Alabama Senate committee approves conflict resolution course for middle schoolers
An Alabama Senate committee Wednesday approved a bill creating a conflict resolution course for middle schoolers.
SB 34, sponsored by Sen. Rodger Smitherman, D-Birmingham, originally applied to high school students, but an amendment requested by the State Department of Education moved the course to middle school. The department would create and administer the course, according to the bill. A request for comment was sent to the department Wednesday morning.
'They don't have any kind of way understanding how to deal with conflicts and resolution, but the end result is you have a gun to do something,' Smitherman told the Senate Education Policy committee.
SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Sen. Kirk Hatcher, D-Montgomery, said he is supportive of the move to middle school.
'What we have found statistically in middle school is where we're having the majority of the problems emerging, particularly around seventh grade,' Hatcher said.
Smitherman said that students will react to a comment on social media with violence. Hatcher said he sees the bill as a proactive measure.
'The conflict resolution piece is, in my view, proactive,' Hatcher said. 'Because what it means is that if you have this happening in middle school, there's less of a chance for us to have these kinds of serious impacts that can happen when our babies get to high school.'
Committee Chair Donnie Chesteen, R-Geneva, said his bill banning cell phones in school and creating a social media safety course would be in committee next week, accompanied by cell phone and social media experts.
'With what our students are exposed to in our schools today, next week, in this committee, we're going to have a couple of experts on social media and cell phones come in and speak to our committee about some policies that other states have adopted,' Chesteen said. 'We plan on adopting that in this state.'
The bill goes to the full Senate.
SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hill
an hour ago
- The Hill
Handwritten proof of Holocaust theft should compel Congress to act
In 1944, Hungarian officials sat down with pen and paper and recorded by hand the seizure of 90 Torah scrolls from Jewish families. This was not wartime chaos, but deliberate, state-organized cultural erasure. That document, buried for decades in microfilm archives, was recently made public for the first time through the Holocaust Art Recovery Initiative. It is a single page, handwritten in a steady but chilling script. It doesn't describe battles or casualties. It inventories sacred scrolls stolen from Jews who were soon to be deported. These 90 Torahs were part of a larger pattern of thousands of cultural, artistic and religious items looted by Nazi-allied regimes across Europe. In Hungary alone, tens of thousands of Jewish-owned artworks, books and ceremonial objects were systematically stolen, catalogued and in many cases absorbed into state museum collections. Families were erased. Their heritage was buried — sometimes literally. Today, many of those items remain in public institutions. And in the U.S., survivors and their heirs often face insurmountable legal barriers when trying to recover what was taken. That's why Congress must pass the Holocaust Expropriated Art Recovery Act Improvements of 2025, a bipartisan bill introduced in the Senate by Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and in the House by Rep. Laurel Lee (R-Fla.). This legislation would strengthen and extend the original HEAR Act, first passed in 2016, which was designed to ensure Holocaust restitution claims could be heard on their merits. That law is set to expire in 2026. Without swift action, survivors and families may permanently lose access to justice. New evidence like the handwritten Torah document reinforces the urgency. This isn't theoretical. It's tangible. And it speaks to a broader truth: The Holocaust wasn't just a genocide of people — it was a systematic looting of culture, identity and memory. The legal fight is not easy. As recent cases like Republic of Hungary v. Simon demonstrate, foreign sovereign immunity laws, expired statutes of limitations and bureaucratic stonewalling have made it nearly impossible for families to recover what was taken. The HEAR Act Improvements of 2025 addresses these very challenges, extending the timeline and reinforcing the right to be heard in U.S. courts. More than 25 national organizations have endorsed the legislation, including the World Jewish Restitution Organization and the Claims Conference. They rightly note that each object stolen represents not just property, but a life interrupted — and a legacy denied. Restitution is not about money. It is about dignity. It is about accountability. And, yes, it is about history. When lawmakers see the original documents — handwritten proof of cultural theft — they begin to understand why this work cannot wait. Congress still has time to do the right thing. But the clock is ticking, and the handwriting is on the page. Jonathan H. Schwartz is a litigation partner at Taft-Detroit and co-founder of the Holocaust Art Recovery Initiative. He also serves as president emeritus of the Jewish Bar Association of Michigan and recently authored an evidence report on Hungarian Holocaust-era art theft.
The Hill
an hour ago
- The Hill
Cook Political Report shifts Ohio Senate race after Sherrod Brown entrance
The nonpartisan Cook Political Report moved its rating of Ohio's Senate race from likely Republican to lean Republican following former Sen. Sherrod Brown's (R-Ohio) entrance into next year's Senate race. The former senator launched his comeback Senate bid on Monday, pitting himself against Sen. John Husted (R-Ohio). Husted was appointed by Gov. Mike DeWine (R) earlier this year after Vice President Vance vacated the seat to join the Trump administration. Brown, who served three terms in the Senate, lost reelection in November against Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) by roughly 3.5 points. He was the last statewide elected Democrat in Ohio. 'Brown's entrance certainly puts the Ohio Senate special election on the competitive map, and it's doubtful that any other Democrat would have made this a real race,' wrote Jessica Taylor, Senate and governors editor at the Cook Political Report. 'But Husted still starts as a slight favorite in a state that's been moving toward the right. We are shifting our rating from Likely to Lean Republican.' Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chair Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) struck an optimistic tone in her statement following Brown's campaign launch, citing his record on Social Security, the opioid epidemic, and other issues impacting the working class. 2024 Election Coverage 'In the Senate, Sherrod will stand up to the chaos, recklessness and rising prices hurting working families and make sure Ohioans have the champion they deserve,' Gillibrand said. The National Republican Senatorial Committee ripped Brown as a 'sellout' and 'radical' in their own statement responding to news of his run. 'Rather than standing up for Ohio, he spent his time in office fighting for the left,' the statement read. 'He backed higher taxes, sold out union workers, supported open borders, & even pushed sex-change surgeries for kids. Ohio deserves better.'
The Hill
an hour ago
- The Hill
Congress must correct an injustice facing combat-injured veterans
This month marks the fourth anniversary of a dreadful event — the attack at Abbey Gate in Afghanistan where 13 service members were killed and 45 wounded in our disastrous withdrawal from that country. The event also serves as a reminder of an injustice that effects our injured combat veterans — an injustice that Congress must correct now. Under current policy, 54,000 combat-injured veterans who are forced to medically retire with less than 20 years of service lose a dollar of earned Defense Department retirement pay for every dollar they receive in Veterans Affairs disability pay — an unjust offset that essentially serves as a ' wounded veterans tax.' Reducing the retirement pay of a combat-disabled veteran to save money in the Defense Department personnel account is simply wrong. Saving money on the backs of our service members is not how a nation should treat those who volunteer to represent their country and risk life and limb. This injustice can be remedied by passing the Major Richard Star Act. The bill is named in honor of Major Richard Star, a U.S. Army veteran who died after being diagnosed with lung cancer linked to toxic burn pit exposure. Military retirement pay is earned through years of service. Disability pay is compensation intended to help make up income veterans might lose in the future due to service-related injuries or health conditions. Reducing one because a combat-injured veteran receives another is not in line with the purpose of either earned benefit. Many detractors of the Major Richard Star Act say the bill is too expensive at an estimated $8 billion over 10 years. This represents 0.1 percent of the current Defense Department budget — a small price to pay for compensating veterans. 'Let me say this to the 'cost cutters' of the world,' said Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), a strong supporter of the act. 'We're coming together on a bipartisan basis. You can 'slash and trash' elsewhere, but not on the backs of our heroes.' Despite the Major Richard Star Act's widespread bipartisan support each year in both the House and Senate, the legislation has yet to be included in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). This year the proposed legislation currently has 76 Senate co-sponsors and 298 House co-sponsors. It remains one of the most co-sponsored bills in either chamber. Last year the proposed legislation had 74 co-sponsors in the Senate and 326 in the House. It's time for Congress to put these sentiments into action and move forward with this long-sought fix on behalf of tens of thousands of combat-injured military retirees. A few weeks ago, Blumenthal, along with Sens. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), announced they are filing The Richard Star Act as an amendment to the annual must-pass National Defense Authorization Act. Blumenthal said passage of the legislation would correct one of the ' deepest injustices in our present veterans' disability system.' He said veterans 'are being penalized for being wounded….it's about simple justice and fairness.' How does a piece of legislation that will correct a clear injustice that has garnered so much support in both the Senate and House fall apart each year? There is an apparent 'say-do gap' for many lawmakers — lawmakers who 'say' they support the bill when it is proposed but who fail to raise their hand and vote yes and 'do.' Political leaders such as Blumenthal, Crapo and Warren are telling their colleagues to 'do' what they 'say' about supporting a piece of legislation. Hopefully, partisanship is not a consideration on this issue. Partisanship has absolutely no place in deciding how to properly compensate veterans who were injured in a war, doing what their country asked them to do. A perfect example is Army veteran Dan Nevins who was forced to retire after losing both his legs in combat in Iraq. After 36 surgeries and an 18-month stay at Walter Reed National Medical Center, and a painful and lengthy recovery process, Nevins soon discovered that he was prohibited from receiving both his full retirement pay and disability compensation. Nevins says his message to Congress is simple: honor the country's commitment to veterans. 'We should keep our promises,' he says. Keeping the all-volunteer force strong requires meaningful support of the warfighter. Those in uniform must understand that our nation will keep its promises and not attempt to cut costs by unfairly limiting their service-earned benefits. Passing this legislation would serve as a message that those in Congress intend to keep this promise — not just for current veterans but for future generations as well. Tom Jurkowsky is a retired Navy rear admiral who served on active duty for 31 years and a board member of the Military Officers Association of America. He is the author of 'The Secret Sauce for Organizational Success: Communications and Leadership on the Same Page.' He has served as an adjunct instructor at Anne Arundel Community College in Annapolis, Md.
