WHO: Swine flu pandemic has begun
The World Health Organization told its member nations it was declaring a swine flu pandemic on June 11--the first global flu epidemic in 41 years--as infections climbed in…
Safety & Security
Campus IT officials feel safer, but fear botnets
Campus computer networks are better protected than they were five years ago, college and university IT administrators said in a newly released survey, but they warned that the…
Campus IT officials feel safer, but fear botnets
Campus computer networks are better protected than they were five years ago, college and university IT administrators said in a newly released survey, but they warned that the…
EPA studies playground risks
For years, the Environmental Protection Agency has endorsed the use of ground-up tires to cushion the surfaces of children's playgrounds and sports fields--a decision now being reconsidered because…
Official: Some Pakistan students still captive
More than 40 students from a military school whose convoy was ambushed by Taliban militants in Pakistan's lawless tribal region are still being held captive, a school official…
School security breaches on the rise
Increases in physical and network security breaches among K-12 school districts are hampering schools' efforts to improve their overall security, according to the third annual School Safety Index,…
Should teachers, kids be digital ‘friends’?
With online social networks and similar tools rocketing in popularity, some teachers have started using these tools to build rapport, update students on classroom activities, and keep an…
Bill would fund internet safety education
A federal lawmaker has introduced internet safety legislation that, if passed, would authorize roughly $175 million--$35 million a year for five years--for internet safety education and training to…
UN agency seeks protection for children online
The UN telecommunications agency is drawing up guidelines to protect children from sexual predators operating on the internet, cyber bullying, and the temptations of online commerce, AFP reports.
North Carolina lawmakers want kids out of Google images
North Carolina Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton and legislators from Charlotte and Raleigh on May 19 joined a child internet safety group as one of its leaders called for…
Facebook users hooked in new ‘phishing’ scam
Facebook on May 15 was blocking links to bogus web sites set up to look like the home page of the popular online social network in a "phishing"…
Assistant principal is first NYC swine flu death
A school assistant principal who was sick for several days with swine flu on May 17 became the city's first death linked to the virus and the nation's…
Fumes from bottle sicken students at Ill. school
Authorities in the Chicago suburb of Lockport, Ill., locked down a high school campus after mysterious fumes from a bottle left in a hallway sent 13 students to…
Camera modified into stun gun found at school
A student at a Michigan school district learned to convert a disposable camera into a makeshift stun gun by watching a YouTube video and used the device on…
Obama warns of more school closings
As worries of a possible pandemic intensified April 29 amid reports of the first death in the United States from swine flu, President Obama said school leaders should…
Universities mobilize against pandemic threat
University-based research that helped authorities understand avian flu in 2006 could help mitigate the spread of swine flu in the United States, and higher-education officials are crediting the…
Justices hear arguments over school strip search
A lawyer for a 13-year-old Arizona girl strip-searched by school officials looking for prescription-strength ibuprofen pills has told the Supreme Court that the administrators needed better information than…
Wanted: Computer hackers … for hire
Tech-savvy students, take heed: Computer hackers are wanted by federal authorities, but not for prosecution. Instead, the government is looking to hire so-called "white hat" hackers to secure…
Feds, tech giants team up to protect kids online
The Department of Homeland Security and several tech giants are teaming up to launch a nationwide volunteer program that will put tech pros in K-12 classrooms to make…
Columbine’s lessons still sharp, a decade later
A decade after two students opened fire at Columbine High School in Jefferson County, Colo., killing 13 and injuring dozens more before turning the guns on themselves, the…
10 years later, the real story behind Columbine
A decade after Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold made Columbine a synonym for rage, new information indicates that much of what the public has been told about the…
School officials use Facebook to monitor students
As high school students flock to social networking sites, campus police are scanning their Facebook and MySpace pages for tips to help break up fights, monitor gangs, and…
Columbine 10 years later: Lessons learned
Ten years ago, the name of a suburban-Denver high school, Columbine, became synonymous with school shootings--a crisis that continues to afflict society today.
Breach sends water onto school campus in Fargo
The slowly receding Red River breached a dike on Fargo's north side early Sunday, sending water flowing into buildings at a school campus before it could be contained,…
More ‘fight club’ allegations at Texas school
Nine employees are under investigation over allegations of new fights among mentally disabled residents of the troubled Corpus Christi State School, a state lawmaker said March 21.
Students post schoolyard-brawl videos online
In schoolyards across the country, all it takes to attract a crowd is the call "Fight! Fight! Fight!" But now, students increasingly are showing up with cameras to…
Expert: Internet-mapping bill won’t deter attacks
A California lawmaker's proposal to require internet mapping services to blur detailed images of schools, colleges, hospitals, and other potential terrorist targets has generated a great deal of…
Stolen-data trove offers insights on botnets
Massive "botnet" networks -- armies of infected computers formed by spreading a computer virus that orders compromised machines to phone home for further instructions, such as sending out…
School shooting internet post was likely a fake
German police say they've made great strides toward developing a profile of the gunman in the March 11 school shooting spree that killed 15 people, but one key…
New campus safety issue: Cell phone stalking
The college student had endured months of online and cell-phone harassment from her ex-boyfriend. She ignored the barrage of eMails, changed her phone number, and dismantled online profiles…
School shooter warned of attack, in chat room
The 17-year-old gunman who went on a rampage at his former school and killed 15 people before taking his own life gave a warning in an Internet chatroom…
Teachers say they might tape-record students
Teachers in El Paso County, Texas, say they might begin tape-recording students in their classrooms as a means of self-protection, reports the El Paso Times.
EPA to test schools’ air for toxic chemicals
The Environmental Protection Agency soon will begin testing the air around schools for toxic contaminants, reports the Associated Press.
Officials: Craigslist doesn’t protect kids
An undercover investigation shows Craigslist is not protecting children from online predators, reports the Detroit News.
Fired superintendent used school eMail account to solicit sex
The Glynn County, Ga., school superintendent, who was fired last week, had used his school system BlackBerry and eMail address to seek sex from people posting classified ads…
Facebook has removed 5,500 sex offenders since May
The AP reports that Facebook has removed more than 5,500 convicted sex offenders from its social networking Web site since May, Connecticut's attorney general said Thursday.
School roofs collapse in two separate incidents
Two separate school roof collapses, caused by severe weather and snow, killed one woman and closed another school for repairs.
Free lessons offer cyber-bullying prevention
As cyber bullying becomes more prevalent among students, educators are looking for help in teaching their students about appropriate online behavior. To meet this need, New Jersey-based CyberSmart!…
Schools affected as peanut-product recall expands
At least 365 schools and agencies in at least three states were shipped possibly tainted peanut products linked to a nationwide salmonella outbreak as part of the federal…
Hackers’ latest ploy: Spoofing 911 calls
A new kind of high-tech telephone fraud exploits a weakness in the way the 911 system handles calls from internet-based phone services. The attacks--called "swatting," because armed police…