Jan 3, 2019, Western Advocate: NSW public school incidents highlight cases of violence, weapons, drugs https://www.westernadvocate.com.au/story/5836172/violence-weapons-assaults-are-part-of-days-in-the-old-schoolyard/ VIOLENCE, assault, drugs, weapons, threats and intimidation – welcome to public schoolyards of the Central West. The latest report from the NSW Department of Education details a wide range of incidents that have occurred in schools across the Chifley, Canobolas and Orana Mid Western police districts. All incidents involve students, and often teachers and other staff, and on many occasions police. … Teachers lodged a number of welfare concern reports for the students they taught, many included students self-harming and some were attempted suicides. Student welfare concerns featured the most often with 21 cases…. On September 6, Canobolas police were called to an Orange school after one student threatened another and the school was locked down. The student then threatened self-harm and also to injure the principal. In Chifley, a Bathurst student walked out of their school on August 4 and then attempted suicide. There were 16 reported incidents of violence in public schools in Chifley, Orana and Canobolas, the data shows. On September 9, Orana police were called to a Dubbo school after a student begun verbally abusing students and staff and then made general threats. The school was put into lockdown and then the student kicked and banged on doors to gain access to staff and students. …
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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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