Mar 13, 2018, U.S. News and World Report: Bill Would Put Mental Health Workers in Kentucky Schools https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/kentucky/articles/2018-03-13/bill-advances-to-put-mental-health-workers-in-schools After deadly school shooting rampages, including one in their own state, Kentucky lawmakers are considering whether to put mental health professionals in schools in hopes of easing stress in students' lives that could explode into violence…. "We firmly believe that if implemented, this piece of legislation would certainly spare us tragedy in the future," said the bill's lead sponsor, Democratic Rep. Will Coursey. Coursey's district in western Kentucky includes Marshall County High School, where a 15-year-old boy allegedly opened fire in January. Two 15-year-old students were killed in the shootings, with many more injured. … "We didn't have any signs," he told lawmakers. "But maybe a trained professional could have seen something where we may have ... headed this off. At least with this bill, it would give us the chance to do that." … Mental health professionals in schools could help students individually or in group settings, supporters said. They also could train teachers and school staff to recognize students' stress. And they would form teams to assist students struggling with problems affecting their behavior and learning.... Another bill before Kentucky lawmakers would allow school districts to hire armed marshals to patrol public schools, make citizen's arrests and protect people from "imminent death or serious physical injury." Marshals wouldn't have to be police officers but school district employees in good standing who have a license to carry concealed weapons.
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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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