Archive for the ‘School’ Category

U.S. Department of State School Terrorism

The U.S. Department of State has issued a Worldwide Alert on the continuing threat of terrorist actions and violence against U.S. citizens throughout the world.

Schools, sporting events, residential areas, business offices, hotels, restaurants, and places of worship should increase their security and U.S. citizens should be extremely careful both in the U.S. and abroad.

“The Department of State has issued this Worldwide Caution to update information on the continuing threat of terrorist actions and violence against U.S. citizens and interests throughout the world. U.S. citizens are reminded to maintain a high level of vigilance and to take appropriate steps to increase their security awareness.”

Dale Yeager a school safety expert says that the recent school bus beating of a 13 year old girl in Marion County School District is indicative of the poor management of students and staff that he sees as epidemic throughout U.S. schools.

Yeager who heads a research team which has provided three reports to Congress on school safety says the lack of training and management is at the heart of school bus related crime.

“Over the last 20 years and 28,000 schools we find a serious issue with the management of staff and students. This is at the heart of crimes such as this one, states Yeager. The dirty secret in American education is that disconnected and lazy Administrators significantly contribute to crimes against students.”

“No child falls through the cracks. They are dropped through or shoved through by lazy, emotionally immature adults and unethical professionals”

After the Columbine shootings I made this statement during an interview on national television. The reporter asked if I really believed that statement and I replied, “absolutely!”

But you may ask what this statement has to do with the issue of truancy? Simple, truant children – who are routinely late or absent – come from dysfunctional homes. Those homes in my experience are led by caregivers who are more concerned about their own pleasures and convenience than the welfare of their children. Some may say that this is an unkind assessment. My response to them is simple, visit these homes and you will see that this is not an aberration.

The US Department of Justice has released a report that states the growth of criminal gangs is increasing in all socioeconomic areas of the country. The National Youth Gang Survey Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP)

Key Points

• There were an estimated 28,100 gangs and 731,000 gang members throughout 3,500 jurisdictions nationwide.
• The prevalence rate of gang activity increased to 34.5 percent from 32.4 percent in 2008.
• Larger cities and suburban counties accounted for more than 96 percent of all gang homicides.

Dale Yeager of SERAPH explains the problem, “School officials have been caught off guard by the rise of gangs in suburban areas.Straight Edge, Juggalos, Crips and Bloods have all been recruiting juveniles in suburban areas of the United States.”

public-schools-zero-tolerance SERAPH School Services

A recently published research brief by Child Trends, “Multiple Responses, Promising Results: Evidence-Based, Non punitive Alternatives To Zero Tolerance,” suggests that zero tolerance school discipline policies have not been proven effective by research and may have negative effects, making students more likely to drop out and less likely to graduate on time. Instead, the brief recommends the use of non punitive disciplinary action, such as behavior interventions, social skills classes, and character education.

Self-control keeps us from eating a whole bag of chips or from running up the credit card. A new study says that self-control makes the difference between getting a good job or going to jail — and we learn it in preschool.

“Children who had the greatest self-control in primary school and preschool ages were most likely to have fewer health problems when they reached their 30s,” says Terrie Moffitt, a professor of psychology at Duke University and King’s College London.

Virginia Tech will have to pay the maximum $55,000 fine for violating federal law by waiting too long to notify students during the 2007 shooting rampage but will not lose any federal student aid, the U.S. Department of Education announced Tuesday.

Department officials wrote in a letter to the school that the sanction should have been greater for the school’s slow response to the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history. The $55,000 fine was the most the department could levy for Tech’s two violations of the federal Clery Act, which requires timely reporting of crimes on campus.

To help teachers and school administrators deal with issues of bullying on campus, Neumann University will host a workshop entitled School Safety: Solutions to Cliques, Truancy and Bullying on March 22 at Franklin Commons in Phoenixville, PA. March 22, 2011.

The program runs from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. with presenter Dale Yeager, a nationally recognized school safety expert, who works with schools and government agencies across the country and overseas on safety issues.

Dale Yeager a criminal analyst, who worked for the Boulder District Attorney’s office in 1997 on the original murder investigation of JonBenet Ramsey, has released a book on bullying titled “3 Myths About Bullying” What Every Parent and Grandparent Should know to Protect Children and Grandchildren. 

The book focuses on inaccurate information about bullying that Yeager says can endanger children.

“After 20 years working on criminal cases involving child on child violence I have acquired information on the causes of bullying which conflict with many of the ideas parents’ have.” says Yeager.

The book focuses on three myths:

The TASA Group and SERAPH present a free webinar on Legal Liability and Special Needs Students.

During this program, the presenter will cover three key issues related to safety and security problems involving special needs students in elementary, middle and high school:

* Lack of Accurate Understanding of Federal Law Regarding Special Education
* Safety Concerns: A Management Issue
* Poor Management of Students: The Real Problem

The TASA Group, Inc. Presents: Three High Liability Issues with the Management of Special Needs Students