Today, news headlines are bombarded with accounts of heinous crimes that were reported to have been done by minors. True enough there were such instances and there still is a huge possibility of other crimes to be committed by teenagers. School shootings, rape, murder and robbery – something you can’t bear to think that a child can do. That’s why, politicians started to pass policies that will obstinate crime committed by teens. But in a book by Franklin Zimmering, an expert on juvenile justice. This crime wave that people fear is a fictitious notion. A conclusion built with unjustifiable premises and as he describes it, “evidence of a juvenile crime wave — either current or on the horizon — is no more substantial than the evidence that supports the existence of the Loch Ness Monster.”

Here are some facts that he discovered in his study. Facts; not something that is built out of exaggeration and imagination of a scenario that seems to be fantasized about because of its horridness, (sometimes politicians can be very good in making up bad conclusion to make people think that they need them):

–>Since 1980, arrest rates for juveniles, ages 13 to 17, accused of rape and robbery shows no identifiable trend, either up or down. Rates are currently lower than they were in 1980.

–>The homicide arrest rate for juveniles rose sharply between 1984 and 1992. but declined by more than one-third by 1996 and, according to just-released FBI figures, dropped an additional 16 percent in 1997

–>Most of the increase in the arrest rate for aggravated assault for juveniles during the 1984 -1992 period was due to a change in the way police report and classify such arrests. A lower threshold for crimes considered aggravated assault created a crime wave only on paper.

Its just so depressing to think that a lot of people that Americans have voted to lead them has already placed a tag on 6 percent of the 21.5 million teens who are still in middle school at the moment; that those 6 percent will be doing heinous crimes – robbing, murdering and raping people at their teens.

Most parents will usually resort to counseling when dealing with their struggling children. Sometimes it works, only means that your child’s bad behavior is not yet in it’s severest case or you must have been lucky to find a good therapist. Unfortunately it doesn’t always work like that. In the start of a session, most teenagers normally prefer not to open up to their therapist. In repetitive visit, they would start being selective in the things that they disclose to their therapist. After a few more sessions, surprisingly no difference surfaces because seriously theres nothing wrong with these teens, so there’s nothing to treat. Some of them simply got used to a negative behavioral pattern. 

So what do most parents do when the time comes that they can no longer control their rebellious children? One good and effective solution is by sending them to a boot camp.

Boot camps can help rebellious and struggling children who are unresponsive to normal counseling. Boot camps instill positive values to your child which he or she will bring long after leaving boot camp. This may be a process of enforcement of will but sometimes, it would take a tighter grasp on the teen for him to change. Showing them that negative acts corresponds to negative consequences may teach them that there isn’t anything they will get from misbehaving. Recent studies have shown that boots camps having succeeded where counseling has failed. So for parents who are having a hard time dealing with their children’s behavior, sending them to boot camp can do them a lot of good.

Mood swings are normal especially if teens are under pressure, but mood swings that occur more often than the usual is something that a parent must be concerned about. Do you know that 1 out of 7 Americans have Bipolar disorder? What are the chances that your child is one of the 14.28% who is suffering from this kind of mental state?

Bipolar disorder is a category of mood disorder that is characterized by an onset of conspicuously arduous mood (mania) followed by sudden episodes of total depression or vise versa. Often times, the person with bipolar disorder could even feel a mix of both mania and depression alternating rapidly which is clinically called, mixed episodes.

Some parents mistake bipolar disorder with ADHD or Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder because both illness is characterized by symptoms of the patient acting, thinking or speaking in an abnormally fast pace. If that is the case, how do you determine if your child has bipolar disorder? Kidshealth.org, enumerated the signs of bipolar disorder in two categories – mania and depression:

Symptoms of mania include:

-racing speech and thoughts

-increased energy

-decreased need for sleep

-elevated mood and exaggerated optimism

-increased physical and mental activity

-excessive irritability, aggressive behavior, and impatience

-poor judgment

-reckless behavior, like excessive spending, making rash decisions, and erratic driving

-difficulty concentrating

-inflated sense of self-importance

Symptoms of depression include:

-loss of interest in usual activities

-prolonged sad or irritable mood

-loss of energy or fatigue

-feelings of guilt or worthlessness

-sleeping too much or inability to sleep

-drop in grades and inability to concentrate

-inability to experience pleasure

-appetite loss or overeating

-anger, worry, and anxiety

-thoughts of death or suicide

If these symptoms are present, parents are advised to seek professional help as soon as possible because the state is very difficult. A lot of people with bipolar disorder discover the existence of their problem during adulthood although they don’t necessarily incur it during their childhood. This condition may stay very long and regular stabilizer medication should be taken, some sample drugs used are lithium, sodium valproate, carbamazepine and many others. Doctors are finding alternative ways of controlling sudden onset of manic-depressive attacks.

Are your students having difficulties in learning new skills and remembering facts? Is the student having a hard time memorizing lessons and focusing attention in classroom discussions and activities?

During school years, persistent patterns of learning difficulties are experienced by children and are carried over to adolescence. These difficulties and other co-occurring characteristics which affect the learning and daily functioning of children are potential manifestations of a learning disability (LD).

What is LD?

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), a U.S federal law amended in 2004, defines learning disability in general as a “disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, that may manifest itself in an imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or to do mathematical calculations, including conditions such as perceptual disabilities, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia, and developmental aphasia”.

Learning Disabilities, which may be caused by hereditary, teratogenic, medical, and environmental factors, vary from one person to another. Some common types of LD are dyslexia, dyscalculia, dysgraphia, dyspraxia, and visual and auditory processing disorders.

How can LD be identified?

Not all students who are slow in learning have learning disabilities but students with LD must be given immediate specialized teaching strategies to help them overcome such learning difficulties. Early identification and intervention are vital in helping students with LD succeed academically and socially.

The National Center for Learning Disabilities (NCLD) in U.S. provides a Learning Disabilities Checklist to help teachers and parents observe and identify students’ learning problems and risk for learning disabilities. Click here to view the NCLD Learning Disabilities Checklist.

Teaching Strategies for Students with LD

Since learning disability is a neurological disorder which affects the brain’s ability to receive, process, store, and respond to information, students with LD bear a distinct gap between their expected level of achievement and what they actually achieve. Thus, specialized teaching strategies must be used to address the needs of students with LD.

However, some educators believe that students’ learning difficulties could be addressed without having to resort to special education services. In the Response-To-Intervention (RTI) approach, students can receive special education in general education classrooms. Each student’s progress is monitored and is used as a determining factor whether the student can continue with general education instruction or should be referred for special education services.

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Self-injury, sometimes referred to as self-harm (SH), self-inflicted violence (SIV) or self-injurious behavior (SIB), refers to a spectrum of behaviors where demonstrable injury is self-inflicted. The term self-mutilation is also sometimes used, although this phrase evokes connotations that some find worrisome, inaccurate, or offensive.

A broader definition of self-injury might also include those who inflict harm on their bodies by means of eating disorder, as well as tattooing or body piercing that goes beyond the limits of culturally accepted body modification.

A common belief regarding self-injury is that it is an attention-seeking behavior; however, in most cases, this is untrue. Most self-injurers are very self-conscious of both their wounds and scars, and go to great lengths to conceal their behavior from others. They may offer alternative explanations for their injuries, or conceal their scars with clothing. Self-injury in such individuals is not associated with suicidal or para-suicidal behavior.

The person who self-injures is not usually seeking to end his or her own life; it has been suggested instead that he or she is using self-injury as a coping mechanism to relieve emotional pain or discomfort. However, studies of individuals with developmental disabilities (such as mental retardation) have shown self-injury being dependent on environmental factors such as obtaining attention or escape from demands.

Methods of Injury

A common form of self-injury involves making cuts in the skin of the arms, legs, abdomen, inner thighs, etc. This is colloquially referred to as “cutting”; a person who routinely does this may be colloquially called a “cutter”.

The number of self-injury methods are only limited to an individual’s creativity. The bodily locations of self-injury are often areas that are easily hidden and concealed from the detection of others.

Examples of self-injury other than cutting include:

* Punching, hitting and scratching
* Choking, constricting of the airway
* Self-biting of hands, limbs, tongue, lips, or arms
* Picking at or re-opening wounds (dermatillomania), ulceration, or sutures
* Hair-pulling (trichotillomania)
* Burning, including cigarette burns, and self-incendiarism (as well as eraser burns, chemical burns [example; salt and ice burns])
* Stabbing self with wire, pins, needles, nails, staples, pens, or hair accessories
* Pinching or clamping, as with clothes pins, paper clips, etc.
* Ingesting corrosive chemicals, batteries, or pins
* Self-poisoning; for example by over-dosing on medication and/or alcohol, without suicidal intent
* Self-injury among individuals with developmental disabilites often involves relatively simple actions, such as banging one’s head against a hard surface, punching hard surfaces, biting oneself (usually hands or arms), or picking wounds. It may also include pica, the swallowing of nonfood items, which can be extremely dangerous and sometimes fatal.

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Youth violence is a powerful mover of hate crimes. In order for you to prevent the sprout of such behavior, read on and learn some tips.

Plan Ahead

1. Work with your school administration to establish a plan for responding promptly to hate incidents and hate crimes.
2. Educate school staff on how to recognize hate-motivated incidents and hate crimes.
3. Establish procedures for reporting hate-motivated incidents/crimes.
4. Establish school policies which clearly indicate that hate-motivated behavior will not be tolerated.

Response Strategies

1. Respond promptly to incidents.
2. Conduct a complete investigation of the incident, including the questioning of victim(s), witness/es and perpetrators. Report hate-motivated crimes to law enforcement. If there is physical damage - defacing, spray-pointing, etc. - take photographs. As soon as law enforcement personnel have viewed the damage and photographs have been token, have the damage repaired. If hate literature has been distributed, collect the literature for evidence.
3. Train school counselors to assist hate-motivated crime victims and/or provide referral sources to community agencies. Reassure the victim and or her family that the incident will be treated seriously.
4. Determine proper disciplinary action according to school protocols.
5. If your district has a reporting policy, submit a hate-motivated crime/incident report to the appropriate district offices.
6. Determine whether or not additional follow-up activities are necessary, e.g., staff and student awareness activities, responses to the media, etc.

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