In Defense of School Assessments

This week in Massachusetts there was quite the uproar over an incident in which the press alleged an 8 year old boy was suspended from school and mandated to undergo a psychological evaluation because he drew a picture of Jesus on the cross.  As I suspected there was more to the story.  What was really shocking about this turn of events was the initial flood of outraged blog posts, e-mails to news stations and calls to talk radio excoriating psychologists for pathologizing religion and looking for reasons to find mental illness in youngsters  In my experience, schools do not call for safety assessments unless they are truly worried about a child’s behavior.  Young children cannot verbalize their distress and therefore we have to look to other indicators to try our best to determine possible risk.  This often involves making tough calls (e.g., is a scary drawing a sign of trouble or just the imagination of a child?).  We do this to the best of our ability with one goal in mind: to make sure schools and students are safe.  That is why it was upsetting to me to see a public backlash against child psychologists over an incident that was initially improperly reported.

Football and Concussions

Finally, it appears that the NFL Is getting serious about concussions. The hope is that the example set by the NFL will trickle down to college and the pros.  Too often, young men and teens have felt pressure to conceal symptoms of a concussion for fear they will look weak or will be asking out of a game.  Players have learned that the need to “suck it up” and get back on the field.  Further, concussions used to be minimized by coaches referring to the injury as getting “dinged in the head.”  Concussions can have serious and long term neurological consequences and football players at all levels need to be aware of the symptoms and mandated to sit out if they experience a concussion.  Football is a violent sport with inherent risks, but there is no need to jeopardize the health of young men by ignoring or minimizing the risk of concussion.

Bullying and School Climate

As support for anti-bullying legislation gains momentum in Boston, opponents and naysayers point out that parents or kids who bring bullying to the attention of the schools do so at the risk of subjecting the victims to increased harassment.  If you read the comments section of the above article you see stories of parents who have been ignored by administrators or kids who have been ridiculed for being a snitch.   The only way to combat this problem is to have an anti-bullying policy that is part of the school culture or climate and is just as prevalent and important as the attendance policy or academic integrity policy.  This way, students learn from day one that harassment and bullying are not tolerated and bystanders of bullying are expected to seek out adult intervention.  Similarly, teachers and staff receive the message that bully prevention is not an ancillary task but central to the mission of the school.

Massachusetts Report on OxyContin Abuse

Finally, the plague of Oxycontin abuse and addiction is getting attention in Massachusetts. I have worked with a number of young men who first tried Oxycontin to numb the pain of a break up or escape family and school stress.  Because Oxycontin or OC comes in pill form it does not have the stigma of injecting heroin, but it is and opiate and highly addictive, just like heroin.  I agree with the recommendations in the report, especially increasing the number of “sober high schools” and cracking down on prescription policies. I would add, however, that if you have ever tried to get a teen into rehab for OC addiction you know how frustrating the process can be.  Detoxing from opiates without medical care is not only painful (e.g., nausea, sweating, diarrhea) it can also be dangerous.  If we are going to get serious about helping teens get clean from OC, we need to increase access to detox facilities.  Additionally, those facilities need to be linked to outpatient supports so that when these teens come out clean they stay clean.

“Columbine” David Cullen

Just got through reading “Columbine” by David Cullen and it is a must-read if you work with adolescents/boys.  The two biggest take home points from the book in my opinion are:

1) the media completely glossed over the fact that the original plan was to detonate propane tank bombs that would have wiped out almost half the school.  The boys then planned to shoot survivors as they fled the school.  The original plan was not to go into the school and target individual students to shoot.

2) Eric Harris was a textbook psychopath.  He was NOT a member of the trenchcoat mafia, did not like Marilyn Manson and was not a “goth.”  His case does NOT prove that any disaffected teen who is bullied for being different can decide to go on a killing rampage.  His past actions, personal diaries, website and personality profile are all indicative of a dangerous psychopath.

Overall, the book is very well-written and gripping.  My one complaint is that the author switches from providing an analysis of the killers to telling the stories of the survivors, which can impact the continuity.   There is much to learn from this book and Mr. Cullen should be congratulated for a job well done.

Walking the Walk

In a suburb of Boston a football coach and a father got into a fight over whether his son should run laps after he was late due to father’s fault: http://bit.ly/3WMshv

The most disappointing part of this story in my opinion is that in front of these boys to grown men arranged to get into a fistfight to resolve their dispute.  I am sure these boys will hear talks from coaches, school administrators and messages from the media about sportsmanship and conflict resolution.  Unfortunately, these boys witnessed a prime example of “do as I say not what I do.”  Even as I type this the Broncos and Chargers are getting into a tussle on the field before their nationally televised game.   Messages about violence prevention sound hollow until we as adult back them up with our actions.  Hopefully this incident can serve as a reminder.

Zero Tolerance

The recent suspension of a 6 year old in Delaware for brining a camping toll that included a pocketknife to school has brought zero tolerance policies to the fore.  Zero tolerance for weapons in school is meant to be a deterrent to school violence, however common sense is needed.  There is certainly a difference between a 6 year old who brings a camping tool to school to show his friends and a pre-teen or teen who brings a switchblade to school.  As a psychologist who conducts safety assessments for schools I believe there we can evaluate risk on a case by case basis to determine if the “weapon” in safety violates the schools zero tolerance policy for weapons.   That being said, parents please be as diligent as possible around monitoring what your children are bringing to school.  I have seen key chain pocket knives, fishing knives and boy scout utility knives all lead to suspensions at the high school level when the students had no intention of harming anyone and were unaware possession of these items violated school rules.

Youth Violence Prevention in Chicago

Very interesting read here on an innovative youth violence prevention effort in Chicago:

http://bit.ly/1Q5myq

The idea of using statistics and research to target the most at-risk can be controversial; after all, not all youth receive services in this model.  However, the approach reminds of the Operation Ceasefire initiative in Boston that was successful in reducing youth gang violence in the early 90′s.  Bottom line is that it is always encouraging to see systemic approaches to youth violence prevention that combine research and outside-the-box thinking.  Whether it succeeds or fails either way we can learn from it, which is more than I can say about one-shot interventions like “youth violence prevention week.”

Prevention and Results

I wanted to highlight an effort that Cambridge Health Alliance has been a part of: the Somerville Cares About Prevention.  This is a coordinated effort that brings together professionals from health, mental health, human services and government who partner with families and students to address drug use, violence and risk behaviors.  As the article below indicates the program has evidenced some success.  These improvements, while modest, highlight the importance of a coordinated and systemic approach to prevention; one-shot interventions just will not work.  Congrats to my friends in Somerville and keep up the hard work!  Link to article here:

http://bit.ly/2hKcYv

How to Talk to Schools about Your Son Being Bullied

For parents, one of the most difficult things about hearing that their son is being bullied at school is the accompanying feeling of helplessness.  After all, we can’t go to the school and stop the bullying ourselves.  It is also difficult to give practical advice about how to combat bullying.  If you tell your son to fight back, he could get in trouble and solving violence with violence is not a recommended course of action.  If you tell him to tell a teacher he risks being labeled a snitch or rat.  Here are three things you can do as a parent if you find out your child is being bullied:

1) Talk to the teachers and staff and make them aware of what is going on, who is involved, and where and when it is happening.  If teachers and staff have these details they can be on the lookout for the bullying behavior and catch the bully in the act, which saves face for your son who did not have to “snitch.”

2) Make sure your school has a comprehensive bully prevention program in place. There is no excuse not to have a structured, whole-school approach to bullying.  As a parent  you can expect and demand this of the school the same way you would expect special education and physical fitness programs.

3) Become involved in parent groups and community agencies who work to prevent bullying.  Be part of the school and community solution to bullying.  If your school or town doesn’t have these groups in place, start one.  You can be sure that your son is not the only one suffering from bullying and it is a problem that demands a coordinated and comprehensive community approach.