Kids at LAUSD campuses return to school today for the first time since the Newtown shootings. Have enhanced security measures been put in place yet? Plus, we'll check in with students and parents as they arrive to school. Plus, a new study shows classroom design can have an affect on kids' grades. Then, school citations remain high despite reforms, gadgets and gimmicks take center stage at Consumer Electronics Show, and much more.
Security on the mind as LAUSD students return to school
Los Angeles public school students head back to class today for the first time since the Newtown shootings. In response to that tragedy, Los Angeles Police announced a new plan to ensure security at the district's schools.
"They'll be checking in with each administrator at least once every day, then going back by the schools and stepping up patrols past all of the schools as well," said Jill Barnes, coordinator of emergency services for the LA Unified School District, on Take Two. "The plan is going to be reevaluated at the end of the week to see how it can be continued."
To see how the new security plan is being received by students and parents, we check in with producer, Mary Plummer at Maple Primary Center, a public school in South Los Angeles that serves 200 students in Kindergarten and first grade.
Why are boys so attracted to gun play?
Three days after the Sandy Hook School shooting in Newtown, Mass. a 6-year-old boy in Maryland pretended his hand was a gun, pointed the finger at a classmate, and pretended to fire. That seemingly innocent gesture earned him a suspension from his elementary school.
His family said he was just playing and appealed the decision. School officials said the suspension was not based on a single incident, but agreed to erase the punishment from the boy's permanent record. The controversy over the incident pointed to something parents of many young children know, boys seem to be hard-wired for gun play.
But why, and what should parents concerned about gun violence or aggression do something about it? Professor Mary Ellin Logue of the University of Maine joins the show to tell us about her research on how children play.
Interview Highlights:
Has there been research as to why boys are more interested than girls in gun play?
"There is research to back it, the gun play is often a subset of the pretend play that we see in preschool children. Children around the ages 4 or 5 are very active, and boys are more active than girls. We see this active rough play across all species, cross-culturally with boys being higher on the spectrum than girls."
Is there a biological reason for this phenomenon?
"Certainly there's a biological activity level that seems to be present, I think that part of it too is that in the preschool time, Children are trying to learn the culture, and they're trying very hard to be good. And they don't necessarily have the impulse control to always be good and so its not surprising that we have this fantasy play, this bad guy play to really peak at this stage because in order to be good they have to push against something bad."
How much do you think American media or entertainment plays in reinforcing their interest?
"It's not only in the United States, but I don't think we can talk about gunplay, though, unless we look at the cultural context of our country and the exposure that the children have through the media and the stories that they hear through the news. That kind of exposure of what they're taking in. There are a lot of mixed messages they're getting because they are trying to be good, but sometimes the good guys really don't look that much different than the bad guys — how they talk and what they use for tools — so we have to assume that through play and through watching, that children are making their own theories about how the world works."
How can adults steer kids' development and education when it comes to violence and aggression?
"I think parents and teachers need to talk to children about what they're playing and take an active interest in it. I think children sometimes assume that the adults don't want to know or that it's something they need to hide from adults. One of the studies I did…We found that most teachers stop any kind of play that even might hint at being aggressive play, so the children never get a chance to talk about it. Often the parents don't know how to intervene with the children. Sometimes parents who are concerned might only buy the good guys toys and never buy the bad guy toys. I had one little boy say You can't be good unless you have a bad guy."
So parents should talk to their kids about the realities of guns?
"Having that conversation with them is really important, because they are otherwise making their own theories: it looks like fun, it looks like they're having a good time from the movies they watched."
How do parents or teachers tell when play has turned too aggressive?
"I think if you watch children play, you can see the difference. For most children they know the difference between play and not play, but a lot of adults don't know and a lot of adults swoop in when the children are playing rough, they'll intervene immediately. It's when that play will escalate from play to aggression. Those are the children that you need to intervene with. Most children learn the difference between … a nip and a bite. They learn through playing with each other. They learn about those boundaries, but some children aren't learning it that way and those are the children we need to intervene with."
Study shows classroom design can have significant influence on kids' grades
When it comes to student performance, we hear a lot about teacher evaluations and class size, but what about the classroom itself?
A study in this month's Building and Environment Journal found that classroom layout can have a significant influence on children's grades, both positively and negatively.
Here to explain is the study's lead author, Peter Barrett, who teaches architecture at the University of Salford in England.
LAUSD School tickets still high despite reforms
Nobody in the system thinks ticketing 10-year-old students is the right thing to do.
"I can tell you from about 38 years in the business that once kids get in the system it’s very difficult to get out," said Hellen Carter, head of L.A. County probation and part of the School-based Arrest Reform Partnership, a group that includes the school police chief, school administrators, judges and parents.
Together, the two groups are trying to come up with a protocol on when to arrest students, when to give them tickets, and when to avoid the justice system entirely and refer them to social services.
"We know that kids are going to do some dumb things," said Carter. "And we want to give them an opportunity to make amends for what they’ve done, learn from what they’ve done, but also not put them in a position where it can literally destroy their future."
Last spring, L.A. Unified released arrest and citations numbers for the first time. What they revealed was alarming. Kids had been issued more than 10,000 citations in a year, more than any other district in the country. Minorities and middle schoolers got more tickets than older kids and white students.
Those statistics caught the attention of federal civil rights officials and LAUSD started looking inward. Judge Donna Quigley Groman is among those involved in drafting new guidelines.
"We’re also working with L.A. Unified…to come up with a plan to select offenses," said Groman. "And to see what other mechanism can be used to divert these cases and not send them further into the juvenile justice system."
Some offenses they're looking at include minor fights and possession of cigarettes. Her concern is that kids who are sent to court are more likely to drop out or commit more serious crimes.
"I just don’t see it as being the most appropriate setting to address behavioral problems that occur in school," said Groman.
Until July, students who were ticketed had to go court. If they didn’t show up, it became a criminal offense. Now, ticketed students see a probation officer who only sends them to court as last resort.
Rose Solache wishes that had been the case four years ago when she was in middle school and got into her first fight. Even though she went to court, that fight lead to three more over two years. Today the girls would have been brought in to talk about it instead.
"That week a lot of people had gotten into fights and everybody got ticketed. And I was one of those students," said Solache. "So now that I’m older, I was reflecting and I’m like, 'why didn’t we ever do this?' You know, it could have prevented four other fights. Four other people getting ticketed, four other people having their parents go to court so you know it could have just prevented the situation from escalating."
Despite these efforts, citations for 2012 are in line with 2011, and middle-school kids make up nearly half those ticketed, according to an analysis by the Center for Public Integrity. One area of success that is indisputable, says school police chief Steven Zipperman, is a reduction in truancy citations.
"As I speak to you today…since it’s been implemented in August, our truancy citations, year to date, compared to last year at the same time, are down 63 percent," said Zipperman. "Last year, at this point, up to 1,700 cited. Now down to 700 or so at this point."
Unless an officer absolutely has to issue a ticket, all truant students are now referred to one of 13 counseling offices.
Dr. Earl Perkins, oversees discipline for L.A. Unified. He says the district is implementing a “positive behavioral” model where teachers and administrators praise and encourage students rather than rely on punishment to improve behavior. That shift is occurring at every level within schools. One sign of its success: suspension rates have been cut in half.
"We figured if we’re going to make this deal go right we must make sure the administrators, the students, the parents are all on the same page," said Perkins. "That we understand that our goal is to help keep kids in school and to show them that with that, instruction will increase."
But in a district as behemoth as L.A. Unified, with the largest school police force in the country, it’ll take a while. At the start of the school year only a third of the district’s schools were using the “positive behavioral” model.
This story was co-reported with Susan Ferriss of the Center for Public Integrity.
Gadgets and gimmicks take center stage at 2013 Consumer Electronics Show
Suitcase trackers, scratch-proof glass, and a fork that tracks how much you eat.
You'll find all of these products at the Consumer Electronics Show, which starts today in Las Vegas. Companies use the convention as an opportunity to unveil new technologies that can be both kitschy and important.
What shows up at CES can also be an indication of larger trends in the tech world.
Here to talk about the event is Scott Stein from the tech site CNET.
RELATED: CES 2013: How to track the convention's gadgets, trends and news
Sports wrap-up: NHL lockout over, Lakers in trouble, and more
It was a jam-packed weekend as the National Hockey League has saved what's left of its season, the Lakers look like they're in trouble, college football will crown a new champ. And then there's Lance.
To help us put all in perspective, we're joined by Brian Kamenetzky who has covered sports in L.A. for over decade with the LA Times and ESPN.
Hollywood Monday: Oscar noms and the latest entertainment news
The Oscar ballots are in, and later this week we'll find out who made the cut. The Academy Award nominations will be announced early Thursday.
Joining us now to talk about the race, and other entertainment news, Rebecca Keegan of the Los Angeles Times.
New CIA head John Brennan and the US drone program
President Obama has appointed John Brennan to head the CIA. Brennan was one of the key officials overseeing the use of targeted killings against al-Qaeda and Taliban militants during President Obama's first term.
Most independent estimates put the death of the over 250 strikes during that period at over 2000 militants and hundreds of non-combatants.
Here to discuss Brennan's role in the drone program and how his appointment to head the CIA might affect it is Joshua Foust, a fellow at the American Security Project and a correspondent for the Atlantic.
Police in Arizona crack down on identity theft by immigrants
The push in Congress for immigration reform could begin as early as this month. In the meantime, there are daily reminders of a broken system. In Arizona's most populous county, a battle is playing out in the courts over unauthorized immigrants who get hired for work by using fraudulent social security numbers. Law enforcement has been cracking down, but some defense attorneys are questioning their authority to do so. From the Fronteras Desk in Phoenix, Jude Joffe-Block reports.
As Congress prepares to take on immigration reform as early as this month, daily reminders remain of a broken system.
In Arizona’s most populous county, a battle is unfolding in the courts over unauthorized immigrants who get hired for work by using fraudulent Social Security Numbers and documents. Law enforcement has been cracking down, but now some defense attorneys are questioning their authority to do so.
One such case involves 27-year-old immigrant Octavio Castañeda-Flores, who was brought to this country illegally as a child.
The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office alleges he was working for the past seven years at a furniture store under someone else’s name and Social Security Number.
Castañeda-Flores was arrested and jailed in September.
“He was just working, he wasn't doing anything bad,” said his wife Brenda Santana, outside of one of his court hearings in December. “He was doing something every other person is doing every day of their life to support their children and family.”
He is facing multiple counts of forgery and identity theft, which are Class 4 felonies. The charges are based on the documents he presented and filled out when he was hired in 2005, including federal I-9 and W-4 forms, and a state form from the Arizona Department of Revenue.
Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery said employment-related identity theft cases became a law enforcement priority because of particular criminal trends in Arizona.
He said Maricopa County is a destination for immigrants smuggled across the border, and Arizona has a high ranking in identity theft per capita, according to the Federal Trade Commission.
“For over a decade we were number one in the nation for identity theft offenses, and when you looked at what constituted the specific areas of identity theft, employment-related identity theft led the way,” Montgomery said.
He said these offenses, which typically involve working under a fraudulent Social Security Number, aren’t victimless crimes since they can impact someone else’s Social Security benefits.
In 2008, Arizona’s legislature amended the state identity theft statute to include among the prohibited reasons for using another identity “the intent of obtaining or continuing employment,” which made it easier to prosecute these cases.
The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office has a designated Criminal Employment Squad that arrested more than 100 immigrants at work site raids last year, and nearly 700 since 2008.
Some of those arrested are immigrants who provided their employers with fictitious Social Security Numbers that aren’t assigned to anyone. That’s the case of 38-year old Luz Ruiz-Rascon, who has been jailed since August awaiting her trial after sheriff’s deputies raided the General Nutrition Corporation warehouse where she worked.
Working with a made up Social Security Number is still a crime according to Montgomery, because the Social Security Administration could assign that number to someone eventually.
“We took a look at those cases and charged them for what they were,” Montgomery said of employment-related identity theft. “We didn’t see it in a vacuum of just someone wanting to work here and doing whatever it took to do that. No, there is criminal conduct involved.”
In the time that Maricopa County Attorney’s Office has ramped up these identity theft and forgery prosecutions, federal enforcement targeting unauthorized workers has waned under the Obama administration, which has focused instead on the employers who hire them.
“There are an estimated 11 million people who are here illegally, and they would not be here if they were not working without lawful status,” said Delia Salvatierra, an immigration and defense attorney who represents Ruiz-Rascon. “The federal government knows that, that is why we need comprehensive immigration reform. However, nowhere in the country is unlawful employment being penalized as it is in Maricopa County.”
Salvatierra said these criminal charges wind up having secondary consequences for undocumented defendants.
For example, her client, Ruiz-Rascon, has been in jail since her August arrest. That is due to an Arizona constitutional amendment that prevents undocumented immigrants facing certain felony charges from getting out on bail.
Furthermore, under federal immigration law, immigrants who are convicted of a crime of moral turpitude—and these particular state criminal charges fall in that category—become ineligible for any immigration benefits, and are likely to be deported.
“At that juncture immigration judges and ICE have their hands tied,” Salvatierra said. “There is no relief for an undocumented person to cancel their deportation, no matter how compelling their circumstances may be.”
But now Salvatierra and other attorneys are challenging the county’s authority to bring these criminal charges, and argue the true motivation behind the prosecutions is immigration enforcement.
“I think this unlawful detention, I think this is unconstitutional,” Salvatierra said. “The Supreme Court has clearly stated that federal law preempts state criminal prosecutions of individuals working without lawful status.”
That’s a reference to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in June that struck down several sections of Arizona’s immigration enforcement law, SB 1070. The court invalidated a section that made working illegally a state crime on the grounds that it preempted federal law.
The opinion authored by Justice Anthony Kennedy states that under the federal Immigration Reform and Control Act, employment information workers provide to their employers about their work status can only be used in certain federal criminal proceedings.
Salvatierra and her colleagues are arguing that means the state cannot use their clients’ employment eligibility forms as evidence to prosecute them in state court.
Montgomery maintains he has the right to enforce state forgery and identity theft laws. He denies that his office is considering immigration consequences when determining which charges to press against a defendant.
“My responsibility is to prosecute the crimes, it is not to attempt to execute a different immigration policy aside from the federal government, or try to make up through criminal prosecutions any perceived deficiencies in enforcing federal immigration law,” he said.
But Montgomery also said he will have to prosecute these crimes as long as Arizona’s border with Mexico remains insecure.
“The federal government could take away all of my concerns tomorrow, by simply securing the border and doing what they have a responsibility to do,” he said. “I would be more than happy to deal with other offenses, and violations of other statutes. But unless and until they do their job, I have to do mine.”
A lot is riding on the outcome of this legal argument for former furniture worker, Castañeda-Flores.
Before Castañeda-Flores’ arrest by local law enforcement, he had submitted a request for a federal work permit under a new Obama administration program for undocumented immigrants under the age of 31 who are brought to the country illegally as children.
If he prevails in court, he may have the opportunity to work in the country legally under the Obama administration initiative. If he is convicted of the crimes, he could face deportation.
Both he and and defendant Ruiz-Rascon go before a judge on Monday to ask for bond before their trials. Their attorneys are arguing that Arizona's rule that denies bond to undocumented immigrants should not be applied.
At an earlier hearing in December, a judge allowed Castañeda-Flores to be released on a bond on a preliminary basis, but denied Ruiz-Rascon.
'Reportero' shows how Mexican journalists risk their lives to get the story
Since 2006, more than 50 journalists have been killed or gone missing in Mexico. That's the same year former President Felipe Calderon went on the offensive against drug cartels
Stories about the drug war sell papers in Mexico, but reporting on it can be life threatening. Despite the danger, one Tijuana newspaper, Semanario Zeta, continues publishing investigative stories about the cartels
Filmmaker Bernardo Ruiz profiles the paper in his new documentary, "Reportero."
RELATED: Documentary 'Reportero' looks at Tijuana journo who risks his life to report on crime