Another
Tragic School Shooting... Donald
J. Asbridge, KOG Editor
The KOG joins the
nation in mourning the senseless deaths resulting from the recent tragic
shootings at Northern Illinois
University. The March KOG takes another look at this seemingly
increasing phenomenon... is there anything anyone can do to prevent
such actions?
START
LOCALLY...
Kern
County Crime Statistics... As per 2005 Kern
County District Attorney statistics, Kern County would appear to
be the second safest county in California with almost 300 citizens per
100,000 (that's approximately 3 per 1000, or 1.5 percent) imprisoned.
Only San Bernadino County would appear safer. Contra Costa, San Francisco,
and Ventura counties appear to be the most dangerous amongst the populous
counties; each with less than one human per 1000 behind bars. But
let's take a closer look...
Another
Tragic School Shooting... From current.com
(02/13/08)
"...Another tragic
school shooting has taken place this afternoon in Oxnard, California.
Police say a 15-year-old boy was shot in the head at a junior high school.
Oxnard police spokesman
David Keith says Lawrence King died at a hospital from his injuries.
The medical examiner
says Lawrence King has been declared brain dead by two neurosurgeons and
is clinically dead but remains on a ventilator for possible organ donation.
He has not died.
King was shot Tuesday
by another eighth-grader near the end of first period in a computer lab.
The 14-year-old suspected shooter was arrested shortly after the shooting.
What is going on
here? This has got to be at least the 8th school shooting I've seen
reported this year thus far. Some are asking why are schools not
tightening up the security and how many more have to suffer tragically?
Thoughts?"
The interested KOG
reader is encouraged to visit current.com
and review the over forty responses forwarded by their visitors.
There are a wide variety of views, including the following:
"Tightening
security is not the solution, and guns aren't the problem. School
culture is the problem.
When
you feel like none of the adults respect you or listen to you and the other
kids get away with making your life hell... is it so surprising you'd
make your frustration known through the barrel of a gun?
So
what's the solution? How about respecting children, listening
to their problems, mediating problems with their peers instead of waiting
to punish them when they get into fights, discouraging bullying and changing
the disturbing social trends apparent in most public (and some private)
schools?
Oh,
is that too hard? I'm sorry. Let's just add some metal detectors
and blame Marilyn Manson."
"Is
it individual pathology or the way we raise boys?"
Hmmmm. Respecting
children? Creative? Let's get back to the scientific
method here.
Let's get back to
the District Attorney's chart. The facts don't lie: Oxnard
(in Ventura County) has far fewer males locked away in prison than just
about every other county in California, lagging behind only Contra Costa
and San Francisco counties.
LOOK
CLOSER...
A
Closer Look...
Let's take a brief
longitudinal look at some California juvenile felony arrests as per statistics
from the Department
of Justice.
From 1996 to 2005,
the number of arrests in every category except the following three
decreased:
DANGEROUS
DRUGS
OTHER SEX OFFENSES
OTHER OFFENSES:
WEAPONS -- a whopping 6,656 in 2005!!!
Whoa! That's
an average of almost:
19 juvenile felony arrests per day statewide for WEAPONS!!!!!!!!!!
Think about that for
just a second.
In my twenty years
as a shrink I don't think I've ever seen a more significant number.
18.696629
I don't get shocked
that easily, but I was shocked in the past couple of weeks in discussions
with my peers. I asked three of my trusted and respected professional
peers to make their best guesses as to the average number of juvenile felony
arrests per day statewide for weapons. One guessed 100 per day; another
guessed 250 per day; the third estimated 350 per day.
These estimates made
me stop and think just a little bit more. You see, to me, three,
four, or five such arrests would be pretty alarming and I was amazed at
nearly nineteen per day... but my peers, Californians, either are
pretty used to a whole lot of weapons/arrests in the environment or at
least perceive the state as being pretty filled up with weapons.
Maybe I'm the one who doesn't get it: maybe "only" 19 juvenile felony
arrests per day statewide for weapons is a, um, uh, positive number?
Which is the null and which is the alternative hypothesis. What did
you predict when you took the entry poll?
Male to female arrest
rates are 5:1... 88% of those in prisons are males.
"Five
to one baby, one in five -- no one here gets out alive... ..They've got
the guns, but we've got the numbers."
Jim Morrison, The Doors
Since the above chart
contains only descriptive stats, we as social scientists know that no inferences
can be drawn. However, are there some things that maybe don't take
a rocket scientist to understand? Let's see what else is out there
on the web.
"The deferral of
construction at Pleasant Valley is part of a significant modification to
the infill portion of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation's
$7.9
billion plan to solve the state's inmate overcrowding crisis by adding
53,000
new
beds."
$7.9 BILLION!!!
That's over half the state's debt!
"The state Department
of Corrections has grown into a $5.7 billion a year behemoth since
its inception more than 150 years ago, currently housing 301,181 offenders
in various facilities, including 163,939 prison inmates."
A comprehensive discussion
and analysis of prisons is out of my realm of expertise and quite beyond
the scope of this KOG. However, it seems fair to conclude that the
prison industry provides jobs for a lot of people, significantly contributes
to the state's budget deficit, and remains one of the primary methods of
disabling and criminalizing humans (a process starting at a very young
age).
If present trends
continue, any social scientist [and citizen] must ask the following question:
How many
prisons will need to be built to make Kern County safe?
I couldn't find the
average prison size in California, so, using a representative sample, let's
assume there are 5160 beds per prison (as in the maximum security Delano
prison).
Do the math:
780,117 divided by 5160 prisoners per prison = only 151 new prisons
needed to make Kern County 100% safe (or approximately 75 prisons if
the intent is to only lock up males).
Our governor seems
to have a pretty good start toward that goal so far...
NOTE:
California has a reported $12 billion budget deficit -- or more.
The last time that happened the citizens ousted the governor. But
times have changed. At this point in history, the governor is
getting rid of the citizens. Teachers and education are already
taking hits... February 23rd, 2008... BREAKING NEWS
(KCBS 740 AM San Francisco): The governor has proposed a $5 billion
cut in educational spending. Hey Governor, any proposed cuts to the
prison system? I sure wish students would start studying harder in
school; then the populace would know that government is by the people...
not against the people. Is it time to recall the governor?
For related informative
links/info, Google the following terms: "California Prisons"
"Kern County Prisons" "California Crime Statistics" "California violent
crime" "Prison Reform" "California Budget Deficit" "Recall the California
Governor" "California Educational Cuts"
WOULDN'T
IT BE NICE?
"Wouldn't it be nice if we
were older and we wouldn't have to wait so long... and wouldn't it be nice to live
together in the kind of world where we'd belong." Brian Wilson,
Beach Boys
BUT
WHAT ABOUT PREVENTION?
Can
School Violence Be Prevented? This
remains the ultimate question...
The North
Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention
runs the Center for the Prevention of School Violence. You
are encouraged to click on the banner below to visit the site. As
you peruse the site, if you find anything that might have relevance to
the actual prevention of school violence, please share it with the KOG.
While visiting the
CPSV site, you can download The
Tool-Kit like I did. I'm thinking it's just highly coincidental
that tape/bandages are so prominently displayed in the logo. Doesn't
anyone have any other ideas besides just providing counseling for the victims
after
the
tragedy? I do.
There's a School
Counselor Link on the site. All right, now we're getting
somewhere! Let's peruse the social sciences link. Hmmm, anger
management...
bullying... counseling and psychology resources.
Now we're getting somewhere. We are school psychologists, right?
Okay, here's one:
Psych
Central. That's got to be good, it has information about
disorder
symptoms and treatments. If you visit the page you can click
on the link to Find a Therapist near You. And you can take
a "quick" (you probably don't have the persistence to take a lengthy)
ADHD
Quiz. Then you must take the OCD
Quiz and of course (if you're up to it) the Bipolar
QuIz too! Then click on the link, Do
I need therapy? And while you're at the site, you will be
sure to "Learn. Share. Grow." Then you can visit
the
Medication Library Page
and explore the Top 20 Psychiatric Medications of 2005, peruse Essential
Resources, read the Introduction to Medications, and don't forget
to review the Special Precautions. And of course there are
many handy links where you can purchase natural anti-anxiety meds,
sleeping
meds, and you can sign up for a free trial of Healing
Purple Pills.
It's nice to see
psychologists involved in this issue [unfortunately, those aren't school
psychologists -- just clinical psychologists]... If you really think anger
management, a lifetime of therapy, a diagnosis, and some pills will solve
the school violence questions, then read no further, but I'm going to keep
looking for, um, something else.... something that might work.
CFK is a relatively
new site with some pretty good ideas in my opinion. You may wish
to peruse the site. One of the many interesting articles you can
find there relates to the Daddying Movement.
I know this may sound
radical, but I think at least some of society's woes could be reduced or
resolved if males were allowed to be an important part in the nurturing
process, but in modern America, the male's role seems to be to sacrifice
his life in a war, pay alimony, and/or serve time in prison. Young
boys, just like young girls, learn their roles in life at an early age
-- for better or worse -- from the women teaching them. I don't think
I'm the only one who has some of these feelings and perceptions... just
ask most males.
Boy With A Gun (Part II)...
PRACTICE
MAKES PERFECT!
Cub
Scout Gun Patch
"It's
okay... it's just a BB gun."
Cub Scouts in
Connecticut earn a patch when they learn to fire a BB gun.
Learning through
practice is a good thing, right?
Keep practicing
and soon you'll excel!
That's not a bad
thing, right?
They can learn to
hit a two-inch target from fifty feet.
But they still can't
seem to perfect their multiplication tables...
Visit the link below.
You can get your Boy Scout trained in rifle and shotgun shooting
for a small feeand for a larger fee you can also
get concealed handgun training!
"Above the
boys complete their assigned reading. Each of them passed their quiz.
I find it amazing how much a teenage boy can retain when he is motivated.
A pity neither boy takes the same attitude into the regular classroom.
The rubber bands
are stretched back to the firewheel and into one of the ten channels.
The wheel is gently rotated until it clicks. The bands are released
by depressing the trigger. The trigger on the firewheel automatic
rubber band gun actually operates in reverse. The trigger mechanism
extends through the handle and the bands are released by sliding it forward
with your thumb. With a little practice, you can fire the ten bands
one at a time (semi-automatic), one right after the other (automatic),
or all at once (shotgun).
Pros: Inexpensive and
unusual toy
Heavy duty construction
Stylish
If you are purchasing
your gun to preserve liberty,
"To preserve
liberty it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess
arms and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them."
Senator Richard Henry Lee, 1788
In that
last image I can see the gun, but I can't see the boy...
Maybe the two have
finally merged into one and the same?
What does that picture
look like to you?
HERE'S
WHY MY PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION DOESN'T WORK (PART II)
Big
Business...
Boys and guns provide
billions of dollars to many.
Our country continues
to put property rights ahead of human rights.
It's the American
Way.
Whether the male
ends up paying alimony, in prison, in war, or in a lifetime of therapy...
Someone's making
a lot of money.
"Schools
are big business."
Superintendent, 1994
"School
is your job!"
Teacher to Student, 2004
"Take
the money and run."
Superintendent, 2004
"I
didn't know boys had feelings."
Teacher, 1987
"I'm
a teacher -- I don't have time to look for the positives."
Teacher, January, 2008
"Why
are you buying him lunch? He had two referrals in my class."
Teacher, February, 2008
"Where's
your belt? Pull up your pants!"
School Disciplinarian to eighteen year old, 2004
Debated on Kern County
Radio Station on February 22nd, 2008: "Should teachers be allowed
to have guns?"
TOO
OBVIOUS TO EVEN MENTION...
The
Answer(s):
"Who
are the dangerous kids? The dangerous kids are the ones with the
weapons." Richard Lieberman,
2000
Treat all humans with
respect and dignity.
Put human rights
(people) ahead of property rights (money).
Promote love and
togetherness.
That's it.
That's all it would take.
Seven years have
passed, but I continue to stand by recommendations forwarded in 2001 in
my original and award-winning
Boy
With A Gun. Are we going to let another seven years
go by? How many more innocent lives must be lost until we choose
to make some real changes?
KASP
MEMBERSHIP INFO...
KASP
membership!!! For information
regarding 2007/08 KASP membership, contact Traci Taber Rivas directly at:
rivast@gfusd.k12.ca.us
Hi all,
You may be debating or wondering about the appropriate diagnosis for school
shooters.
In the end there is no educational, DSM-IV, or §504 diagnosis for
"school shooter."
Would any diagnosis change anything? Will any diagnosis make other
students safer? Will any diagnosis prevent future shootings?
You know how I feel about labels, but if thought labeling and diagnosis
could save even one innocent life, I'd be all for it.
If there has been a diagnosis, it's obviously been a misdiagnosis.
Had the diagnosis been accurate (i.e., school shooter), then a school shooting
could have, should have, or at least might have been prevented.
And yet, even if our soft science could accurately assess and diagnosis,
"school shooter," you can't lock up a potential violent criminal until
he has become violent (at least not yet)... click here
to review, "How many prisons will need to be built to make Kern County
safe?"
Ulitmately... humans are much more than their IQ score or their
diagnosis or their gender.
If you really feel a diagnosis is essential in these situations... let's
diagnose this phenomenon for what it really is: murder.
And if you still insist on pursuing a diagnosis in hopes of prevention:
diagnose American and school culture.
Miss Diagnosis
Dear KOG Editor,
None of this relates to me. I'm an RtI psychologist -- I'm too
busy teaching students reading to worry about all this stuff.
Signed, "RtI Psychologist"
Dear RtI Psychologist,
I understand.
Signed, KOG Editor
Dear KOG Editor,
I'm a behaviorist. Behaviorists don't recognize or use terms such
as "respect and dignity, love and togetherness." Sorry, none of what
you say relates to me.
Signed, "Behavioral Psychologist"
Dear Behavioral Psychologist,
I understand.
Signed, KOG Editor
Dear KOG Editor,
In the spirit of NCLB, I have to point out that I don't see you citing
much research for your, um, respect and dignity talk. If it ain't
research based, then don't expect me to be using it.
Signed, "Strong Supporter of NCLB"
Dear Strong Supporter
of NCLB,
I understand.
Signed, KOG Editor
Dear KOG Editor,
Please don't be asking me to be doing all of this respect and dignity.
I'm a traditional school psychologist and I spend one-hundred percent of
my time working with ten percent of the student population giving IQ tests
to see if the student has an invisible learning disability. I just
don't have time for it!
Signed, "Traditional School Psychologist"
Dear Traditional
School Psychologist,
I understand.
Signed, KOG Editor
Dear KOG Editor,
First of all, I don't recognize anything you say or do because you are
not a Ph.D. I don't know about you or anyone else, but I take care
of business from my end -- I diagnose ADHD, I get them on meds, and I get
them into therapy or anger management. So don't talk to me about
it. And quit calling yourself a psychologist.
Signed, "APA Clinical Ph.D. Psychologist"
Dear Clinical Psychologist,
I understand.
Signed, KOG Editor
NOTES
& DISCLAIMERS:
Any
opinions expressed in the KOG are opinions only and are not necessarily
approved or supported by the KASP organization or anyone else, including
the KOG Editor. On the other hand, any facts expressed or implied
are indeed, facts. Just as is true for everything else in this world,
you get to decide what is opinion, what is fact, and what is research based,
and if and how they may or may not all fit together. Please note
that just because something is research based doesn't necessarily insure
that it will work for students; and not everything that works for
students is research based. Some opinions are facts and research
based. Some opinions are not facts, yet are still research based.
Just because something is research based doesn't necessarily make it a
fact, or ethical (like NCLB or DIBELS, for example). There is a difference
between scientific approaches, research based practices, and data-driven
strategies. Just because something is statistically significant doesn't
mean it's a fact; remember, we are in the soft sciences. Some facts
are facts for some but not facts for others; the same concept holds true
for opinions and research. The same can be said for humor, satire,
parody, and serious notes. Some opinions are just opinions.
However, one thing is always certain...
...everything
is.
See you next
month! KOG Editor!
"I want to be the minority." Green
Day
"Some things are more important
than grades." Donald
J. Asbridge, Ed.S., 1991
Dear
KOG Editor,
All this talk about "respect and dignity" -- that's the real problem.
If you shrinks would just get out of the way and me do my job, this problem
would go away in a second. Let me administer a little of my good
ol' fashioned discipline, and I'll expel all the bad kids -- viola!
Problem solved.
Signed, "School Disciplinarian"
Dear School Disciplinarian,
I understand.
Signed, KOG Editor
Dear KOG Editor,
Respect and dignity? Yeah, it sounds nice, but get with the real
world here, eh? 1.5 of all students are criminals and it's my job
to get them behind bars ASAP. So stand aside...
Signed, "Policeman"
Dear Policeman,
I understand.
Signed, KOG Editor
Dear KOG Editor,
Yes, that's all fine and dandy, but respect and dignity is against the
law. Your job is to provide a free and appropriate education, not
to provide respect and dignity. Besides, issues such as these are
best left for the courts to decide.
Signed, "Lawyer"
Dear Lawyer,
I understand.
Signed, KOG Editor
Dear KOG Editor,
Love? Togetherness? LIstening? Respect? I send
my kid to school to learn math. He knows how to defend himself from
others -- I taught him that. He doesn't respect you unless and until
you've earned his respect... that's how I taught him. Stay away from
my kid.
Signed, "Parent"
Dear Parent,
I understand.
Signed, KOG Editor
Dear KOG Editor,
My teachers are always yelling at me and I'm always in trouble. It
seems I just can't ever do good enough. She's trying to get me kicked
out of her class and school. It just makes me really mad.
Signed, "Student"
Dear Student,
I understand.
Signed, KOG Editor
Dear KOG Editor,
How much extra will I get paid if I treat students with respect and dignity?
If you want respect and dignity, you're going to have to find some way
to fund it.
Signed, "Union President"
Dear Union President,
I understand.
Signed, KOG Editor
Dear KOG Editor,
Not being in the classroom you shrinks just don't understand. I don't
have time for all this "touchy-feely respect" you keep talking about.
I don't have time to "look for the positives." If a student doesn't
do exactly as I say, he's to be removed immediately. As it is, 150
out of 300 students that I have during the day are getting F's... if I
couldn't kick out the bad kids, I'd have a high percentage of kids failing
my class... please, spend some time rethinking this and try to understand.
Signed, "Teacher"
Dear Teacher,
I understand.
Signed, KOG Editor
Dear KOG Editor,
I've looked and looked through all 75 pages of IEP paperwork for which
I'm responsible. Nowhere can I find any reference to respect and
dignity. Please cite the passage in special education law that requires
respect and dignity.
Signed, "Special Education Teacher"
Dear Special Education
Teacher,
I understand.
Signed, KOG Editor
Dear KOG Editor,
As a psychologist who primarily utilizes the principles of positive psychology
in my practice, I appreciate what you're sharing here. I don't agree
with every word you say, but I certainly agree there exists great potential
benefits for students who are treated with respect and dignity.
Signed, "Positive Psychologist"
Dear Positive Psychologist,
Whoa!
You caught me by surprise. Your views certainly seem to reflect those
of the minority.
Signed, KOG Editor
