July 24, 2018, Janesville (WI) Gazette: Elkhorn, Whitewater among latest school safety grant recipients http://www.gazettextra.com/news/education/elkhorn-whitewater-among-latest-school-safety-grant-recipients/article_36320f99-269e-535d-8926-84e4459e12d9.html Of the nearly $5 million distributed Tuesday, the state Department of Justice awarded the Elkhorn Area School District $138,994 and the Whitewater Unified School District $100,063, according to a news release. Elkhorn plans to use its grant money on shatter-proof film for school entrances, a new screening system for visitors, an emergency alert system and trauma-informed training for staff…. The WAVE system functions like a fire alarm, alerting the school over the PA system about an ongoing threat, Superintendent Jason Tadlock said. There are buttons throughout the school and with some staff members that immediately alert local law enforcement about an active school shooter or violent event. … The Department of Justice said in the release there will be a “second round” of funding distributed in October that will address student mental health, create local School Safety Intervention teams and add more physical security upgrades. … In other grant news, Whitewater learned Tuesday that the Jefferson County Mental Health Consortium it is a part of received $75,000 for a mental health services grant from the state Department of Public Instruction. Whitewater is one of seven school districts in the consortium. The grant money will go toward mental health screening, staff training for social emotional learning and parent/community outreach to support mental health needs, according to a Whitewater news release.
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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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