Thursday, January 24, 2013
The Pinellas School Board is considering hiring mental health counselors who would evaluate students identified as potential security risks and make sure they get treatment, TBO.com reports.
The Pinellas County School Board is considering hiring mental health counselors to evaluate students identified as potential security risks in an attempt to keep schools safer in the wake of the recent Connecticut shootings, TBO.com reports. Board member Renee Flowers, who floated the proposal at a board workshop Tuesday, told the news site the counselors would talk to students identified by school guidance counselors and follow up to be sure they get help if needed. The board has asked the school district to review its policies to see if such a proposal is possible, TBO reports. Flowers said officials would still need to figure out how to cover the cost for students who aren't covered by insurance, and that parents would need to give …
Monday, December 17, 2012
In the wake of the Newtown, Conn., tragedy, some local law enforcement agencies are beefing up patrols at elementary schools. We want to hear from you Tampa Bay on whether this is a good idea or not?
On a crisp December Friday, a lone gunman walked onto an elementary school campus in Newtown, Conn., and began a rampage that would ultimately end the lives of 20 children, all between the ages of 6 and 7, and seven adults – himself included. As the grim news unfolded, people across America sat glued to the latest media reports on the internet and television. Most asked why this happened. Some desperately sought answers to the question of how such a shooting could occur in the first place. Sanity questions aside, they wanted to know how a gunman could get onto a secured campus and wreak such havoc. That’s the question local law enforcement seems to have been wrestling with, as well. As law enforcement continues to unravel the details of …
Saturday, December 15, 2012
'While we may be feeling weepy or mesmerized by the TV coverage, we need to remember our kids are watching us,' advises a family therapist.
Many parents wonder what to tell their kids since news broke of the Newtown school shootings that killed 20 children in Connecticut. This tragedy has stunned the nation, and kids naturally will come to their parents and teachers with questions. They may be picking up their own information through social media, their friends and TV. Kids will want to know they are safe and make sense of what happened. They may turn to their parents and teachers for answers. Lauren Hutchinson is a child and family therapist and parenting consultant. She says step one for parents is to “turn off the TV.” “We don’t want to have the TV playing in the background all the time. It isn’t helpful and the news is traumatizing for kids to watch.” For kids seven and …
Friday, December 14, 2012
Today's shooting massacre at a Connecticut elementary school is a national tragedy. Protecting our schools and community is a No. 1 priority. How ready are Clearwater schools to respond to crisis?
Whether it is a public elementary school or a large high school, each Pinellas County school is required to have a security and crisis plan in place, in case of emergency. Clearwater schools are no exceptions. Crisis planning is updated yearly, according to Melanie Marquez, spokeswoman for the Pinellas County School District, which by law is exempt from sharing its security plans with the public and media. What Marquez was able to disclose is that each crisis plan is tailored to the individual needs and challenges of each public school in Pinellas County. In addition, each school is required to hold emergency drills for evacuating students and for lockdowns, when school doors are locked and no one is permitted to leave or enter the …
Ronald Joseph Kule
12:26 pm on Friday, January 25, 2013
Statistics overwhelmingly show that school safety is endangered, not protected, by the continual use of psychotropic drugs on children, which are recommended by such counselors. Nine out of ten recent school-related shooting incidents have involved the prescribed use of these drugs on the part of the perpetrators. Having such counselors present is not a good idea for safety as they are often the … more ›