Sue Hartigan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: School-Violence Prevention Urged > PITTSBURGH (AP) -- In the past six months, children > shot and killed students and teachers at schools in > Arkansas, Mississippi, Kentucky and now Pennsylvania. > And each time, warnings about the impending tragedy > were ignored. > > But many child development experts say society can no > longer afford to dismiss these threats as idle boasts. > > ``It is eerie that this is repeating itself,'' said Dr. > Burt Singerman, director of psychiatrist at St. Francis > Medical Center in Pittsburgh. > > ``I really think this has occurred enough times that > teachers, principals and guidance counselors need to > think about how they would handle students who make > these statements about wanting to hurt people.'' > > In the small, college town of Edinboro Friday, a > 14-year-old boy opened fire at an eighth-grade dance, > killing a teacher and wounding another teacher and two > 14-year-old boys, police said. > > The shooting in the northwest Pennsylvania town > followed one last month in Jonesboro, Ark., in December > in West Paducah, Ky., and last October in Pearl, Miss. > The toll: 11 killed and 25 wounded. > > ``It's doubtful that this would have happened in > Edinboro if it hadn't already happened in Kentucky and > Arkansas,'' Singerman said. > > Only after the tragedies in Jonesboro and West Paducah > did officials there begin talking about how to prevent > them from occurring. In Arkansas, schools are getting > brochures with tips on spotting potentially violent > students. In Kentucky, officials have suggested > installing a telephone line to get tips from students > about potential problems. > > At the very least, parents must pay more attention to > their children talking about signs of trouble in > classmates, a social psychologist said. > > ``One of things that parents need to do, I think, is > tell their kids that if they hear anything about a kid > even joking around about having a weapon, that has to > be taken seriously and reported to an adult > immediately,'' said Janet Riggs, who teaches at > Gettysburg College. > > A month before the killing in Edinboro, 14-year-old > Andrew Wurst told classmates he wanted to kill people > and commit suicide. Another classmate noticed that > Wurst was becoming curt and unfriendly in recent weeks. > > One of the teens accused in the Arkansas killings > talked about shooting people the day before he actually > did, but fellow students didn't take him seriously. > > The 14-year-old accused of shooting into a prayer > circle in West Paducah, Ky., warned friends to stay > away from the gathering. > > And in Mississippi, the five teens charged with murder > conspired to take over the school and kill their > enemies, authorities have said. > > Schools should let students know it's OK to tell an > adult that an acquaintance is talking about committing > a violent act, Singerman said. > > School counselors should host role-playing sessions in > which students act out how to recognize a problem in > their peers and learn how to tell a teacher about it, > he said. > > ``I think if somebody is talking about it, you take it > seriously. Something is wrong. Something is bothering > the child,'' Singerman said. ``Once these things are > publicized, you have other children reading about it, > seeing it and fantasizing about doing it themselves.'' > > Schools should work harder to sponsor events all > students can feel a part of -- dances, intramural > sports, clubs -- to counter the tendency for lonely > teens to increase their isolation. > > Such teens tend to lose track of what's real and what's > not as they immerse themselves in violent videos and > computer fantasy games, said Dr. Paul Friday, chief of > clinical psychology at the University of Pittsburgh > Medical Center at Shadyside Hospital. > > ``There's a price we pay for this high technology. The > more realistic it gets, the fuzzier the line becomes > between fantasy and reality. The people who are > marginally unstable can start down that slippery slope > and not see it as a real thing,'' Friday said. > > ``The solutions lie in the family dwelling, they don't > lie in the government, the school or the psychologist's > office. And I don't think they lie in the church > either,'' he said. > > ``They lie in the family -- the most basic of all human > units.'' > -- Two rules in life: 1. Don't tell people everything you know. 2. Subscribe/Unsubscribe, email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] In the body of the message enter: subscribe/unsubscribe law-issues
