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To most, Walmart is synonymous with low prices. To others, the retail behemoth brings to mind an image of a decidedly asinine smiley face. But to many, the store evokes something far more troublesome: crime. Walmart has typically relied on local law enforcement to deal with all kinds of crime on company property, but, last week, Time reported that the retail chain is taking on responsibility for at least one type of crime: theft. Walmart is partnering with Corrective Education Company, a...

When then-8th grader Trey Clayton entered the Independence High School assistant principal's office for a paddling in 2011, everyone—school officials, his mom, even Trey himself—thought it was a preferable alternative to being suspended. "I'm not going to lie, I was in a lot of trouble during school," Clayton said. "Every time, they gave me the option to get a paddling or get sent home, and I took the paddling." But that March, the decision to take paddling over suspension would lead to...

Imagine the Earth at night—the vast and curving darkness, splotched with rivulets of light. It is a gorgeous sight, and a familiar one. Today, this image often plays as a beautiful cliché, a pre-metabolized testament to human invention and connectedness, as likely to appear in Koyannisqatsi as in a Kia commercial. For economists, though, this spectacle is more than a symbol: It is a powerful data set. For the last few decades, and almost since astronauts first captured images of the...

H earing the news that children in care and “special schools” were subjected to drug trials in the 1960s without their parents being consulted sent shivers down my spine. As a 10-year-old I was shipped off from my children’s home to a school for maladjusted children – a boarding school I knew had a lot of the bad boys from my area. I now know, 40 years later, that my problems were emotional and could have been solved with love and care. Instead, I was exposed to violence, bullying and abuse.

Collective action is needed to ensure the safety of lesbian, gay and bisexual students, who experience violence and other health risks at higher rates than their heterosexual peers, a new federal report says. Earlier this month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released the first nationwide study that tracks the health behaviors of LGB teenagers and found they experience higher rates of bullying, physical and sexual violence and drug use. The study analyzed questionnaires from...

On Thursday, the Justice Department announced that it would be phasing out its reliance on private prisons, which have faced growing criticism for their inhumane conditions and opaque operations. What this decision does not affect, however, is the Department of Homeland Security’s vast and problematic detention machinery. These facilities often hold asylum seekers, including young women and children, while they wait for legal outcomes or deportation. This is called civil detention, and is...

A few blocks away from Bernita Bradley’s house, the Detroit Public School district ends and the Grosse Pointe Public School System begins. The border is invisible, but with a 12-year-old daughter enrolled in DPS, the reminders for Bradley are impossible to ignore . There are the MacBooks in every Grosse Pointe student’s hand. There’s the annual Grosse Pointe toy drive, which distributes free bicycles to every child who needs one. And there are the parks with shiny new playground equipment,...

Chicago is a city with a rich black heritage. And the South Side, fondly dubbed the “heart of black America,” is where much of the city’s cherished history emanates. Comprising a mix of poverty-stricken, working-class, and upper-income black residents, the South Side can lay claim to the country’s first black woman senator , the nation’s first black president , and various black elites . Chicago also holds the inglorious distinction of being one of the country’s most segregated cities. This...

Any child in England who has turned 3 by Sept. 1 is guaranteed 15 hours a week of free childcare or preschool for 38 weeks a year, or 570 hours total, paid for by the national government. “We don’t think of it as socialism at all,” said the Oxford University professor Edward Melhuish, who studies child development and was instrumental in conducting the research that largely led to England’s current policies. “We think of it as common sense.” [For more of this story, written by Lillian...

Philly’s youngest students will no longer be suspended from school for misbehavior. The School Reform Commission announced today that it has approved revisions to the Student Code of Conduct that will remove suspensions as punishment for Kindergarten students. “We remain focused on academic achievement, children reading on grade level, and college and career readiness. The early years are the most important, and we need students in school,” said Superintendent William Hite in a statement .

Among the many reforms recommended by scathing reports on police in Baltimore and Chicago were changes in the departments’ recruitment of officers. Police agencies throughout the country have had trouble finding enough applicants, much less well-qualified and racially diverse applicants. How can the nation’s police do a better job of recruiting new officers? [For more go to http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2016/08/17/how-can-police-do-a-better-job-of-recruiting-officers]

It looked like any other college class — students clustered together, organizing information and exchanging ideas — all while preparing their final presentations. Outside, the walls were topped with razor wire, but inside, the synergy was palpable, honest and filled with promise. For four weeks, 11 University of Washington students visited the Twin Rivers Unit (TRU) at the Monroe Correctional Complex (MCC), to participate in collaborative work-study sessions with a group of seven TRU...