This week's safe schools snippets

How to spot a bullied child and what to do

(CNN) —Editor’s note: Jodee Blanco is an activist against and authority on school bullying. She conducts anti-bullying programs and wrote “Please Stop Laughing at Me …” and its sequel, “Please Stop Laughing at Us …”

As a former victim of bullying who speaks at schools across the country, I meet many distraught parents who want advice on how to help their bullied child. I ache for them because I remember what my own mom and dad went through, never knowing the shape I’d be in when I came home from school. Read this CNN report.

The burden of the bullied

With bullying reaching a crisis level in U.S. schools, University of Texas at Austin sociologist Robert Crosnoe has completed one of the most comprehensive studies of the long-term effects on teenagers who say they don’t fit in. Read more from the University of Texas at Austin.

Study links school safety to achievement, relationships

School safety depends far less on the poverty and crime surrounding the campus than on the academic achievement of its students and their relationships with adults in the building, according to a new study of Chicago public schools. Read more in Education Week.

High school counselor arrested for sexual exploitation

GILPIN COUNTY – A Boulder Valley School District counselor was arrested Wednesday by the Gilpin County Sheriff’s Department. David Stansbury, a Monarch High School counselor is accused of sexual exploitation of a child through the Internet. Watch this 9NEWS report.

Parents, students react to BB gun incident at school

LAKEWOOD, Colo. – A 10-year-old boy has been arrested after shooting classmates with a BB gun Monday. Lynn Setzer with Jefferson County Public Schools confirmed the boy brought a BB gun to Stein Elementary School in Lakewood and shot six of his classmates when the teacher wasn’t looking. Watch the report on CBS4.

Fifth-grader shoots two students with ‘Airsoft’ gun

ARAPAHOE COUNTY, Colo. — A 5th grader from Aspen Crossing Elementary School in Aurora has been suspended after shooting two students with an “Airsoft” gun on a school bus Tuesday. Watch the Fox31 report.

Aurora student suspended after pellet gun incident

AURORA, Colo. – A Colorado fifth-grader has been suspended after allegedly shooting two first-graders with an Airsoft pellet gun on a school bus. Learn more at KWGN2.

Ex-school staffer sentenced to 10 years’ probation

LOVELAND, Colo. (AP) – A former Loveland high school employee accused of having a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old student will serve 10 years of sex offender probation in a plea deal with prosecutors. Watch the CBS4 report.

Colorado GOP women senators back bullying bill

The three Republican women in the Colorado state Senate this year have voted as a bloc in support of at least two big family-protection bills that their male Republican colleagues have opposed. Read more in the Colorado Independent.

Student expelled for knives now back in school

AURORA – Lenny Torres could not believe he was kicked out of Eaglecrest High School three weeks before his graduation. But now, after a meeting with the Cherry Creek superintendent, the honors student is back in class. Watch this 9NEWS report.

Colo. lawmakers near agreement on anti-bullying bill

DENVER—Colorado lawmakers have struck a tentative agreement on an anti-bullying measure that could prompt more school uniforms across the state. The bullying measure mostly just enables the state to accept donations to start working on statewide anti-bullying efforts. But the bill does require that school dress codes promote “uniformity of dress.” Read more in the Denver Post.

About our First Person series:

First Person is where Chalkbeat features personal essays by educators, students, parents, and others trying to improve public education. Read our submission guidelines here.