A non-experts own views if he were at the summit on violence

[nightwng2000]

I've mentioned before about how it's important that not only do we deal with abuse outside our schools, but that we carry the same type of treatment of abuse IN our schools as well.

Eliminating the term "bully" and calling the actions what they are, abuse, and then punishing for those acts is essential to raising kids to not take abuse.

Moreover, it's important that the authority figures show that they don't support, encourage, or ignore ANY form of abuse. When kids feel that the authority figures can be trusted to respond to abuse, even when the abuse appears trivial in the eyes of the authority figures, you instill in kids not only that abuse is wrong, but that reporting it is the correct choice for ending that abuse. You also instill in kids that authority figures can be trusted. Such feelings tend to continue on into adulthood.

A lot of kids have, intentionally or unintentionally, been made to feel they can't trust authority figures. The abuse of these kids over the years are, either actually or only preceived, are ignored, downplayed, or even encouraged by some authority figures. The reasons vary to some degree, just as the reasons and forms of abuse vary.

But, there are also times when authority figures put themselves in situations, intentionally or otherwise, that make them appear untrustworthy. Or certainly less approachable. Sometimes it doesn't have anything directly to do with kids or abuse. But the result is still that the authority figure has become less approachable and less trusted.

It doesn't always have to be a school authority figure.

http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2006Oct10/0,4670,ProsecutorIndecencyCharges,00.html
We don't know yet why he did it. Depression, mental break, just plain stupid? We can laugh at it, yes. But the truth is, what beyond that do we feel? What would a kid feel beyond the humor? Would they feel anything beyond the humor? This person is an authority figure. How will this affect a kid's view of authority figures?

Or how about a school official.
http://www.wwaytv3.com/Global/story.asp?S=5516740
TV reports say that students have been joking and laughing about this event. Ok, we probably are doing the same thing. What next? Do the kids take him seriously as an authority figure now? Can kids approach him with concerns such as abuse now? Whether we think it rational or irrational for a student to think they can or can't is, actually, irrelevant. It's more important what the student does feel after this. And how does it affect their preception of other authority figures.

Or how about these:
http://www.wwaytv3.com/Global/story.asp?s=5423655

http://www.wwaytv3.com/Global/story.asp?s=5409809
(The comment "The Boiling Spring Lakes Police Department say Officer Stidham's behavior is not reflection on the rest of the officers." sounds all well and good, but does anyone believe it doesn't have an effect on the impressions of others in regards to how authority figures are viewed?)

http://www.wwaytv3.com/Global/story.asp?s=5472615
("Surprisingly enough, investigators say the victim in this case is the same victim in the case of the Boiling Spring Lakes police officer arrested for sex crimes two weeks ago." See previous story.)

http://www.wwaytv3.com/Global/story.asp?s=4767957
http://www.wwaytv3.com/Global/story.asp?s=2808756
http://www.wwaytv3.com/Global/story.asp?s=1260949
http://www.wwaytv3.com/Global/story.asp?s=1213709
http://www.wwaytv3.com/Global/story.asp?s=1157976

And those were just local events spread out over time (in some cases).
How about a few national and worldwide:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3823944a11,00.html
http://www.wcax.com/Global/story.asp?S=5511622&nav=4QcS
http://www.langleytimes.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=47&cat=23&id=744985&more=
http://abcnews.go.com/US/LegalCenter/wireStory?id=2529502
http://www.wlns.com/Global/story.asp?S=5510565&nav=0RbQ
http://www.northcountrygazette.org/articles/091706StudentRape.html

I could go on for pages. It's easy to look up "school shootings" and say "oh, look what another kid did". But how many pages of bad acts do you get when you look up "teacher charged" or "principal charged"? And what about "police officer charged"?

It's all well and good to go to a summit on violence and say "we should take bullying seriously". But what kind of authority figures are around these kids? I only touched on a few cases. And yes, there are a variety of reasons people might give for some of these events happening. But it still comes down to how the kids preceive these and other authority figures because of the actions of these individuals and others like them.
Remember, most of what I brought up above refer to sex crimes. But not all bad acts have to do with sex.

And, no, I'm not suggesting we expect every authority figure to be perfect. But the fact is, when authority figures DO act in such manners, it DOES have an effect on how authority figures are preceived by others, including kids. They may not know how to express their views all the time, but they do feel less inclined to trust authority figures.

The solution is as difficult as finding solutions to ALL the different forms of violence. One way, of course, is to turn the tables. Stereotypes take hold because the bad usually gets more attention than the good. Even if the good out number the bad by great numbers. Push more authority figures to be seen and heard in good ways may, in a large way, help to push back those living up to the negative seterotypes. In doing so, those who felt authority figures were less trustworthy and approachable will see that the bad are just bad and the good are the ones who are approachable and trustworthy, thereby eliminating the stereotype.
And by making the good authority figures more approachable and trustworthy, we increase the chance of kids reporting abuse, having the abuse diminished and/or stopped, and reduce the chance of escalation of violence, whether towards others or towards one's self.

Does that solve EVERY problem out there? Not bloody likely. Shame too. But I'll take making a big dent in the prolbem over doing nothing any day. It doesn't take a room full of experts or even one expert to know that anything that reduces violence is a good thing. Chip away with as many ideas to all the different problems as one can.

nightwng2000
NW2K Software

[nightwng2000]

The Topic title isn't quite right. I was a bit rushed because just as I was finishing the post, someone came up to me with some work to do (finally).

The one for this comment seems more appropriate. I can't edit the original title.

[beemoh]

Done-done.

[Grahamr]

i din't read the whole thing,but i agree with you wholeheartedly.


and Nightwng,your idea on the past forum about an"Abuse aknowledgement simulator" was brilliant.

[nightwng2000]

i din't read the whole thing,but i agree with you wholeheartedly.


and Nightwng,your idea on the past forum about an"Abuse aknowledgement simulator" was brilliant.

I'm filling out a Game Design Document (ok, true it's not a game, but I like the format) on it now. Work is real so, so I've been taking the time to flesh it out.

I'm debating on whether this should be my first project for NW2K Software (I'm strongly considering working on several projects and publishing under that company name) or to send the Document to the Federal Board of Education and/or the American Psychiatric Association or some other major group and say "here, I could use the money from making this, but there is a greater need so I think you guys should develop it and distribute it for free". It's too important a piece of software to try to make money off of and even if the help it provides is a fraction of the overall problem, then at least a dent has been made.

Anyway, I'm still fleshing it out in the Document. Depending on the amount of work coming in, I may be mostly done with version 1 of the Document by late Friday.

[nightwng2000]

Here's another authority figure who can't be trusted.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15239517/

[nightwng2000]

And a really creepy other one:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15246658/

[steelcobra]

I think I'l post the text of something I wrote a long time ago:

In a country so advanced as this, it is wrong that we have both 4th graders who read at an 11th grade level and 11th graders who read at a 4th grade level. As one of the former, I probably read at a far more advanced level than most adults. On the bus, most people just sit there, doing nothing. It amazes me how someone can just sit there, without doing anything. A bus is a perfect place to pull out reading material.
Getting back to subject, the schools should not be leaving so many students behind. Of course not all of the students have a 120+ IQ. But not all are at the average 100. The traditional classroom, however, is fashioned around the average student with an auditory style of learning. The visual student can track, but the kinesthetic learner gets bored easily because there is nothing to do but write notes. Notes do not help students like myself. I can grasp a concept very easily if I am doing it.
The number of students who fail the reading and math tests in 8th grade prove that mainstream education is wrong. In basic training an assessment is given for physical fitness. The privates are then split into groups based on capability. If the public schools were grouped into ability and learning style, everyone would get at least the minimum of education and feel like they had a chance.
The current system leaves brighter students stuck with those that take up class time that could be far better spent. Kinesthetic learners are stuck in classes where the teacher talks and writes on the board the entire class. Visual and auditory students have the advantage, but don’t take it. While people hate to admit it, many students just aren’t as bright as others. This is what develops the bully.
The bully is generally a student who, though he has potential, does not see and is not shown what it could be. All he sees is students who do better than he does. He becomes angry (jealous). Since he believes that he cannot be better in class, he makes his physical superiority a focus. The brightest students, already handicapped by lower social skills, are tormented by them.
This reinforces them as outcasts. And thus they start focusing less on school and more on survival. The two students who shot up Columbine H.S. were targets. I got lucky and found a group of friends in junior year. They only had each other, were ignored or taunted constantly, and just got so pissed they believed that shooting up the school was the only answer. They planned it, acquired weapons and ammo, and the morning of the shooting went bowling. In no way was it psychotic. At least not the way most believe it was. It was how they got revenge and called attention to themselves. No one realized that they were saying how they were failed by the school system.
Politicians chose the easy way out. Rather than overhaul the schools they simply said that videogames were to blame. Then the media jumped on the bandwagon, showing outdated 16-bit games like Doom and Mortal Kombat as the cause of the recent “outbreak” of school violence. Sure it wasn’t wrong to say that it was horrible, but it was relatively isolated. 2-3 schools out of over 100,000 high schools? Isolated incidents, not an outbreak. They could at least show 32-bit games. The “Fatalities” in Mortal Kombat are cartoonishly violent at best.
Of course, you can draw your own conclusions about this editorial/essay/rant, just remember that someone is getting screwed by the schools and the politicians don’t care. They only care about votes.