COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – Ohio’s top lawyer has told the state’s public universities that a bill written to stop Ku Klux Klan demonstrations could be used to impose criminal charges on students who wear face coverings while protesting the war in Gaza.

In a letter sent Monday after weeks of pro-Palestinian protests on campuses across the country, Republican Attorney General Dave Yost advised the presidents of the 34 public four-year universities in Ohio – which his office represents – to warn students in regards to the 1953 law.

“In our society, there are few more significant career disruptors than being charged with a crime,” the letter said. “I am writing to you today to inform your student bodies about an Ohio law that may have this effect in the context of certain conduct during the recent pro-Palestinian protests.”

The law is contained in a single sentence: “No person shall associate with two or more other persons for the purpose of committing an offense while wearing white caps, masks, or other disguises.” Violating this “anti-concealment” law is punishable by a fourth-degree felony, a wonderful of as much as $5,000 and five years of community supervision, Yost wrote.

Protesters across the United States and around the globe are increasingly taking steps to stay anonymous by wearing a mix of headgear and face coverings in a world where facial recognition software can easily result in negative consequences. However, not everyone does it to cover their identity. Some wear religious hijabs or medical masks used to stop exposure to Covid-19 or as a political statement in regards to the ongoing effects of the virus.

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Yost, a fourth-term state official who’s considering a run for governor in 2026, wrote that students should protest “within the limits of the law,” not commit crimes and never use the First Amendment as a “sword against other students.” and “have their support and avoid wearing masks.”

Ohio’s 34 public universities include Kent State, whose name is synonymous with clashes between Vietnam War protesters and National Guard members that left 4 people dead in 1970, and Ohio State, the positioning of several protests in recent weeks during dozens of individuals were arrested, most of them for crimes.

Ohio State spokesman Ben Johnson said the university has received Yost’s letter and is reviewing it. In a March 6 letter, Yost told President Ted Carter that Ohio law prohibits the university from divesting its interests in Israeli assets, which was certainly one of the protesters’ calls.

Kent State and several other other universities contacted by The Associated Press had no immediate comment. Neither did the Intercollegiate Council, which represents the interests of universities, nor the American Civil Liberties Union.

Bethany McCorkle, a spokeswoman for Yost’s office, said the letter regarding the “withholding information statute” was not in response to any specific request from the schools for legal advice.

“The letter provided proactive guidance to the universities for which she serves to ensure no one becomes an unintentional criminal,” she wrote in a text message.

A generation of scholars in this country have grown into maturity, with energetic shooter drills and police presence in schools shaping their school years. Lawmakers simply cannot – or will not – take the essential actions to stop the school shootings which have marred the education landscape for a long time.

An example of this political impotence was recently observed in Tennessee, only one 12 months after the state’s collapse the deadliest shooting at Nashville’s Covenant School claimed the lives of three adults and three nine-year-olds, some conservative state lawmakers have passed a bill that might allow teachers and staff to carry concealed weapons. The bill passed by an awesome majority of votes and has just been signed into law by Governor Bill Leedespite pleas from protesters, including a mother from Covenant School who gave birth a letter with over 5,300 signatures, including from parents and doctors, calling for the measure’s failure.

Supporters of the bill argue that it will help fill gaps in school security where law enforcement presence is proscribed, especially in rural areas, and that requiring annual training, background checks and making applications subject to approval by school principals and native law enforcement will address concerns about arming teachers.

But giving teachers guns won’t make schools safer.

As unarmed Black individuals are disproportionately victimized by police in communitiesTennessee law endangers black children. Black children are already disproportionately subjected to excessively punitive discipline. Tennessee law will allow teachers to carry concealed weapons without notifying parents or students that teachers are armed. What is most annoying is that this motion is contrary to tests this shows that punitive interventions, reminiscent of increased police presence in schools, have little positive effect on school violence. If guns in schools are an issue, why do lawmakers pass bills to put more guns in schools? I argue that policymakers are reluctant to enact evidence-based school safety interventions, reminiscent of gun control measures and restorative practices, because they espouse a “school safety” narrative that’s racist, narrow-minded, and divorced from research.

Many of the interventions implemented in schools in the name of “school safety” are racist, meaning they’re based on stereotypes about them black youth crime. These stereotypes portray black students as lazy, criminally inclined, intellectually limited and defiant. These stereotypes persist despite research showing this Black students now not misbehave than their white peers. As a result, Black children are disproportionately subjected to overly punitive disciplinary interventions, including suspensions, expulsions, and arrests, that facilitate their exclusion from schools.

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Moreover, schools with over 80% black and Latino children they’re more likely to have police on site, often called school resource officers (SROs). Presence of SRO increases the likelihood of black students being arrested and early involvement in the criminal legal system — often for minor offenses like dress code violations (which particularly affect black girls). This is school-to-prison pipeline. Additionally, police presence in schools is more likely to foster a hostile school climate, of which many exist students feel threatened. AND recent research found that support for teachers selecting weapons is related to racial resentment.

Students affected by this problem suffer Consequences of punitive disciplinary practicesincluding lack of worthwhile study time, decreased likelihood of graduating on time, and increased likelihood of repeating a grade. Black children bear the best burden of punitive disciplinary interventions enforced under the guise of school safety, while the deadliest incidents of school violence, in the shape of school shootings, are more likely to occur in predominantly white, suburban school communities. However, these disciplinary practices persist because the general public narrative about school safety focuses narrowly on these terrifying, nevertheless, relatively rareacts of school shootings.

In addition to exposing Black students to the results of those disciplinary practices, limited public narrative about school safety obscures other types of violence occurring in schools. It comprises violence at schoolreminiscent of teaching prohibitions regarding the contributions of Black Americans and other historically marginalized groups, reminiscent of LGBTQIA+ people, to this country, reminiscent of 2021 Tennessee Bill Prohibiting Teaching of So-Called ‘Divisive Concepts’ like racial inequality. In addition to violence in the curriculum, many students also experience violence in the shape of disinvestment in education. Tennessee has one of the vital unfairly funded education systems in the nation, rating forty fourth in the country in terms of spending per student. These funding inequities disproportionately affect low-income students in segregated schools, who lack resources reminiscent of experienced teachers, college preparatory courses, and high-quality facilities. Instead of putting more guns in schools, Tennessee lawmakers should use their legislative power to invest in interventions which have been found to promote real school safety.

These interventions must be evidence-based, community-led, and responsive to what students need to feel secure in schools. School safety must be defined by students, school staff and leaders, and other members of the school community, and should look different in each school. To help school stakeholders discover essentially the most effective interventions for them, researchers have identified several interventions and practices that promote safety and inclusion, reminiscent of: restorative practices, social and emotional learning, multi-level behavioral support systemsAND continuous training biased towards all adults in school who come into contact with young people. These interventions have to be tailored to the particular school context and implemented in a culturally sensitive manner.

Arming teachers will only increase the harm that current disciplinary interventions inflict on Black students—possibly with deadly consequences. Instead of putting more guns in schools, lawmakers need to be politically courageous and implement them gun control and security measures invest in evidence-based interventions, developed with community input, that meet school needs and may promote true safety for all students.

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) – Armed with garden hoes while others held bamboo seedlings, students gathered outside their school in Kenya’s capital. They hoped that the fully grown bamboo would help filter dirty air from one of Africa’s largest landfills.

More than 100 bamboo plantings grow around Dandora High School, which shares its name with a landfill that was declared full 23 years ago. Hundreds of trucks pass by each day, taking away more garbage.

Allan Sila, 17, said sitting in his classroom was like studying in a stinking latrine.

Every morning, acrid smoke from burning garbage fills the air, obstructing visibility and causing respiration problems for some students.

“Asthma is a common disease,” Sila said.

The school’s principal, Eutychus Maina, remembers that when he was sent to school last 12 months, he was greeted by stench and smoke. He knew he had to do something.

“My motivation for initiating the bamboo project at school was to alleviate the effects of landfill. It really pollutes the air we breathe,” he said.

He said he searched online and got here across the use of bamboo. He believes this can help reduce the number of cases of respiratory infections in society.

The United Nations and other organizations promote fast-growing bamboo because of its high carbon sequestration.

Aderiana Mbandi is an air quality research and policy expert at the United Nations Environment Programme, based in Nairobi. She said the effects of air pollution are felt in all parts of the body, including the brain, and the best way to reduce its effects is to minimize exposure.

The seedlings, which the students began planting in August last 12 months, are already three meters high. The giant bamboo variety is predicted to reach 40 feet when mature, depending on soil conditions.

Students hope that the bamboo will help transform the school grounds right into a green haven in the litter-ridden Dandora district.

The publicly funded school relies on donations to purchase the seedlings, which retail for 400 Kenyan shillings ($3) each.

However, the school management is decided to proceed the work until bamboo lines the 900-meter wall separating the school from the landfill.

The Dandora landfill occupies about 50 hectares (123 acres) of land and receives greater than 2,000 tons of waste day by day from around Nairobi, home to 4 million people.

Its stench might be smelled for kilometers (miles).

UNEP, in cooperation with the Stockholm Environment Institute, deployed sensors in the Dandora district from October to April to monitor pollution levels from the landfill.

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Of the 166 days monitored, only 12 days had average daytime air quality that was excellent, in line with World Health Organization guidelines.

Nairobi’s air can be polluted by emissions from used cars, which make up much of the city’s transport. Other pollutants include smoke produced by industries often positioned near residential areas.

Dandora School also plants trees, including jacaranda and grevillea.

Student Josiah Nyamwata called them easy to obtain and simple to plant. “Another advantage is that the trees will help improve air circulation around our school,” he said.

Air is just not the school’s only challenge. Dump vultures are a nuisance at mealtimes. Students protect their plates from theft.