I READ THE ARTICLE AND I WANT TO SUMMARIZE, EARLY WARNING SIGNS. THERE IS 16 EARLY WARNING SIGNS TO INCLUDE. SOCIAL WITHDRAWAL, EXCESSIVE FEELINGS OF ISOLATION AND BEING ALONE, EXCESSIVE FEELINGS OF REJECTION, BEING A VICTIM OF VIOLENCE, FEELINGS OF BEING PICKED ON AND PERSECUTE, LOW SCHOOL INTEREST AND POOR ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE, EXPRESSION OF VIOLENCE IN WRITINGS AND DRAWINGS, UNCONTROLLED ANGER, PATTERNS OF IMPULSIVE AND CHRONIC HITTING, INTIMIDATING, AND BULLYING BEHAVIORS, HISTORY OF DISCIPLINE PROBLEMS, PAST HISTORY OF VIOLENT AND AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR, INTOLERANCE FOR DIFFERENCES AND PREJUDICIAL ATTITUDES, DRUG USE AND ALCOHOL US,. AFFILIATION WITH GANGS, INAPPROPRIATE ACCESS TO, POSSESSION OF, AND USE OF FIREARMS AND SERIOUS THREATS OF VIOLENCE. JUST KNOWING A SIGN IS NOTHING WITHOUT KNOWING WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT AND HOW TO OBSERVE IT. I THINK THE ARTICLE MADE A GREAT POINT. TEACHERS COUNSELORS IN FACT EVERYONE WHO WORKS AT A SCHOOL IS A FIRST RESPONDER OF SORTS. THEY HAVE THE MOST CONTACT WITH THE CHILD DURING SCHOOL. THEY ARE THE ONES WHO NOTICE WHEN A CHILD IS CHANGING THEIR BEHAVIOR AND THEY’RE THE ONES THAT CAN DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT BEFORE IT IS TO LATE. WE KNOW FROM OUR STUDIES A CHILD JUST DOESN’T SNAP MOST VIOLENCE IS A WELL THOUGHT OUT PLAN AND THE BEHAVIOR HAS BEEN DEVELOPING. THE ARTICLE ALSO SHOWS HOW IMPORTANT IT IS FOR THE RIGHT PERSON TO GIVE THE CHILD THE HELP IT SHOULD BE A TRAINED PROFESSIONAL. WHILE THE BEHAVIOR SHOULD BE ABLE TO BE NOTICED BY ALL STAFF OF THE SCHOOL, IN FACT SCHOOLS WITH TRAINING STAFF ON WHAT TO DETECT HAVE A LOWER VIOLENCE RATE THEN SCHOOLS WITHOUT A PROGRAM IN EFFECT. ONCE THE BEHAVIOR IS NOTICED IT NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED BY THE RIGHT PERSON. JUST LABELING A CHILD OR GIVING HIM THE WRONG GUIDANCE MAKES THINGS A LOT WORSE. AN IMPORTANT PART IS INTERACTION WITH THE CHILD. IN MOST CASES A CHILD DID NOT HAVE AN INFLUENTIAL ADULT THEY COULD TURN TO. IT APPEARS IF THEY DO NOT THEY TURN TO THE WRONG CROWD AND GET BAD ADVICE HOW THEY RESOLVE PROBLEMS. THE ARTICLE ALSO BROUGHT UP A KEY FACT EVERYONE GETS ANGRY JUST BECAUSE A KID GETS UPSET DOES NOT MEAN IT IS A SIGN. THAT WHY IT IS SO IMPORTANT TO HAVE A RELATIONSHIP WITH THE CHILD SO YOU NOTICE THEIR BEHAVIOR CHANGING. YOU CAN SEE WHEN THEY CHANGE SOCIAL GROUPS, IF THEIR GETTING PICKED ON AND IF THEY LOSE INTEREST. CHILDREN ARE HUMANS TOO, THEY HURT JUST LIKE THE REST AND THEY MAY NEED OUR HELP AS ADULTS TO RESOLVE THEIR PROBLEMS. HOWEVER IF THE CHILD DOES NOT TRUST US OR HAVE A RELATIONSHIP THEY ARE NOT GOING TO TELL US WHAT THEIR PROBLEM IS SO WE CAN RESOLVE IT AND PREVENTING SOMETHING FURTHER COMING FROM IT. THE DAYS OF CHILDREN SHOULD BE SEEN AND NOT HEARD OUR LONG GONE. SCHOOL VIOLENCE DOES EXIST BUT THERE IS NOTHING SAYING WITH CARING ADULTS INTERACTING WITH THE CHILD IT CANNOT BE PREVENTED.
The ability of individuals to identify signs of "trouble" at an early stage obviously allows for some intervention. I think the issue surrounds the actions taken when the problems are detected. Most often, the policy / procedures / plans, etc., tend to lose impetus. In order for the process to be most effective, performance measures need developed. When a problem is identified, any action taken must be monitored for adherence to the expected outcome. If the outcome does not meet what was planed, then adjustments can be made. These types of measures need to be built into policies and procedures and then implemented as part of the plan.
I chose to summarize the portion about early warning signs on school violence. This article stresses the importance of understanding and recognizing warning signs early, so that children can get help before problems escalate into violence. Even though an early warning sign is not a predictor that a child will commit a violent act, it is very important that school communities are aware of the actions they may have to take in case of an emergency. We should always assume that warning signs are red lights that could indicate a need for further investigation and possible intervention but students should never be labeled or stigmatized as certain behavioral and emotional signs could signal a troubled child but not necessarily mean that that child is violent. A very beneficial approach would be to train the entire school community to understand and identify early warning signs so that the student would be referred to school psychologists, social workers, counselors, and nurses. However, the family should always be consulted before any action is taken towards a child. A procedure should be developed so that students and staff could reporte their concerns about sudden changes in behavior. The early warning signs include: social withdrawal, excessive feelings of isolation and rejection, being a victim of violence, feelings of being picked on and persecuted, low school interest and poor academic performance, expression of violence in writings and drawings, uncontrolled anger, patterns of impulsive and chronic hitting, intimidating, and bullying behaviors, history of discipline problems and past history of violent and aggressive behavior, intolerance for differences and prejudicial attitudes, drug use and alcohol use, affiliation with gangs, inappropriate access to or possession and use of firearms. Detailed and specific threats are indicators that a youth is likely to commit them. Imminent Warning Signs like serious physical fighting with peers or family members, destruction of property, severe rage for apparently minor reasons, detailed threats of lethal violence, and possession and/or use of firearms and other weapons, require immediate actions and parents should be informed of the concerns right away. Before the early warning signs are recognized, we need to understand some of their principles and do no harm to the child by punishing, mislabeling, or stereotyping him or her, understand that violent and aggressive behavior may be caused by stress, and understand that children and youth may express their needs differently in elementary, middle, and high school. Early warning signs could be misinterpreted and it is difficult to acknowledge that a child is disturbed however, understanding early and imminent warning signs and taking immediate action is a crucial step in ensuring a safe school environment.
Joseph, We chose the same portion of this article and I think you did a great job in expressing your opinion on how adults could and should help in reducing violence, by caring and interacting with a child. Kids in Elementary School are just starting their journey and the ones in Middle and High School are going through adolescence, a very stressful phase in anybody’s life. All of them need adults’ supervision, guidance, and support. Having parents involved with their kids would be the most perfect situation but that does not happen all the time. So teachers and the school community comes into the scene and can really make a difference. Sometimes, it seems impossible to start a two-way conversation with a child, as they would reject us and any of our advices. However, we need to be wise in choosing the best time to talk to them about things like sex, drugs, and violence, and more importantly, we need to listen first, before offering our opinion on how to handle a problem. We need to let them know that we do not approve violence and help with a plan to resolve conflicts. We need to assure our kids that we will always support them and try to help them make the best choices. However, we need to let them know that, once you are adult enough to make a decision, you are also adult enough to suffer the consequences. Most importantly, we need to let them know that we love them unconditionally.
Good morning, the article I chose is “Intervention: Getting Help for Troubled Children.” Basically this article talks about how one as a parent, guardian or teacher that sees early signs of trouble in a child should act right away in getting help. Early intervention is the key here, the faster you act when you see something’s wrong the more probabilities you will in getting some positive results. In the case of a child that is showing signs of violent behavior, definitely the parent will be the first to notice this. But since children spend most of the time at school then at home. Sometimes teachers should be the ones to immediately speak up about what they observe. For example, one of the key points or principles in this article is to, “share responsibility by establishing a partnership with the child, school, home and community. Another one is to inform parents and listen to them when early warning signs are observed. It’s all about the relationship that as parent you build with your child and most importantly the one you have with the school. If the teachers see that as a parent you are always involved and asking about your child, that teacher will know that the communication will be there all the time. It will make things easier on both throughout the transition of the school year. I also do think that as the article states, schoolwide strategies create a foundation that is more responsive to children in general, one that makes interventions for individual children more effective and efficient, this is true. As previously mentioned the more the school gets involved in creating these types of strategies the more we may be able to help these troubled kids. One very important point also, is that is someone observes trouble in a child and they do come forward about it, act immediately on it. Not like what happened in the case of Cho Seung Hui as we discussed yesterday. There was a counselor that noticed problems with him and did notify the school but not much was done. If we as parents and teachers are going to come up with a strategy to help these children then it should be implemented.
I chose to address the topic of Early Warning Signs written in the Guide. The guide by the Center for Effective Collaboration and Practice (CECP) was done by research for violence prevention and intervention and responding to crisis in schools. It listed the early warning signs and what to look for as they relate to violence and troubling behavior in children and teens. By understanding and recognizing the early warning signs and the imminent warnings, steps can be taken to address them and ensure a safe school.
However, even if the procedures are followed exactly, it might not still prevent a crisis or violent behavior from happening. The warning signs are just a guide and they must be acted upon in a responsible manner and definitely not use as a “checklist”. Schools should provide a safe and orderly environment to enrich our children’s social, emotional and academic development.
There are many warning signs which are behaviors that may lead to violence. Sometimes it is the combination of emotions, behaviors and events in a child’s life that will lead to aggressive behavior and violence.
Some of the warning signs are: Social withdrawal, excessive feelings of isolation, rejection, being a victim of violence, being picked on or bullied, low academic performance, expressing violence in writings and drawings, uncontrollable anger, chronic hitting, drugs and alcohol, gang affiliation, possession of firearms, just to name a few.
In conclusion, it takes not just the schools but the entire community to be involved in our children and teens behavior and look and act on the early warning signs. Set procedures should be in place for addressing each of them. As I stated before, not to use the warning signs as a checklist but as a guide and to address each warning sign in a responsible manner. We must all be proactive in preventing school violence and having a guide is a step in the right direction. We all have to be observant in a child’s behavior and not ignore certain behavior or patterns of behavior as these could be early warning signs of a troubled child or youth that can lead to aggressive or violent behavior if left unaddressed. Many schools are implementing procedures to as noted in the Guide and there have been some successes in that area. But schools need to be very careful in dealing with each of the warning signs and not take them to the extreme.
Excellent summary of this important topic. Your response to Joeseph was on target. parents--and others who must or choose to interact with children must be good communicators. Empathic listening is so important.
You are so right. Comming forward and doing something is critical. As we discussed, the course of action tat needs to be taken is often difficult. As such, some people take the the path of least resistance (the easy route).
CLAUDIA said...thr principles of violence prevention and response are: share responsibility by establishing a partnership with the child,school,home and community; inform parents and listen to them when early warnings signs are observed; maintain confidentiality and parents rights to privacy; develop the capacity of staff, students,and families to intervene;support students in being responsible for their actions; simplify staff requests for urgent assistance; make interventions available early as possible; use sustained, multiple, coordinated interventions; analyze the context in which violent behavior occurs; build upon and coordinate internal school resources. As the article mentioned violent behavior is a problem to everyone. It is essentinal to everyone the community, the family, the school and the own child to be aware of the child actions so everyone is in the same page to ensure the proper help. Once the problem is detected it is imperative that someone is quick in intervene to prevent problems from escalating. Early intervention helps to reduce further bigger problems of violence. the intervention provides the so need support that sometimes the families are unable to get at their own or are unable to recognize.
To Joseph and Helena, you guys did an awesome job summarizing this article on "early warning signs on violence." As you both mentioned in your posts, the intervention comes mostly on part of the teachers who spend most of the time with these kids. They spend more time with them then one as a parent. That’s why I also mentioned that communication between the parent and child is crucial, particularly at an early stage. Take me for example, I ask my six year old son all the time how was his day at school and to tell me about his friends. He always tells me that there is a boy that is always misbehaving bad and the teacher has to put him in time out all the time. According to my son he disrespects the teacher and is always disrupting the class and all the teacher does is put him in time out. I am pretty sure that the teachers must have called the parents for a conference by this time. My point is that by now in the case of this kid someone in the school should be counseling him and the parents. He is at an early age where he can be helped since it’s not normal for him to be acting this way. Just wanted to share this with you guys.
Excellent point here about the lack of ability or resources of the parents. Many families need all the help they can get with their school aged children. Like we mentioned yesterday, even if we recognize the issue with our child, most people would ne reveal the problem to school officials.
The section of the assignment that I chose was "Responding in the Aftermath of a Crisis".
This section covered the main areas that a school should focus on in the aftermath of a violent crisis. For starters, the article suggests that schools should have a Crisis Response Team already established. They should be trained to recognize natural stress reactions as well as have an understanding of the different ways people have to deal with loss of life. These should include cultural and religious beliefs as well.
The next component that is mentioned is that schools should already have plans drawn up that include a coordinated community response. This should include not only professionals from the school system but also those from the community at large.
The section also describes some of the main components to include in a school's response plan. This should include:
- Helping parents understand children's reaction to violence. - Helping teachers and staff deal with reactions to crisis. - Helping students and faculty adjust after the crisis. - Helping victims and family members re-enter the school environment. - Helping students and teachers address the return of a previously removed student to the school community.
The last component a school should have ready to deal with the aftermath of a crisis is a "Crisis Procedures Checklist". This is extremely important because a crisis plan has to deal with various complex contingencies. These complexities and the disorganization that tends to occur immediately following an incident means that people in charge need a step-by-step set of procedures to follow when a crisis occurs. The list can contain things as simple, but necessary, as assessing life/saftey issues immediately, to call 911 first and then to call the Superintendent second, what resources are available or needed, communication with staff, etc.
Widilia, we both chose the same article. I totally agree with you that it not only just takes the schools but the entire community to be involved in our children’s behavior and act on the early warning signs. Early intervention as I mentioned before is the key here in every aspect that you look at it. The parents involvement is critical, because if we see change patterns in behavior in our child of course we are going to act right way on it. The only thing is that not all parents react the same way. To some it’s normal if their kids start acting up, for the mere reason that they are kids and they may have their phases. That’s why these strategies that the schools are implementing in how to guide parents on how to observe these type of behaviors is an excellent way to teach them.
I think that after going over the section I summarized that planning and responding to a crisis is extremely intensive. I mean not only are you trying to plan for contingencies of what might happen before, during or after but everything in between. The planning and consideration, especially after an incident, is extremely heavy and there are so many variables to consider.
Planning seems to be the most important step because if a person or group had to do this while the situation is occuring without a predetermined course of action being set...things could get pretty ugly.
Jackie, Communication between parents and school staff is definitely the most important factor when trying to monitor and help youngsters do the right choices. Not only kids are a part of their parents’ lives but also parents need to be a very active part on their kids’ lives. Because we moved to this country and did not have any family support other than the three of us, we always made sure school staff knew that even though our daughter had come from another country, she had a family, and a strong one. Our communication with teachers was constant and opened. I know it was easier for me as I did not work at the beginning but that did not change when she entered Middle School and I joined the work force. My family always came first and I would take time off to go to PTA meetings and go straight from work to her band presentations, band committee meetings, or any other event we were invited to go. My husband and I always made a point by marking our presence so that our daughter would not be only a number. School and household were always on the same page and now we happily reap positive results. After attending our school violence classes, reading all the articles sent by Dr. Kalam, and listening to so many opinions in class, I came to the conclusion that, because the numbers of students and acts of violence are so staggering, the only possible solution would be to break them into small sections, which would be classrooms. Teachers would then be the ones capable of monitoring suspicious behaviors and report them. I can see some hope at the end of the tunnel as long as those reports would be taken seriously into consideration and immediate actions would be taken.
I would have looked a the same section. Planning and post-incident action are critical. when we plan for emergencies, we must include scenarios. When we conduct post-icident debriefings, we exmine the actual event..and can use this for building scenrios for plannning...and so on
I agree with Jackie on the point on early intervention being the key. Early intervention not only might help prevent a violent act but not acting upon it can have strong consequences. If we wait until the student or child becomes violent, then it can have not only costly consequences but some of the strategies at this point may be inefficient. It is very important for students to also understand that they have a responsibility to their school and community to report certain behavior of their peer that may be deemed as having a potential for violence. By reporting it and having the staff or school intervene with the support of professionals may make a big difference in preventing a violent act later by this child or youth. Students sometimes don’t want to tell on their friends or peers but they need to know that it is their responsibility to themselves and the safety of others at the school.
Helena...I think you are right on point, it is very important to understand and recognize the early warning signs. Early warnings signs are the red lights for prevention to future bigger problems but the help must to be done in a way that the child does not get labeled or stigmatized.
Luis, There are no questions about the fact that planning and prevention are extremely important points, not only on diminishing the probabilities but also improving the aftermath of a crazy violent act coming from an instable student. That is why we have worked on our non-violence policy, trying to restrain as many senseless people as possible. Prevention is the key word on so many topics.
Jackie, I do understand the point about your kids. Ye,s professors spend most of their time with your child so it should be easy to detect but good parents like you are involved with their children. It should be a parent resposibility to be in communication with the teachers and aware of everything that happen with their child.
After looking at this section I can see exactly how important this step is. When you are looking at all of the different points and steps you can see the enormity of the planning process. I think that once you see how big planning is in the entire cycle you realize not only how important it is to plan ahead but to try and make sure that you have as many eventualities planned for as possible.
I think the hardest part has to be what you can't plan for. Since you've been involved in this type of planning before, how do you deal with situations that you haven't planned for but come up in these situations? Do you count on the fact that you have a coordinated community response to cover for situations that you, as school or organizational administration, have not planned for?
I definitely agree with your comment on Jackie's point. As a parent you have to make sure that you are involved with your child's teachers and school. It is imperative that you get to know your child's teachers and that they know you. Most importantly, it is necessary that your child's teacher knows that they have a clear channel of communication with you as parents. My mom was a single parent but she always made time for parent/teacher conferences and school meetings. Not that I had many parent/teacher conferences. ;o)
This is especially important for your child because they will also be motivated to not only excel in school but to communicate more freely with you and their teachers. Either way means that you can be more completely aware of situations your child could be facing at school both academically and sometimes socially. This can often be the difference between a violent outburst or a positive solution.
In response to your question to Helena and Jackie about who should take the initiative in communication, I think the response is simple. I think Claudia already said it. It should be the responsibility of the parents to initiate, and even maintain, a line of communication with teachers.
These are your children. The teachers have some level of responsibility to communicate with parents but really the onus lies with parents. Teachers have several students and even more parents to deal with. They can only do so much to communicate with all parents about their child's behavior. If we leave it to teachers to do all of the communicating you run the risk of only hearing about your child's misdeeds or when problems are way past a simple intervention.
Self-accountability is a key virtue or character trait that is essential to the development of well-adjusted children. If parents aren't teaching their kids properly then we can only expect their child or children to do things and never accept their role in the trouble they cause.
Dr. Kalam, I do not see this as being an initiative issue. I think it is mostly a case of common sense on both parts. What we expect from the School System is to be able to plan accordingly, as Luis and you have mentioned, and one of the items on their planning should be to prepare staff to, among other things, communicate with whoever is responsible for the child, no matter how hard it would be. We all know that persistence pays… On the other hand, any normal parent would instinctively feel the need to care for their kid(s), even as a natural reaction of protection. As per abnormal parents, that is when school staff’s common sense would have to kick off.
Luis, Apparently we disagree on this one... As mentioned before, for the benefit of the child, both sides need to be on the same page and both channels need to be opened for a constructive communication. When on the phone, for instance, both parties cannot talk at the same time. But when one listens to the other, then one can understand the other. I think that family is definitely the most important part of a child’s foundation but school and religion would come right behind.
I chose to discuss the topic in Section 3, Early Warning Signs. Here they discussed the warning signs and what to look for in troubled kids. The question I found most interesting was the in the first paragraph “did the child say or do anything that would have cued us in to the impending crisis?” “Did we miss an opportunity to help?” It is rather difficult in the culture I live in today to determine whether a child has cried for help or is just being a child. You cannot just go up to a parent, whether they are a friend or co-worker, and say, hey your kid has a problem. Early warning signs have to be treated delicately because you don’t want to say something in a manner that would be offensive. The article mentions that we have to be careful with “stigmatizing” and labeling kids. I have someone who is close to me who was labeled as a “troubled kid” in the 4th grade. The school wanted to place him in a special alternative school but when his mother asked that he be evaluated by the counselor at the school, they found that his devious behavior was just a cry for attention as a result of his problems at home with his family dismantling. He never said anything like “I want to kill, or die”; he didn’t mistreat animals or draw disturbing pictures. Today, he is a normal adult with a family of his own. In the article it mentions the warning signs as having uncontrolled anger, expression of violence in writings and drawings to name a few. So if a child draws stick figures with knives in their hands and blood gushing out of someone’s head, chances are, there is a problem. Teachers have a huge role and responsibility in the classroom and in the life of every child under their guidance (which is why they should get paid more and have better perks and benefits than a CEO of a corporation). You only benefit from this section of the article if you actually know what the next step is. What good is knowing or having an idea that someone has a problem if you do not do something about it. I think that whatever we can do as adults, in this field of study is reaching out to 1 child. Become a mentor to 1 child can make a difference. After all, they are our future and if we work in the system, they will most likely be under our care somehow. So as a citizen, I would rather have a community that works together and looks out for one another, than to have the fear of them setting schools on fire and hurting themselves or my child because no one read the warning signs.
Luis, just to piggy back on your points, I think that aftermaths are critical for everyone. In every devastation wether it is a death in the family or an event such as 911, there must always be that 1 person or group who jumps out with the "plan". They are the strength that is needed when others are in grief. If you notice, when something drastic happens such as a school shooting or a classmate dies, counselors are always prepared to treat students who are affected by it. You do not necessarily have to be a witness or a friend cause that does not determine how you feel about the situation. Just a few weeks ago, someone died at MDC Wolfson. I was not there and it was said that the victim was not a student or staff, but an email was sent out by the school and it stated that if anyone wants to "talk", the doors are open.
Aftermaths leave people in a daze and sometimes, you even lose your mind a bit and can think "wow, did this really happen". There is nothing worse that being in a state of shock. The important part is to be treated immidiately.
HELANA, IN YOUR RESPONSE TO WHAT I WROTE. I COMPLETE AGREE WITH YOU ABOUT TIMING. ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I HAVE LEARNED AND SEEN THE MOST, PEOPLE DO NOT RESOLVE PROBLEMS WHEN THEY ARE UPSET. YOU DO NOT CLEARLY THINK AND RATIONALIZE, AND IF A PERSON IT IS UNDER THE INFLUENCE IT IS EVEN WORST. IF YOU FIND A TEEN DRINKING OR SMOKING MARIJUANA WHILE YOU ARE GOING TO BE VERY MAD AT THE TIME YOU ARE NOT GOING TO BE ABLE TO RATIONALIZE WITH THEM AT THAT POINT. YOU CAN HAVE THEM STOP AT THAT TIME BUT FOR A PERMANENT IMPACT. YOU NEED TO DEVELOP A PLAN AND SPEAK TO THEM WHEN THEY ARE GOING TO BE OPEN, SOBER AND ABLE TO RATIONALIZE.
Actually I think we do agree. I wasn't saying that the parents should be the only one to open a line of communication or that it should only go one way. I think both teacher and parents need to communicate with each other and both parties should make every effort to make that communication as easy and positive as possible. That is the only way that everyone involved can best care for the needs of a student.
Where we may disagree is that I feel it is imperative for parents to build that relationship with their child's teacher. While the teacher may initiate the contact or do their best to keep parents abreast of their child's progress or behavior. We can not expect our teacher to communicate everything that may or may not be important with our child as soon as possible.
My point is that teachers have many students and by extension many parents to account for. Parents usually only have a few teachers per child, especially when they are young.
IN RESPONSE TO WHAT LUIS SAID ABOUT RESPONDING IN THE AFTERMATH OF A CRISIS. NO PARENT CAN EVER IMAGINE GETTING A CALL OR TEXT FROM THEIR CHILD STATING THEIR SCHOOL IS UNDER ATTACK. WE KNOW THE ATTACKERS ALL HAVE PLANS SO WE NEED A PLAN. PEOPLE SOMETIMES THINK THAT IF YOU THINK ABOUT SOMETHING IT WILL COME TRUE AND THINK THAT KEEPING THE MINDSET THAT SCHOOL VIOLENCE WILL NOT HAPPEN HERE IF WE DO NOT THINK ABOUT IT, IS JUST BEING BLIND TO THE FACTS AT HANDS. SCHOOL VIOLENCE IS HERE AND IT HAS BEEN HAPPENING FOR A WHILE AND WHILE YOUR COMMUNITIES MAY HAVE NOT BEEN DIRECTED EFFECTIVELY THE CHILDREN ARE SPONGES AND GO ON THE INTERNET READ AND WATCH TV THEY ARE AWARE OF THE OUTSIDE WORLD. THAT BEING SAID, I THINK ANY PLAN WOULD WORK BEST WITH COMMUNITY’S INVOLVEMENT. MOST CHILDREN DO NOT LIVE FAR FROM ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS, SOME PARENTS MAYBE HOME AND IF THEY GOT THAT NIGHTMARE TEXT MIGHT WANT TO RUN DOWN TO THE SCHOOL. IMAGINE IF POLICE ARE ARRIVING AND THERE IS PARENTS RUNNING AROUND THE SCHOOL AND SOME BRING GUNS NOW IT BECOMES A FREE FOR ALL NO ONE KNOWS WHO IS WHO. A PLAN THOUGH WHERE THE COMMUNITY WORKS WITH THE POLICE AND SCHOOL OFFICIALS AND EVERYONE HAS A ROLE, WILL BE MUCH MORE EFFICIENT. RUNNING DOWN TO THE SCHOOL INSTANTLY ONLY BUILDS UP TRAFFIC DELAYING EMERGENCY PERSONNEL FROM ARRIVING AND ADDS MORE POSSIBLE VICTIMS ON THE SCHOOL SITE. NO ONE IS QUESTIONING THE PARENT’S ABILITY OR WANT TO PROTECT THEIR CHILD BUT, WANTING TO TRADE YOUR LIFE FOR YOUR CHILD’S MAY COST MORE VICTIMS. THE QUICKER LAW ENFORCEMENT CAN ENTER THE SCHOOL AND LOCATE THE OFFENDER, THE QUICKER THE OFFENDER CAN BECOME NEUTRALIZED.
There are many signs to let use know how to tell the problem with the youth, still no real resolution to it. Over the year the same data has been written over and over again. It is like the never-ending story of juveniles and there act to get help. Yet the only results we have are gangs, kids going to there school and killing other kids, and violence towards there teacher. The family structure is not the same because the parents can be the generation before with problem and they may not have been resolved. Example, you take a bum off the street and give them a federal employment it changed nothing the person is still a bum. A child is the similar you can sugar the problem by talking to them about it, but where did you resolve the problem. The law considers a group of more then two a gang so friends whether they are or not will always be a problem with this stamp on them. This is a stigma on the youth that they may not even be awake of. Weapons have always been brought to schools, whether in the 60’s, 80’s, or 90’s. The problem started today, when the gun or knife was taken out of the locker and used on the classmate. I am not saying that the child with a gun in school is correct in any of these eras; still it is something that is known to have happen and brushed under the carpet. What is great to know is that laws have finally been set as punishment for students that do so. This can hold the person back from deciding to bring the weapon and have the punishment ad hired on them and there record. Everything has a reason, at the age of 33 more then ten years after graduating, I find out of people I talked to before still at this age talking nonsense about me. I am firm with never growing out of being happy or young at heart, but that is pathetic. A grown woman or man still being a baby instead of an adult like they are today, being a liar because what has come from them is nothing but lies, and playing games. Warning signs would be up everywhere for a child like me if, I where in elementary or secondary school. Today we call people like the ones talking about me vagabonds, and losers as adults. Still, life goes on as stupid as it may have been for a person to do that to me. I am not a student in high school that looks at something like that as an attack, due that is a trigger for a young person to get a gun, knife, or other weapon and hurt there classmate. No one said growing up is easy, still no one it would look this stupid either.
Lilian i like what you have said in your writting. We have not missed the moment to help our children. They are living the product of our youth along with theirs. When young everything might have been hood or church. Looking back at past problem or straigths must be there and corrected so that our children don't have to correct them for us or leave the same problem for the next generation
I chose to summarize Section 4, which speaks about Intervention. When we talk about eliminating crime what we really mean is lowering the amount of crime being committed. Crime will never reach zero. However, Intervening at a young age, what are goal should be is to lower the stats of future crimes being committed. When we involve the communities, we will find a decrease in children’s bad intentions that usually lead to crime. When a child acts up it is okay to worry and inform whoever you need to inform. keeping it a secret is makes thing worse if anything. Students, school faculty and after school staff should not be afraid to confront the parents with their concerns. The article speaks about how staff should have access to some type of specialists to evaluate the childrens behaviors. I think staff that work with kids should have some type of education or attend some kind of monthly seminar to learn the behaviors they need to be on the lookout for the intervene at an early age. Studies show that effective intervention that are monitored, family-supported tend to have an improvement on their behavior. When planning a violence and prevention plan there are some standards we need to keep in mind. It is hard for a single parent to establish some type of partnership with the school, or the community when they need to work to put food on the table, but sacrifices need to be done. Between home, school and the community the responsibility of the safety for children need to be shared. Schools need to reach out to the parents when they notice a difference in behaviors, they need to look at each child as an individual. Parents need to be involved, they need to be around as well, and the community needs to help each other out by making more programs available to low income parents etc. When there is confidentiality between anything, it shows a sign of trust or some form of bond is created. when this is created parents feel and see the importance and with this action they will give back and also show respect. All this cant be done with a handful of people, everyone needs to be involved so that the interventions can be effective and be followed up. When the child in involved, they should be encouraged to be responsible for their own actions. When we involve them in our planning they will learn the rewards and the consequences of things, helping them grow into a responsible adult. Intervention needs to happen as early as it is noticed,. it should not be postponed for the next time the child misbehaves. if we wait for the next opportunity for the child to misbehave to then intervene it might be to late. As well as the longer you wait the more costly it can be to rehabilitate the child. We need to teach children that these emotional reactions, anger, madness are emotions we feel but need to control. Where there is strong leadership, a caring faculty and parent and community involvement you will see not only safe schools but safe communities. Crime will never go done to Zero but it will greatly decrease.
Luis, On the accountability of your action clause I totally agree with. However, today teachers need to be more responsive to the concerned parent. Example today, the communication with parents and teachers are done through the internet. The teachers are “supposed” to update every two days on upcoming assignment, missing assignment and your child’s progress. (dadeschool.net) However, I have request several parent teacher’s conferences and yet had a responses. When inquired at the school in present; I was instructed to refer to the internet. Understand it’s not for poor grades, or behavioral issues; Just to become more familiar with the learning outcomes. Should I become angry for technology or is it lack of publicized information on how to: Please shed some light
Good question about planning for contingencies. The thing to remember is to develop as many possible(and real) potential threats/hazzards as possible and then rank them. If you recall from previous classes, it may be called risk assessment. During planning, "what if" scenarios can be used to strategize possible outcomes and responses.
You cannot account for everthing, but you will come up with a plan that should cover most types of incidents.
Luis, Thus I think we agree with everything because I also think, and always did, that parents need to build a strong relationship with their child’s teacher. I think what is confusing us is Dr. Kalam’s specific question on who should take the "initiative" to communicate, the parents or the teacher and I do not see it as an initiative issue.
I agree with you that the warning signs are just a guide and not be used as a checklist, even though the procedures are done exactly it might not prevent from a crisis or a behavior from happening but it can also make a change mentally if you follow up or it can even decrease the chances and likelihood from the violent or behavior or crime occur. Because sometimes the violent behaviors come from a combination of emotions or occurrences’ at the child’s present life it is even more of a reason on why parents, schools and communities need to come together and work together. Everyone goes through rough times but it is our decisions to do what is best and we always need to be aware of the rewards and the consequences of whatever choices we decide to do.
Luis, I agree with you that parent should take the intiative to contact the teachers and the schools and get involved with childs education. My thought is that we often rely on the system to do their job...and that often does not happen. There are many reasons why.
Helena:
I think that focusing on the word "initiative" is getting you bogged down. It does bring up an interesting thought about how chools and government departments get stuck on bureaucracy. It is part of the problem with schools and government today.
I chose Developing a Prevention and Response Plan… The paragraphs that entail this topic provide a breakdown into what they believe is a thourough plan as it relates to school violence. They subdivide the plan into several categories that include prevention (early warning signs), intervention (just prior to when the incident occurs), and response (all facets of the response stage). The article does a good job on placing emphasis on prevention. Since history has shown that signs were exhibited by offenders, the best defensive plan is an offensive one in this case prevention. They can include early warniong signs by potential violent offenders, identyfing at risk youth and adults that have similar background influences that can make them more succeptible to those kinds of behaviors. Being open to the idea that any and all verbal cues are signs and not just attention seeking individuals so that they are not just dismissed, etc. Next in line is the intervention stage, after identyfing the potential threat being able to succesfully difuse the situation. Whether it is by getting the appropriate counseling, law enforcement assistance, parent-teacher assistance, etc. Also being able to determine if it is a mental health problem, anger-aggression issue, etc. And last is the response phase that deals with the after the fact portion. Emphasizing the need to communicate on a number of different avenues between the appropriate local, state and federal agencies. Being able to up-channel and down-channel incidents reports and all pertinent information in a fluid manner so as to take advantage of the vital time frame. While the article does an excellent job of comparmentalizing all relevant areas of this phenomenon it should indicate the priority in which they fall. In todays torubled economy (based largely on 8 horendous years of “government”) schools do not have the adequate resources to be able to have a plan that deals with every single area described. So it would behove of the author(s) to place or rank each subdivision accordignly.
I agree with Luis on the point that it is important for all schools to already have a Crisis Procedures Checklist to deal with the aftermath of a crisis. This would be handled by a crisis team. Everyone responds to stress differently and some students may need more time and support to deal with the crisis. I believe everyone is affected in one way or another after a tragic incident occurs at a school like we hear about in the news more and more frequently. It is important for students to get support they need after the crisis and for normality and safety to return to the school.
For me I think that the problem nowadays for the parent who is somewhat involved is that they cant tell the difference between becoming their child’s best friend or being their parent. I think that with the right relationship you have with your child you can see the difference in your own child’s behavior, wants or needs, whether it be good or bad actions and attitudes. I think it is a huge testament that when parents show the correct amount of caring and involvement they will get a great positive response back from their own child and the community. When the child sees the parents and teachers around them caring for their wellbeing they tend to not want to let them down. The parent should be the child’s role model and who’s to say that the child cant become the parents role model as well. I believe that by taking these actions in a careful way it creates an unbreakable bond between everyone involved.
Don't get angry..but do persist. I think technology creates a chance for us to iprove our communication. Everyone needs to be aware and agree to use it, though. School employees may see it as another thing to do, and then resist it. I think the implementation of these and other changes must be accompanied by proper training and motivation.
To Elizabeth (Summarizing Section 4) I understand where you’re coming from with the idea of a stronger parental involvement as an abilitating factor… Yet the focus has to be on those things we (the institution) can effectively implement. You can’t force parental involvement but you can put in place an effective plan, good preventive measures, etc. Again not to say that proper parental involvement isn’t important, it is! But you can’t control that issue unless you’re willing to accept someone else telling you how to “run” your family. Everyone knows what someone else should do but not everyone (very few if any) are willing to admit there short comings…
ELIZABETH, IN RESPONSE TO WHAT YOU SAID ABOUT INTERVENTION. I AGREE TOTALLY WITH YOUR POINT THE MORE CARING ADULTS AROUND THE CHILD THE BETTER THE CHILD OFF THE CHILD WILL BE. THERE IS NOTHING THAT SAYS AN INTERVENTION HAS TO WAIT TILL THE CHILD IS OUT OF CONTROL, IN FACT IT IS NOT A NORMAL INTERVENTION LIKE THEY SHOW ON TV WHERE YOU ARE CONFRONTED. I THINK CONFRONTING THE CHILD ONLY BACKS THEM INTO A CORNER AND ANYONE IN A CORNER IS GOING TO BE DEFENSIVE. THE BOTTOM LINE IS TO HAVE AN OPEN DIALECT WITH THE CHILD SO THEY ARE WILLING TO SPEAK TO YOU. THEY ARE ABLE TO TRUST YOU TO TELL YOU THAT THEY ARE BEING BOTHERING OR THINKING ABOUT DOING SOMETHING. AT THAT TIME THE RESPONSIBLE ADULT WILL BE ABLE TO STEP IN A DIRECT THE CHILD AWAY FROM VIOLENCE AND BE ABLE TO INTERVENE BEFORE THE CHILD ACTS ON THIER INITIALLY THOUGHTS.
To Dr Kalam (ref Deborah) Yes proper training and motivation are needed for these other avenues (ie internet) to succeed, yet as you usually play devils advocate what parent that you know off (taking into consideration that most school related violence takes place in lower to middle class areas) would be willing to let an "outsider" tell them how to be a better parent?
Yes, as we menioned yesterday....you might hear parents saying "who the hell are you to tell me how to raise my kids". It's a big problem because the school is supposed to be the expert...
Thanks for your comments and your candor. I always tell myself that I cannot really control others...but I can control myself. People will always talk about other people..for many reasons.
In schools, I am sure this is rampant and leads to violence. How can we increase the coping skills of the kids?
Dr. K & Fredrick Thanks for the eye-opener; which led me to question myself, If I would not have had this opportunity to express my concerns with you all/ (Blog) with the frustration I am experiencing with just meeting with my child’s teacher outside of PTA Meetings and Open House Sessions; just imagine what a child must feel like? Perhaps; Too little too late I will become more persistent. Once again thanks!
in the bible it is state that the children suffer the wrongs of the parent. If we continue to not resolve the problem of our parents or us as children we are making a mountain out of once an ant hill. Being open is one way to coping with problems don't be afard to talk about you as a person and what you have been trough instead of hidding it from your child. The reason is when you child goes out they may be confronted with the same thing you went through, and this can cause confusion. when parents talk to there child and tell them the truth about what can happen, they can stop a problem from continuing to another generation, which is also write in the bible that one day the children no longer go through the suffering of the mistakes of the parents.
Elizabeth, I also agree that the responsibility for children’s safety needs to be shared between home, school, and the community. After identifying who is at a higher-risk and where problems occur most frequently, intervention could be targeted. To help students develop conflict-resolution skills, schools could implement mentoring and role-playing activities in the curriculum. To offer basic parenting skills to pregnant teens, the community could implement home-visiting intervention. Interventions should also target parents, siblings, or the entire family unit.
I agree that the best defense is offense. Moving forward and resolving the problem is the way to do it, and step back and look at the progress. Counselors, Teacher, Law enforcement can help when they have resolve problem on there own if not it is the blind leading the blind that end in the same result of nothing being progressed. When you like to you can resolve a problem but if you are not going to be for real in problem solving step back and let someone that is do it.
Frederick makes a good point in bringing up the funding resources in the development of a prevention and response plan. He mentions that it should be prioritize in some ways as not all schools will be able to have a plan for every area described. I think he may have a point here but also, I think the schools with limited funding should also look at volunteer work from the community professionals such as psychologists, counselors, retired professionals that can volunteer some of their time to the school. The Prevention and Response core team should assess the areas where they have limited resources available and set up an action plan on finding resources to in some way, fill the deficit. Our schools and our community must get creative to meet the needs of our children’s safety and we should not let funding resources hamper a good prevention and response plan.
Desmond In reading the article on intervention it seems as if the solutions to getting help for troubled children have already been identified, and methods are in place to effectuate changes in the behavior of at-risk kids. The prevalent methods seem to be training, teaching, and comprehensive support. The issues, however, are the inability to intensify the various methods when needed, and ingraining into administrators, faculty, students, and parents the concept that school safety is everyone’s job. The article recognizes that there must be a shared responsibility between the child, school, home, and community. Schools, parents, and students must be able to, and comfortable with, reporting violent and at-risk behaviors. Schools must have established intervention programs in place, and with support of the parent, ensure compliance. The community also plays a vital role in the various programs that have been established, but are dependent upon the coordination and support of the school and the parent. In addressing training, the article speaks on the ability to develop the capacity of staff, students, and families to intervene by training them how to recognize and understand the factors that contribute to the disruptive behavior. However, training is not limited to the school environment. It is also provided in the social and community settings. One of the examples was in the training of parents as to firearm safety training; how to keep guns out of the immediate reach of children. The teaching aspect is in making the target child aware of alternate behavioral reactions that are less detrimental. In helping the child to develop better coping skills, there will be an improvement in the interaction of the child with other students, teachers, and the family. In addressing the element of support, the article recognizes that it must be comprehensive in nature. No one area would be able to effectuate substantial change in the at-risk youth unless it is reinforced by the other groups. School policies that are in place to identify at risk youths require the support of the parent in order to secure compliance by the child. The principle being taught to the child in conflict resolution or alternative interactions skills must be reinforced by the family.
Desmond Elizabeth: I like what you wrote. I too believe that crime will never be totally be eliminated, and that the best way to reduce crime is by addressing the needs of our children. I also believe that our current economic situation places an undue burden of a lot of parents who are forced to work sometimes two or three jobs in order to make ends meet. I don’t know how I can tell a parent who is working so hard that they need to do more. I do have a question. If we believe that crime will never be totally eliminated, is it okay to also believe that we will never be able to totally eliminate violence in school? If so, what is an allowable amount?
Luis: In response to the issue of initiating communication, I believe that responsibility should mainly belong to the school. It is the parents’ response to the school that the parents need to work on. In regards to the initial contact, I fell that the schools should be the professional organization, and therefore shoulder the responsibility. A parent will rely on the professional to make the proper assessments. What is considered detrimental behavior by professionals may be construed as acceptable behavior in the hood. If the parents don’t know any better, and some don’t because they are also a product of the same environment, then they wouldn’t have any reason to initiate any dialog with the school. In addition, the school has a much better objective view than a parent would. We sometimes find it hard to be critical of our own children.
This article explains how a good and effective sound prevention plan against violence needs the involvement of everybody in the community, form educators, staff members, bus drivers, and families. The plan will point out how school and community resources can be used to create safe environments and to manage responses to sensitive threats and incidents of violence. The plan must be consistent with federal, state, and local laws; and it will include: • Descriptions of the early warning signs of potentially violent behavior and procedures for identifying children who exhibit these signs. • Descriptions of effective prevention practices the school community has undertaken to build a foundation that is responsive to all children and enhances the effectiveness of interventions. • Descriptions of intervention strategies the school community can use to help troubled children. These include early interventions for students, who are at risk of behavioral problems, and more intensive, individualized interventions and resources for students with severe behavioral problems or mental health needs. • A crisis intervention plan that includes immediate responses for imminent warning signs and violent behavior, as well as a contingency plan to be used in the aftermath of a tragedy. A prevention and response team should be implemented using members of the community. This team needs to understand that it cannot prevent all violence from occurring, but it can do much to reduce the likelihood of its occurrence. Through thoughtful planning and the establishment of a school violence prevention and response team, we can avert many crises and be prepared when they do happen.
After reading this section in developing a prevention and response plan with a Team. I see how important this can be to give a sense of peace to parents, students, and faculty staff.
I agreed with you regarding the importance of parent/child relationship. I think a lot of the problem we are having in today society is because parents are not spending quality time with their children. Instead they are so busy with their daily activity that they just want to go home and not deal with their children. Parents today need to understand that their children are important and need attention.
I understand when you say that following procedures might not prevent a crisis to happen. But, it will reduce it and also it will make it harder for does people that want to create caos to accomplish their goal.
Upon reading the Eay Warningsigns. The essay does state something important "Teachers and administrators--and other school support staff--are not professionally trained to analyze children's feelings and motives." Why not have traning seminars to have teachers/adin. betterunderstand the student? So, if these teachers/admin. & support staff don't understand the children how can they notice anything else. I think children do display warning signs but, most of the times teachers, amin. & support staff are not willing to take 5 minutes to ask a child displying warning signs: Are you ok or ask do you want or need to talk to someone today, even just to say I know you are going through a situation I am always here if you want to talk, don't be araid to ask me for help. I think that could make a difference because these same children could be being bullied, or even sexual or physically abused by someone. Acting out or being "different" could be a need for attention. Jessinia Garcia
Desmond, I agree with your comment. The warning signs are there. I think we need to realize that these are also warining signs of the child being physically, emotionally or exualy abused. It is the child crying out for attention. I thin it the "I DON'T HAVE TIME OR I DON'T WANT TO GET INVOLVED" attitide by adults towards children that are causing us to miss the early warning signs. Tachers and others sometimes know a child is being bulle and leave it up to the victim to fix the problem.
As a society we want children to advance and become so independant that by the age of 7 or 8 we want them to take care of themselves. I feel alot of parents stop parenting because the child at that age is potty trained, can walk, talk and eat by themselves and alot of people feel that their job is done. Emotional feelings are not important if the t.v. is on and the adult is watching soaps.
Reading the developement of the response plan. It is important to have guidelines in place on how to react to violent situations.
I think they should implement drills and schools should place emergency buttons in all clssrooms and give walkie talkies to all the teachers. These walkies should be able to communicate with security and other teachers. The cassroom doors should be able to lock from the inside. to lock someone in or out. This would isolate an atacker from being able to reach more intended victims.
In response and agreement to Luis. The schools should do a mock drills. Also send home letters and a map regarding where to go and wait if a lockdown occurs at their childs school. Having hundreds of parent show up and block the pathway of police officers and ambulances is not what you want in an emergency. A stagging place for parents is needed with a police officer & admin staff to handle the parent/child exchange of survivng students. Have surviving sudents sent by school bus to a nearby location.
The advice you brought up about making an effort to talk to our kids honestly about things in our past is great. I actually agree with that very much. I think that when I was younger I may have gotten out of some scrapes and bad situations because they shared their experiences with me.
I think it may cross parents' minds but I think they often are deterred by thinking that they are planting ideas in their kids head. It could also be that they don't want their kids to think of them negatively.
I read the article on early warning signs. As much as I agree with most of the article, these are the main and summarized brief signs of what I see everyday within the school system: Social withdrawal, Excessive feelings of isolation and being alone, Excessive feelings of rejection, Being a victim of violence, Feelings of being picked on and persecuted, Low school interest and poor academic performance, Expression of violence in writings and drawings, Uncontrolled anger, Patterns of impulsive and chronic hitting, intimidating, and bullying behaviors, History of discipline problems, Past history of violent and aggressive behavior. Intolerance for differences and prejudicial attitudes, Serious threats of violence. Almost all of these signs are tied to together to each of the students who are classified as problem students. Given that my school is 95% Haitian and Jamaican, perhaps is just the lack of parenting skills at home or maybe is the violence they have been exposed to before coming to the United States. Either reasons these are signs that are never isolated but instead intricate within the others. Always an eye opener for the majority of the times and after much paper work our school location does not have the sufficient resources to properly address these kids and thus they fall between the cracks. The lucky ones do go to a special school for better treatment but in the end the parents refuse to admit the issues at hand.
I agree with Jessinia Adkinson's statement in regards to the response plan. I think she either has had first hand experience on this or knows someone close to the provisions. I am exposed to this on a monthly basis and is perfectly illustrated by Ms. Adkinsons. I dont think anything better can be added except for a surveillance system oversight.
I like to post about What Luis said towards Benny's post. The advice about the effort to openly talking honestly with our kids is paramount. My parents had that kind of a system with me and it worked out idealistic. I was always able to deals things alone when they were not there and it was all because they would detail their experiences and solutions to me with those instances. This gave me as a child a support system that went farther than just home, it spilled over everyday situations and also was carried over to helping other kids that were my peers. Perhaps is why I have the caregiver profile. :)
Welcome to our Asynchronous Blog for DSC1006 Introduction to Homeland Security. You should respond to the questions and follow the instructions from our class meetings on Saturday.
Go to the following site: http://cecp.air.org/annotated.asp
ReplyDeleteSelect one of the following areas:
Early Warning Signs
Intervention: Getting Help for Troubled Children
Developing a Prevention and Response Plan
Responding in the Aftermath of Crisis
please briefly summarize your readings. Post your comments and post your response to two other classmates.
Thanks
I READ THE ARTICLE AND I WANT TO SUMMARIZE, EARLY WARNING SIGNS. THERE IS 16 EARLY WARNING SIGNS TO INCLUDE. SOCIAL WITHDRAWAL, EXCESSIVE FEELINGS OF ISOLATION AND BEING ALONE, EXCESSIVE FEELINGS OF REJECTION, BEING A VICTIM OF VIOLENCE, FEELINGS OF BEING PICKED ON AND PERSECUTE, LOW SCHOOL INTEREST AND POOR ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE, EXPRESSION OF VIOLENCE IN WRITINGS AND DRAWINGS, UNCONTROLLED ANGER, PATTERNS OF IMPULSIVE AND CHRONIC HITTING, INTIMIDATING, AND BULLYING BEHAVIORS, HISTORY OF DISCIPLINE PROBLEMS, PAST HISTORY OF VIOLENT AND AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR, INTOLERANCE FOR DIFFERENCES AND PREJUDICIAL ATTITUDES, DRUG USE AND ALCOHOL US,. AFFILIATION WITH GANGS, INAPPROPRIATE ACCESS TO, POSSESSION OF, AND USE OF FIREARMS AND SERIOUS THREATS OF VIOLENCE. JUST KNOWING A SIGN IS NOTHING WITHOUT KNOWING WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT AND HOW TO OBSERVE IT.
ReplyDeleteI THINK THE ARTICLE MADE A GREAT POINT. TEACHERS COUNSELORS IN FACT EVERYONE WHO WORKS AT A SCHOOL IS A FIRST RESPONDER OF SORTS. THEY HAVE THE MOST CONTACT WITH THE CHILD DURING SCHOOL. THEY ARE THE ONES WHO NOTICE WHEN A CHILD IS CHANGING THEIR BEHAVIOR AND THEY’RE THE ONES THAT CAN DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT BEFORE IT IS TO LATE. WE KNOW FROM OUR STUDIES A CHILD JUST DOESN’T SNAP MOST VIOLENCE IS A WELL THOUGHT OUT PLAN AND THE BEHAVIOR HAS BEEN DEVELOPING. THE ARTICLE ALSO SHOWS HOW IMPORTANT IT IS FOR THE RIGHT PERSON TO GIVE THE CHILD THE HELP IT SHOULD BE A TRAINED PROFESSIONAL. WHILE THE BEHAVIOR SHOULD BE ABLE TO BE NOTICED BY ALL STAFF OF THE SCHOOL, IN FACT SCHOOLS WITH TRAINING STAFF ON WHAT TO DETECT HAVE A LOWER VIOLENCE RATE THEN SCHOOLS WITHOUT A PROGRAM IN EFFECT. ONCE THE BEHAVIOR IS NOTICED IT NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED BY THE RIGHT PERSON. JUST LABELING A CHILD OR GIVING HIM THE WRONG GUIDANCE MAKES THINGS A LOT WORSE.
AN IMPORTANT PART IS INTERACTION WITH THE CHILD. IN MOST CASES A CHILD DID NOT HAVE AN INFLUENTIAL ADULT THEY COULD TURN TO. IT APPEARS IF THEY DO NOT THEY TURN TO THE WRONG CROWD AND GET BAD ADVICE HOW THEY RESOLVE PROBLEMS. THE ARTICLE ALSO BROUGHT UP A KEY FACT EVERYONE GETS ANGRY JUST BECAUSE A KID GETS UPSET DOES NOT MEAN IT IS A SIGN. THAT WHY IT IS SO IMPORTANT TO HAVE A RELATIONSHIP WITH THE CHILD SO YOU NOTICE THEIR BEHAVIOR CHANGING. YOU CAN SEE WHEN THEY CHANGE SOCIAL GROUPS, IF THEIR GETTING PICKED ON AND IF THEY LOSE INTEREST. CHILDREN ARE HUMANS TOO, THEY HURT JUST LIKE THE REST AND THEY MAY NEED OUR HELP AS ADULTS TO RESOLVE THEIR PROBLEMS. HOWEVER IF THE CHILD DOES NOT TRUST US OR HAVE A RELATIONSHIP THEY ARE NOT GOING TO TELL US WHAT THEIR PROBLEM IS SO WE CAN RESOLVE IT AND PREVENTING SOMETHING FURTHER COMING FROM IT. THE DAYS OF CHILDREN SHOULD BE SEEN AND NOT HEARD OUR LONG GONE. SCHOOL VIOLENCE DOES EXIST BUT THERE IS NOTHING SAYING WITH CARING ADULTS INTERACTING WITH THE CHILD IT CANNOT BE PREVENTED.
Hello Joseph:
ReplyDeleteThanks for a excellent summary.
The ability of individuals to identify signs of "trouble" at an early stage obviously allows for some intervention. I think the issue surrounds the actions taken when the problems are detected. Most often, the policy / procedures / plans, etc., tend to lose impetus. In order for the process to be most effective, performance measures need developed. When a problem is identified, any action taken must be monitored for adherence to the expected outcome. If the outcome does not meet what was planed, then adjustments can be made. These types of measures need to be built into policies and procedures and then implemented as part of the plan.
Thanks
I chose to summarize the portion about early warning signs on school violence.
ReplyDeleteThis article stresses the importance of understanding and recognizing warning signs early, so that children can get help before problems escalate into violence. Even though an early warning sign is not a predictor that a child will commit a violent act, it is very important that school communities are aware of the actions they may have to take in case of an emergency. We should always assume that warning signs are red lights that could indicate a need for further investigation and possible intervention but students should never be labeled or stigmatized as certain behavioral and emotional signs could signal a troubled child but not necessarily mean that that child is violent. A very beneficial approach would be to train the entire school community to understand and identify early warning signs so that the student would be referred to school psychologists, social workers, counselors, and nurses. However, the family should always be consulted before any action is taken towards a child. A procedure should be developed so that students and staff could reporte their concerns about sudden changes in behavior. The early warning signs include: social withdrawal, excessive feelings of isolation and rejection, being a victim of violence, feelings of being picked on and persecuted, low school interest and poor academic performance, expression of violence in writings and drawings, uncontrolled anger, patterns of impulsive and chronic hitting, intimidating, and bullying behaviors, history of discipline problems and past history of violent and aggressive behavior, intolerance for differences and prejudicial attitudes, drug use and alcohol use, affiliation with gangs, inappropriate access to or possession and use of firearms. Detailed and specific threats are indicators that a youth is likely to commit them. Imminent Warning Signs like serious physical fighting with peers or family members, destruction of property, severe rage for apparently minor reasons, detailed threats of lethal violence, and possession and/or use of firearms and other weapons, require immediate actions and parents should be informed of the concerns right away. Before the early warning signs are recognized, we need to understand some of their principles and do no harm to the child by punishing, mislabeling, or stereotyping him or her, understand that violent and aggressive behavior may be caused by stress, and understand that children and youth may express their needs differently in elementary, middle, and high school.
Early warning signs could be misinterpreted and it is difficult to acknowledge that a child is disturbed however, understanding early and imminent warning signs and taking immediate action is a crucial step in ensuring a safe school environment.
I
Joseph,
ReplyDeleteWe chose the same portion of this article and I think you did a great job in expressing your opinion on how adults could and should help in reducing violence, by caring and interacting with a child. Kids in Elementary School are just starting their journey and the ones in Middle and High School are going through adolescence, a very stressful phase in anybody’s life. All of them need adults’ supervision, guidance, and support. Having parents involved with their kids would be the most perfect situation but that does not happen all the time. So teachers and the school community comes into the scene and can really make a difference.
Sometimes, it seems impossible to start a two-way conversation with a child, as they would reject us and any of our advices. However, we need to be wise in choosing the best time to talk to them about things like sex, drugs, and violence, and more importantly, we need to listen first, before offering our opinion on how to handle a problem. We need to let them know that we do not approve violence and help with a plan to resolve conflicts. We need to assure our kids that we will always support them and try to help them make the best choices. However, we need to let them know that, once you are adult enough to make a decision, you are also adult enough to suffer the consequences. Most importantly, we need to let them know that we love them unconditionally.
Good morning, the article I chose is “Intervention: Getting Help for Troubled Children.” Basically this article talks about how one as a parent, guardian or teacher that sees early signs of trouble in a child should act right away in getting help. Early intervention is the key here, the faster you act when you see something’s wrong the more probabilities you will in getting some positive results. In the case of a child that is showing signs of violent behavior, definitely the parent will be the first to notice this. But since children spend most of the time at school then at home. Sometimes teachers should be the ones to immediately speak up about what they observe.
ReplyDeleteFor example, one of the key points or principles in this article is to, “share responsibility by establishing a partnership with the child, school, home and community. Another one is to inform parents and listen to them when early warning signs are observed. It’s all about the relationship that as parent you build with your child and most importantly the one you have with the school. If the teachers see that as a parent you are always involved and asking about your child, that teacher will know that the communication will be there all the time. It will make things easier on both throughout the transition of the school year.
I also do think that as the article states, schoolwide strategies create a foundation that is more responsive to children in general, one that makes interventions for individual children more effective and efficient, this is true. As previously mentioned the more the school gets involved in creating these types of strategies the more we may be able to help these troubled kids. One very important point also, is that is someone observes trouble in a child and they do come forward about it, act immediately on it. Not like what happened in the case of Cho Seung Hui as we discussed yesterday. There was a counselor that noticed problems with him and did notify the school but not much was done. If we as parents and teachers are going to come up with a strategy to help these children then it should be implemented.
I chose to address the topic of Early Warning Signs written in the Guide. The guide by the Center for Effective Collaboration and Practice (CECP) was done by research for violence prevention and intervention and responding to crisis in schools. It listed the early warning signs and what to look for as they relate to violence and troubling behavior in children and teens. By understanding and recognizing the early warning signs and the imminent warnings, steps can be taken to address them and ensure a safe school.
ReplyDeleteHowever, even if the procedures are followed exactly, it might not still prevent a crisis or violent behavior from happening. The warning signs are just a guide and they must be acted upon in a responsible manner and definitely not use as a “checklist”. Schools should provide a safe and orderly environment to enrich our children’s social, emotional and academic development.
There are many warning signs which are behaviors that may lead to violence. Sometimes it is the combination of emotions, behaviors and events in a child’s life that will lead to aggressive behavior and violence.
Some of the warning signs are: Social withdrawal, excessive feelings of isolation, rejection, being a victim of violence, being picked on or bullied, low academic performance, expressing violence in writings and drawings, uncontrollable anger, chronic hitting, drugs and alcohol, gang affiliation, possession of firearms, just to name a few.
In conclusion, it takes not just the schools but the entire community to be involved in our children and teens behavior and look and act on the early warning signs. Set procedures should be in place for addressing each of them. As I stated before, not to use the warning signs as a checklist but as a guide and to address each warning sign in a responsible manner. We must all be proactive in preventing school violence and having a guide is a step in the right direction. We all have to be observant in a child’s behavior and not ignore certain behavior or patterns of behavior as these could be early warning signs of a troubled child or youth that can lead to aggressive or violent behavior if left unaddressed. Many schools are implementing procedures to as noted in the Guide and there have been some successes in that area. But schools need to be very careful in dealing with each of the warning signs and not take them to the extreme.
Helena
ReplyDeleteExcellent summary of this important topic. Your response to Joeseph was on target. parents--and others who must or choose to interact with children must be good communicators. Empathic listening is so important.
Thanks
Jackie:
ReplyDeleteYou are so right. Comming forward and doing something is critical. As we discussed, the course of action tat needs to be taken is often difficult. As such, some people take the the path of least resistance (the easy route).
CLAUDIA said...thr principles of violence prevention and response are: share responsibility by establishing a partnership with the child,school,home and community; inform parents and listen to them when early warnings signs are observed; maintain confidentiality and parents rights to privacy; develop the capacity of staff, students,and families to intervene;support students in being responsible for their actions; simplify staff requests for urgent assistance; make interventions available early as possible; use sustained, multiple, coordinated interventions; analyze the context in which violent behavior occurs; build upon and coordinate internal school resources.
ReplyDeleteAs the article mentioned violent behavior is a problem to everyone. It is essentinal to everyone the community, the family, the school and the own child to be aware of the child actions so everyone is in the same page to ensure the proper help. Once the problem is detected it is imperative that someone is quick in intervene to prevent problems from escalating. Early intervention helps to reduce further bigger problems of violence. the intervention provides the so need support that sometimes the families are unable to get at their own or are unable to recognize.
Widilia:
ReplyDeleteThanks for the excellent response and summary. You are on the right track.
To Joseph and Helena, you guys did an awesome job summarizing this article on "early warning signs on violence." As you both mentioned in your posts, the intervention comes mostly on part of the teachers who spend most of the time with these kids. They spend more time with them then one as a parent. That’s why I also mentioned that communication between the parent and child is crucial, particularly at an early stage. Take me for example, I ask my six year old son all the time how was his day at school and to tell me about his friends. He always tells me that there is a boy that is always misbehaving bad and the teacher has to put him in time out all the time. According to my son he disrespects the teacher and is always disrupting the class and all the teacher does is put him in time out. I am pretty sure that the teachers must have called the parents for a conference by this time. My point is that by now in the case of this kid someone in the school should be counseling him and the parents. He is at an early age where he can be helped since it’s not normal for him to be acting this way. Just wanted to share this with you guys.
ReplyDeleteClaudia:
ReplyDeleteExcellent point here about the lack of ability or resources of the parents. Many families need all the help they can get with their school aged children. Like we mentioned yesterday, even if we recognize the issue with our child, most people would ne reveal the problem to school officials.
Thanks
The section of the assignment that I chose was "Responding in the Aftermath of a Crisis".
ReplyDeleteThis section covered the main areas that a school should focus on in the aftermath of a violent crisis. For starters, the article suggests that schools should have a Crisis Response Team already established. They should be trained to recognize natural stress reactions as well as have an understanding of the different ways people have to deal with loss of life. These should include cultural and religious beliefs as well.
The next component that is mentioned is that schools should already have plans drawn up that include a coordinated community response. This should include not only professionals from the school system but also those from the community at large.
The section also describes some of the main components to include in a school's response plan. This should include:
- Helping parents understand children's reaction to violence.
- Helping teachers and staff deal with reactions to crisis.
- Helping students and faculty adjust after the crisis.
- Helping victims and family members re-enter the school environment.
- Helping students and teachers address the return of a previously removed student to the school community.
The last component a school should have ready to deal with the aftermath of a crisis is a "Crisis Procedures Checklist". This is extremely important because a crisis plan has to deal with various complex contingencies. These complexities and the disorganization that tends to occur immediately following an incident means that people in charge need a step-by-step set of procedures to follow when a crisis occurs. The list can contain things as simple, but necessary, as assessing life/saftey issues immediately, to call 911 first and then to call the Superintendent second, what resources are available or needed, communication with staff, etc.
Widilia, we both chose the same article. I totally agree with you that it not only just takes the schools but the entire community to be involved in our children’s behavior and act on the early warning signs. Early intervention as I mentioned before is the key here in every aspect that you look at it. The parents involvement is critical, because if we see change patterns in behavior in our child of course we are going to act right way on it. The only thing is that not all parents react the same way. To some it’s normal if their kids start acting up, for the mere reason that they are kids and they may have their phases. That’s why these strategies that the schools are implementing in how to guide parents on how to observe these type of behaviors is an excellent way to teach them.
ReplyDeleteI think that after going over the section I summarized that planning and responding to a crisis is extremely intensive. I mean not only are you trying to plan for contingencies of what might happen before, during or after but everything in between. The planning and consideration, especially after an incident, is extremely heavy and there are so many variables to consider.
ReplyDeletePlanning seems to be the most important step because if a person or group had to do this while the situation is occuring without a predetermined course of action being set...things could get pretty ugly.
Jackie,
ReplyDeleteCommunication between parents and school staff is definitely the most important factor when trying to monitor and help youngsters do the right choices. Not only kids are a part of their parents’ lives but also parents need to be a very active part on their kids’ lives. Because we moved to this country and did not have any family support other than the three of us, we always made sure school staff knew that even though our daughter had come from another country, she had a family, and a strong one. Our communication with teachers was constant and opened. I know it was easier for me as I did not work at the beginning but that did not change when she entered Middle School and I joined the work force. My family always came first and I would take time off to go to PTA meetings and go straight from work to her band presentations, band committee meetings, or any other event we were invited to go. My husband and I always made a point by marking our presence so that our daughter would not be only a number. School and household were always on the same page and now we happily reap positive results. After attending our school violence classes, reading all the articles sent by Dr. Kalam, and listening to so many opinions in class, I came to the conclusion that, because the numbers of students and acts of violence are so staggering, the only possible solution would be to break them into small sections, which would be classrooms. Teachers would then be the ones capable of monitoring suspicious behaviors and report them. I can see some hope at the end of the tunnel as long as those reports would be taken seriously into consideration and immediate actions would be taken.
Luis:
ReplyDeleteI would have looked a the same section. Planning and post-incident action are critical. when we plan for emergencies, we must include scenarios. When we conduct post-icident debriefings, we exmine the actual event..and can use this for building scenrios for plannning...and so on
thanks
I agree with Jackie on the point on early intervention being the key. Early intervention not only might help prevent a violent act but not acting upon it can have strong consequences. If we wait until the student or child becomes violent, then it can have not only costly consequences but some of the strategies at this point may be inefficient. It is very important for students to also understand that they have a responsibility to their school and community to report certain behavior of their peer that may be deemed as having a potential for violence. By reporting it and having the staff or school intervene with the support of professionals may make a big difference in preventing a violent act later by this child or youth. Students sometimes don’t want to tell on their friends or peers but they need to know that it is their responsibility to themselves and the safety of others at the school.
ReplyDeleteYes Helena and Jackie:
ReplyDeleteThe school and the parents must be in communication with one another. Who should take the initiative?
I'm glad you can see the positive side of this. Many people are apathetic and critical of the system...and give up.
Thanks
Helena...I think you are right on point, it is very important to understand and recognize the early warning signs. Early warnings signs are the red lights for prevention to future bigger problems but the help must to be done in a way that the child does not get labeled or stigmatized.
ReplyDeleteYes widilia:
ReplyDeleteI wish we could teach children more about responsibility, both for their actions and for the things around them.
thanks for bringing up this important point
Luis,
ReplyDeleteThere are no questions about the fact that planning and prevention are extremely important points, not only on diminishing the probabilities but also improving the aftermath of a crazy violent act coming from an instable student. That is why we have worked on our non-violence policy, trying to restrain as many senseless people as possible. Prevention is the key word on so many topics.
Jackie, I do understand the point about your kids. Ye,s professors spend most of their time with your child so it should be easy to detect but good parents like you are involved with their children. It should be a parent resposibility to be in communication with the teachers and aware of everything that happen with their child.
ReplyDeleteDr. K,
ReplyDeleteAfter looking at this section I can see exactly how important this step is. When you are looking at all of the different points and steps you can see the enormity of the planning process. I think that once you see how big planning is in the entire cycle you realize not only how important it is to plan ahead but to try and make sure that you have as many eventualities planned for as possible.
I think the hardest part has to be what you can't plan for. Since you've been involved in this type of planning before, how do you deal with situations that you haven't planned for but come up in these situations? Do you count on the fact that you have a coordinated community response to cover for situations that you, as school or organizational administration, have not planned for?
Helena,
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with your comment on Jackie's point. As a parent you have to make sure that you are involved with your child's teachers and school. It is imperative that you get to know your child's teachers and that they know you. Most importantly, it is necessary that your child's teacher knows that they have a clear channel of communication with you as parents. My mom was a single parent but she always made time for parent/teacher conferences and school meetings. Not that I had many parent/teacher conferences. ;o)
This is especially important for your child because they will also be motivated to not only excel in school but to communicate more freely with you and their teachers. Either way means that you can be more completely aware of situations your child could be facing at school both academically and sometimes socially. This can often be the difference between a violent outburst or a positive solution.
Dr. K.,
ReplyDeleteIn response to your question to Helena and Jackie about who should take the initiative in communication, I think the response is simple. I think Claudia already said it. It should be the responsibility of the parents to initiate, and even maintain, a line of communication with teachers.
These are your children. The teachers have some level of responsibility to communicate with parents but really the onus lies with parents. Teachers have several students and even more parents to deal with. They can only do so much to communicate with all parents about their child's behavior. If we leave it to teachers to do all of the communicating you run the risk of only hearing about your child's misdeeds or when problems are way past a simple intervention.
Self-accountability is a key virtue or character trait that is essential to the development of well-adjusted children. If parents aren't teaching their kids properly then we can only expect their child or children to do things and never accept their role in the trouble they cause.
Dr. Kalam,
ReplyDeleteI do not see this as being an initiative issue. I think it is mostly a case of common sense on both parts. What we expect from the School System is to be able to plan accordingly, as Luis and you have mentioned, and one of the items on their planning should be to prepare staff to, among other things, communicate with whoever is responsible for the child, no matter how hard it would be. We all know that persistence pays… On the other hand, any normal parent would instinctively feel the need to care for their kid(s), even as a natural reaction of protection. As per abnormal parents, that is when school staff’s common sense would have to kick off.
Luis,
ReplyDeleteApparently we disagree on this one... As mentioned before, for the benefit of the child, both sides need to be on the same page and both channels need to be opened for a constructive communication. When on the phone, for instance, both parties cannot talk at the same time. But when one listens to the other, then one can understand the other. I think that family is definitely the most important part of a child’s foundation but school and religion would come right behind.
I chose to discuss the topic in Section 3, Early Warning Signs. Here they discussed the warning signs and what to look for in troubled kids. The question I found most interesting was the in the first paragraph “did the child say or do anything that would have cued us in to the impending crisis?” “Did we miss an opportunity to help?” It is rather difficult in the culture I live in today to determine whether a child has cried for help or is just being a child. You cannot just go up to a parent, whether they are a friend or co-worker, and say, hey your kid has a problem. Early warning signs have to be treated delicately because you don’t want to say something in a manner that would be offensive. The article mentions that we have to be careful with “stigmatizing” and labeling kids. I have someone who is close to me who was labeled as a “troubled kid” in the 4th grade. The school wanted to place him in a special alternative school but when his mother asked that he be evaluated by the counselor at the school, they found that his devious behavior was just a cry for attention as a result of his problems at home with his family dismantling. He never said anything like “I want to kill, or die”; he didn’t mistreat animals or draw disturbing pictures. Today, he is a normal adult with a family of his own. In the article it mentions the warning signs as having uncontrolled anger, expression of violence in writings and drawings to name a few. So if a child draws stick figures with knives in their hands and blood gushing out of someone’s head, chances are, there is a problem. Teachers have a huge role and responsibility in the classroom and in the life of every child under their guidance (which is why they should get paid more and have better perks and benefits than a CEO of a corporation). You only benefit from this section of the article if you actually know what the next step is. What good is knowing or having an idea that someone has a problem if you do not do something about it. I think that whatever we can do as adults, in this field of study is reaching out to 1 child. Become a mentor to 1 child can make a difference. After all, they are our future and if we work in the system, they will most likely be under our care somehow. So as a citizen, I would rather have a community that works together and looks out for one another, than to have the fear of them setting schools on fire and hurting themselves or my child because no one read the warning signs.
ReplyDeleteLuis, just to piggy back on your points, I think that aftermaths are critical for everyone. In every devastation wether it is a death in the family or an event such as 911, there must always be that 1 person or group who jumps out with the "plan". They are the strength that is needed when others are in grief. If you notice, when something drastic happens such as a school shooting or a classmate dies, counselors are always prepared to treat students who are affected by it. You do not necessarily have to be a witness or a friend cause that does not determine how you feel about the situation. Just a few weeks ago, someone died at MDC Wolfson. I was not there and it was said that the victim was not a student or staff, but an email was sent out by the school and it stated that if anyone wants to "talk", the doors are open.
ReplyDeleteAftermaths leave people in a daze and sometimes, you even lose your mind a bit and can think "wow, did this really happen". There is nothing worse that being in a state of shock. The important part is to be treated immidiately.
HELANA, IN YOUR RESPONSE TO WHAT I WROTE. I COMPLETE AGREE WITH YOU ABOUT TIMING. ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I HAVE LEARNED AND SEEN THE MOST, PEOPLE DO NOT RESOLVE PROBLEMS WHEN THEY ARE UPSET. YOU DO NOT CLEARLY THINK AND RATIONALIZE, AND IF A PERSON IT IS UNDER THE INFLUENCE IT IS EVEN WORST. IF YOU FIND A TEEN DRINKING OR SMOKING MARIJUANA WHILE YOU ARE GOING TO BE VERY MAD AT THE TIME YOU ARE NOT GOING TO BE ABLE TO RATIONALIZE WITH THEM AT THAT POINT. YOU CAN HAVE THEM STOP AT THAT TIME BUT FOR A PERMANENT IMPACT. YOU NEED TO DEVELOP A PLAN AND SPEAK TO THEM WHEN THEY ARE GOING TO BE OPEN, SOBER AND ABLE TO RATIONALIZE.
ReplyDeleteHelena,
ReplyDeleteActually I think we do agree. I wasn't saying that the parents should be the only one to open a line of communication or that it should only go one way. I think both teacher and parents need to communicate with each other and both parties should make every effort to make that communication as easy and positive as possible. That is the only way that everyone involved can best care for the needs of a student.
Where we may disagree is that I feel it is imperative for parents to build that relationship with their child's teacher. While the teacher may initiate the contact or do their best to keep parents abreast of their child's progress or behavior. We can not expect our teacher to communicate everything that may or may not be important with our child as soon as possible.
My point is that teachers have many students and by extension many parents to account for. Parents usually only have a few teachers per child, especially when they are young.
IN RESPONSE TO WHAT LUIS SAID ABOUT RESPONDING IN THE AFTERMATH OF A CRISIS. NO PARENT CAN EVER IMAGINE GETTING A CALL OR TEXT FROM THEIR CHILD STATING THEIR SCHOOL IS UNDER ATTACK. WE KNOW THE ATTACKERS ALL HAVE PLANS SO WE NEED A PLAN. PEOPLE SOMETIMES THINK THAT IF YOU THINK ABOUT SOMETHING IT WILL COME TRUE AND THINK THAT KEEPING THE MINDSET THAT SCHOOL VIOLENCE WILL NOT HAPPEN HERE IF WE DO NOT THINK ABOUT IT, IS JUST BEING BLIND TO THE FACTS AT HANDS. SCHOOL VIOLENCE IS HERE AND IT HAS BEEN HAPPENING FOR A WHILE AND WHILE YOUR COMMUNITIES MAY HAVE NOT BEEN DIRECTED EFFECTIVELY THE CHILDREN ARE SPONGES AND GO ON THE INTERNET READ AND WATCH TV THEY ARE AWARE OF THE OUTSIDE WORLD. THAT BEING SAID, I THINK ANY PLAN WOULD WORK BEST WITH COMMUNITY’S INVOLVEMENT. MOST CHILDREN DO NOT LIVE FAR FROM ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS, SOME PARENTS MAYBE HOME AND IF THEY GOT THAT NIGHTMARE TEXT MIGHT WANT TO RUN DOWN TO THE SCHOOL. IMAGINE IF POLICE ARE ARRIVING AND THERE IS PARENTS RUNNING AROUND THE SCHOOL AND SOME BRING GUNS NOW IT BECOMES A FREE FOR ALL NO ONE KNOWS WHO IS WHO. A PLAN THOUGH WHERE THE COMMUNITY WORKS WITH THE POLICE AND SCHOOL OFFICIALS AND EVERYONE HAS A ROLE, WILL BE MUCH MORE EFFICIENT. RUNNING DOWN TO THE SCHOOL INSTANTLY ONLY BUILDS UP TRAFFIC DELAYING EMERGENCY PERSONNEL FROM ARRIVING AND ADDS MORE POSSIBLE VICTIMS ON THE SCHOOL SITE. NO ONE IS QUESTIONING THE PARENT’S ABILITY OR WANT TO PROTECT THEIR CHILD BUT, WANTING TO TRADE YOUR LIFE FOR YOUR CHILD’S MAY COST MORE VICTIMS. THE QUICKER LAW ENFORCEMENT CAN ENTER THE SCHOOL AND LOCATE THE OFFENDER, THE QUICKER THE OFFENDER CAN BECOME NEUTRALIZED.
ReplyDeleteWarning Signs
ReplyDeleteThere are many signs to let use know how to tell the problem with the youth, still no real resolution to it. Over the year the same data has been written over and over again. It is like the never-ending story of juveniles and there act to get help. Yet the only results we have are gangs, kids going to there school and killing other kids, and violence towards there teacher.
The family structure is not the same because the parents can be the generation before with problem and they may not have been resolved. Example, you take a bum off the street and give them a federal employment it changed nothing the person is still a bum. A child is the similar you can sugar the problem by talking to them about it, but where did you resolve the problem. The law considers a group of more then two a gang so friends whether they are or not will always be a problem with this stamp on them. This is a stigma on the youth that they may not even be awake of.
Weapons have always been brought to schools, whether in the 60’s, 80’s, or 90’s. The problem started today, when the gun or knife was taken out of the locker and used on the classmate. I am not saying that the child with a gun in school is correct in any of these eras; still it is something that is known to have happen and brushed under the carpet. What is great to know is that laws have finally been set as punishment for students that do so. This can hold the person back from deciding to bring the weapon and have the punishment ad hired on them and there record.
Everything has a reason, at the age of 33 more then ten years after graduating, I find out of people I talked to before still at this age talking nonsense about me. I am firm with never growing out of being happy or young at heart, but that is pathetic. A grown woman or man still being a baby instead of an adult like they are today, being a liar because what has come from them is nothing but lies, and playing games. Warning signs would be up everywhere for a child like me if, I where in elementary or secondary school. Today we call people like the ones talking about me vagabonds, and losers as adults. Still, life goes on as stupid as it may have been for a person to do that to me. I am not a student in high school that looks at something like that as an attack, due that is a trigger for a young person to get a gun, knife, or other weapon and hurt there classmate.
No one said growing up is easy, still no one it would look this stupid either.
Benny Setien
Lilian i like what you have said in your writting. We have not missed the moment to help our children. They are living the product of our youth along with theirs. When young everything might have been hood or church. Looking back at past problem or straigths must be there and corrected so that our children don't have to correct them for us or leave the same problem for the next generation
ReplyDeleteI chose to summarize Section 4, which speaks about Intervention.
ReplyDeleteWhen we talk about eliminating crime what we really mean is lowering the amount of crime being committed. Crime will never reach zero. However, Intervening at a young age, what are goal should be is to lower the stats of future crimes being committed. When we involve the communities, we will find a decrease in children’s bad intentions that usually lead to crime. When a child acts up it is okay to worry and inform whoever you need to inform. keeping it a secret is makes thing worse if anything. Students, school faculty and after school staff should not be afraid to confront the parents with their concerns.
The article speaks about how staff should have access to some type of specialists to evaluate the childrens behaviors. I think staff that work with kids should have some type of education or attend some kind of monthly seminar to learn the behaviors they need to be on the lookout for the intervene at an early age.
Studies show that effective intervention that are monitored, family-supported tend to have an improvement on their behavior.
When planning a violence and prevention plan there are some standards we need to keep in mind. It is hard for a single parent to establish some type of partnership with the school, or the community when they need to work to put food on the table, but sacrifices need to be done. Between home, school and the community the responsibility of the safety for children need to be shared. Schools need to reach out to the parents when they notice a difference in behaviors, they need to look at each child as an individual. Parents need to be involved, they need to be around as well, and the community needs to help each other out by making more programs available to low income parents etc. When there is confidentiality between anything, it shows a sign of trust or some form of bond is created. when this is created parents feel and see the importance and with this action they will give back and also show respect. All this cant be done with a handful of people, everyone needs to be involved so that the interventions can be effective and be followed up. When the child in involved, they should be encouraged to be responsible for their own actions. When we involve them in our planning they will learn the rewards and the consequences of things, helping them grow into a responsible adult. Intervention needs to happen as early as it is noticed,. it should not be postponed for the next time the child misbehaves. if we wait for the next opportunity for the child to misbehave to then intervene it might be to late. As well as the longer you wait the more costly it can be to rehabilitate the child. We need to teach children that these emotional reactions, anger, madness are emotions we feel but need to control.
Where there is strong leadership, a caring faculty and parent and community involvement you will see not only safe schools but safe communities. Crime will never go done to Zero but it will greatly decrease.
Luis,
ReplyDeleteOn the accountability of your action clause I totally agree with. However, today teachers need to be more responsive to the concerned parent. Example today, the communication with parents and teachers are done through the internet. The teachers are “supposed” to update every two days on upcoming assignment, missing assignment and your child’s progress. (dadeschool.net) However, I have request several parent teacher’s conferences and yet had a responses. When inquired at the school in present; I was instructed to refer to the internet. Understand it’s not for poor grades, or behavioral issues; Just to become more familiar with the learning outcomes. Should I become angry for technology or is it lack of publicized information on how to: Please shed some light
Luis:
ReplyDeleteGood question about planning for contingencies. The thing to remember is to develop as many possible(and real) potential threats/hazzards as possible and then rank them. If you recall from previous classes, it may be called risk assessment. During planning, "what if" scenarios can be used to strategize possible outcomes and responses.
You cannot account for everthing, but you will come up with a plan that should cover most types of incidents.
thanks for the question
Luis,
ReplyDeleteThus I think we agree with everything because I also think, and always did, that parents need to build a strong relationship with their child’s teacher. I think what is confusing us is Dr. Kalam’s specific question on who should take the "initiative" to communicate, the parents or the teacher and I do not see it as an initiative issue.
In response to Wponce:
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that the warning signs are just a guide and not be used as a checklist, even though the procedures are done exactly it might not prevent from a crisis or a behavior from happening but it can also make a change mentally if you follow up or it can even decrease the chances and likelihood from the violent or behavior or crime occur. Because sometimes the violent behaviors come from a combination of emotions or occurrences’ at the child’s present life it is even more of a reason on why parents, schools and communities need to come together and work together. Everyone goes through rough times but it is our decisions to do what is best and we always need to be aware of the rewards and the consequences of whatever choices we decide to do.
Luis and Helena:
ReplyDeleteLuis, I agree with you that parent should take the intiative to contact the teachers and the schools and get involved with childs education. My thought is that we often rely on the system to do their job...and that often does not happen. There are many reasons why.
Helena:
I think that focusing on the word "initiative" is getting you bogged down. It does bring up an interesting thought about how chools and government departments get stuck on bureaucracy. It is part of the problem with schools and government today.
thank you both for the discussion
I chose Developing a Prevention and Response Plan…
ReplyDeleteThe paragraphs that entail this topic provide a breakdown into what they believe is a thourough plan as it relates to school violence. They subdivide the plan into several categories that include prevention (early warning signs), intervention (just prior to when the incident occurs), and response (all facets of the response stage).
The article does a good job on placing emphasis on prevention. Since history has shown that signs were exhibited by offenders, the best defensive plan is an offensive one in this case prevention. They can include early warniong signs by potential violent offenders, identyfing at risk youth and adults that have similar background influences that can make them more succeptible to those kinds of behaviors. Being open to the idea that any and all verbal cues are signs and not just attention seeking individuals so that they are not just dismissed, etc.
Next in line is the intervention stage, after identyfing the potential threat being able to succesfully difuse the situation. Whether it is by getting the appropriate counseling, law enforcement assistance, parent-teacher assistance, etc. Also being able to determine if it is a mental health problem, anger-aggression issue, etc.
And last is the response phase that deals with the after the fact portion. Emphasizing the need to communicate on a number of different avenues between the appropriate local, state and federal agencies. Being able to up-channel and down-channel incidents reports and all pertinent information in a fluid manner so as to take advantage of the vital time frame.
While the article does an excellent job of comparmentalizing all relevant areas of this phenomenon it should indicate the priority in which they fall. In todays torubled economy (based largely on 8 horendous years of “government”) schools do not have the adequate resources to be able to have a plan that deals with every single area described. So it would behove of the author(s) to place or rank each subdivision accordignly.
I agree with Luis on the point that it is important for all schools to already have a Crisis Procedures Checklist to deal with the aftermath of a crisis. This would be handled by a crisis team. Everyone responds to stress differently and some students may need more time and support to deal with the crisis. I believe everyone is affected in one way or another after a tragic incident occurs at a school like we hear about in the news more and more frequently. It is important for students to get support they need after the crisis and for normality and safety to return to the school.
ReplyDeleteIn Response to Jackie Paiz:
ReplyDeleteFor me I think that the problem nowadays for the parent who is somewhat involved is that they cant tell the difference between becoming their child’s best friend or being their parent. I think that with the right relationship you have with your child you can see the difference in your own child’s behavior, wants or needs, whether it be good or bad actions and attitudes. I think it is a huge testament that when parents show the correct amount of caring and involvement they will get a great positive response back from their own child and the community. When the child sees the parents and teachers around them caring for their wellbeing they tend to not want to let them down. The parent should be the child’s role model and who’s to say that the child cant become the parents role model as well. I believe that by taking these actions in a careful way it creates an unbreakable bond between everyone involved.
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ReplyDeleteDeborah:
ReplyDeleteDon't get angry..but do persist. I think technology creates a chance for us to iprove our communication. Everyone needs to be aware and agree to use it, though. School employees may see it as another thing to do, and then resist it. I think the implementation of these and other changes must be accompanied by proper training and motivation.
To Elizabeth (Summarizing Section 4)
ReplyDeleteI understand where you’re coming from with the idea of a stronger parental involvement as an abilitating factor… Yet the focus has to be on those things we (the institution) can effectively implement. You can’t force parental involvement but you can put in place an effective plan, good preventive measures, etc. Again not to say that proper parental involvement isn’t important, it is! But you can’t control that issue unless you’re willing to accept someone else telling you how to “run” your family. Everyone knows what someone else should do but not everyone (very few if any) are willing to admit there short comings…
ELIZABETH, IN RESPONSE TO WHAT YOU SAID ABOUT INTERVENTION. I AGREE TOTALLY WITH YOUR POINT THE MORE CARING ADULTS AROUND THE CHILD THE BETTER THE CHILD OFF THE CHILD WILL BE. THERE IS NOTHING THAT SAYS AN INTERVENTION HAS TO WAIT TILL THE CHILD IS OUT OF CONTROL, IN FACT IT IS NOT A NORMAL INTERVENTION LIKE THEY SHOW ON TV WHERE YOU ARE CONFRONTED. I THINK CONFRONTING THE CHILD ONLY BACKS THEM INTO A CORNER AND ANYONE IN A CORNER IS GOING TO BE DEFENSIVE. THE BOTTOM LINE IS TO HAVE AN OPEN DIALECT WITH THE CHILD SO THEY ARE WILLING TO SPEAK TO YOU. THEY ARE ABLE TO TRUST YOU TO TELL YOU THAT THEY ARE BEING BOTHERING OR THINKING ABOUT DOING SOMETHING. AT THAT TIME THE RESPONSIBLE ADULT WILL BE ABLE TO STEP IN A DIRECT THE CHILD AWAY FROM VIOLENCE AND BE ABLE TO INTERVENE BEFORE THE CHILD ACTS ON THIER INITIALLY THOUGHTS.
ReplyDeleteYes Frederick:
ReplyDeleteRanking is important from a resource perspective. Thanks for your insight
Widilia:
ReplyDeleteYou are on point with the concern for post incident action to deal with PTSD. Kids are severely affected when incidents occur.
thanks
To Dr Kalam (ref Deborah)
ReplyDeleteYes proper training and motivation are needed for these other avenues (ie internet) to succeed, yet as you usually play devils advocate what parent that you know off (taking into consideration that most school related violence takes place in lower to middle class areas) would be willing to let an "outsider" tell them how to be a better parent?
Frederick:
ReplyDeleteYes, as we menioned yesterday....you might hear parents saying "who the hell are you to tell me how to raise my kids". It's a big problem because the school is supposed to be the expert...
Thanks
Hello Benny:
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments and your candor. I always tell myself that I cannot really control others...but I can control myself. People will always talk about other people..for many reasons.
In schools, I am sure this is rampant and leads to violence. How can we increase the coping skills of the kids?
Thanks
Dr. K & Fredrick
ReplyDeleteThanks for the eye-opener; which led me to question myself, If I would not have had this opportunity to express my concerns with you all/ (Blog) with the frustration I am experiencing with just meeting with my child’s teacher outside of PTA Meetings and Open House Sessions; just imagine what a child must feel like? Perhaps; Too little too late I will become more persistent. Once again thanks!
Dr. Kalam
ReplyDeletein the bible it is state that the children suffer the wrongs of the parent. If we continue to not resolve the problem of our parents or us as children we are making a mountain out of once an ant hill. Being open is one way to coping with problems don't be afard to talk about you as a person and what you have been trough instead of hidding it from your child. The reason is when you child goes out they may be confronted with the same thing you went through, and this can cause confusion. when parents talk to there child and tell them the truth about what can happen, they can stop a problem from continuing to another generation, which is also write in the bible that one day the children no longer go through the suffering of the mistakes of the parents.
Hello Benny:
ReplyDeleteYou have some great thoughts. Thank you for your outstanding constributions to this discussion today.
If you have classes on Wednesday, please stop by and we can talk more. I am very interested in this.
Thanks
Elizabeth,
ReplyDeleteI also agree that the responsibility for children’s safety needs to be shared between home, school, and the community. After identifying who is at a higher-risk and where problems occur most frequently, intervention could be targeted. To help students develop conflict-resolution skills, schools could implement mentoring and role-playing activities in the curriculum. To offer basic parenting skills to pregnant teens, the community could implement home-visiting intervention. Interventions should also target parents, siblings, or the entire family unit.
Frederick Kilian
ReplyDeleteI agree that the best defense is offense. Moving forward and resolving the problem is the way to do it, and step back and look at the progress. Counselors, Teacher, Law enforcement can help when they have resolve problem on there own if not it is the blind leading the blind that end in the same result of nothing being progressed. When you like to you can resolve a problem but if you are not going to be for real in problem solving step back and let someone that is do it.
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ReplyDeleteElizabeth:
ReplyDeleteLeadership is the key. It neeeds to be sound and supportive.
Thanks for an excellent post.
Frederick makes a good point in bringing up the funding resources in the development of a prevention and response plan. He mentions that it should be prioritize in some ways as not all schools will be able to have a plan for every area described. I think he may have a point here but also, I think the schools with limited funding should also look at volunteer work from the community professionals such as psychologists, counselors, retired professionals that can volunteer some of their time to the school. The Prevention and Response core team should assess the areas where they have limited resources available and set up an action plan on finding resources to in some way, fill the deficit. Our schools and our community must get creative to meet the needs of our children’s safety and we should not let funding resources hamper a good prevention and response plan.
ReplyDeleteDr. Kalam
ReplyDeleteThank you for your positive comment. I am on campus on Wednesday and will do.
Desmond
ReplyDeleteIn reading the article on intervention it seems as if the solutions to getting help for troubled children have already been identified, and methods are in place to effectuate changes in the behavior of at-risk kids. The prevalent methods seem to be training, teaching, and comprehensive support. The issues, however, are the inability to intensify the various methods when needed, and ingraining into administrators, faculty, students, and parents the concept that school safety is everyone’s job. The article recognizes that there must be a shared responsibility between the child, school, home, and community. Schools, parents, and students must be able to, and comfortable with, reporting violent and at-risk behaviors. Schools must have established intervention programs in place, and with support of the parent, ensure compliance. The community also plays a vital role in the various programs that have been established, but are dependent upon the coordination and support of the school and the parent.
In addressing training, the article speaks on the ability to develop the capacity of staff, students, and families to intervene by training them how to recognize and understand the factors that contribute to the disruptive behavior. However, training is not limited to the school environment. It is also provided in the social and community settings. One of the examples was in the training of parents as to firearm safety training; how to keep guns out of the immediate reach of children.
The teaching aspect is in making the target child aware of alternate behavioral reactions that are less detrimental. In helping the child to develop better coping skills, there will be an improvement in the interaction of the child with other students, teachers, and the family.
In addressing the element of support, the article recognizes that it must be comprehensive in nature. No one area would be able to effectuate substantial change in the at-risk youth unless it is reinforced by the other groups. School policies that are in place to identify at risk youths require the support of the parent in order to secure compliance by the child. The principle being taught to the child in conflict resolution or alternative interactions skills must be reinforced by the family.
Desmond
ReplyDeleteElizabeth:
I like what you wrote. I too believe that crime will never be totally be eliminated, and that the best way to reduce crime is by addressing the needs of our children. I also believe that our current economic situation places an undue burden of a lot of parents who are forced to work sometimes two or three jobs in order to make ends meet. I don’t know how I can tell a parent who is working so hard that they need to do more. I do have a question. If we believe that crime will never be totally eliminated, is it okay to also believe that we will never be able to totally eliminate violence in school? If so, what is an allowable amount?
Luis:
ReplyDeleteIn response to the issue of initiating communication, I believe that responsibility should mainly belong to the school. It is the parents’ response to the school that the parents need to work on. In regards to the initial contact, I fell that the schools should be the professional organization, and therefore shoulder the responsibility. A parent will rely on the professional to make the proper assessments. What is considered detrimental behavior by professionals may be construed as acceptable behavior in the hood. If the parents don’t know any better, and some don’t because they are also a product of the same environment, then they wouldn’t have any reason to initiate any dialog with the school. In addition, the school has a much better objective view than a parent would. We sometimes find it hard to be critical of our own children.
Developing a prevention and response plan
ReplyDeleteThis article explains how a good and effective sound prevention plan against violence needs the involvement of everybody in the community, form educators, staff members, bus drivers, and families. The plan will point out how school and community resources can be used to create safe environments and to manage responses to sensitive threats and incidents of violence. The plan must be consistent with federal, state, and local laws; and it will include:
• Descriptions of the early warning signs of potentially violent behavior and procedures for identifying children who exhibit these signs.
• Descriptions of effective prevention practices the school community has undertaken to build a foundation that is responsive to all children and enhances the effectiveness of interventions.
• Descriptions of intervention strategies the school community can use to help troubled children. These include early interventions for students, who are at risk of behavioral problems,
and more intensive, individualized interventions and resources for students with severe behavioral problems or mental health needs.
• A crisis intervention plan that includes immediate responses for imminent warning signs and violent behavior, as well as a contingency plan to be used in the aftermath of a tragedy.
A prevention and response team should be implemented using members of the community. This team needs to understand that it cannot prevent all violence from occurring, but it can do
much to reduce the likelihood of its occurrence. Through thoughtful planning and the establishment of a school violence prevention and response team, we can avert many crises and be
prepared when they do happen.
After reading this section in developing a prevention and response plan with a Team. I see how important this can be to give a sense of peace to parents, students, and faculty staff.
ReplyDeleteto Elizabeth
ReplyDeleteI agreed with you regarding the importance of parent/child relationship. I think a lot of the problem we are having in today society is because parents are not spending quality time with their children. Instead they are so busy with their daily activity that they just want to go home and not deal with their children. Parents today need to understand that their children are important and need attention.
to wponce
ReplyDeleteI understand when you say that following procedures might not prevent a crisis to happen. But, it will reduce it and also it will make it harder for does people that want to create caos to accomplish their goal.
Upon reading the Eay Warningsigns. The essay does state something important "Teachers and administrators--and other school support staff--are not professionally trained to analyze children's feelings and motives."
ReplyDeleteWhy not have traning seminars to have teachers/adin. betterunderstand the student?
So, if these teachers/admin. & support staff don't understand the children how can they notice anything else.
I think children do display warning signs but, most of the times teachers, amin. & support staff are not willing to take 5 minutes to ask a child displying warning signs:
Are you ok or ask do you want or need to talk to someone today, even just to say I know you are going through a situation I am always here if you want to talk, don't be araid to ask me for help.
I think that could make a difference because these same children could be being bullied, or even sexual or physically abused by someone.
Acting out or being "different" could be a need for attention.
Jessinia Garcia
Desmond, I agree with your comment. The warning signs are there. I think we need to realize that these are also warining signs of the child being physically, emotionally or exualy abused. It is the child crying out for attention.
ReplyDeleteI thin it the "I DON'T HAVE TIME OR I DON'T WANT TO GET INVOLVED" attitide by adults towards children that are causing us to miss the early warning signs. Tachers and others sometimes know a child is being bulle and leave it up to the victim to fix the problem.
As a society we want children to advance and become so independant that by the age of 7 or 8 we want them to take care of themselves. I feel alot of parents stop parenting because the child at that age is potty trained, can walk, talk and eat by themselves and alot of people feel that their job is done.
Emotional feelings are not important if the t.v. is on and the adult is watching soaps.
Reading the developement of the response plan. It is important to have guidelines in place on how to react to violent situations.
ReplyDeleteI think they should implement drills and schools should place emergency buttons in all clssrooms and give walkie talkies to all the teachers. These walkies should be able to communicate with security and other teachers. The cassroom doors should be able to lock from the inside. to lock someone in or out. This would isolate an atacker from being able to reach more intended victims.
In response and agreement to Luis. The schools should do a mock drills. Also send home letters and a map regarding where to go and wait if a lockdown occurs at their childs school. Having hundreds of parent show up and block the pathway of police officers and ambulances is not what you want in an emergency. A stagging place for parents is needed with a police officer & admin staff to handle the parent/child exchange of survivng students. Have surviving sudents sent by school bus to a nearby location.
ReplyDeleteBenny,
ReplyDeleteThe advice you brought up about making an effort to talk to our kids honestly about things in our past is great. I actually agree with that very much. I think that when I was younger I may have gotten out of some scrapes and bad situations because they shared their experiences with me.
I think it may cross parents' minds but I think they often are deterred by thinking that they are planting ideas in their kids head. It could also be that they don't want their kids to think of them negatively.
I read the article on early warning signs. As much as I agree with most of the article, these are the main and summarized brief signs of what I see everyday within the school system:
ReplyDeleteSocial withdrawal, Excessive feelings of isolation and being alone, Excessive feelings of rejection, Being a victim of violence, Feelings of being picked on and persecuted, Low school interest and poor academic performance, Expression of violence in writings and drawings, Uncontrolled anger, Patterns of impulsive and chronic hitting, intimidating, and bullying behaviors, History of discipline problems, Past history of violent and aggressive behavior. Intolerance for differences and prejudicial attitudes, Serious threats of violence.
Almost all of these signs are tied to together to each of the students who are classified as problem students. Given that my school is 95% Haitian and Jamaican, perhaps is just the lack of parenting skills at home or maybe is the violence they have been exposed to before coming to the United States. Either reasons these are signs that are never isolated but instead intricate within the others. Always an eye opener for the majority of the times and after much paper work our school location does not have the sufficient resources to properly address these kids and thus they fall between the cracks. The lucky ones do go to a special school for better treatment but in the end the parents refuse to admit the issues at hand.
I agree with Jessinia Adkinson's statement in regards to the response plan. I think she either has had first hand experience on this or knows someone close to the provisions. I am exposed to this on a monthly basis and is perfectly illustrated by Ms. Adkinsons. I dont think anything better can be added except for a surveillance system oversight.
ReplyDeleteI like to post about What Luis said towards Benny's post. The advice about the effort to openly talking honestly with our kids is paramount. My parents had that kind of a system with me and it worked out idealistic. I was always able to deals things alone when they were not there and it was all because they would detail their experiences and solutions to me with those instances. This gave me as a child a support system that went farther than just home, it spilled over everyday situations and also was carried over to helping other kids that were my peers. Perhaps is why I have the caregiver profile. :)
ReplyDelete