Sept 30, 2018, Boulder (CO) Camera: Superior Elementary piloting therapy dog program, Boulder Prep training rescue as therapy dog http://www.dailycamera.com/news/boulder/ci_32172798/superior-elementary-piloting-therapy-dog-program-boulder-prep Pepper, a gentle 10-year-old Portuguese water dog, recently made the rounds at Superior Elementary School, letting enthusiastic students pet his fluffy coat and give him kisses. Pepper, a regular at the 400-student school, stayed still and calm even as student on the autism spectrum grabbed more than petted. … Superior was the first Boulder Valley school to start a therapy dog program, starting the full program last school year…. Bedford said she proposed bringing therapy dogs to the school as a way to provide social and emotional support to students…. "When kids are really having a bad day and they have time with a dog, their whole body relaxes," Bedford said. "You can just see some of that anxiety subside."…. "A dog can be very therapeutic," she said. "Dogs have a calming effect." …
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.