Dec 20, 2017, Appleton (WI) Post Crescent: Judge sees emergence of mental health issues among suspected school bullies http://www.postcrescent.com/story/news/2017/12/20/judge-sees-emergence-mental-health-issues-among-suspected-bullies/962841001/ Outagamie County Judge John Des Jardins has dealt with his share of bullies during his time on the bench. “They come (to my court) as battery and disorderly conduct cases,” said Des Jardins, a longtime prosecutor before joining the judiciary. While there hasn’t been a tremendous spike in bullying cases, Des Jardins has noticed some common traits of perpetrators: They range from elementary-age children to high school students. They typically have impulse-control problems and/or anger management problems. And a growing number of them are dealing with mental health issues. “What we’re seeing a lot more than we’ve ever seen before is mental health issues — underlying mental health issues,” he said. “We never used to see the mental health aspect like what we do today.” … The judge said impulse control problems — coupled with family-related problems, uncontrolled anger and mental health issues — can result in juveniles striking out against others. … "They have been victimized by their upbringing. But it still doesn’t justify their behavior. There’s a fine line and some of these people don’t know where the line is.” … Mary Krumplitsch, chief intake worker and supervisor of the Outagamie County intake office, said she has not noticed an increase in cases involving bullying. As far as mental health, Krumplitsch said it’s being identified as a factor “more now than in the past.” ”There’s much more awareness of it now," she said. … Krumplitsch said trauma is a “big thing” for children. It can result from a number of events, including the loss of a parent or witnessing domestic violence, she said. “It’s part of who they are,” she said. “It shapes how they respond to things and it’s not always positive.”
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Childhood Lost
Children today are noticeably different from previous generations, and the proof is in the news coverage we see every day. This site shows you what’s happening in schools around the world. Children are increasingly disabled and chronically ill, and the education system has to accommodate them. Things we've long associated with autism, like sensory issues, repetitive behaviors, anxiety and lack of social skills, are now problems affecting mainstream students. Blame is predictably placed on bad parenting (otherwise known as trauma from home).
Addressing mental health needs is as important as academics for modern educators. This is an unrecognized disaster. The stories here are about children who can’t learn or behave like children have always been expected to. What childhood has become is a chilling portent for the future of mankind.
Anne Dachel, Media editor, Age of Autism
http://www.ageofautism.com/media/
(John Dachel, Tech. assist.)
What will happen in another 4 years? How can we go on like this? This is a national (and international) problem of monumental proportions. We have an entire new class of children who cannot be accommodated by the system: many are manifestly neurologically impaired. Meanwhile, the government and the medical profession sleep on regardless.
John Stone,
UK media editor, Age of Autism
The generation of American children born after 1990 are arguably the sickest generation in the history of our country.
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
It seemed to me that with rising autism prevalence, you’d also see rising autism costs to society, and it turns out, the costs are catastrophic.
They calculated that in 2015 autism cost the United States $268 billion and they projected that if autism continues at its current rate, we’re looking at one trillion dollars a year in autism costs by 2025, so within five years.
Toby Rogers, PhD, Political economist
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