instruction on how to better understand and avoid the risks of gambling. Funded by the state’s very own gambling industry, the lessons aim to educate students on luck and chance, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/65812/what-every-parent-should-know-about-online-gambling\">the risks of addiction, the nature of online betting\u003c/a> and other messages.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These education measures come into effect seven years after the Supreme Court lifted restrictions on gambling within states. Since the court’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/17pdf/16-476_dbfi.pdf\">\u003cem>Murphy\u003c/em>\u003c/a> decision, 38 states now permit wagering in various forms, much of it online. And while most states require players to be at least 21, many younger people have found a way in. According to the Massachusetts Department of Public \u003ca href=\"https://www.mass.gov/info-details/teens-gambling-its-a-risk\">Health\u003c/a>, 60-80% of teenagers report having gambled at least once over the past year by the time they reach high school. Problem gambling can start as young as 10, and 4-8% of young people struggle with it, versus just 1% of adults. Teenage gambling is also associated with use of illegal \u003ca href=\"https://www.ncpgambling.org/help-treatment/faqs-what-is-problem-gambling/\">drugs\u003c/a>, and gambling addiction is more apt to lead to \u003ca href=\"https://www.news5cleveland.com/news/local-news/problem-gamblers-have-highest-suicide-rate-of-any-addiction-disorder-studies-show\">suicide\u003c/a> than addiction to drugs or alcohol.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What’s startling about Virginia’s initiative was its original resistance to addressing problem gambling in any context. Along with eight other states, Virginia initially had earmarked scant \u003ca href=\"https://virginiamercury.com/2024/09/03/how-virginia-is-addressing-the-dark-side-of-gambling/\">funding\u003c/a> for research or support services for problem gamblers. But just two years after the state authorized online sports gambling, citizens began to stew over the fusillade of ads for DraftKings, FanDuel and BetMGM, especially as word spread about tax advantages the industry had secured. Parents called to share stories of young people swept up in wagering. Sam Rasoul, a delegate from the state’s 38\u003csup>th\u003c/sup> district, introduced legislation that promptly passed in 2022. “The political appetite was right,” said \u003ca href=\"https://consultbds.com/about/\">Brianne Doura-Schawohl\u003c/a>, a public health advocate who helped craft the legislation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://dbhds.virginia.gov/pgts-committee/\">Anne Rogers\u003c/a> oversaw the creation of the educational materials. The head of gambling prevention efforts throughout the state, Rogers worked with Virginia’s 40 community service boards to find effective lessons that would educate teenagers without teaching them how to gamble or entice them to give it a try. They settled on two primary materials: the \u003ca href=\"https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.hazelden.org%2Fstore%2Fitem%2F557330%3FStacked-Deck-Second-Edition&data=05%7C02%7Clinda%40flanagansnj.com%7C1a8f3b2d9edf4fdb02b308ddd363c13a%7C7d18c35e6a6640dcb037e7323831f1db%7C0%7C0%7C638899147811795431%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=W3Tt8kpYHMcgDLSY90eCxCJc2MjX4RqU%2BWasjkFLbCU%3D&reserved=0\">Stacked Deck curriculum\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8507822/\">“Who Really Wins?,”\u003c/a> a gambling prevention program designed in Croatia. Teachers suggested that school schedules wouldn’t allow for the recommended 7 to 8 sessions, so Rogers condensed the material into a single 90-minute lesson, some of it interactive, that could be divided up further as needed. The state also offers a free web-based \u003ca href=\"https://www.train.org/virginia/course/1130510/details\">system\u003c/a> on gambling that is available to anyone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The 90 minutes cover several subjects: understanding gaming, gambling and the laws around them; brain development; media literacy; the impact on physical and emotional health; signs of problem gambling; financial literacy; and how to keep from developing a problem.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We avoided discussion of myths vs facts,” Rogers explained, because research shows that students remember myths and confuse them with facts. Pulling from the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/62742/just-say-no-didnt-actually-protect-students-from-drugs-heres-what-could\">failures of the anti-drug D.A.R.E. Program\u003c/a>, the gambling materials tell kids what gambling is without showing them how to do it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re not teaching them how to gamble,” Rogers said. Small tests between sections indicate whether kids understand what they’ve been taught.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What are the prospects of more states picking this up?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s a lot of interest in states wanting to replicate what Virginia is doing,” Rogers said; Massachusetts and New Jersey are considering legislation now. At the same time, the lack of federal leadership impedes state efforts, because there’s no national plan to address problem gambling that states can simply adopt. Governments also can be slow to react to threats that don’t seem to pose imminent dangers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The school systems haven’t caught up with the health system, and the health system hasn’t caught up with the trends in the gambling industry,” Doura-Schawohl explained, noting that it took about 30 years to get action on the health risks associated with tobacco, alcohol and opioids. The fact that states receive revenue from legalized gambling also dampens enthusiasm for tough regulation; gambling proceeds provide a fresh source of state funds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not everyone who studies gambling addiction believes that mandatory, school-based lessons focusing on prohibition are the best approach to preventing problem gambling. \u003ca href=\"https://bri.ucla.edu/people/timothy-fong/\">Timothy Fong\u003c/a>, a psychiatrist and co-director of UCLA’s Gambling Studies Program, and who is passionate about studying all-things-gambling, told me that “addiction and loneliness feed off each other.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The young people who get swept up into addictive behaviors are looking for quick ways to obtain financial and social success; they can’t resist the promise of “easy” money coming to them from their own devices. “They think, ‘I need money fast in order to feel good about myself”,” Fong said. “What’s missing in their lives is developing kindness, empathy, gratitude, compassion and strengthening civics and pride in themselves and their communities.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of course, young people need a grounding in financial literary and probability, but it would be more effective to address false expectations and fantasies about striking it rich through betting, he added. Kids need connection with other humans more than immersion in anti-gambling curriculum, especially adult mentors who can counteract the messaging of social media and misinformation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There is no magic bullet,” Rogers said, acknowledging that tackling the problem will require more than one 90-minute session on the perils of gambling. Kids need tools on how to succeed and better ways of minimizing stress. “This is just one piece,” she added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.jonathandcohen.com/\">Jonathan Cohen\u003c/a>, author of \u003cem>Losing Big: America’s Reckless Bet On Spots Gambling\u003c/em>, told me that school principals have begun calling him, asking for guidance on how to handle their emerging problems, like middle school kids talking openly about gambling and bragging about their wins. Cohen believes parents and schools need to talk to kids about gambling, at the very least to challenge the dominant narrative propagated by social media influencers and celebrities on TV: that wagering is glamorous and fun and no harm can come from it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For her part, Doura-Schawohl is troubled by the pace of reform. “A lot of kids are going to die while policy makers wait around and figure out if we should do something, and what they should do,” she said. “And that’s a terrifying fact.”\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "public-workers-could-be-denied-loan-forgiveness-if-cities-defy-trump-lawsuit-alleges",
"title": "Public Workers Could Be Denied Loan Forgiveness if Cities Defy Trump, Lawsuit Alleges",
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"content": "\u003cp>The cities of Albuquerque, N.M., Boston, Chicago and San Francisco are suing the Trump administration over changes it plans to make to the popular Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, or PSLF.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The lawsuit, which also includes the nation’s two largest teachers unions and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, comes less than a week after the U.S. Department of Education \u003ca href=\"https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/10/31/2025-19729/william-d-ford-federal-direct-loan-direct-loan-program\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">published a rule change\u003c/a> to PSLF.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Effective July 1, 2026, the department says the change will allow it to deny loan forgiveness to workers whose government or nonprofit employers engage in activities with a “substantial illegal purpose.” The job of defining “substantial illegal purpose” will fall not to the courts but to the education secretary.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>PSLF was created by Congress in 2007, and signed by then-President George W. Bush, to cancel the federal student loan debts of borrowers who spend a decade working in public service, including teaching, nursing and policing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to the lawsuit, filed Monday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, the plaintiffs fear that a city or county government’s resistance to the administration’s immigration actions, for example, or anti-DEI policies, could lead the secretary to exclude that government’s public workers from loan forgiveness. They worry that a local nurse or first responder could be denied loan forgiveness because their local leaders defied the Trump administration.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The complaint argues the rule is “an attempt to target organizations and jurisdictions whose missions and policies do not align with [the Trump administration’s] political positions on immigration, race, gender, free speech, and public protest.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Politically motivated retaliation, like what the administration has done here, should have no place in America,” said Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward, one of the organizations representing the plaintiffs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The plaintiff group also includes the National Council of Nonprofits, which \u003ca href=\"https://www.councilofnonprofits.org/pressreleases/nonprofits-oppose-unlawful-public-service-loan-forgiveness-final-rule-limiting\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">said in a statement\u003c/a> upon the rule’s release:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Nonprofits operate food banks, serve veterans, assist domestic violence survivors, deliver meals to seniors, respond to disasters, and much more. Nonprofits must be able to identify and meet those needs without political interference, fear of retribution, or exclusion from a program designed to support their employees.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under Secretary of Education Nicholas Kent denounced the lawsuit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is unconscionable that the plaintiffs are standing up for criminal activity,” Kent said in a statement to NPR. “This is a commonsense reform that will stop taxpayer dollars from subsidizing organizations involved in terrorism, child trafficking, and transgender procedures that are doing irreversible harm to children.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In response to plaintiffs’ concerns that the administration could use PSLF as a weapon to punish political opponents, Kent insisted “the Department will enforce [the rule] neutrally, without consideration of the employer’s mission, ideology, or the population they serve.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The complaint says PSLF has allowed local governments to retain employees, including lawyers and engineers, who could earn more in the private sector. Albuquerque’s leaders say that losing access to PSLF “would likely create an untenable staffing crisis.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a statement, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu added: “The City is joining with cities, unions, and nonprofits across the country to protect a program that helps Boston’s workforce and millions of Americans in public service careers pay for college.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What activities does the administration consider to be illegal?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>One key question raised by this rule change, and the lawsuit, is: How will the Education Department define activities with “substantial illegal purpose”?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to the rule itself, such activities could include:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul class=\"rte2-style-ul\" style=\"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-inline-start: 48px;\">\n\u003cli>“aiding and abetting violations of Federal immigration laws”\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>“supporting terrorism or engaging in violence for the purpose of obstructing or influencing Federal Government policy”\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>“engaging in the chemical and surgical castration or mutilation of children in violation of Federal or state law”\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>“engaging in the trafficking of children to another State for purposes of emancipation from their lawful parents in violation of Federal or State law”\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>“engaging in a pattern of aiding and abetting illegal discrimination”\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>“and engaging in a pattern of violating State laws.”\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>If the secretary determines that an employer has behaved with “substantial illegal purpose,” according to the rule, the employer can either engage with the department and accept a corrective action plan or risk losing access to PSLF for its employees for 10 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In response to public comments, the Education Department \u003ca href=\"https://public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2025-19729.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">has said\u003c/a>, “[it] would have no basis to remove eligibility from nonprofits engaged in work related to immigrant communities, LGBTQ+ individuals, or racial justice if those organizations are following the law.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the plaintiff cities, which sit on the U.S. Justice Department’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-publishes-list-sanctuary-jurisdictions\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">“sanctuary jurisdictions”\u003c/a> list, say the Trump administration has already accused them of impeding the enforcement of federal law, and that this rule “represents yet another attack on politically disfavored local governments and nonprofits that have local laws, policies, and missions that are anathemas to the Administration.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The actions of these cities are legal,” says Persis Yu, of Protect Borrowers, another organization representing the plaintiffs. What’s more, she says, “whether or not these activities are legal, is not a [determination] that the secretary of education has either the right or the expertise to be making.”\u003cem> \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new rule is the culmination of \u003ca href=\"https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/restoring-public-service-loan-forgiveness/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a presidential action\u003c/a>, issued in March, in which President Trump accused the Biden administration of abusing PSLF, and said the program “has misdirected tax dollars into activist organizations that not only fail to serve the public interest, but actually harm our national security and American values, sometimes through criminal means.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What did Congress intend when it created PSLF?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The plaintiffs argue Congress was clear about what should qualify as “public service” when it wrote the law, and that this new rule goes against lawmakers’ intent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The Higher Education Act defines public service jobs as including government or a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt nonprofit organization. It does not provide any discretion or wiggle room within that definition,” Yu says. “Congress has said that this is who is entitled to public service loan forgiveness. The secretary doesn’t have the authority to change that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In response to public comments, the Education Department has \u003ca href=\"https://public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2025-19729.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">disagreed\u003c/a>, writing that “[it] rejects the suggestion that this rule exceeds its legal authority. The [Higher Education Act] grants the Secretary explicit power to regulate title IV programs. PSLF is a title IV program, and its proper administration requires clear, enforceable standards.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another lawsuit was filed in tandem Monday, by a coalition of 21 state attorneys general, arguing on behalf of Democratic-leaning state governments that worry their public employees could likewise be denied loan forgiveness because of state leaders’ decisions to support immigrants, promote DEI or provide gender affirming care.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The coalition of attorneys general warned in a press release that the rule would result in “widespread confusion, fear, and instability in the public workforce, forcing states to confront severe staffing shortages, higher turnover, and skyrocketing costs to maintain essential services.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to federal data, more than 1.1 million public service workers have thus far had their federal student loan debts discharged under PSLF.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story was updated to include comment from the U.S. Department of Education.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"npr-transcript\">\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Transcript:\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More than a million Americans have had their student loan debts erased because they’ve worked in public service. Many teachers, nurses, government and nonprofit workers have stayed in their jobs in hopes of benefiting from the federal Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. Now, though, the Trump administration is changing the rules around who can qualify. Today, a host of cities and 21 states led by Democrats filed a pair of lawsuits saying they fear their public workers could soon be excluded. NPR’s Cory Turner is here in the studio with more. Hey.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CORY TURNER, BYLINE: Hey, Juana.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SUMMERS: So Cory, let’s just start with a quick reminder of the PSLF program. How is it supposed to work?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>TURNER: Yeah, it was created by Congress in 2007, signed by then-President George W. Bush. And the law offers what is essentially a quid pro quo to federal student loan borrowers. If you work for 10 years in public service, the government agrees to erase whatever is left of your student loan debts. The idea was to help nonprofits and state and local governments hire and retain good people even if they can’t pay private sector wages. And Congress, we should say, defined public service really broadly in the law to include anyone working in government or a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SUMMERS: Right, OK. So help me understand, then, how does the Trump administration hope to change this program?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>TURNER: Yeah, they released a final rule change last week that will go into effect in July, and it allows the education secretary to deny loan forgiveness if employers engage in activities with, quote, “substantial illegal purpose,” Juana.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SUMMERS: OK.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>TURNER: There, the department includes, quote, “aiding and abetting violations of federal immigration laws,” also engaging in, quote, “the chemical and surgical castration or mutilation of children in violation of federal or state law.” The concern among these states and cities with this lawsuit is that by being what the Justice Department has called sanctuary jurisdictions, for example, or by following state or local laws that promote diversity or protect the rights of transgender people, the secretary of education could say to them, look, I think your leaders are acting with illegal purpose, and then bar any of that state or local government’s employees from getting loan forgiveness. These suits accuse the administration, essentially, of trying to weaponize PSLF and they argue the secretary doesn’t have the authority, let alone the expertise, to decide what is illegal purpose or to add restrictions that Congress never intended in the law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SUMMERS: Cory, what’s the Trump administration had to say about those accusations?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>TURNER: Yeah, in a statement today from the undersecretary of education, Nicholas Kent, he called it – opposition to the rule unconscionable. Kent also said, quote, “this is a commonsense reform that will stop taxpayer dollars from subsidizing organizations involved in terrorism, child trafficking and transgender procedures that are doing irreversible harm.” He also insisted the rule would be enforced, quote, “without consideration of the employer’s mission, ideology or the population they serve.” One last thing, Juana. Employers at risk of failing this new standard will have two options. They can risk being excluded from loan forgiveness for 10 years or they can change their policies as part of a corrective action plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SUMMERS: NPR education correspondent Cory Turner, thank you.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>TURNER: You’re welcome.\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The cities of Albuquerque, N.M., Boston, Chicago and San Francisco are suing the Trump administration over changes it plans to make to the popular Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, or PSLF.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The lawsuit, which also includes the nation’s two largest teachers unions and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, comes less than a week after the U.S. Department of Education \u003ca href=\"https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/10/31/2025-19729/william-d-ford-federal-direct-loan-direct-loan-program\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">published a rule change\u003c/a> to PSLF.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Effective July 1, 2026, the department says the change will allow it to deny loan forgiveness to workers whose government or nonprofit employers engage in activities with a “substantial illegal purpose.” The job of defining “substantial illegal purpose” will fall not to the courts but to the education secretary.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>PSLF was created by Congress in 2007, and signed by then-President George W. Bush, to cancel the federal student loan debts of borrowers who spend a decade working in public service, including teaching, nursing and policing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to the lawsuit, filed Monday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, the plaintiffs fear that a city or county government’s resistance to the administration’s immigration actions, for example, or anti-DEI policies, could lead the secretary to exclude that government’s public workers from loan forgiveness. They worry that a local nurse or first responder could be denied loan forgiveness because their local leaders defied the Trump administration.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The complaint argues the rule is “an attempt to target organizations and jurisdictions whose missions and policies do not align with [the Trump administration’s] political positions on immigration, race, gender, free speech, and public protest.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Politically motivated retaliation, like what the administration has done here, should have no place in America,” said Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward, one of the organizations representing the plaintiffs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The plaintiff group also includes the National Council of Nonprofits, which \u003ca href=\"https://www.councilofnonprofits.org/pressreleases/nonprofits-oppose-unlawful-public-service-loan-forgiveness-final-rule-limiting\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">said in a statement\u003c/a> upon the rule’s release:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Nonprofits operate food banks, serve veterans, assist domestic violence survivors, deliver meals to seniors, respond to disasters, and much more. Nonprofits must be able to identify and meet those needs without political interference, fear of retribution, or exclusion from a program designed to support their employees.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under Secretary of Education Nicholas Kent denounced the lawsuit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is unconscionable that the plaintiffs are standing up for criminal activity,” Kent said in a statement to NPR. “This is a commonsense reform that will stop taxpayer dollars from subsidizing organizations involved in terrorism, child trafficking, and transgender procedures that are doing irreversible harm to children.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In response to plaintiffs’ concerns that the administration could use PSLF as a weapon to punish political opponents, Kent insisted “the Department will enforce [the rule] neutrally, without consideration of the employer’s mission, ideology, or the population they serve.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The complaint says PSLF has allowed local governments to retain employees, including lawyers and engineers, who could earn more in the private sector. Albuquerque’s leaders say that losing access to PSLF “would likely create an untenable staffing crisis.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a statement, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu added: “The City is joining with cities, unions, and nonprofits across the country to protect a program that helps Boston’s workforce and millions of Americans in public service careers pay for college.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What activities does the administration consider to be illegal?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>One key question raised by this rule change, and the lawsuit, is: How will the Education Department define activities with “substantial illegal purpose”?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to the rule itself, such activities could include:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul class=\"rte2-style-ul\" style=\"margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; padding-inline-start: 48px;\">\n\u003cli>“aiding and abetting violations of Federal immigration laws”\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>“supporting terrorism or engaging in violence for the purpose of obstructing or influencing Federal Government policy”\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>“engaging in the chemical and surgical castration or mutilation of children in violation of Federal or state law”\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>“engaging in the trafficking of children to another State for purposes of emancipation from their lawful parents in violation of Federal or State law”\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>“engaging in a pattern of aiding and abetting illegal discrimination”\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>“and engaging in a pattern of violating State laws.”\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>If the secretary determines that an employer has behaved with “substantial illegal purpose,” according to the rule, the employer can either engage with the department and accept a corrective action plan or risk losing access to PSLF for its employees for 10 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In response to public comments, the Education Department \u003ca href=\"https://public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2025-19729.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">has said\u003c/a>, “[it] would have no basis to remove eligibility from nonprofits engaged in work related to immigrant communities, LGBTQ+ individuals, or racial justice if those organizations are following the law.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the plaintiff cities, which sit on the U.S. Justice Department’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-publishes-list-sanctuary-jurisdictions\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">“sanctuary jurisdictions”\u003c/a> list, say the Trump administration has already accused them of impeding the enforcement of federal law, and that this rule “represents yet another attack on politically disfavored local governments and nonprofits that have local laws, policies, and missions that are anathemas to the Administration.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The actions of these cities are legal,” says Persis Yu, of Protect Borrowers, another organization representing the plaintiffs. What’s more, she says, “whether or not these activities are legal, is not a [determination] that the secretary of education has either the right or the expertise to be making.”\u003cem> \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new rule is the culmination of \u003ca href=\"https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/restoring-public-service-loan-forgiveness/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a presidential action\u003c/a>, issued in March, in which President Trump accused the Biden administration of abusing PSLF, and said the program “has misdirected tax dollars into activist organizations that not only fail to serve the public interest, but actually harm our national security and American values, sometimes through criminal means.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What did Congress intend when it created PSLF?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The plaintiffs argue Congress was clear about what should qualify as “public service” when it wrote the law, and that this new rule goes against lawmakers’ intent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The Higher Education Act defines public service jobs as including government or a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt nonprofit organization. It does not provide any discretion or wiggle room within that definition,” Yu says. “Congress has said that this is who is entitled to public service loan forgiveness. The secretary doesn’t have the authority to change that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In response to public comments, the Education Department has \u003ca href=\"https://public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2025-19729.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">disagreed\u003c/a>, writing that “[it] rejects the suggestion that this rule exceeds its legal authority. The [Higher Education Act] grants the Secretary explicit power to regulate title IV programs. PSLF is a title IV program, and its proper administration requires clear, enforceable standards.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another lawsuit was filed in tandem Monday, by a coalition of 21 state attorneys general, arguing on behalf of Democratic-leaning state governments that worry their public employees could likewise be denied loan forgiveness because of state leaders’ decisions to support immigrants, promote DEI or provide gender affirming care.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The coalition of attorneys general warned in a press release that the rule would result in “widespread confusion, fear, and instability in the public workforce, forcing states to confront severe staffing shortages, higher turnover, and skyrocketing costs to maintain essential services.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to federal data, more than 1.1 million public service workers have thus far had their federal student loan debts discharged under PSLF.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story was updated to include comment from the U.S. Department of Education.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"npr-transcript\">\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Transcript:\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More than a million Americans have had their student loan debts erased because they’ve worked in public service. Many teachers, nurses, government and nonprofit workers have stayed in their jobs in hopes of benefiting from the federal Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. Now, though, the Trump administration is changing the rules around who can qualify. Today, a host of cities and 21 states led by Democrats filed a pair of lawsuits saying they fear their public workers could soon be excluded. NPR’s Cory Turner is here in the studio with more. Hey.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CORY TURNER, BYLINE: Hey, Juana.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SUMMERS: So Cory, let’s just start with a quick reminder of the PSLF program. How is it supposed to work?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>TURNER: Yeah, it was created by Congress in 2007, signed by then-President George W. Bush. And the law offers what is essentially a quid pro quo to federal student loan borrowers. If you work for 10 years in public service, the government agrees to erase whatever is left of your student loan debts. The idea was to help nonprofits and state and local governments hire and retain good people even if they can’t pay private sector wages. And Congress, we should say, defined public service really broadly in the law to include anyone working in government or a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SUMMERS: Right, OK. So help me understand, then, how does the Trump administration hope to change this program?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>TURNER: Yeah, they released a final rule change last week that will go into effect in July, and it allows the education secretary to deny loan forgiveness if employers engage in activities with, quote, “substantial illegal purpose,” Juana.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SUMMERS: OK.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>TURNER: There, the department includes, quote, “aiding and abetting violations of federal immigration laws,” also engaging in, quote, “the chemical and surgical castration or mutilation of children in violation of federal or state law.” The concern among these states and cities with this lawsuit is that by being what the Justice Department has called sanctuary jurisdictions, for example, or by following state or local laws that promote diversity or protect the rights of transgender people, the secretary of education could say to them, look, I think your leaders are acting with illegal purpose, and then bar any of that state or local government’s employees from getting loan forgiveness. These suits accuse the administration, essentially, of trying to weaponize PSLF and they argue the secretary doesn’t have the authority, let alone the expertise, to decide what is illegal purpose or to add restrictions that Congress never intended in the law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SUMMERS: Cory, what’s the Trump administration had to say about those accusations?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>TURNER: Yeah, in a statement today from the undersecretary of education, Nicholas Kent, he called it – opposition to the rule unconscionable. Kent also said, quote, “this is a commonsense reform that will stop taxpayer dollars from subsidizing organizations involved in terrorism, child trafficking and transgender procedures that are doing irreversible harm.” He also insisted the rule would be enforced, quote, “without consideration of the employer’s mission, ideology or the population they serve.” One last thing, Juana. Employers at risk of failing this new standard will have two options. They can risk being excluded from loan forgiveness for 10 years or they can change their policies as part of a corrective action plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SUMMERS: NPR education correspondent Cory Turner, thank you.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>TURNER: You’re welcome.\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>After nearly doubling during the pandemic, the rates of chronic absenteeism in K-12 schools are finally showing steady signs of improvement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A student is considered chronically absent when they miss at least 10% of a school year. In most states, that means missing about 18 days a year, regardless of whether the absences were excused.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Thousands of students have returned to schools, which means that states are putting in the work,” said Carl Felton, III, a policy analyst at EdTrust, a nonprofit that advocates for underrepresented students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Felton is the author of a \u003ca href=\"https://edtrust.org/rti/chronic-absenteeism/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">new report\u003c/a> that looks at how policies in 22 states plus Washington, D.C., have helped improve student attendance. He said there are several things states are doing right, including collecting and publishing reliable data, and investing in early interventions and outreach programs instead of punitive practices.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The things that we want to see happen are happening,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Multiple \u003ca href=\"https://www.attendanceworks.org/rising-tide-of-chronic-absence-challenges-schools/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">data analyses\u003c/a> have shown the rates of chronic absenteeism \u003ca href=\"https://www.future-ed.org/tracking-state-trends-in-chronic-absenteeism/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">skyrocketed\u003c/a> during the pandemic, from 15% in 2019 to 28% in 2022 according to \u003ca href=\"https://www.aei.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Long-COVID-for-Public-Schools.pdf?x91208\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">one report\u003c/a> from the American Enterprise Institute, a Washington, D.C., think tank.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Research \u003ca href=\"https://www.attendanceworks.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Chronic-Absence-in-CT_011222.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">has linked\u003c/a> chronic absenteeism with lower academic achievement and a higher likelihood of dropping out of high school.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Changing punitive practices and investing in more support\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>One of the areas Felton looked at was punitive practices. He said states need to ban corporal punishment entirely and ban harsh penalties like suspensions for minor infractions because they can harm the relationship between students and educators, and they can make students feel unsafe or unmotivated to come to class.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Several states, including many in the South, still allow corporal punishment in schools, and according to \u003ca href=\"https://www.ed.gov/sites/ed/files/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/corporal-punishment-part-4.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">federal data\u003c/a>, more than 69,000 K-12 public school students received corporal punishment during the 2017-18 school year. (\u003ca href=\"https://www.ed.gov/media/document/crdc-discipline-school-climate-reportpdf-21409.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">More recent federal data\u003c/a> reflects a time during which many K-12 students were learning remotely, during the pandemic, and shows a drop in corporal punishment.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In order for a student to want to be in the school environment they need to know that they are cared for and that the adults in the building have their best interests at heart,” Felton said. “You can hold students accountable without harming them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said research-backed services like after-school programs and mental health supports help to create a positive school climate: “These are the practices that we know can reduce chronic absenteeism because they address root causes.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Felton found some states, like Connecticut and Maryland, have invested millions of dollars in wrap-around services like mental health support and at-home visits. California has invested billions of dollars in that effort.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Not until you reach people, are you really able to address problems,” Felton said. “We need to prioritize investments and policies that focus on engaging students and families, and making sure they get the support they need to show up daily.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>In many places, data collection also needs improvement\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In his report, Felton highlights the importance of collecting high quality data on absenteeism – without it, he said, there’s no way to direct funding and programs toward the populations that are most at risk, including students of color, students from low-income backgrounds, students with disabilities and English language learners.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If the funding is not reaching the student groups that are most chronically absent, then states and [state education agencies] need to rethink their strategy and investment.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The frequency of data collection also plays a role, Felton said. In many states, attendance data is published quarterly or even annually, making it hard for schools to respond in real time when students aren’t coming to class. Connecticut publishes attendance data every month, and is among the states with the lowest rates of chronic absenteeism.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, only about half of the states Felton examined require teachers to take daily attendance \u003cem>and \u003c/em>have clearly defined standards for how long students must be in school before they’re marked present. Felton said that needs to change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Students and families need to know what measurement they’re being held accountable to so that they won’t be chronically absent,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to Felton, a clear metric would also help teachers and school administrators better support their students and families.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>After nearly doubling during the pandemic, the rates of chronic absenteeism in K-12 schools are finally showing steady signs of improvement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A student is considered chronically absent when they miss at least 10% of a school year. In most states, that means missing about 18 days a year, regardless of whether the absences were excused.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Thousands of students have returned to schools, which means that states are putting in the work,” said Carl Felton, III, a policy analyst at EdTrust, a nonprofit that advocates for underrepresented students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Felton is the author of a \u003ca href=\"https://edtrust.org/rti/chronic-absenteeism/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">new report\u003c/a> that looks at how policies in 22 states plus Washington, D.C., have helped improve student attendance. He said there are several things states are doing right, including collecting and publishing reliable data, and investing in early interventions and outreach programs instead of punitive practices.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The things that we want to see happen are happening,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Multiple \u003ca href=\"https://www.attendanceworks.org/rising-tide-of-chronic-absence-challenges-schools/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">data analyses\u003c/a> have shown the rates of chronic absenteeism \u003ca href=\"https://www.future-ed.org/tracking-state-trends-in-chronic-absenteeism/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">skyrocketed\u003c/a> during the pandemic, from 15% in 2019 to 28% in 2022 according to \u003ca href=\"https://www.aei.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Long-COVID-for-Public-Schools.pdf?x91208\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">one report\u003c/a> from the American Enterprise Institute, a Washington, D.C., think tank.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Research \u003ca href=\"https://www.attendanceworks.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Chronic-Absence-in-CT_011222.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">has linked\u003c/a> chronic absenteeism with lower academic achievement and a higher likelihood of dropping out of high school.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Changing punitive practices and investing in more support\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>One of the areas Felton looked at was punitive practices. He said states need to ban corporal punishment entirely and ban harsh penalties like suspensions for minor infractions because they can harm the relationship between students and educators, and they can make students feel unsafe or unmotivated to come to class.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Several states, including many in the South, still allow corporal punishment in schools, and according to \u003ca href=\"https://www.ed.gov/sites/ed/files/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/corporal-punishment-part-4.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">federal data\u003c/a>, more than 69,000 K-12 public school students received corporal punishment during the 2017-18 school year. (\u003ca href=\"https://www.ed.gov/media/document/crdc-discipline-school-climate-reportpdf-21409.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">More recent federal data\u003c/a> reflects a time during which many K-12 students were learning remotely, during the pandemic, and shows a drop in corporal punishment.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In order for a student to want to be in the school environment they need to know that they are cared for and that the adults in the building have their best interests at heart,” Felton said. “You can hold students accountable without harming them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said research-backed services like after-school programs and mental health supports help to create a positive school climate: “These are the practices that we know can reduce chronic absenteeism because they address root causes.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Felton found some states, like Connecticut and Maryland, have invested millions of dollars in wrap-around services like mental health support and at-home visits. California has invested billions of dollars in that effort.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Not until you reach people, are you really able to address problems,” Felton said. “We need to prioritize investments and policies that focus on engaging students and families, and making sure they get the support they need to show up daily.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>In many places, data collection also needs improvement\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In his report, Felton highlights the importance of collecting high quality data on absenteeism – without it, he said, there’s no way to direct funding and programs toward the populations that are most at risk, including students of color, students from low-income backgrounds, students with disabilities and English language learners.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If the funding is not reaching the student groups that are most chronically absent, then states and [state education agencies] need to rethink their strategy and investment.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The frequency of data collection also plays a role, Felton said. In many states, attendance data is published quarterly or even annually, making it hard for schools to respond in real time when students aren’t coming to class. Connecticut publishes attendance data every month, and is among the states with the lowest rates of chronic absenteeism.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, only about half of the states Felton examined require teachers to take daily attendance \u003cem>and \u003c/em>have clearly defined standards for how long students must be in school before they’re marked present. Felton said that needs to change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Students and families need to know what measurement they’re being held accountable to so that they won’t be chronically absent,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to Felton, a clear metric would also help teachers and school administrators better support their students and families.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Lockdown Drills Are a Fact of Life in U.S. Schools. What Does That Mean for Students?",
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"content": "\u003cp>Since the start of the school year, there \u003ca href=\"https://k12ssdb.org/all-shootings\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">have been more than 70 shootings\u003c/a> on campuses across the U.S., according to the K-12 School Shooting Database.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That level of violence is why educators in the U.S. face what feels like an impossible but very American question: How do you prepare kids for the possibility of gun violence at school without traumatizing them?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s a question Amy Kujawski, principal of St. Anthony Middle School near Minneapolis, thinks about a lot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The biggest, the most important message I can share to my students and my families and my teachers,” Kujawski says. “Schools are really, really safe places.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s likely her school will never have to deal with violence, but she has to prepare the kids anyway.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘We will emphasize the belonging’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>NPR visited Kujawski at the middle school this month during the first of five lockdown drills, mandated by the state. It’s also \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/08/29/nx-s1-5521952/minnesota-witnesses-catholic-school-shooting-minneapolis\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the first drill\u003c/a> since the August mass shooting at nearby Annunciation Catholic School and Church, which led to the deaths of two children.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s terrible. It’s unacceptable. I cannot believe we just carry on. And…we do use different language in positive, affirming ways because of all of that tragedy,” Kujawski says. “We will emphasize the belonging, the safety, the love and care and warmth.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Kujawski’s office, there are colorful stickers with breathing exercises, as well as fidget spinners for anxious students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pinned on her wall is a sign that reads “Hate is Loud. Love is Strong.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s also a laminated poster that hangs in every room in the building with the school’s safety protocols.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Look how simple it is,” Kujawski says. “Hold in your room or area. Clear the halls. Secure. Get inside, lock outside of doors. Lockdown. Locks, lights, out of sight.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The students all know this language, as do the fire and police officers in the area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/2048x1365+0+0/resize/1200/quality/75/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F31%2F4f%2F89d7d59049bba862eaf61791a301%2Fsav-water-tower.jpg\" alt=\"A water tower that overlooks St. Anthony Middle School, situated in the suburbs of Minneapolis.\">\u003cfigcaption>A water tower that overlooks St. Anthony Middle School, situated in the suburbs of Minneapolis. \u003ccite> (Jada Richardson | St. Anthony-New Brighton School District)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Even though statistics show most schools will likely never have to deal with an active shooter, these drills are how American public schools get ready for the worst.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kujawski and her staff lead with this message.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Remember, we do this because we want to make sure we feel prepared regardless of any situation that happens,” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘This is a lockdown drill’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Seventh-grade English teacher Kathleen West looks around the classroom and points out where intruders might see her students if they were prowling the halls or peering in from the outside.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We want to stay away from that window over by my desk. So if you can see that window, you’re not in a good spot,” West says to her students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Once everyone is in place, West says: “We just have to kind of sit in this unpleasantness for a little bit.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The drill is announced over the loudspeaker.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The classrooms go dark. The hallways are quiet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>School staff check the doors to make sure they’re locked. They listen for chatter and peek in windows to see if students are visible.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Minutes later, it’s all over and students go from hiding, back to their regular day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The drill, West says, is as normal as the Pledge of Allegiance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You start in like first grade or something,” says Phoebe Strodel, 12.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Raegan Dunkley, 12, chimes in, saying the drills aren’t scary and if the emergency was real, she knows police would come quickly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Thankfully, there’s like a police station right next to our school.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘Rehearsing’ for their own deaths\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>But should these drills be normal?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s a question psychologist Jillian Peterson is trying to answer with\u003ca href=\"https://www.theviolenceproject.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> her research at the Violence Prevention Program\u003c/a> at Hamline University in St. Paul, Minn.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She says St. Anthony is an example of a school doing these drills in a trauma-informed way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-embed npr-promo-card insettwocolumn\">\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\u003c/div>\n\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>They prepare the students, allow families to opt out, work with particularly sensitive kids, and debrief afterwards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Because even high schoolers will say, you can’t expect me to rehearse for my death and then go back to learning a math assignment,” Peterson says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But overall, Peterson sees lockdown drills with younger kids as concerning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A: The most likely perpetrators are already in the building. B: We’re not totally sure they work,” she says. “C: We don’t really, truly understand what we’re doing to the young kids. We’re just normalizing this type of violence.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/7372x4915+0+0/resize/1200/quality/75/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fdf%2F32%2Fe8fae9514baaaf87bb808d294789%2Fgettyimages-2232395270.jpg\" alt=\"Annunciation Catholic Church is seen behind police tape following a mass shooting on August 27, 2025 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. According to Minneapolis Police, a gunman fired through the windows of the Annunciation Church at worshippers sitting in pews during a Catholic school Mass, killing two children and injuring at least 17 others. The gunman reportedly died at the scene from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.\">\u003cfigcaption>Annunciation Catholic Church is seen behind police tape following a mass shooting on August 27, 2025 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. According to Minneapolis Police, a gunman fired through the windows of the Annunciation Church at worshippers sitting in pews during a Catholic school Mass, killing two children and injuring at least 17 others. The gunman reportedly died at the scene from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. \u003ccite> (Stephen Maturen | Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Back at St. Anthony, West is unsettled by how ordinary this has all become.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She started the school year a week after the Annunciation shooting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You’re getting me at a really vulnerable time because my brother and sister both send all of their kids to Annunciation. So they were all in the shooting there. And my brother was there. And my brother-in-law there just happened to be at Mass that day,” West says. “So six of my family members were in a mass shooting event this school year.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She says she wishes the right people would take action to make this stop.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t think it’s fair, as a school teacher who started out making $30,000 a year and will never make more than $100,000 a year,” West says. “My job should not be to save your child’s life.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But on this day, during the lockdown drill, she thinks about how she would try to save as many lives as possible.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I know the statistics don’t bear this out, but it just feels like when not if,” West says. “If I’m lucky, whatever event happens in my 40-year career…if I make it to 40, I’m lucky if the shooting happens at the other end of the building and not where I am.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The radio version of this story was edited by Adam Bearne. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"npr-transcript\">\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Transcript:\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>LEILA FADEL, BYLINE: Since the start of the school year in this country, there have already been over 70 shootings on campuses – 70 in just over two months. That’s according to the K-12 School Shooting Database, which tracks these incidents. So here at MORNING EDITION, we’ve been thinking a lot about both the trauma of that violence in a place that’s supposed to be safe – a school – but also about the way we now prepare our kids for the day it might happen to them. That includes parents on our show, like our editor Adam Bearne. His daughter came home from her first week of kindergarten and told him about something she called a construction drill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CLARA: I don’t know why it’s called a construction drill, ’cause that’s really confusing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FADEL: Clara was actually talking about a lockdown drill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CLARA: We had to be really quiet, go under our cubbies, close the doors, and then I got scared ’cause I thought it was real.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FADEL: It wasn’t, but her fear was. So we decided to take you, our listeners, into a school that, like many schools, is trying to prepare the kids without making them feel like a violent incident is inevitable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hi.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>AMY KUJAWSKI: Hello.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FADEL: I’m Leila.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KUJAWSKI: Hi, Leila. It’s nice to meet you.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FADEL: So nice to meet you.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KUJAWSKI: I’m Amy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FADEL: That’s Amy Kujawski, the principal of St. Anthony Middle School, which she just calls Sam’s. It’s in a suburb of Minneapolis. And as you can hear, she has that larger-than-life middle school principal energy, and she leads with that positivity, even when things might feel bleak.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KUJAWSKI: We will emphasize the belonging, the safety, the love and care and warmth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FADEL: On this day, her school is going through the first of five state-mandated lockdown drills, the first since the mass shooting at the Annunciation Catholic School and Church nearby.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>How far is Annunciation from here?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KUJAWSKI: Oh, my goodness. It’s close. Yeah. I had staff who had nieces and nephews there, who had friends there. Yeah. Yeah.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FADEL: The walls of Kujawski’s office feature posters with messages you might expect, like, hate is loud; love is strong. But there’s also a laminated sign with the school’s safety protocols, like there is in every room in the building.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KUJAWSKI: Lockdown. Locks, lights, out of sight.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FADEL: All the kids know this language and what to do in a medical emergency, or something much worse. Inside Kathleen West’s classroom, the teacher gets her 12- and 13-year-old students ready for the lockdown drill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KATHLEEN WEST: We want to stay away from that window over by my desk. So if you can see that window, you’re not in a good spot, and you should come closer this way. Yeah, I think you’re good, Henry, ’cause you can’t see the window from there. So I think that will be good. Yeah. We just have to kind of sit in this unpleasantness for a little bit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FADEL: When it’s time for the drill, there’s an announcement over the loudspeakers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>UNIDENTIFIED STAFF MEMBER: Can I have your attention, please? This is a lockdown drill. Teachers, please secure your students in your classrooms. This is a lockdown drill. Thank you.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FADEL: The classrooms go dark. The hallways are quiet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And you’re checking each door to make sure it’s locked?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KUJAWSKI: Yep. And I also give feedback to our teachers if I can see or hear them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FADEL: That’s Principal Kujawski again. She doesn’t jiggle the door handles too much, so the students don’t think there’s a real intruder. And back in West’s classroom, she quietly reassures the students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>WEST: That’s them checking to make sure that our door is locked.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FADEL: After clearing her floor, Kujawski listens for the other staff checking the rest of the school. Then she speaks into her walkie-talkie.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>(SOUNDBITE OF WALKIE-TALKIE BEEPING)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KUJAWSKI: Are we all clear? I think we can call it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>UNIDENTIFIED STAFF MEMBER: Your attention, please. The lockdown drill is all clear. The lockdown drill is all clear.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>(CROSSTALK)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FADEL: The school gets loud again as everyone moves on to their next class, and we chat with a couple students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>PHOEBE STRODEL: I’m Phoebe Strodel, and I’m 12 years old.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>RAEGAN DUNKLEY: Hello. My name is Raegan Dunkley (ph), and I’m also 12 years old.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FADEL: OK. So describe to me what you just did in this lockdown drill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>PHOEBE: Well, we go, like, up against, like, a wall or a bookshelf or a space where if there were people, like, coming in, they won’t be able to see you through the windows or any, like, spaces, and stuff.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FADEL: But does it make you feel just generally prepared?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>RAEGAN: Yes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FADEL: It does?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>RAEGAN: Yeah.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FADEL: Does it scare you at all? Or does it make you feel…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>RAEGAN: No, because – well, I mean, it definitely is scary if it’s a real-life situation. But thankfully, there’s, like, a police station right next to our school. So if there were to be a lockdown drill, the police would be here within, like, minutes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FADEL: So the drills feel normal to you. They’re just part of life. Fire drill…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>PHOEBE: Yeah.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FADEL: …Lockdown drill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>PHOEBE: Yeah. You start it in, like, first grade or something because, like, the kindergarteners probably wouldn’t, like, handle it or anyone younger than that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FADEL: Lockdown drills aren’t all the school is doing to protect its students. The classrooms are locked during lessons. There’s bullet-resistant film on the windows, and the police and fire department nearby know the school’s security protocols. West, the teacher you heard instructing her kids earlier? Well, she’s bothered that this is all so ordinary.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>WEST: You’re getting me at a really vulnerable time ’cause my brother and sister both send all of their kids to Annunciation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FADEL: They do?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>WEST: So they were all in the shooting there. And my brother was there, and my brother-in-law were there – just happened to be at Mass that day. So six of my family members were in a mass shooting event this school year. And then the next week, I came back to work here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FADEL: What was it like to do a lockdown drill after that, knowing…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>WEST: Honestly, it’s so normal. You know, the drills are like how we’re legally mandated to say the Pledge of Allegiance. Like, that’s just something that happens.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FADEL: West was a student teacher when Columbine happened over 25 years ago, so she’s always taught in the era of mass shootings at American schools.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>WEST: We’ve been through different waves of, like, how to respond and what the drills are going to be. And of course, now I just always think, like, well, the shooters have all been through all these drills.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FADEL: Oh.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>WEST: So, like, I just don’t even know, you know, how effective they’re going to be. They’re not going to shoot us when we’re in our classrooms, locked down. They’re going to shoot us when we’re out at the fire drill. The kids are all in the same place, and the teachers are all in the same place. And I’m always thinking, like, OK, how can I save the most lives in this situation, right? And it’s crazy that that’s just part of the job. Like, that’s not why I got into teaching in the first place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FADEL: Yeah. What do you teach?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>WEST: English.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>(LAUGHTER)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>WEST: I like reading and writing. I don’t really want to teach about, like, how to escape, you know, active shooters at school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FADEL: Have you seen a change in the way you think about preparing the kids or how…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>WEST: Yeah. The drills have changed over time. And I did work at one school where they wouldn’t tell us if it was real or not, which I thought was really cruel and unusual. So the lockdown drill would happen, and the kids would be like, is it real? And I’m like, I don’t know. Listen for the sirens.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FADEL: (Gasping).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>WEST: Like, if we hear the sirens, it’s real. If we don’t, then it’s not.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FADEL: Is there anything that you would want to say or talk about when it comes to preparing these kids or the fact that you do have to prepare them?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>WEST: Well, I really wish that the right people would take action to make this stop. And I don’t think it’s fair. As a schoolteacher who started out making $30,000 a year, you know, and will never make more than $100,000 a year, like, my job should not be to save your child’s life. I know the statistics don’t bear this out, but it just feels like when, not if. Like, if I’m lucky, whatever event happens in my 40-year career – I’m at year 24. So if I make it to 40 or whatever, I’m lucky if the shooting happens at the other end of the building and not where I am.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>(SOUNDBITE OF PHILIP GLASS AND PAUL LEONARD-MORGAN’S “TALES FROM THE LOOP”)\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Since the start of the school year, there \u003ca href=\"https://k12ssdb.org/all-shootings\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">have been more than 70 shootings\u003c/a> on campuses across the U.S., according to the K-12 School Shooting Database.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That level of violence is why educators in the U.S. face what feels like an impossible but very American question: How do you prepare kids for the possibility of gun violence at school without traumatizing them?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s a question Amy Kujawski, principal of St. Anthony Middle School near Minneapolis, thinks about a lot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The biggest, the most important message I can share to my students and my families and my teachers,” Kujawski says. “Schools are really, really safe places.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s likely her school will never have to deal with violence, but she has to prepare the kids anyway.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘We will emphasize the belonging’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>NPR visited Kujawski at the middle school this month during the first of five lockdown drills, mandated by the state. It’s also \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/08/29/nx-s1-5521952/minnesota-witnesses-catholic-school-shooting-minneapolis\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the first drill\u003c/a> since the August mass shooting at nearby Annunciation Catholic School and Church, which led to the deaths of two children.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s terrible. It’s unacceptable. I cannot believe we just carry on. And…we do use different language in positive, affirming ways because of all of that tragedy,” Kujawski says. “We will emphasize the belonging, the safety, the love and care and warmth.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Kujawski’s office, there are colorful stickers with breathing exercises, as well as fidget spinners for anxious students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pinned on her wall is a sign that reads “Hate is Loud. Love is Strong.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s also a laminated poster that hangs in every room in the building with the school’s safety protocols.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Look how simple it is,” Kujawski says. “Hold in your room or area. Clear the halls. Secure. Get inside, lock outside of doors. Lockdown. Locks, lights, out of sight.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The students all know this language, as do the fire and police officers in the area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/2048x1365+0+0/resize/1200/quality/75/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F31%2F4f%2F89d7d59049bba862eaf61791a301%2Fsav-water-tower.jpg\" alt=\"A water tower that overlooks St. Anthony Middle School, situated in the suburbs of Minneapolis.\">\u003cfigcaption>A water tower that overlooks St. Anthony Middle School, situated in the suburbs of Minneapolis. \u003ccite> (Jada Richardson | St. Anthony-New Brighton School District)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Even though statistics show most schools will likely never have to deal with an active shooter, these drills are how American public schools get ready for the worst.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kujawski and her staff lead with this message.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Remember, we do this because we want to make sure we feel prepared regardless of any situation that happens,” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘This is a lockdown drill’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Seventh-grade English teacher Kathleen West looks around the classroom and points out where intruders might see her students if they were prowling the halls or peering in from the outside.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We want to stay away from that window over by my desk. So if you can see that window, you’re not in a good spot,” West says to her students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Once everyone is in place, West says: “We just have to kind of sit in this unpleasantness for a little bit.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The drill is announced over the loudspeaker.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The classrooms go dark. The hallways are quiet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>School staff check the doors to make sure they’re locked. They listen for chatter and peek in windows to see if students are visible.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Minutes later, it’s all over and students go from hiding, back to their regular day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The drill, West says, is as normal as the Pledge of Allegiance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You start in like first grade or something,” says Phoebe Strodel, 12.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Raegan Dunkley, 12, chimes in, saying the drills aren’t scary and if the emergency was real, she knows police would come quickly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Thankfully, there’s like a police station right next to our school.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘Rehearsing’ for their own deaths\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>But should these drills be normal?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s a question psychologist Jillian Peterson is trying to answer with\u003ca href=\"https://www.theviolenceproject.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> her research at the Violence Prevention Program\u003c/a> at Hamline University in St. Paul, Minn.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She says St. Anthony is an example of a school doing these drills in a trauma-informed way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-embed npr-promo-card insettwocolumn\">\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\u003c/div>\n\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>They prepare the students, allow families to opt out, work with particularly sensitive kids, and debrief afterwards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Because even high schoolers will say, you can’t expect me to rehearse for my death and then go back to learning a math assignment,” Peterson says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But overall, Peterson sees lockdown drills with younger kids as concerning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A: The most likely perpetrators are already in the building. B: We’re not totally sure they work,” she says. “C: We don’t really, truly understand what we’re doing to the young kids. We’re just normalizing this type of violence.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/7372x4915+0+0/resize/1200/quality/75/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fdf%2F32%2Fe8fae9514baaaf87bb808d294789%2Fgettyimages-2232395270.jpg\" alt=\"Annunciation Catholic Church is seen behind police tape following a mass shooting on August 27, 2025 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. According to Minneapolis Police, a gunman fired through the windows of the Annunciation Church at worshippers sitting in pews during a Catholic school Mass, killing two children and injuring at least 17 others. The gunman reportedly died at the scene from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.\">\u003cfigcaption>Annunciation Catholic Church is seen behind police tape following a mass shooting on August 27, 2025 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. According to Minneapolis Police, a gunman fired through the windows of the Annunciation Church at worshippers sitting in pews during a Catholic school Mass, killing two children and injuring at least 17 others. The gunman reportedly died at the scene from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. \u003ccite> (Stephen Maturen | Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Back at St. Anthony, West is unsettled by how ordinary this has all become.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She started the school year a week after the Annunciation shooting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You’re getting me at a really vulnerable time because my brother and sister both send all of their kids to Annunciation. So they were all in the shooting there. And my brother was there. And my brother-in-law there just happened to be at Mass that day,” West says. “So six of my family members were in a mass shooting event this school year.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She says she wishes the right people would take action to make this stop.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t think it’s fair, as a school teacher who started out making $30,000 a year and will never make more than $100,000 a year,” West says. “My job should not be to save your child’s life.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But on this day, during the lockdown drill, she thinks about how she would try to save as many lives as possible.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I know the statistics don’t bear this out, but it just feels like when not if,” West says. “If I’m lucky, whatever event happens in my 40-year career…if I make it to 40, I’m lucky if the shooting happens at the other end of the building and not where I am.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The radio version of this story was edited by Adam Bearne. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"npr-transcript\">\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Transcript:\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>LEILA FADEL, BYLINE: Since the start of the school year in this country, there have already been over 70 shootings on campuses – 70 in just over two months. That’s according to the K-12 School Shooting Database, which tracks these incidents. So here at MORNING EDITION, we’ve been thinking a lot about both the trauma of that violence in a place that’s supposed to be safe – a school – but also about the way we now prepare our kids for the day it might happen to them. That includes parents on our show, like our editor Adam Bearne. His daughter came home from her first week of kindergarten and told him about something she called a construction drill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CLARA: I don’t know why it’s called a construction drill, ’cause that’s really confusing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FADEL: Clara was actually talking about a lockdown drill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CLARA: We had to be really quiet, go under our cubbies, close the doors, and then I got scared ’cause I thought it was real.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FADEL: It wasn’t, but her fear was. So we decided to take you, our listeners, into a school that, like many schools, is trying to prepare the kids without making them feel like a violent incident is inevitable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hi.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>AMY KUJAWSKI: Hello.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FADEL: I’m Leila.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KUJAWSKI: Hi, Leila. It’s nice to meet you.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FADEL: So nice to meet you.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KUJAWSKI: I’m Amy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FADEL: That’s Amy Kujawski, the principal of St. Anthony Middle School, which she just calls Sam’s. It’s in a suburb of Minneapolis. And as you can hear, she has that larger-than-life middle school principal energy, and she leads with that positivity, even when things might feel bleak.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KUJAWSKI: We will emphasize the belonging, the safety, the love and care and warmth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FADEL: On this day, her school is going through the first of five state-mandated lockdown drills, the first since the mass shooting at the Annunciation Catholic School and Church nearby.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>How far is Annunciation from here?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KUJAWSKI: Oh, my goodness. It’s close. Yeah. I had staff who had nieces and nephews there, who had friends there. Yeah. Yeah.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FADEL: The walls of Kujawski’s office feature posters with messages you might expect, like, hate is loud; love is strong. But there’s also a laminated sign with the school’s safety protocols, like there is in every room in the building.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KUJAWSKI: Lockdown. Locks, lights, out of sight.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FADEL: All the kids know this language and what to do in a medical emergency, or something much worse. Inside Kathleen West’s classroom, the teacher gets her 12- and 13-year-old students ready for the lockdown drill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KATHLEEN WEST: We want to stay away from that window over by my desk. So if you can see that window, you’re not in a good spot, and you should come closer this way. Yeah, I think you’re good, Henry, ’cause you can’t see the window from there. So I think that will be good. Yeah. We just have to kind of sit in this unpleasantness for a little bit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FADEL: When it’s time for the drill, there’s an announcement over the loudspeakers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>UNIDENTIFIED STAFF MEMBER: Can I have your attention, please? This is a lockdown drill. Teachers, please secure your students in your classrooms. This is a lockdown drill. Thank you.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FADEL: The classrooms go dark. The hallways are quiet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And you’re checking each door to make sure it’s locked?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KUJAWSKI: Yep. And I also give feedback to our teachers if I can see or hear them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FADEL: That’s Principal Kujawski again. She doesn’t jiggle the door handles too much, so the students don’t think there’s a real intruder. And back in West’s classroom, she quietly reassures the students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>WEST: That’s them checking to make sure that our door is locked.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FADEL: After clearing her floor, Kujawski listens for the other staff checking the rest of the school. Then she speaks into her walkie-talkie.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>(SOUNDBITE OF WALKIE-TALKIE BEEPING)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KUJAWSKI: Are we all clear? I think we can call it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>UNIDENTIFIED STAFF MEMBER: Your attention, please. The lockdown drill is all clear. The lockdown drill is all clear.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>(CROSSTALK)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FADEL: The school gets loud again as everyone moves on to their next class, and we chat with a couple students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>PHOEBE STRODEL: I’m Phoebe Strodel, and I’m 12 years old.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>RAEGAN DUNKLEY: Hello. My name is Raegan Dunkley (ph), and I’m also 12 years old.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FADEL: OK. So describe to me what you just did in this lockdown drill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>PHOEBE: Well, we go, like, up against, like, a wall or a bookshelf or a space where if there were people, like, coming in, they won’t be able to see you through the windows or any, like, spaces, and stuff.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FADEL: But does it make you feel just generally prepared?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>RAEGAN: Yes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FADEL: It does?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>RAEGAN: Yeah.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FADEL: Does it scare you at all? Or does it make you feel…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>RAEGAN: No, because – well, I mean, it definitely is scary if it’s a real-life situation. But thankfully, there’s, like, a police station right next to our school. So if there were to be a lockdown drill, the police would be here within, like, minutes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FADEL: So the drills feel normal to you. They’re just part of life. Fire drill…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>PHOEBE: Yeah.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FADEL: …Lockdown drill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>PHOEBE: Yeah. You start it in, like, first grade or something because, like, the kindergarteners probably wouldn’t, like, handle it or anyone younger than that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FADEL: Lockdown drills aren’t all the school is doing to protect its students. The classrooms are locked during lessons. There’s bullet-resistant film on the windows, and the police and fire department nearby know the school’s security protocols. West, the teacher you heard instructing her kids earlier? Well, she’s bothered that this is all so ordinary.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>WEST: You’re getting me at a really vulnerable time ’cause my brother and sister both send all of their kids to Annunciation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FADEL: They do?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>WEST: So they were all in the shooting there. And my brother was there, and my brother-in-law were there – just happened to be at Mass that day. So six of my family members were in a mass shooting event this school year. And then the next week, I came back to work here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FADEL: What was it like to do a lockdown drill after that, knowing…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>WEST: Honestly, it’s so normal. You know, the drills are like how we’re legally mandated to say the Pledge of Allegiance. Like, that’s just something that happens.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FADEL: West was a student teacher when Columbine happened over 25 years ago, so she’s always taught in the era of mass shootings at American schools.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>WEST: We’ve been through different waves of, like, how to respond and what the drills are going to be. And of course, now I just always think, like, well, the shooters have all been through all these drills.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FADEL: Oh.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>WEST: So, like, I just don’t even know, you know, how effective they’re going to be. They’re not going to shoot us when we’re in our classrooms, locked down. They’re going to shoot us when we’re out at the fire drill. The kids are all in the same place, and the teachers are all in the same place. And I’m always thinking, like, OK, how can I save the most lives in this situation, right? And it’s crazy that that’s just part of the job. Like, that’s not why I got into teaching in the first place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FADEL: Yeah. What do you teach?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>WEST: English.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>(LAUGHTER)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>WEST: I like reading and writing. I don’t really want to teach about, like, how to escape, you know, active shooters at school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FADEL: Have you seen a change in the way you think about preparing the kids or how…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>WEST: Yeah. The drills have changed over time. And I did work at one school where they wouldn’t tell us if it was real or not, which I thought was really cruel and unusual. So the lockdown drill would happen, and the kids would be like, is it real? And I’m like, I don’t know. Listen for the sirens.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FADEL: (Gasping).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>WEST: Like, if we hear the sirens, it’s real. If we don’t, then it’s not.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FADEL: Is there anything that you would want to say or talk about when it comes to preparing these kids or the fact that you do have to prepare them?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>WEST: Well, I really wish that the right people would take action to make this stop. And I don’t think it’s fair. As a schoolteacher who started out making $30,000 a year, you know, and will never make more than $100,000 a year, like, my job should not be to save your child’s life. I know the statistics don’t bear this out, but it just feels like when, not if. Like, if I’m lucky, whatever event happens in my 40-year career – I’m at year 24. So if I make it to 40 or whatever, I’m lucky if the shooting happens at the other end of the building and not where I am.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>(SOUNDBITE OF PHILIP GLASS AND PAUL LEONARD-MORGAN’S “TALES FROM THE LOOP”)\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>J’Nyah is like most high school juniors – she scrolls through TikTok, posts on Instagram for her friends and keeps up with social media pop culture via YouTube videos about influencer updates. But she doesn’t take anything online too seriously. “I kind of just like stuff when it’s funny and keep scrolling,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Recently, she saw a video about an influencer apologizing for racially insensitive language, but to her it felt scripted and disingenuous. J’Nyah finds that influencer apologies enter her feed even though she isn’t following that person; that’s most likely happening because of an algorithmic boost or viral controversy that warranted the apology. And when one of her favorite K-Pop groups posted a culturally insensitive livestream, “\u003ca href=\"https://people.com/kiss-of-life-apologizes-after-hip-hop-themed-live-stream-11711423\">their apology\u003c/a> was not the greatest,” she said. “I just kind of stopped interacting with their content…It’s really tragic, their music is really good,” J’Nyah continued.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Amid a sea of endless content, it’s easy to forget that much of social media is curated, which can make it hard to know if an influencer’s apology video is authentic or not. And that can have consequences in other parts of life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Social scientists say being vulnerable with other people is how genuine relationships are developed. When you’re young, practicing vulnerability through close friendships or with other peers helps develop good social skills for adult relationships. Think of what it takes to say what you really want to say or cracking your professional veneer — that requires a degree of safety. And for \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/62189/school-shapes-teens-identities-and-relationships-what-role-do-teachers-play\">teens\u003c/a> who experience high levels of self-consciousness, feeling safe is a big deal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s where real apologies can create an opportunity for vulnerability. In order \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/62290/teaching-kids-the-right-way-to-say-im-sorry\">to truly be sorry\u003c/a>, social psychologists say offenders must follow several actions like acknowledging the infraction, delivering an apology, saying what will be done differently and, ideally, committing to that change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That seems easy enough, but given the abundance of crisis managers and image consultants, and the financial gains from having clout and virality, how do you know if someone is being genuine? And given how well emotional content performs online, what does that do to our ability to engage with one another in person?\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>The age of ‘McVulnerability’\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>These days, authentic vulnerability is hard to come by, said \u003ca href=\"https://www.maytaleyal.com/\">Maytal Eyal\u003c/a>, a psychologist and writer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>People’s experiences with vulnerability, or lack-thereof, are also making for quick growing parasocial relationships. Anyone with a phone can turn to social media to get their quick fix of synthetic and performative vulnerability, a phenomenon Eyal calls “\u003ca href=\"https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2025/01/mcvulnerability-crying-tiktok-youtube-instagram-influencers/681475/\">McVulnerability\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s “comfortable and easy and cheap, but ultimately like fast food, [McVulnerability is] not necessarily good for your health,” Eyal continued, especially during these times of \u003ca href=\"https://www.gse.harvard.edu/ideas/usable-knowledge/24/10/what-causing-our-epidemic-loneliness-and-how-can-we-fix-it\">increasing loneliness\u003c/a>. “Social media platforms have presented something to us that’s both really insidious and really brilliant where people no longer need to access real vulnerability in person,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Add to that, adolescents are \u003ca href=\"https://www.apa.org/monitor/2024/04/teen-social-use-mental-health\">spending more and more time online\u003c/a>. And although it’s difficult to pin down the exact \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/61026/10-things-to-know-about-how-social-media-affects-teens-brains\">effects of social media\u003c/a> on teens, studies show that teens’ \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/64715/youth-mental-health-is-declining-school-based-supports-can-help\">mental health is declining\u003c/a> and their \u003ca href=\"https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/surgeon-general-social-connection-advisory.pdf\">in-person socialization\u003c/a> has dropped dramatically in the last few decades.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So what happens to teens when they are viewing McVulnerability?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ultimately, the more hours spent online — and therefore, more potential time viewing McVulnerability — the more teens are disengaged from social activities that build their relational intimacy skills, said Eyal. “The consequences are dire because vulnerability and the discomfort within it are inherent to forming intimate relationships with others…without vulnerability, we have no intimacy,” she added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Instead of going to parties and \u003ca href=\"https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2025/03/teen-dating-milestone-decline/681971/\">chasing romance\u003c/a>, teens are spending more of their free time on their phones, said Eyal, who works with teens and their families through her private practice. This behavior is not unique to teens – \u003ca href=\"https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/fact-sheet/mobile/\">adults are doing this too\u003c/a> – but the adolescent period is critical to the development of social skills, vulnerability and empathy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Teens are undergoing enormous neurological changes during adolescence and are extremely sensitive to how they fit into their social settings, compared to younger kids and older adults, said \u003ca href=\"https://rossier.usc.edu/faculty-research/directory/maryhelen-immordinoyang\">Mary Helen Immordino-Yang\u003c/a>, a neuroscientist at USC’s Rossier School of Education and author of “\u003ca href=\"https://wwnorton.com/books/9780393709810\">Emotions, Learning, and the Brain.\u003c/a>” Adolescents also tend to be reactive, and when they don’t feel safe, it’s really hard for them to be vulnerable, Immordino-Yang continued.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When schools aren’t safe places and don’t focus on giving students ample time to draw on all of their developing empathy and social skills, teens can respond to serious prompts in unserious ways, said Immordino-Yang.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Take, for example, a classroom lesson on a civil rights march, in which the participants fight for a change that’s meaningful to them, she continued. A teen who isn’t familiar yet with the Civil Rights Movement might not be too impressed by what meets the eye, such as registering people to vote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Immordino-Yang’s research team found that adolescents took longer to think through complex stories and ideas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But given a safe space and enough time, that teen would be more inclined to abandon their adolescent fear of judgement and social status and inquire for more information, revealing their inherent curiosity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When teens inquire to learn more, they are building valuable skills for adulthood, like expanding their contextual knowledge. This deeper, more complex type of thinking is called \u003ca href=\"https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/transcendent-thinking-boosts-teen-brains-in-ways-that-enhance-life/\">transcendent thinking\u003c/a>, and according to Immordino-Yang, teens want to get there, but it takes work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Immordino-Yang also recommends setting a calm tone in the classroom in order to provide a space where teens can explore big ideas. When adolescents are allowed to think deeply about an issue that matters to them, and then back up and learn more about how to solve that issue, they are more likely to ditch the performative responses and tap into their newly developing vulnerability. According to Immordino-Yang, transcendent thinking – like thinking about the values, intentions and implications of more complex ideas – doesn’t just help young people better understand the world around them, this type of thinking actually grows their brains.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In other words, they are literally exercising their brain like a muscle when they think about these bigger, more complex, hidden ethical ideas,” Immordino-Yang continued.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>A Retreat From Discomfort\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>According to Eyal, teens aren’t learning how to express their vulnerability with their peers like they used to, and instead they’re “bombarded by vulnerability content” online which doesn’t require a response.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The teens that Eyal works with are aware that what they view on social media is synthetic to some degree. The bigger issue is that teens get to hide behind their parasocial relationships and skip out on the discomfort of in-person vulnerability and IRL confrontation, she said. “It’s almost like a retreat from discomfort,” Eyal continued.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of course, teens don’t just scroll on social media, they post there too. Eyal has found that a lot of her teen clients are deeply fearful of exposing their own vulnerabilities to their peers in person, but find it much easier to do so online. According to Eyal, this is a different form of McVulnerability that also procures a lack of reciprocity, but isn’t as far reaching as a tearful influencer apology might be. She said that vulnerable posts from teens online take away the “tender, awkward waiting experience that happens in person with a real vulnerability exchange.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>J’Nyah is pretty confident in her ability to navigate online spaces, but even so it can be hard for her to decipher her friends’ posts on social media, especially when they don’t reflect their behavior or mood in school. With abbreviations like KMS (kill myself) tossed around nonchalantly, J’Nyah makes sure to check-in with her friends in-person when she sees them posting concerning things on social media.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The line between right and wrong can get easily blurred online, especially for young people who are broadening their social skills and refining their relational identities. When online behavior goes too far, there’s often a waiting period for J’Nyah, and it isn’t until days or weeks later when her suspicions about a questionable piece of content are confirmed that she’s able to be sure about the information that’s been presented to her. Other online content are more obviously nefarious to J’Nyah, like someone recording and posting themselves being rude to patrons and employees at stores.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>J’Nyah also pointed out that people on social media tend to act in more extreme ways because they feel protected behind a screen. And there are negative consequences, said J’Nyah. Trends like the \u003ca href=\"https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/viral-devious-licks-tiktok-challenge-encourages-kids-to-steal-from-school\">“devious lick” trend\u003c/a> encouraged middle and high schoolers to steal and vandalize school property, costing some schools across the country \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/09/19/1038681786/schools-close-bathrooms-due-to-vandalization-from-tiktok-devious-licks-trend\">thousands of dollars in damages\u003c/a>. “I think things sometimes just go too far,” and “I feel like I’ve just been desensitized to a lot of things,” J’Nyah added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In order to combat becoming too comfortable behind a screen, Eyal encourages her teen clients to seek out healthy discomfort away from their devices like being a camp counselor for the summer where they might be responsible for younger kids, spend a lot of time outdoors and be required to do some form of physical labor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Put them in situations where they might feel nervous and shy and out of their element socially, or put them in a situation where maybe they have to be among a group of other kids,” and away from their phones, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While teens might think it’s more comfortable to escape behind screens, it’s important that parents show them that they can find meaning and value in the temporary discomfort of unfamiliar social settings and activities.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Issues with empathy\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Teachers might question their students’ capacity for \u003ca href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/Teachers/comments/1i0ms4p/the_lack_of_empathy_is_crushing/\">empathy\u003c/a> when they laugh during a lesson about the Holocaust, or crack an inappropriate joke while learning about the Jim Crow South. And these concerns from adults can be rooted in worries surrounding increased social media use by teens. But to Eyal, these reactions “sound so developmentally normal” because teens are experimenting with and learning how to express their emotions. Adolescents experience an immense amount of self-consciousness about how they are perceived by their peers and responding to a serious topic in an emotionally incongruent way is a way to avoid discomfort and vulnerability, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In these instances, teens’ neurological immaturity is on display. According to Immordino-Yang, teens sometimes express an emotion before processing the appropriateness given the context, but this is also a social response. “I don’t think they’d laugh if they were alone,” said Immordino-Yang.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Teens are also learning how and when to apply transcendent thinking, and get it wrong sometimes, said Immordino-Yang. “They often think of very deep things in superficial ways…or they think of superficial things in quite deep ways.” When patterns of thinking are exercised over and over again, like hours scrolling through social media, those patterns stick, Immordino-Yang continued. So viewing McVulnerability online very often “is likely to change the way you see things in school too; I mean, your mind comes with you wherever you go and it’s built by the way in which you use it,” she added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For parents concerned about their teens viewing McVulnerability online, Immordino-Yang suggested watching those videos with them, and talking to them about it. Asking questions like: Why do you think this person is acting like this? Or, what is their motive for posting this content for millions of people online?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Help them to start to query what you, as an adult, are capable of noticing about the bigger picture,” said Immordino-Yang. Remember that your teen doesn’t have to agree with what you are saying, she continued; learning to unpack the things that you are viewing rather than letting those things drive your attention and future decisions is important.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Engaging with [online] media is a great way to learn things. It’s a great way to be exposed to things that are outside your immediate sphere of influence,” added Immordino-Yang.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While social media can be fun, taking a break is important to J’Nyah. She recognizes that when things get too toxic, it might be time to take a step back. Every couple of months J’Nyah goes without her phone for a weekend, “so I can just rewire my brain a little bit, but I think if I didn’t do that, I would have a much harder time.” She also found that her extracurricular activities force her to stay away from her phone, which makes it easier to have built-in social media breaks during the week.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>J’Nyah is like most high school juniors – she scrolls through TikTok, posts on Instagram for her friends and keeps up with social media pop culture via YouTube videos about influencer updates. But she doesn’t take anything online too seriously. “I kind of just like stuff when it’s funny and keep scrolling,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Recently, she saw a video about an influencer apologizing for racially insensitive language, but to her it felt scripted and disingenuous. J’Nyah finds that influencer apologies enter her feed even though she isn’t following that person; that’s most likely happening because of an algorithmic boost or viral controversy that warranted the apology. And when one of her favorite K-Pop groups posted a culturally insensitive livestream, “\u003ca href=\"https://people.com/kiss-of-life-apologizes-after-hip-hop-themed-live-stream-11711423\">their apology\u003c/a> was not the greatest,” she said. “I just kind of stopped interacting with their content…It’s really tragic, their music is really good,” J’Nyah continued.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Amid a sea of endless content, it’s easy to forget that much of social media is curated, which can make it hard to know if an influencer’s apology video is authentic or not. And that can have consequences in other parts of life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Social scientists say being vulnerable with other people is how genuine relationships are developed. When you’re young, practicing vulnerability through close friendships or with other peers helps develop good social skills for adult relationships. Think of what it takes to say what you really want to say or cracking your professional veneer — that requires a degree of safety. And for \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/62189/school-shapes-teens-identities-and-relationships-what-role-do-teachers-play\">teens\u003c/a> who experience high levels of self-consciousness, feeling safe is a big deal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s where real apologies can create an opportunity for vulnerability. In order \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/62290/teaching-kids-the-right-way-to-say-im-sorry\">to truly be sorry\u003c/a>, social psychologists say offenders must follow several actions like acknowledging the infraction, delivering an apology, saying what will be done differently and, ideally, committing to that change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That seems easy enough, but given the abundance of crisis managers and image consultants, and the financial gains from having clout and virality, how do you know if someone is being genuine? And given how well emotional content performs online, what does that do to our ability to engage with one another in person?\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>The age of ‘McVulnerability’\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>These days, authentic vulnerability is hard to come by, said \u003ca href=\"https://www.maytaleyal.com/\">Maytal Eyal\u003c/a>, a psychologist and writer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>People’s experiences with vulnerability, or lack-thereof, are also making for quick growing parasocial relationships. Anyone with a phone can turn to social media to get their quick fix of synthetic and performative vulnerability, a phenomenon Eyal calls “\u003ca href=\"https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2025/01/mcvulnerability-crying-tiktok-youtube-instagram-influencers/681475/\">McVulnerability\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s “comfortable and easy and cheap, but ultimately like fast food, [McVulnerability is] not necessarily good for your health,” Eyal continued, especially during these times of \u003ca href=\"https://www.gse.harvard.edu/ideas/usable-knowledge/24/10/what-causing-our-epidemic-loneliness-and-how-can-we-fix-it\">increasing loneliness\u003c/a>. “Social media platforms have presented something to us that’s both really insidious and really brilliant where people no longer need to access real vulnerability in person,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Add to that, adolescents are \u003ca href=\"https://www.apa.org/monitor/2024/04/teen-social-use-mental-health\">spending more and more time online\u003c/a>. And although it’s difficult to pin down the exact \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/61026/10-things-to-know-about-how-social-media-affects-teens-brains\">effects of social media\u003c/a> on teens, studies show that teens’ \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/64715/youth-mental-health-is-declining-school-based-supports-can-help\">mental health is declining\u003c/a> and their \u003ca href=\"https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/surgeon-general-social-connection-advisory.pdf\">in-person socialization\u003c/a> has dropped dramatically in the last few decades.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So what happens to teens when they are viewing McVulnerability?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ultimately, the more hours spent online — and therefore, more potential time viewing McVulnerability — the more teens are disengaged from social activities that build their relational intimacy skills, said Eyal. “The consequences are dire because vulnerability and the discomfort within it are inherent to forming intimate relationships with others…without vulnerability, we have no intimacy,” she added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Instead of going to parties and \u003ca href=\"https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2025/03/teen-dating-milestone-decline/681971/\">chasing romance\u003c/a>, teens are spending more of their free time on their phones, said Eyal, who works with teens and their families through her private practice. This behavior is not unique to teens – \u003ca href=\"https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/fact-sheet/mobile/\">adults are doing this too\u003c/a> – but the adolescent period is critical to the development of social skills, vulnerability and empathy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Teens are undergoing enormous neurological changes during adolescence and are extremely sensitive to how they fit into their social settings, compared to younger kids and older adults, said \u003ca href=\"https://rossier.usc.edu/faculty-research/directory/maryhelen-immordinoyang\">Mary Helen Immordino-Yang\u003c/a>, a neuroscientist at USC’s Rossier School of Education and author of “\u003ca href=\"https://wwnorton.com/books/9780393709810\">Emotions, Learning, and the Brain.\u003c/a>” Adolescents also tend to be reactive, and when they don’t feel safe, it’s really hard for them to be vulnerable, Immordino-Yang continued.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When schools aren’t safe places and don’t focus on giving students ample time to draw on all of their developing empathy and social skills, teens can respond to serious prompts in unserious ways, said Immordino-Yang.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Take, for example, a classroom lesson on a civil rights march, in which the participants fight for a change that’s meaningful to them, she continued. A teen who isn’t familiar yet with the Civil Rights Movement might not be too impressed by what meets the eye, such as registering people to vote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Immordino-Yang’s research team found that adolescents took longer to think through complex stories and ideas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But given a safe space and enough time, that teen would be more inclined to abandon their adolescent fear of judgement and social status and inquire for more information, revealing their inherent curiosity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When teens inquire to learn more, they are building valuable skills for adulthood, like expanding their contextual knowledge. This deeper, more complex type of thinking is called \u003ca href=\"https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/transcendent-thinking-boosts-teen-brains-in-ways-that-enhance-life/\">transcendent thinking\u003c/a>, and according to Immordino-Yang, teens want to get there, but it takes work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Immordino-Yang also recommends setting a calm tone in the classroom in order to provide a space where teens can explore big ideas. When adolescents are allowed to think deeply about an issue that matters to them, and then back up and learn more about how to solve that issue, they are more likely to ditch the performative responses and tap into their newly developing vulnerability. According to Immordino-Yang, transcendent thinking – like thinking about the values, intentions and implications of more complex ideas – doesn’t just help young people better understand the world around them, this type of thinking actually grows their brains.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In other words, they are literally exercising their brain like a muscle when they think about these bigger, more complex, hidden ethical ideas,” Immordino-Yang continued.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>A Retreat From Discomfort\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>According to Eyal, teens aren’t learning how to express their vulnerability with their peers like they used to, and instead they’re “bombarded by vulnerability content” online which doesn’t require a response.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The teens that Eyal works with are aware that what they view on social media is synthetic to some degree. The bigger issue is that teens get to hide behind their parasocial relationships and skip out on the discomfort of in-person vulnerability and IRL confrontation, she said. “It’s almost like a retreat from discomfort,” Eyal continued.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of course, teens don’t just scroll on social media, they post there too. Eyal has found that a lot of her teen clients are deeply fearful of exposing their own vulnerabilities to their peers in person, but find it much easier to do so online. According to Eyal, this is a different form of McVulnerability that also procures a lack of reciprocity, but isn’t as far reaching as a tearful influencer apology might be. She said that vulnerable posts from teens online take away the “tender, awkward waiting experience that happens in person with a real vulnerability exchange.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>J’Nyah is pretty confident in her ability to navigate online spaces, but even so it can be hard for her to decipher her friends’ posts on social media, especially when they don’t reflect their behavior or mood in school. With abbreviations like KMS (kill myself) tossed around nonchalantly, J’Nyah makes sure to check-in with her friends in-person when she sees them posting concerning things on social media.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The line between right and wrong can get easily blurred online, especially for young people who are broadening their social skills and refining their relational identities. When online behavior goes too far, there’s often a waiting period for J’Nyah, and it isn’t until days or weeks later when her suspicions about a questionable piece of content are confirmed that she’s able to be sure about the information that’s been presented to her. Other online content are more obviously nefarious to J’Nyah, like someone recording and posting themselves being rude to patrons and employees at stores.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>J’Nyah also pointed out that people on social media tend to act in more extreme ways because they feel protected behind a screen. And there are negative consequences, said J’Nyah. Trends like the \u003ca href=\"https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/viral-devious-licks-tiktok-challenge-encourages-kids-to-steal-from-school\">“devious lick” trend\u003c/a> encouraged middle and high schoolers to steal and vandalize school property, costing some schools across the country \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/09/19/1038681786/schools-close-bathrooms-due-to-vandalization-from-tiktok-devious-licks-trend\">thousands of dollars in damages\u003c/a>. “I think things sometimes just go too far,” and “I feel like I’ve just been desensitized to a lot of things,” J’Nyah added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In order to combat becoming too comfortable behind a screen, Eyal encourages her teen clients to seek out healthy discomfort away from their devices like being a camp counselor for the summer where they might be responsible for younger kids, spend a lot of time outdoors and be required to do some form of physical labor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Put them in situations where they might feel nervous and shy and out of their element socially, or put them in a situation where maybe they have to be among a group of other kids,” and away from their phones, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While teens might think it’s more comfortable to escape behind screens, it’s important that parents show them that they can find meaning and value in the temporary discomfort of unfamiliar social settings and activities.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Issues with empathy\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Teachers might question their students’ capacity for \u003ca href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/Teachers/comments/1i0ms4p/the_lack_of_empathy_is_crushing/\">empathy\u003c/a> when they laugh during a lesson about the Holocaust, or crack an inappropriate joke while learning about the Jim Crow South. And these concerns from adults can be rooted in worries surrounding increased social media use by teens. But to Eyal, these reactions “sound so developmentally normal” because teens are experimenting with and learning how to express their emotions. Adolescents experience an immense amount of self-consciousness about how they are perceived by their peers and responding to a serious topic in an emotionally incongruent way is a way to avoid discomfort and vulnerability, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In these instances, teens’ neurological immaturity is on display. According to Immordino-Yang, teens sometimes express an emotion before processing the appropriateness given the context, but this is also a social response. “I don’t think they’d laugh if they were alone,” said Immordino-Yang.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Teens are also learning how and when to apply transcendent thinking, and get it wrong sometimes, said Immordino-Yang. “They often think of very deep things in superficial ways…or they think of superficial things in quite deep ways.” When patterns of thinking are exercised over and over again, like hours scrolling through social media, those patterns stick, Immordino-Yang continued. So viewing McVulnerability online very often “is likely to change the way you see things in school too; I mean, your mind comes with you wherever you go and it’s built by the way in which you use it,” she added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For parents concerned about their teens viewing McVulnerability online, Immordino-Yang suggested watching those videos with them, and talking to them about it. Asking questions like: Why do you think this person is acting like this? Or, what is their motive for posting this content for millions of people online?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Help them to start to query what you, as an adult, are capable of noticing about the bigger picture,” said Immordino-Yang. Remember that your teen doesn’t have to agree with what you are saying, she continued; learning to unpack the things that you are viewing rather than letting those things drive your attention and future decisions is important.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Engaging with [online] media is a great way to learn things. It’s a great way to be exposed to things that are outside your immediate sphere of influence,” added Immordino-Yang.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While social media can be fun, taking a break is important to J’Nyah. She recognizes that when things get too toxic, it might be time to take a step back. Every couple of months J’Nyah goes without her phone for a weekend, “so I can just rewire my brain a little bit, but I think if I didn’t do that, I would have a much harder time.” She also found that her extracurricular activities force her to stay away from her phone, which makes it easier to have built-in social media breaks during the week.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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