This document discusses various types of violence that can occur in schools and issues to consider when reporting on school violence and youth suicide. It addresses questions like what information would be important to provide if violence happened at a school, the "rules" of reporting on minors, and tips for interviewing children or covering sensitive topics like suicide. The document examines different types of school violence such as weapons, bullying, sexual abuse, and drugs. It also provides examples of real cases of school violence and considers challenges of reporting while being sensitive to victims, their families and the trauma involved.

2. Questions to Consider
 What types of violence regarding children
and education are there?
 If violence happens in your school (or
your child‟s), what would you want to
know about it?
 What are the “rules” when reporting about
young children in a news story? How
about a crime story?

3. Types of School-Related
Violence
 Weapon-related  Suicide
violence  Sexual abuse
 School shootings  Drug-related violence
 Stabbing
 Bullying
 Sexual Orientation  Those in red will be discussed
further in the presentation.
 Cyber

4. Weapon-related violence
 School shootings involve a person deliberately shooting
off a gun to harm or injure somebody in an educational
institution.
 Virginia Tech University (2007) -
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/16/us/16cnd-
shooting.html
 Columbine High School (1999) -
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/blogpost/post/colum
bine-anniversary-it-was-horribly-viscerally-
real/2011/04/20/AFp4p9BE_blog.html
 Stabbing
 Bowie State University (2011) -
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/16/bowie-state-
stabbing-alex_n_966924.html

5. Bullying
 Sexual Orientation
 [also cyberbullying ] Tyler Clementi of Rutgers University
(2010) - http://abcnews.go.com/US/victim-secret-dorm-sex-
tape-commits-suicide/story?id=11758716#.Tt5B4XN93cU
 Jonah Mowry (2011) -
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/health/2011/12/05/gay-teen-
jonah-mowry-says-bullying-made-him-stronger/
 Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover, 11 (2009) -
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/MindMoodNews/story?id=73
28091#.Tt5E1nN93cU
 Cyberbullying – “when one child targets another child
using interactive technologies” – stopcyberbullying.org
 Phoebe Prince, 15 (2010) -
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/cyber-bullying-factor-suicide-
massachusetts-teen-irish-
immigrant/story?id=9660938#.Tt5DGHN93cU

6. Sexual Abuse
 Penn State University (2011) -
http://www.npr.org/2011/11/08/142111804/penn-state-
abuse-scandal-a-guide-and-timeline
 Graves County High School (2011) -
http://www.wpsdlocal6.com/news/local/High-school-
teacher-faces-sex-abuse-charge-133192848.html
 Timothy Academy Christian Elementary School (2011) -
http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2011/03/23/philadelphia-
teacher-charged-with-sex-abuse-of-elementary-pupil/

7. Drug-Related Violence

8. What if you‟re caught in the
middle of violence?
 If you‟re a student and violence is happening around
you in school, what would you like to know?
 Is it safer to leave or stay outside?
 Are you safe?
 Is there anyone hurt?
 Should you try to help or stay out of it?
 Who‟s committing the violence?

9. What if you were a family member or
friend of the victim in a school crime?
 Imagine if your loved one was killed in a school
crime.
 Would you want to be interviewed by the media?
 No – pain & suffering; privacy
 Yes – to inform the public

10. What if you‟re reporting school
violence?
 What if you‟re a student journalist, and you‟re caught in
the middle? What would you want to know?
 What kind of violence has been committed?
 Who were involved?
 Were there any deaths?
 Who can you contact for more information?
 Who should you interview? Should you interview
children?
 Click here for the Dart Center for Journalism & Trauma‟s
tipsheet on interviewing children and trauma.

11. What if you‟re covering a teen
suicide?
 What would you do if you had to cover a teen suicide?
 What things would you keep in mind?
 Would you use the teen‟s name in your article?
 If the teen was bullied, would you use publish his/her photo?
 Would you publish the names and photos of the bullies?
 Click here for the Dart Center for Journalism & Trauma‟s tip
sheet on covering teen suicide.
“If you do cover a suicide death, explain that suicide is most often
the fatal complication of multiple types of mental illness, most
of which can be treated. Include contact information for your
school's counselor or health center, and include the number to
a 24-hour suicide prevention hot line.” – tip sheet

12. What if you‟re covering a teen
suicide?
Let‟s look at how ABC News covered the story on a 15-
year-old immigrant from Ireland who committed suicide
due to bullying.
 The lede starts with, “Even in death, Phoebe Prince was
bullied.”
 Do you think that was appropriate? Why or why not?
 The victim‟s name was mentioned in the first sentence of
the article.
 Would you have done the same, or waited a few grafs
before stating the teen‟s name?
Is this picture appropriate?
 The only people quoted in the article were police and
school officials.
 Would you interview friends or family of the teen and
quote them in the article? Why or why not?
 The article states that bullying has become “increasingly
common” in schools, but doesn‟t provide information on
how and where to get help.

13. What if you‟re covering a teen
suicide?
Let‟s look at how NY Daily News covered the same story.
Interestingly, they have a Topics page especially for Phoebe
Prince, with an overview, related articles and photos.
 The first article appeared late March, more than three
months after the suicide happened and after ABC News first
reported the story. The NY Daily News article focused on
the bullies who were indicted for “driving a pretty 15-year-
old „new girl‟ from Ireland to suicide,” the lede reads.
 How do you feel about this lede in comparison to
that of ABC News?
 In the NY Daily News article, the victim‟s name was
mentioned in the third graf.
 Similar to ABC News, this article only had an authority
(District Attorney Elizabeth Scheibel) quoted. However, in
another article from NY Daily News, written two days later Is this picture
after the indictment article, the bullied victim‟s friend, 14, appropriate?
was interviewed.

14. What if you‟re covering an
elementary school student‟s suicide?

15. The First 24 Hours
 http://dartcenter.org/content/self-study-unit-4-first-24-
hours-0