Court Finds Valid Free Speech Claims in Lawsuit of Virginia Teacher Fired for Failure to Use Student’s Preferred Pronouns

This past month has given us all a lot of gut-punches, from the shooting in Minneapolis to the murders in Charlotte and Utah to the anniversary of 9/11. I won’t repeat the many eloquent essays on how to view these events, but all of them contain one profound truth — we must teach our young…

Child Abuse Prevention Month — April 2026 I often hear the phrase “we’re a trauma-informed organization” in conversations with YSO leaders. It appears on websites, in grant applications, and in parent handbooks. And in most cases, it means that someone on staff attended a workshop, received a certificate, and came back with a vague sense…

One important part of auditing and developing child protection policies for your youth-serving organization (YSO) is to understand all of the risks that your organization faces. We have seen a tendency, for example, for youth-servicing organizations (YSOs) to concentrate all of their efforts on preventing sexual predators from entering the organization. While hardening your organization…

An excellent article from Nature magazine explores the research showing that children benefit from risky play. Mental health professionals are discovering that children allowed to stretch their limits in uncertain and adventurous play benefit both physically and emotionally. Those opportunities allow them to develop coordination and spatial awareness, but also confidence and resilience. A study…