TEG
TUESDAY, MARCH 22, 2016
V V V
PULITZER PRIZE-WINNING
FAMILY OWNED SINCE 1895
V V V
SCHOOL VIOLENCE AND SUICIDE
PREVENTION IS POSSIBLE
By Jessie Wagoner
[email protected]
Scott Poland, Ph.D, an internationally recognized expert on school crisis and youth suicide
gave The Teachers College annual lecture on
Monday evening. Poland’s message was clear
— school violence can be prevented.
“I believe it’s very important that everybody
understand that schools are very safe places,”
Poland said. “Less than 1 percent of the violent
deaths for children in America occur on school
grounds. It is very important that we all think
prevention. Prevention is up to you and it’s up
to all of us ... to work together.”
Throughout the presentation, Poland emphasized how safe schools are. It is more likely
for a child to be killed in their own home or
community rather than in their school. Poland
shared information from the FBI Data Review
from 2005-2010, which reviewed all U.S. homicides of children age five to 18. Of those cases,
9,847 children were killed in their residences
and another 4,455 were killed on the street.
During that same time period 49 children were
killed in schools.
“Where do kids in America get killed?” Poland asked. “It’s in their own homes and it is
their own parents killing them.”
Poland says, frequently, after a school shooting occurs, people will say “but the shooter was
just an average kid.” This statement is “blatantly false,” according to Poland. Poland identified
three types of school shooters — the psychopathic shooter, the psychotic shooter and the
traumatized shooter. Additionally, two-thirds
of all school shooters are suicidal.
“These are not normal kids,” Poland said.
“They are desperately in need of dramatic
interventions. Some of these shooters have
experienced dramatic losses and are very traumatized.”
Poland’s concept is that this information
means that school violence can be prevented.
Poland says that the majority of school violence episodes are preceded by the perpetrator
telling someone of their plan. Studies of past
school shootings has shown that 81 percent
of the time someone knew about the incident ahead of time and more than one person
knew 59 percent of the time. If that information had been shared with proper authorities,
Poland says, it is likely all of the shootings could
have been prevented.
Suicide prevention is necessary at all grade
levels, according to Poland. There have been
incidents of children as young as 10 following
through with a suicide plan. The 2013 National
Youth Risk Behavior Survey results indicate
that 17 percent of high school students considered suicide within the last year, 13.6 percent
made a suicide plan and eight percent attempted suicide.
Please see Violence, Page 3
Good Evening
VVV
Safe schools are
good schools.
WWW.EMPORIAGAZETTE.COM
BECAUSE YOU ASKED
QUESTIONS
ANSWERED
ABOUT THE
USD 251
PROPOSED
BOND
By Jessie Wagoner
[email protected]
Editor’s Note: North Lyon
County USD 251 is proposing
a $31 million bond to build
a consolidated kindergarten
through twelfth grade building. The Gazette has received
the following questions from
readers related to North Lyon
County and the bond project.
Please send any additional
questions to jessie@emporia.
com.
Were the community
meetings scheduled by
the North Lyon County Board
of Education well-attended?
The North Lyon County Board of Education
hosted three community meetings to discuss the bond proposal with district patrons.
Meetings were held in Americus, Reading and at Northern
Heights High School near Allen. At each meeting there
were many community mem-
Q
A
Please see Q&A, Page 3
KENDRA JOHNSON/GAZETTE
Scott Poland speaks about how to prevent violence in schools Monday at Emporia State University’s Teachers College.
RAISING THE RECREATION ROOF
CVAB
VIEWS
UPCOMING
ADS
By Cathryne Scharton
[email protected]
By Cathryne Scharton
[email protected]
At Monday evening’s Emporia
Recreation Commission meeting
members approved the bids on a
new roof for the Lee Beran Recreation Center.
The commission reviewed
three different bids from roofing
companies in Emporia, Lawrence
and Kansas City. The lowest bid
was presented by George Groh
and Sons of Emporia. The roof
replacement will take place in
three different phases. The commission approved Phase I and II
and will review the third phase
next year.
Phase I covers 132 feet by
78 feet of area over the original
building, which was constructed
in 1977. Phase II covers 116 feet
by 96 feet over the swimming
pool, which was built in 1982.
The third phase is 118 feet by 96
feet, built in 1993. Phase I costs
Please see ERC, Page 3
At Monday’s Convention and
Visitors Advisory Board meeting members reviewed advertisement samples from IM Design.
“We’ve been working closely
with IM Design,” said Susan
Rathke, CVAB director. “Every
other week we have meetings
with them so there’s no surprises. We are all in this effort
together and that’s working for
us, so, no surprises when they
came to the meeting.”
The design concept follows
suit of earlier Emporia ads, using a simplistic design to make
a bold statement. Rathke said
the concept has been followed
since late 2015 and early 2016
and, at this time, they want
to stay consistent with the ad
style. Friday, the latest version
of Emporia Living was released
and it features an Emporia ad
utilizing the simplistic design.
CVAB pays IM Design a
$2,500 retainer fee each month,
totalling $30,000 a year, to
meet with the design team on
a monthly basis, design the
ads and shoot the photography
needed for the ads.
Members also reviewed applicant guidelines for the support grant process. The new
process for support w&