JOCELYN GECKER

National education reporter

Gecker is an Associated Press reporter covering education with a focus on social media and youth mental health.
A student from Columbia University holds up a keffiyeh as they line up to enter Manhattan federal court to attend the deportation case of Mahmoud Khalil, Wednesday, March 12, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)
After Columbia arrests, international college students fall silent
 
A commuter walks past the headquarters of the U.S. Department of Eduction, which were ordered closed for the day for what officials described as security reasons amid large-scale layoffs, Wednesday, March 12, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Federal student loan site down Wednesday, a day after layoffs gutted Education Department
 
Lara Ganz, right, director of Theatre Palisades Youth, works on blocking with Anna Telehowski, 14, left, on opening night of the musical Crazy for You after the group lost their theater in the Palisades fire, Los Angeles, Calif., Feb. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Jocelyn Gecker)
A youth theater production rises from the ashes of the Los Angeles fires
 
President Donald Trump throws pens used to sign executive orders to the crowd during an indoor Presidential Inauguration parade event in Washington, Jan. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)
As Trump’s deadline to eliminate DEI nears, few schools openly rush to make changes
 
Parents of small children wait to sign documents giving Nora Sandigo legal guardianship of their children if they are detailed or deported, Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)
Schools around the US confront anxiety over Trump’s actions on immigration
 
Students interact in a fourth grade classroom at William Jefferson Clinton Elementary in Compton, Calif., Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)
Most US kids aren’t gaining fast enough in reading and math. These schools are different
 
Carmen, who only shared her first name out of fear she could be targeted by immigration officials, is photographed at her apartment Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025, in the San Francisco Bay Area. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)
Trump won’t ban immigration arrests at school. Some families are now weighing school attendance
 
Los Angeles Unified Superintendent Alberto M. Carvalho greets students from Palisades Charter Elementary School upon their arrival at the Brentwood Elementary Science Magnet school in the Brentwood section of Los Angeles on Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel)
Fires scorched campuses across Los Angeles. Many schools are seeking places to hold classes
 
Police advance on pro-Palestinian demonstrators after defying orders to leave at an encampment on the UCLA campus, in Los Angeles, May 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)
University of California campuses resolve discrimination complaints stemming from Gaza protests
 
FILE - Protesters advocating for transgender rights and healthcare stand outside of the Ohio Statehouse, Jan. 24, 2024, in Columbus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Patrick Orsagost, File)
Trump pledged to roll back protections for transgender students. They’re flooding crisis hotlines
 
FILE - A man walks near a flooded area near the Swannanoa river, effects from Hurricane Helene , Friday, Sept. 27, 2024, in Asheville, N.C. (AP Photo/Erik Verduzco, File)
Many schools are still closed weeks after Hurricane Helene. Teachers worry about long-term impact
 
A message about borders and classrooms appears on a video screen as supporters arrive before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at Grand Sierra Resort and Casino, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024, in Reno, Nev. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
US law entitles immigrant children to an education. Some conservatives say that should change
 
Alia Amanpour Trapp, center, leads the crowd during a pro-Palestine rally and march on Temple University campus in Philadelphia, Aug. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)
As US colleges raise the stakes for protests, activists are weighing new strategies
 
Scarlett Goddard Strahan, 11, displays her Nivea moisturizer at her home on Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2024, in Sacramento, Calif. AP Photo/Juliana Yamada)
Which skin care products should young girls use? Dermatologists recommend this simple routine
 
Scarlett Goddard Strahan, 11, poses for a portrait at her home on Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2024, in Sacramento, Calif. (AP Photo/Juliana Yamada)
Young girls are using anti-aging products they see on social media. The harm is more than skin deep
 
FILE - A demonstrator waves a flag on the Columbia University campus at a pro-Palestinian protest encampment, in New York, April 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey, File)
US colleges revise rules on free speech in hopes of containing anti-war demonstrations
 
History teacher Matt Brophy, left, works with Flerentin “Flex” Jean-Baptiste, 16, of Medford, Mass., on making up late assignments during summer school at Medford High School, Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, in Medford. (AP Photo/Josh Reynolds)
Schools have made slow progress on record absenteeism, with millions of kids still skipping class
 
FILE - Students walk on the campus of Boston College, Monday, April 29, 2024, in Boston. Americans are increasingly skeptical about the value and cost of college, with most saying they feel the U.S. higher education system is headed in the “wrong direction,” according to a new poll. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)
Is college worth it? Poll finds only 36% of Americans have confidence in higher education
 
Kate Bulkeley uses her phone to print textbook pages while Sutton packs art materials ahead of a ski vacation, Friday, Feb. 16, 2024, in Westport, Conn. It is hard to be a teenager today without social media. For those trying to stay off social platforms at a time when most of their peers are immersed, the path can be challenging, isolating and at times liberating. It can also be life-changing. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)
Life as a teen without social media isn’t easy. These families are navigating adolescence offline
 
A woman is carried away by police officers during a pro-Palestinians demonstration by the group "Student Coalition Berlin" in the theater courtyard of the 'Freie Universität Berlin' university in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. Colleges and universities have long been protected places for free expression without pressure or punishment. But protests over Israel's conduct of the war in Gaza in its hunt for Hamas after the Oct. 7 massacre has tested that ideal around the world. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, File)
The Israel-Hamas war is testing whether campuses are sacrosanct places for speech and protest
 
FILE - A person is carried away at a pro-Palestinian encampment at UCLA late Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in Los Angeles. Dueling groups of protesters clashed at the University of California, Los Angeles, grappling in fistfights and shoving, kicking and using sticks to beat one another. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope, File)
Today’s campus protests aren’t nearly as big or violent as those last century — at least, not yet
 
Georgia State Patrol officers detain a demonstrator on the campus of Emory University during a pro-Palestinian demonstration, Thursday, April 25, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
College protesters want ‘amnesty.’ At stake: Tuition, legal charges, grades and graduation
 
FILE - Students protest a canceled commencement speech by its 2024 valedictorian who has publicly supported Palestinians on the campus of University of Southern California on Thursday, April 18, 2024. U.S. colleges and universities are preparing for end-of-year commencement ceremonies with a unique challenge: providing safety for graduates while honoring the free speech rights of students involved in protests over the Israel-Hamas war. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)
With graduation near, colleges seek to balance safety and students’ right to protest Gaza war
 
FILE - A ninth grader places her cellphone in to a phone holder as she enters class at Delta High School, Friday, Feb. 23, 2024, in Delta, Utah. Most schools have policies regulating student cellphone use at school. But the reality is kids don’t always follow the rules and schools enforce them sporadically. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)
Why you should stop texting your kids at school
 
A ninth grader places her cellphone in to a phone holder as she enters class at Delta High School, Friday, Feb. 23, 2024, in Delta, Utah. At the rural Utah school, there is a strict policy requiring students to check their phones at the door when entering every class. Each classroom has a cellphone storage unit that looks like an over-the-door shoe bag with three dozen smartphone-sized slots. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
Kids are using phones in class, even when it’s against the rules. Should schools ban them all day?
 
Notes from students expressing support and sharing coping strategies paper a wall, as members of the Miami Arts Studio mental health club raise awareness on World Mental Health Day, Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2023, at Miami Arts Studio, a public 6th-12th grade magnet school, in Miami. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Lacking counselors, US schools turn to the booming business of online therapy
 
FILE - A pro-Israel demonstrator shouts at Palestinian supporters during a protest at Columbia University, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2023, in New York. As the death toll rises in the Israel-Hamas war, American colleges have become seats of anguish with many Jewish students calling for strong condemnation after civilian attacks by Hamas while some Muslim students are pressing for recognition of decades of suffering by Palestinians in Gaza. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura, File)
The Israel-Hamas war has roiled US campuses. Students on each side say colleges aren’t doing enough
 
FILE - Protesters shout before a speaking engagement by Ben Shapiro on the campus of the University of California Berkeley in Berkeley, Calif., Sept. 14, 2017. New polling finds that America’s college campuses are seen as far friendlier to liberals than to conservatives when it comes free speech. Polling from the University of Chicago and the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds that 47% of adult Americans say liberals are free to express their views on college campuses, while 20% said the same of conservatives. (AP Photo/Josh Edelson, File)
Few Americans say conservatives can speak freely on college campuses, an AP-NORC/UChicago poll shows
 
FILE - Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during a news conference to sign several bills related to public education and increases in teacher pay, in Miami, on May 9, 2023. DeSantis' divisive education policies have faced wide criticism from civil rights leaders and professional educators, among others, but they also have paid off politically. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File)
How Ron DeSantis used Florida schools to become a culture warrior
 
Lori Anne Salem, Assistant Vice Provost and Director of the Student Success Center, left, hosts a faculty teaching circle on artificial intelligence on Wednesday, Aug. 9, 2023, at Temple University in Philadelphia. Educators say they want to embrace the technology’s potential to teach and learn in new ways, but when it comes to assessing students, they see a need to “ChatGPT-proof” test questions and assignments. (AP Photo/Joe Lamberti)
Paper exams, chatbot bans: Colleges seek to ‘ChatGPT-proof’ assignments
 
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