The Backpack Drop Zone: One Sixth-Grade Truth That Exposed Our Quiet Crisis

each other’s backpacks.”

The bell rang. Usually, it’s a stampede to get out. Today, nobody moved.

Then, slowly, Tommy—the class clown—walked up to the boy who wears the same hoodie every day. He didn’t say anything deep. He just bumped his shoulder against the boy’s arm and said, “Hey, you wanna sit at my table at lunch? I got extra chips.”

The boy in continue reading …