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In the wake of school shootings across the country, there are
measures to address trauma. One law mandates school board
members to receive training on trauma-informed practices.
Practices include “the effects of implicit or explicit bias on
recognizing trauma among various students in connection with
race, ethnicity, gender identity, and sexual orientation,” among
other things.
State Sen. Karina Villa, D-West Chicago, said there is also
training for students, but they can’t include more graphic
exercises involving police and weapons.
“Children are really having a lot of trauma, being fearful about
going to school and having to go through one of these drills,”
Villa said.
A new law will revise school teaching about mental health, while
creating a mental health council that is designed to develop
solutions on how to help children in school to find a mental
health provider and how to access the mental health system.
Another law requires the state of Illinois to create a
"Safe2Help" hotline where students, school staff and other
members of the public can confidentially report information
regarding "potential self-harm and criminal acts directed at
students" and school employees.
A new measure allows every public middle or high school student
to be provided at least one day of excused absence per school
year to take part in a civic event.
To help alleviate the statewide substitute teaching shortage, a
new law allows college students enrolled in an education-related
field with at least 90 credit hours to start substitute teaching
before they get their degree.
House Bill 5193 states that "safe gun storage" instruction must
be added to the state's safety education curriculum in "all
grades." The state's current safety instruction covers topics
like automobile safety, traffic regulations and the consequences
of alcohol.
Another law adds penalties for motorists who break the law in
school driving zones. This bill adds community service as a
penalty for failing to stop for a school bus that is "receiving
or discharging pupils and has displayed visual signals," or for
speeding in excess of 20 miles per hour or more in a school zone
or while traveling on a roadway on public school property or
where children pass to go to and from school.
Kevin Bessler reports on statewide issues in
Illinois for the Center Square. He has over 30 years of
experience in radio news reporting throughout the Midwest.
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