Mar 2, 2018, Naples (FL) Daily News: 'We have got to change:' Gov. Rick Scott highlights $500M school safety plan in Naples https://www.naplesnews.com/story/news/politics/2018/03/02/gov-rick-scott-highlight-500-million-school-safety-plan-naples-florida-shooting/389029002/ Gov. Rick Scott stopped Friday in Naples to meet with local law enforcement and highlight his $500 million plan to address school safety in the wake of one of the deadliest mass shootings in modern U.S. history. Scott, who unveiled his proposal — which focuses on gun laws, staffing at schools and mental health — last week, said the plan came together after he talked with educators, mental health professionals and law enforcement officials after the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School that left 17 dead. … Among the proposals in Scott's plan: • … mandatory active-shooter training at schools, which must be completed during the first week of each semester in all public schools. • "enhanced" criminal penalties for people who make threats to schools, including those made on social media. "Major investments" are necessary to harden school buildings, including metal detectors, bulletproof glass, steel doors and upgraded locks, said Scott, who made similar announcements detailing his plan this week in cities across the state. Additionally, he said, "significant investments" in mental health were needed, including mental health counselors at all schools. A Department of Children and Families employee would be embedded at all sheriff's departments to foster "better coordination" among schools, DCF, Department of Juvenile Justice and law enforcement, Scott said. …
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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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