Dec 21, 2019, Lakeland (FL) Ledger: Student assaults on Polk County school officials skyrocket https://www.theledger.com/news/20191221/student-assaults-on-polk-county-school-officials-skyrocket …After the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Act became law in early 2018, assaults on school officials in Polk County skyrocketed to 64 in 2018-19 and stand at 26 since the start of this school year through Dec. 9…. Reporting of battery on a Florida school official has seen a dramatic increase in the last two years. Law enforcement and school officials attribute that to the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Act, which was passed in early 2018 following the Parkland mass school shooting…. There were 25 assaults on school officials in the 2015-2016 school year in Polk County. But that number dropped to fewer than 15 for two school years between August 2016 and May 2018. Then the MSD law went into effect and the number skyrocketed to 64 last school year. Between mid-August and early December this school year, there have been 26 incidents…. The numbers also show a trend: more than 60 percent of those assaults each year are routinely committed by special education students — those students who have learning disabilities or behavioral issues and are receiving special accommodations to help them. Some teachers have privately expressed frustrations that the worst-behaved special ’education students remain in general education classrooms when they clearly don’t belong there. ‘Society has changed’… Judd said there has been a breakdown in society and some parents are not holding their children accountable for their bad behavior. “They took prayer out of school, they took the paddle out of school, which means they took discipline out of school and a less disciplined environment invites more violence,” Judd said. “Discipline and respect begin at home and, if the children aren’t receiving that at a very young age, then they take that bad behavior to the school system and the school system, because of the current environment, isn’t allowed to be as prolific as they used to be with their accountability and discipline.” And, he pointed out, hitting or pushing a teacher is a felony, something for which a child can be charged as an adult and a crime for which a juvenile will not be sent to any kind of diversion program to keep the arrest off their record… Deputy Superintendent John Hill, who has worked in education for 25 years, said a number of factors have developed over the last few decades that has adversely impacted children. “I often tell people that children have not changed; what has changed is our society, environment and popular culture,” Hill said, describing several incidents when he was inadvertently hit while breaking up fights between students. “On each occasion, the student was genuinely remorseful because it was unintentional.”…
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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.
Loss of Brain Trust features over 9,000 news stories published worldwide since January, 2017
Anne Dachel, Media editor, Age of Autism
http://www.ageofautism.com/media/
(John Dachel, Tech. assist.)
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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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