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School screen bans risk isolating millions of students with disabilities

Illustration accompanying article: School screen bans risk isolating millions of students with disabilities
  • Ninth grader Soraya Martin, who has dyslexia, uses speech-to-text and audiobooks to excel academically, but a new school-wide phone-ban policy at her California high school has disrupted her accommodations.
  • More than 8 million U.S. students with disabilities rely on assistive technology, including screen readers, speech-to-text, and audiobooks, according to education advocates.
  • At least three states — Alabama, Tennessee, and Utah — have laws limiting screens that take effect as early as July 2026, with some making exceptions for assistive technology.
  • Lindsay Jones, CEO of CAST, an education research nonprofit, said the speed of state-level screen restrictions has left educators and disabled communities unprepared.
  • The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in late May issued a surgeon general's advisory warning of "harms of screen use" for children's health and education.
  • Disability advocates also point to a shrunken U.S. Department of Education under the Trump administration as less equipped to enforce civil rights related to assistive technology access.
 4 MIN READ

Gunman wounds at least 16 at high school in southeastern Turkey

Illustration accompanying article: Gunman wounds at least 16 at high school in southeastern Turkey
  • Gov. Hasan Sildak said a former student opened fire at a vocational high school in Siverek, Turkey, wounding at least 16 people before killing himself.
  • Sildak said the 18-year-old attacker fired randomly inside the school in Sanliurfa province and later died after police cornered him.
  • Sildak said the attack wounded 10 students, four teachers, a canteen employee and a police officer, and five of the injured were transferred for more serious conditions.
  • A student identified by Anadolu as Omer Furkan Sayar said he and a friend jumped from a classroom window after the attacker entered and fired.
  • Sildak said the motive was unclear and that the attacker had no criminal record, calling the shooting an “isolated incident.”
 3 MIN READ
Illustration accompanying article: Georgia bill could require daily weapons detection in public schools