July 3, 2018, Shreveport, LA KTL,: [AR] Gov. Asa Hutchinson receives School Safety Commission preliminary report https://www.arklatexhomepage.com/news/local-news/gov-asa-hutchinson-receives-school-safety-commission-preliminary-report/1281760823 Better access to mental-health counseling for students must be a priority as Arkansas leaders look for ways to tighten security at public schools, Governor Asa Hutchinson said today as he accepted a preliminary report from the Arkansas School Safety Commission. Governor Hutchinson created the Commission by executive order on March 1. Members of the Commission, which has met nine times and formed five subcommittees, have visited schools across the state to determine better ways to protect our students in the classroom. … “It is crucial that we have mental-health counselors easily available to students,” Governor Hutchinson said at Tuesday’s news conference. “It is crucial that we have threat-assessment teams at schools that coordinate with counselors when a student’s behavior suggests the potential of violence.” … In its preliminary report, the commission also recommended that every school have at least one armed officer on campus. Governor Hutchinson stressed that no teacher will be required to carry a weapon. ... “The members of the Commission have been very diligent and thoughtful in their work, and the preliminary report provides clarity for determining the next steps,” Commissioner Key said. “The report strikes the right balance for the prevention of violent acts through improving mental health and counseling supports to students, the mitigation of violent acts through better security of school facilities, and reaction to violent acts through appropriately-trained school resource officers and security staff.”…
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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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