Jan 27, 2020, NBC13, Des Moines, IA: Iowa Senator Introduces Bill to Take on Violent Behavior in Classrooms https://whotv.com/2020/01/27/iowa-senator-introduces-bill-to-take-on-violent-behavior-in-classrooms/ Iowa lawmakers took a big step Monday toward addressing a nationwide problem. For months, Channel 13 has reported on violent, destructive behavior in America's classrooms and the controversial practice known as the "room clear." That is when well-behaved students are evacuated while a child is allowed to destroy the classroom. State Senator Amy Sinclair filed a bill in the Iowa Senate to address this problem. It contains five areas that she thinks can improve bad behavior in classrooms. The bill would implement training for teachers on violent student behaviors and how to spot the warning signs before it gets out of control. Sinclair wants to establish guidelines and expectations for appropriate responses to behavior in the classroom that presents an imminent threat of bodily injury to another person. The bill would create protections for teachers who have to deal with violent behavior and establish an easier, more accurate way to report that behavior. The bill would also create alternative placement classrooms. A lot of schools have moved away from alternative classes. Instead, students who need that specialized teaching are ending up in general education classrooms. Sinclair wants to clear up the notion of "least restrictive environment." That's a federal term for where students with special needs should be placed at the start of each school day. She wants administrators to understand what that means and what it does not mean. Though Sinclair says she "can’t legislate good parenting," the bill does include a requirement that if a child causes a room clear, then the child and the parents of the child will have to meet with administrators prior to the child going back into the regular classroom…. Sinclair says she believes she will have bipartisan support for the bill. Senator Majority Leader Jack Whitver said the bill is a priority for the Senate.
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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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