tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post9068179676874166..comments2024-03-29T05:33:43.878-04:00Comments on Murder is Everywhere: The next Legion of HonorOvidia Yuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05749549092493567689noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-80595468046327863542010-12-14T14:06:38.811-05:002010-12-14T14:06:38.811-05:00Most of my experience has been with high school ag...Most of my experience has been with high school age children, although I have taught at all levels.<br /><br />The first of the notorious attacks at a school was at Columbine. Massachusetts students were on vacation that week so the school administrators in all the cities and towns went back to school to design plans for various emergencies that would be in place when school re-opened. There were meetings for the teachers after school the week we went back to iron out the wrinkles.<br /><br />Thankfully we have never had to use the systems in any of the schools but, periodically, there are unannounced lock-down drills. Doors are locked, windows to the corridors are covered, and students have to move to the corners of the rooms so they can't be seen or be in the line of fire through a window.<br /><br />During lock-down, there can't be a sound from the rooms. During these drills the adults get to see just how young teen-agers are. There is never so much as a whisper.<br /><br />We learned during our many meetings, that our city was of a type least likely to have the circumstances that led to the Columbine disaster. Students who live in communities in which most social groups are formed in school have a greater risk because if a student doesn't fit in at school, is bullied, or shunned, they don't have the opportunity to form a social circle anywhere else.<br /><br />Students in cities like mine are less likely to have those kinds of divisions. There are two high schools but there is open enrollment; students can choose which high school they want to attend. There are five public middle schools and two parochial schools that feed students to the high schools. The city has a very successful sports program, some programs beginning at age 5, that include soccer, hockey, softball, basketball, football, and lacrosse. The teams aren't based on neighborhoods so the kids make friends across the city.<br /><br />School is not the only source of social interaction; pretty much everyone can find a group. Bullying is an issue that is getting worse but the schools, on all levels, address that issue frequently. <br /><br />The problem in most societies is that parents and teachers have difficulty discerning whether a teenager is undergoing the normal rapid mood changes, difficulty in communicating, especially with parents, and the belief that they are so different that no one will ever understand them. A CATCHER IN THE RYE has been influential for six decades for those reasons.<br /><br />There are children who need significant treatment by mental health professionals and there are parents who refuse to acknowledge the need. Society is fortunate that so few act out of their confusion and unhappiness but as long as there is one young person in that particular hell, there is always the danger.<br /><br />BethAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-3564811898788789492010-12-14T04:16:28.525-05:002010-12-14T04:16:28.525-05:00Errata: "quiet" above should be "q...Errata: "quiet" above should be "quite."kathy d.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1990338437877873686.post-87759198957087352692010-12-14T04:15:22.373-05:002010-12-14T04:15:22.373-05:00These heroic, courageous--and smart--teachers dese...These heroic, courageous--and smart--teachers deserve a great deal of credit and thanks.<br /><br />The negotiators must have been quiet good, too.<br /><br />I wish that in the U.S. that these incidents would end as well as the one did in France within the last few days, but they often end horribly.<br /><br />I don't know about France, but given terrible events at high schools and colleges over here show the limitations and errors of the mental health system, which for the sake of so many people, should be much improved.kathy d.noreply@blogger.com