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

a crumpled piece of notebook paper. He looked up at me, his eyes wide, stripped of all their usual mischief.

“Mrs. Baker,” he whispered, his voice cracking. “Do I really have to read this one?”

“Only if you want to, Tommy,” I said softly.

He took a deep breath, looked around at his twenty-five classmates, and read the anonymous words written in shaky continue reading …