Nov 30, 2018, Livingston (MI) Daily: 'Enough': 28 evacuations in 3 months, parents of Brighton kindergartners plead for help https://www.livingstondaily.com/story/news/local/community/brighton/2018/11/30/brighton-michigan-hilton-elementary-kindergarten-class-evacuated/2141620002/ Parents frustrated that their children have been evacuated from a kindergarten classroom at a Brighton elementary school 28 times in the first three months of the school year sought help this week from school officials. Courtney Lusk, a mother of twin daughters in the Hilton Elementary School kindergarten class, told the Board of Education one child has caused all the disruptions, and recited a litany of dates throughout October and November where the child threw shoes, books, crayons, chairs and a toy box. … Lusk also said there were four instances in which the child was removed to a calming room where he defecated and smeared fecal matter. … Ross Gemuend said he attended the meeting on behalf of his daughter Riley and many parents whose children have been exposed to the violent outbursts…. Gemuend said a child and teacher were injured on Nov. 20 after the student threw a chair. “Enough is enough,” Gemuend said, who was among more than a half dozen parents who spoke. “I shouldn’t have to continually assure my daughter she won’t be harmed by this particular student, especially when I can’t be sure myself.” … 'Educators are facing a lot more issues' Mike Hubert, superintendent of the Livingston Educational Service Agency, which provides special education support to the district, said it is unfortunate that behavior can cause disruption. Behavioral issues in students have become more of a problem in public schools in the last 10 years, Hubert said, and "it is not clear what is causing the trend." “Public educators are facing a lot more issues with student behavior, but just because they express a behavior doesn’t mean they don’t have the right to an education," he said. "It’s inconvenient, but they still have the right to be there.” …
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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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