Education Week - March 21, 2018 - 24

LETTERS to the EDITOR
PRESIDENT & CEO Michele J. Givens
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF & CHIEF CONTENT OFFICER Scott Montgomery
MANAGING EDITOR Kathleen Kennedy Manzo

ASSISTANT MANAGING EDITOR,

DEPUTY MANAGING EDITORS

Education Week Teacher Liana Loewus

Mark W. Bomster, Stacey Decker

INTERN, Education Week Teacher Alix Mammina

ASSISTANT MANAGING EDITORS
Kevin C. Bushweller, Lesli A. Maxwell, Debra Viadero
COMMENTARY EDITOR Elizabeth Rich
SENIOR CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Karen Diegmueller
ASSOCIATE EDITORS Sean Cavanagh,
Christina A. Samuels, Stephen Sawchuk
ASSISTANT EDITORS Alyson Klein, Sarah D. Sparks,
Andrew Ujifusa
ASSISTANT COMMENTARY EDITOR Mary Hendrie
STAFF WRITERS Evie Blad, Daarel Burnette II,
Benjamin Herold, Corey Mitchell, Michele Molnar,
Arianna Prothero, Denisa R. Superville, Madeline Will
DATA SPECIALIST/STAFF WRITER Francisco Vara-Orta

Education Week Video
CORRESPONDENTS Kavitha Cardoza, Lisa Stark
VIDEO PRODUCERS Erin Irwin, Cat McGrath,
Swikar Patel

DIRECTOR, EDUCATION WEEK
RESEARCH CENTER Holly Yettick
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, EDUCATION WEEK
RESEARCH CENTER Sterling C. Lloyd
RESEARCH ANALYST Alex Harwin
SURVEY ANALYST Michael Osher

SENIOR CONTRIBUTING WRITER Catherine Gewertz
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Caralee Adams,
Michelle R. Davis, Marva Hinton, Brenda Iasevoli,
Mark Walsh

CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER Jill J. Nelson
CONTROLLER Desireé Ford
HR MANAGER Melissa McCurry

COMMENTARY ASSOCIATE Kate Stoltzfus

JUNIOR ACCOUNTANT Lindsey Eggleston

COMMENTARY ASSISTANT Hannah Sarisohn
EDITORIAL INTERN Sarah Schwartz

ACCOUNTING INTERNS Sharon Johnson,
Rachel Nathan

DIRECTOR OF PROGRAMMING,
LIVE AND VIRTUAL EVENTS Matthew Cibellis

CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER Chris Hansford

LIVE AND VIRTUAL EVENTS INTERN Sasha Jones

DIRECTOR OF DIGITAL OPERATIONS
David Tashjian

CREATIVE DIRECTOR Laura Baker

DIRECTOR OF SYSTEMS OPERATIONS Aaron Aleiner

ART DIRECTOR Gina Tomko

SENIOR PRODUCT MANAGER AND
TECHNICAL ANALYST Jonathan Rogers

ASSOCIATE ART DIRECTOR Vanessa Solis
DESIGNERS Marty Barrick, Francis Sheehan
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY Charles Borst
ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY
Swikar Patel

SYSTEMS OPERATIONS TECHNICIAN Jorge Vargas
IT INTERN Hasan Mohamed

Author Responds to Reader Pushback
To The Editor:
In response to my Feb. 20 Commentary "Not Just
About Guns. Male Aggression Is a Serious Problem,"
some people commented that my opinion represents
some larger "feminization" of men. I think this is
misogynistic. Yet, for the sake of argument, I think
certain "feminine" characteristics, like showing
emotions or being passive and submissive, would
benefit men. When we express our emotions in nonthreatening ways, we give other people permission to
do the same, opening the door for someone to receive
help.
When we are passive and stop asserting ourselves
onto the world, we hear what the world is saying.
And submissiveness is a direct challenge to
dominance. When being submissive, we surrender
some of our power to those who have less. I am not
talking about acquiescing to something harmful, but
rather surrendering our need to control or dominate
over situations and people.
What I proposed in my essay was simply that
men should challenge aggression. I realize it's not
a panacea. We need strong gun laws. We need a
criminal justice system that prosecutes and holds
accountable violent men. Yet, the criminal justice
system only prosecutes a murderer after he murders.
So, along with sensible gun laws and a strong
criminal justice system, I suggest that we look at how
our society has made aggression, dominance, and
violence part of what it means to be a man and that
we challenge it. Such attention can only do good for
men and women. Taking a defensive position, on the
other hand, does nothing.

EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT Shaiy E. Knowles
FRONT OFFICE ADMINISTRATOR Naomi Cohen

Patrick O'Connor

ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT Maria Shaffer

High School Teacher
Wilbraham, Mass.

SENIOR ONLINE NEWS PRODUCER Michael Bock
SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER Chelsea Boone
ONLINE NEWS PRODUCER Hyon-Young Kim

Getting Youth Technology Use Right

MULITMEDIA INTERN Rachel Wegner

VICE PRESIDENT, DEVELOPMENT & EXTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS Christopher B. Swanson
DIRECTOR, KNOWLEDGE SERVICES
Rachael Delgado

EDUCATION WEEK PRESS INTERN
Rebecca Mendelsohn

WEB ANALYST Mike Castellano
PRODUCT MANAGER FOR EDUCATION WEEK
PRESS David Rosenzweig

LIBRARIANS Holly Peele, Maya Riser-Kositsky

CHIEF REVENUE OFFICER Maurice Bakley
GENERAL MANAGER, GLOBAL SALES &
ADVERTISING PRODUCT MANAGEMENT

DIRECTOR OF AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT

Ben Delaney-Winn

PRINT & ONLINE AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT
MANAGER Jeson Jackson

DIRECTOR, SALES, ADVERTISING & MARKETING
SOLUTIONS
Karen McKay kmckay@epe.org
REGIONAL MANAGERS
Guy Blumberg gblumberg@epe.org
Julie Fagan jfagan@epe.org
Josh Ford jford@epe.org
REGIONAL MANAGER, ADVERTISING &
MARKETING SOLUTIONS
Valerie Saba vsaba@epe.org

Stefanie Hemmingson

DIGITAL CONTENT SALES & MARKETING
MANAGER Ryan Lanier
DIGITAL CONTENT ACCOUNT MANAGERS
Tricia Buckley, Don Lee, Sharon Makowka,
Susan Puritz
AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT INTERN Steven Tran

DIRECTOR OF PRODUCTION Jo Arnone

Courtney Tyson ctyson@epe.org

MANAGER, DIGITAL PRODUCTION Kevin Kemp

DIRECTOR OF MARKETING Angela Morales

EVENT PLANNER, PRODUCTION OPERATIONS
Emma Prillaman

TOPSCHOOLJOBS SENIOR MARKETING
MANAGER Melissa Heyeck
MARKETING MANAGER Bryarly Richards
TOPSCHOOLJOBS SALES MANAGER
David DePasquale ddepasquale@epe.org

DIGITAL PRODUCTION COORDINATOR Peter Dolak
ASSOCIATE ADVERTISING PRODUCTION
COORDINATOR Joslyn Nedeau
PRODUCTION INTERN Ahmed Kheiry

TOPSCHOOLJOBS CLIENT SERVICES MANAGERS
Shirlanda Y. Braxton sbraxton@epe.org
Tracy Redmond tredmond@epe.org
ADVERTISING SALES ASSISTANT Rob Voigt

EDITORIAL & BUSINESS OFFICES:

6935 Arlington Road, Suite 100
Bethesda, MD 20814-5233
(301) 280-3100
www.edweek.org
Editorial FAX: (301) 280-3200
Business FAX: (301) 280-3250
Print or online subscription customer service:
(800) 445-8250
Product or print purchase orders:
Fax to (215) 788-6887
sitelicense@epe.org
Article reprints: (877) 394-7350

Back issues are available at $5.00 each, except the January 17, 2018
(Quality Counts) issue at $15.00 each, and June 14, 2017 (Technology
Counts) issue at $12.00 each. Price includes postage and handling via
the US Postal Service. Order online: www.edweek.org/go/backissues, or
call 1-800-445-8250, or fax 215-788-6887.You may also send orders to:
Education Week Back Issues, P.O. Box 3005, Langhorne, PA 190479105.
Copies of the newspaper on microfilm can be ordered from National
Archive Publishing Company, 300 N. Zeeb Road, P.O. Box 998, Ann
Arbor, MI 48106-0998. Phone: 1-800-420-6272.
Website: www.napubco.com.

24 | EDUCATION WEEK | March 21, 2018 | www.edweek.org/go/commentary

To The Editor:
There has been a chorus of opinion in these pages
about the potential effects of passive technology
use on children, such as Donald Coburn's Feb. 1
Commentary "The Teenage Smartphone Problem
Is Worse Than You Think" and Matt Miles' Feb. 7
Commentary "Schooling Students on Screentime."
The "digital divide" should not be confused with the
"digital-use divide." In an educational context, the
digital divide has traditionally referred to the gap
between students who have access to the internet
and computers at home and those who do not.
Having a cellphone is not the same as having access
to high-speed broadband connections or a device
appropriate for learning.
The digital-use divide, meanwhile, is defined by
the quality and purpose of technology use. Passive
technology use such as "screen time" includes
social-media engagement, which is driving much of
the discussion about the harmful impact of youths'
technology use.
Active technology use, on the other hand, is
leveraging technology to create, design, explore, and
collaborate. In classrooms, we see those carried out
as team assignments, online class discussions, peer
reviews, adaptive practice, and content creation
collaboration. These activities are vital in fostering
deeper learning and mastery of skills.
Although access to connectivity and devices does
not guarantee a quality education, it does deliver
incredible advantages and benefits. For example,
Oregon's Beaverton school district, where one of us
is the superintendent, combines student take-home
devices with a learning-management system so
student learning does not end outside the walls of
the classroom. Students use their devices to post
assignments and engage in classroom discussions
throughout the day. Parents of all income levels and
geographic locations should be educated about the
difference between passive and active technology use.
And they should be empowered to set appropriate
boundaries for their children. School systems can
play an important role in helping students and their

www.edweek.org/go/letters
families understand the difference.
Together, through this clearer understanding, we
can provide more high-quality, modern educational
experiences for our children in the 21st century.

Keith Krueger
CEO
Consortium for School Networking
Washington, D.C.

Don Grotting
Superintendent
Beaverton School District
Beaverton, Ore.

The Implications of Arming Teachers
To the Editor:
In response to the recent article on proposed
measures to arm teachers following the Feb. 14
shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School
in Parkland, Fla., ("Parkland-Inspired Bill on Guns,
School Safety Heads to Florida Governor's Desk,"
Rules for Engagement blog, www.edweek.org, March
7, 2018) we must focus greater attention on the
consequences that increased gun presence in schools
would have on minority populations. Although this
coverage touches on concerns that civil rights groups
have expressed following the proposed bill to add
more law enforcement to schools, this point remains
a minor feature of the national discussion.
Questions concerning race must be brought
to the forefront of this conversation. If we are to
contemplate whether trained teachers should be
permitted to carry guns, should we not also question
which teachers would be permitted to do so? What
would such a selection process look like? How would
this affect racially diverse students and teachers?
What additional problems would the mixture of race
and guns force schools to contend with?
It is bad enough that arming teachers has been
presented as a plausible idea. It is worse that it has
been communicated to the American public absent
of these racial considerations. If the conversation
surrounding armed teachers is to continue, we must
highlight these omissions. As a nation, we must not
only ensure that schools become safer for students
and teachers, but that educators do not become
complicit with increased racial surveillance and
profiling of already vulnerable student populations.
Samantha Citarella
Graduate Student
George Washington University
Washington, D.C.

Arm Teachers-Just Not With Guns
To the Editor:
In response to "Trump: Nation Should Consider
Arming Teachers to Prevent School Shootings," let's
put aside the implied denigration of law enforcement
and the military, who train intensively to wield
firearms in high-pressure situations (Politics K-12
blog, www.edweek.org, Feb. 21, 2018).
Let's instead focus on the needs of educators,
teachers in particular, to help all children achieve to
their potential-to prepare them for meaningful and
fulfilling lives, effective citizenship, postsecondary
education, and the workforce. With what should our
teachers be armed? There are many significantly
more powerful ways we can arm teachers to help
students succeed that are better than bringing
weapons into the classroom-and we have the data
to back up those measures.
No doubt perpetrators of extreme violence suffer
from unmanaged mental illness and may be
otherwise deranged. But the rates of mental illness
and other contributing factors to extreme violence
are roughly the same in the United States as in
other countries that do not experience frequent gun
fatalities.
How about taking the money that would be

http://www.edweek.org/go/letters http://www.edweek.org http://www.edweek.org http://www.edweek.org/go/backissues http://www.edweek.org http://www.napubco.com http://www.edweek.org/go/commentary

Education Week - March 21, 2018

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Education Week - March 21, 2018