Are Drug-Free School Zones Effective? Evidence From Matching Schools and School-like Entities

Using a combination of spatial and statistical analysis, this paper focuses on analyzing the effectiveness of drug-free school zones (DFSZ) around K-12 schools in Los Angeles County. A propensity score matching model is employed to match schools and school-like entities to compare the amount of drug crimes in two distinct 1000-foot buffers surrounding them. The model is then compared to a coarsened exact matching model. The average treatment effects (ATE) and average treatment effects on the treated (ATT) are estimated. Our results indicate that there are 2.7 and 1.7 fewer drug crimes and non–marijuana-related drug crimes respectively near schools, as a result of the policy. The total effect of the policy is estimated to reduce drug crime near schools by between 1065 to 1643 fewer incidences per year. Furthermore, we find no significant differences in gang-related drug crimes, gang-related violent crimes, or property crimes as a result of the policy.

Examination of Awareness about Traffic Rules by Drivers in a School Zone

Recently, public interest in accidents involving children has been increasing owing to a decrease in birth rate in Korea. Specifically, interest in traffic safety in school zones has been increasing because of the revision of the Minsik Act. However, there is a lack of studies and evidence on the effect of the actual designation of a school zone on traffic accidents involving children and awareness of drivers. In this study, we examined the psychological effect of increasing awareness about traffic regulations on drivers within a school zone via an awareness survey of a school zone for drivers in Changwon. Additionally, based on this survey, the characteristics that affect a driver's sense of compliance with respect to traffic rules in a school zone were analyzed. Finally, a method was presented for enhancing traffic safety for children in a school zone.

Opening Thirdspace: Cultivating critical geographies in art teacher education

Pre-service teachers new to a field placement need the opportunity to orient themselves in relation to their larger teaching contexts and configure geographies that resonate with the lives of their students. Soja’s Thirdspace offers a lens through which teachers might explore place multi-dimensionally. Building upon a previous arts-based educational research study assessing the potential of arts-based inquiry for supporting pre-service teachers in exploring their teaching contexts, this study, through a second curricular iteration, focused explicitly on art pre-service teachers’ critical geographic analysis, in the form of Thirdspace. In mapping their school zones, pre-service teachers began to identify illusory impressions and conceptions of students, schools and communities and then began to deconstruct them. Such Thirdspace journeys offer space for pre-service teachers to hone their perceptions, to retrain their gazes to see their students’ physical and lived worlds in their complexity and plurality, and to re-imagine the relation between place and pedagogy.

IMPLEMENTASI KEBIJAKAN SISTEM ZONASI PADA PENERIMAAN PESERTA DIDIK BARU (PPDB) 2019/2020 DI KOTA YOGYAKARTA

The acceptance of new students (PPDB) using the zoning system was first implemented in Yogyakarta in 2018/2019. This zoning system aims to equalize education and improve the quality of education. This research was conducted to find out how the zoning system policy in Yogyakarta city under the auspices of the Yogyakarta City Education Office. This research uses qualitative approach with case study method. The results of the study showed that the zoning system in Yogyakarta has changed from the previous year. In 2019/2020 the zoning system provides a 10% chance of superior seeds, 30% of school zones, 10% of poor learners, 40% of quality pathways, 5% of out-of-school zoning pathways, and 5% of special pathways such as prospective learners whose parents moved from other regions to Yogyakarta. With this zoning system, the whole community has the opportunity to get a good quality education.

Food and beverage advertising in Hong Kong mass transit railway stations

Objectives:To examine the extent and characteristics of food and beverage (F&B) promotion in Hong Kong mass transit railway (MTR) stations in districts with different socioeconomic statuses (SES) and school density.Design:All advertisements located in the eight selected MTR stations were recorded by photographs or videos, and classified into F&B and non-F&B. The percentage of F&B advertisements and unhealthy F&B being promoted, and common persuasive marketing strategies used in F&B advertisements were compared between low v. high SES districts and school zones v. non-school zones.Setting:MTR stations in Hong Kong.Participants:Not applicable.Results:Of the 8064 advertisements documented, 861 (10·7 %) were F&B advertisements, promoting 1860 F&B items. More than half of the these were unhealthy foods. Stations in high SES districts or school zones tend to advertise more unhealthy items (high v. low SES: 55·8 v. 50·8 %, P = 0·049; school v. non-school: 60·8 v. 49·3 %, P < 0·001). More than one-third of the F&B advertisements recorded did not utilise any of those persuasive marketing techniques that were examined, and using models (13·9 %) or providing discounts (8·8 %) were the two most frequently used non-festival-related persuasive marketing strategies.Conclusions:Unhealthy F&B advertising in MTR stations is prevalent regardless of SES and school density, and persuasive marketing strategies were infrequently used. These suggest that a ban on unhealthy F&B advertising around schools or the use of persuasive marketing strategies alone would be ineffective in Hong Kong. To align with the recommendation from WHO, a universal ban of junk food advertising should be enacted.