Hi there! This week, the rest of the country has decided that school is back in session, so there are two excellent articles about education. The first considers restorative justice as an alternative to traditional discipline systems, and the last regards voluntary school desegregation as unlikely, nearly impossible. In between are two deep and important pieces — about the importance of remembering Sandy Hook and 9/11.

An Alternative to High-School Suspensions

Most people believe that when young people misbehave, we should punish them. Let’s teach them a lesson. The problem is, punishment doesn’t work. Instead, it pushes students out of school and into the prison system. This article is about restorative justice, a different way to demonstrate to young people how to be better.

Fighting Back Against Sandy Hook Deniers

Yes, there are people out there who think that the school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary did not happen. This is the story of a dad who lost his 6-year-old son, who decided to fight back against the conspiracy theorists. It might be very American to say that 9/11 and Sandy Hook and the Orlando Massacre were “inside jobs,” but this silliness hurts people.

Ms. Jennifer Gerosa's 11th graders in San Francisco are reading Ta-Nehisi Coates’s Between the World in Me in their English class. Excellent choice.

The Falling Man

I observed a colleague on Monday teach a responsible lesson on 9/11 to her sophomores, who were born in 2001. Our young people are very much affected by the events of September 11, but they do not know much about it. This essay, about people who jumped from the World Trade Center, is not for the faint of heart. But it is beautifully written, and it will take you back to that day 15 years ago.

How Parents Can Help Desegregate Schools

White people like desegregation, so long as their own children get to attend white schools. A typical white student goes to a school that is 75 percent white; a typical African American or Latino student goes to a school that is 90 percent of color. The way to integrate schools is to encourage white parents to send their kids to racially diverse schools. But that’s unlikely to happen without force.

Issue #58 is in the books! I still want to see what happens when someone clicks on the discussion bubble and makes a comment. Why not try it? It may spark an elucidating conversation! Go ahead. If not, email me your thoughts, and I’ll see you back here next Thursday at 9:10 am!