Parent's Community Kids "At-Risk" Page
Information and advice for parents on ways to help at-risk kids succeed against the odds.

Assessment
This section of the Counseling Community contains information and resources on a variety of assessments of use to counselors including a special section on mental health.

Work Ethic Earns Texas School National Spotlight
KIPP Academy students and educators talk to Education World about how hard work pays off in improving test scores and how it got them invited to the Republican National Convention last summer.

Strategies to Keep Kids in School
States can learn a lesson from a recently released report that studied dropout rates in 16 states. Joseph D. Creech, author of the report and executive director of educational policies at the Southern Regional Education Board, told Education World that reducing dropout rates isn't easy or simple. "There is not a single silver bullet that has the answer," Creech said. "It is complex." Included: Strategies for identifying potential dropouts and keeping them in school!

Kids at Risk --- Can Educators Help?
A new government report indicates that kids in the United States are generally OK. Many indicators show an improvement in their overall well-being. Not all the news is good, however. Today, Education World highlights some findings from a collaborative effort by 20 federal agencies. Included: What do the report's findings say to educators?

A Crash Test in Drunken Driving
Project Crash, Shattered Dreams, Every 15 Minutes --- those are just three of many programs being used in high schools around the country. A reenactment of a deadly traffic accident caused by a drunken driver is the centerpiece of each of those programs aimed at "driving" home the importance of not drinking and driving! Included: Students, teachers, and parents comments on the power of these crash simulations.

Where Everyone Knows Your Name! -- Special Programs Target At-Risk Students
This week, Education World takes a look at some special programs that target at-risk students in grades five and up.

Programs Combat A Community Problem-Chronically Truant Students
What is the connecting link between restricted driving privileges, enforced community service, and reduced welfare payments? These strategies are components of truancy-prevention programs in effect throughout the United States.

Can Schools Stop Promoting Failure?
Educators in Chicago, DC, and North Carolina are setting new standards for student promotion and retention. And a new report from the American Federation of Teachers -- "Passing on Failure: District Promotion Policies and Practices" -- examines the issue.

From Darkness to Light:Teens Write About How They Triumphed Over Trouble
An inspiring book packed with powerful tales written by teens who have triumphed over adversity! Included: A new essay contest for students ages seven to 18!

Who Are Today's School Dropouts?
A new report looks in-depth at the U.S. dropout rate as it applies to students from various racial-ethnic groups and from different income levels and geographic regions.

One Character Education Program That Works!
Many schools, lacking the time and resources required to develop their own character education curricula, are instead turning to established programs that have proven successful in other school districts.

Growing Up Gay: Are Schools Doing Enough to Support Gay Students?
Could Matthew Shepard's murder have been prevented by education in our schools?

Egg Babies, Sugar Babies, Flour Babies... Can They Keep Teens from Having REAL Babies?
This week Education World explores the facts and the benefits of "egg baby" lessons!

Baby Helps Teens Think It Over!
A computerized doll, programmed to mirror the needs of a real baby, shows teens what parenting is really like.

Dad's Book Explains HIV to His Young Daughter
A new book from Fairview Press explains everything kids need to know about HIV/AIDS. With the help of beautiful illustrations, My Dad Has HIV tells the facts and dispels the fears surrounding the virus that causes AIDS.

Student Mobility: Helping Children Cope With a Moving Experience
Moving can greatly affect a child's concentration and behavior in school, and children may have trouble articulating their feelings. But teachers can help alleviate some of the stress that surrounds an impending move.

A Child's Grief Journey
When a child loses someone close to them, how can adults help? Author Amy Jay Barry sought answers to that question when she and her young boys faced the death of her husband, their father. Now Barry shares what she learned from that experience, and from years as a bereavement counselor, in a sensitive and educational story, A Child's Grief Journey. Included: An Education World interview with the author.

Time2Act.org
Time2Act.org "is intended to encourage discussion among professionals in education, the justice system, parents, students and the community to stimulate new approaches to these issues nationwide and initiate reform."

ReCAPP (Resource Center for Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention)
Managed by ETR (Education, Training, Research) Associates, a nonprofit publisher of health education resources, ReCAPP offers educators an online source of information and support for educating teens on "sexual risk-taking behaviors."

National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect Information
Well over 1,000 children die each year as a result of known abuse and neglect. Many such tragedies are preventable, and teachers and school counselors are often the ones in the best position to help families to get the help they need.

The Prevention Through Service Alliance's Summary Page
Here is an excellent list of programs around the USA that are targeted at the prevention of risky behavior in adolescents and youth.

Education & Children At Risk
A list of books published by the American Psychological Association.

Facts For Families
The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychology developed Facts for Families to provide concise and up-to-date information on issues that affect children, teenagers, and their families.

Centers for Disease Control/Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention

HIV InSite

ATIS Publications
Information on the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS from the HIV/AIDS Treatment Information Service (ATIS).

School Safety
This section of the Parents Community has information on how to help keep our schools a safe place to learn.

Anonymity Spurs Students to Report Potential Violence
Students often know about the threat of violence in a school -- even when administrators and teachers are in the dark. Yet fear of reprisal or being labeled a snitch may keep students silent. Programs that provide anonymity to students and others reporting crime, violence, or the threat of violence can help make our schools safer places for learning. But, administrators caution, such programs are just one piece of an effort to make schools safer places. Included: Education World talks with administrators who use online violence reporting programs in their schools.

When Tragedy Strikes: What Schools Should Do
Tragedies happen. Children and parents die. Teens commit suicide. And teachers must face their students after the unthinkable happens. Today, Education World talks to educators and psychologists who have helped students and teachers deal with death, suicide, and murder. Included: Tips for teachers and administrators for handling the death of a student.

Secret Service Report Targets School Violence
School shooters don't snap. They plan. And somebody else usually knows before they attack. The Secret Service advises schools to get troubled kids help before they plot their attack and to find ways to break down the barriers that inhibit students from telling an adult about a planned attack. Included: Tips for identifying potential school shooters.

An Education World e-Interview With Hank Nuwer, Author of "High School Hazing: When Rites Become Wrongs"
Hank Nuwer, currently an adjunct professor in journalism at Indiana University-Purdue University, has been writing and speaking about hazing behavior and its consequences "nonstop" for the past 14 years. His earlier books on hazing, "Wrongs of Passage" (Indiana University Press, 1999) and "Broken Pledges: The Deadly Rite of Hazing" (Longstreet Press, 1990), were written for adults. Recently, Nuwer talked to Education World about his latest book, "High School Hazing: When Rites Become Wrongs" (Franklin Watts, 2000), which is directed toward high school students.

The School Shooter: One Solution Doesn't Fit All
A new FBI report shares the organization's expertise so educators can systematically evaluate student threats. In detailed guidelines, the report provides criteria to help educators determine the level of risk posed by a particular student threat, describes the risk factors in four different contexts that should signal a warning about a student, and suggests interventions. Some educators raise concerns that the guidelines could be used to unfairly profile students. Included: The FBI's list of student traits and school, family, and social dynamics that may signal warnings of potentially violent behavior.

Hazing: Its Not Just a College Problem Anymore!
In a public statement released this week, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) accepted responsibility for the alcohol-related death of freshman Scott Krueger in a 1997 fraternity hazing ritual. In a letter to Kruegers family, MIT President Charles Vest wrote, At a very personal level, I feel that we at MIT failed you and Scott. A recent study suggests that hazing isnt just a college problem anymore. Our high schools, it appears, also fail their students. Included: Tips to help schools prevent hazing.

Information Sharing to Make Colorado Schools Safer
In 1994, an amended federal law opened the door for Colorado to enact a law this year to allow school and criminal justice officials to share information about violent and disruptive students. The new law is intended to help prevent future school violence. Will more states follow Colorado and the other states that have enacted this law?

Don't Get Even; Get Help!: Support for Victims of Bullies
Education World continues its week-long exploration of bullying with a story about students in one Canadian school who decided to do something about bullying in their school. They created www.bullying.org, a Web site designed to help victims of bullies deal with the problem in nonviolent ways -- and to help victims and others learn how to solve the problem.

Bullying Intervention Strategies That Work
"Bullying," according to noted expert Dan Olweus, "poisons the educational environment and affects the learning of every child." Learn what you can do to keep bullying behavior from poisoning your school. Included: Practical tips for changing the behavior of bullies and their victims.

Sticks and Stones and *Names* Can Hurt You: De-Myth-tifying the Classroom Bully!
Bullies are raised in the home, but their victims are too frequently created in the classroom. Learn how what you believe about bullies can hurt your students! Included: Ten myths about bullies, and the research that helped identify those myths!

Stop Bullying Now!
For many years, bullying was seen as a necessary evil -- an unpleasant, but unavoidable, rite of childhood. Ignore it, we thought, and eventually it will go away. The problem hasnt gone away, though, and educators can no longer afford to ignore it. Included: Ten activities for teaching kids about empathy, anger management, and effective conflict resolution.

FEMA Program Helps Schools Develop Emergency Response
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has introduced a planning process to help schools develop procedures to respond to all types of disasters, including school violence.

An Education World e-Interview: Youth Violence Expert James Garbarino
James Garbarino ---a national expert on youth violence and author of Lost Boys: Why Our Sons Turn Violent and How We Can Save Them --- talked with Education World. Included: Garberinos ideas about how we can make our schools safe again.

Taking the Bully By the Horns
All kids know how to recognize bullies -- or do they? Taking the Bully by the Horns, written by Kathy Noll and Jay Carter, teaches kids how to spot a bully, how to recognize bully "games" -- and how NOT to play.

America's Safe Schools Week
In this issue, teachers will find helpful Internet resources for teaching conflict resolution in the classroom and the latest children's books with messages of tolerance; and we'll point school administrators to resources that will help them analyze school safety needs and programs.

Picture Books Help Kids Handle Anger and Bullying
This week, Education World reviews Bullies and Gangs, The Ant Bully, and When Sophie Gets Angry -- Really, Really Angry These three new picture books support classroom discussions of anger, bullying, violence, and tolerance.

Conflict Resolution Education: Four Approaches
Are you "shopping" for a conflict resolution program for your schools? First, you might consider which approach to conflict resolution you will take. In this story, learn about four approaches used in conflict resolution programs. Find out how each actually transforms schools. Included: Resources for learning more about each of the four approaches to conflict resolution education.

The Brain and Behavior -- Programmed for Violence?
In the aftermath of the latest school violence in Colorado, the entire country is once again asking "Why?" Many researchers and educators now believe that some of those answers -- and perhaps some solutions -- might be found in brain research.

Schools Combat Violence
What's being done to combat violence in America's schools? What can school administrators and teachers do? Should disruptive students be expelled? These are some of the problems educators, lawmakers, and other experts are tackling today.

Follow the Rules, Get Safely to School
Follow the Rules, Get Safely to School is this year's National School Bus Safety Week theme. But bus safety isn't a one-week topic. It's a year-round subject that connects to many curriculum areas.

Bully-Proof Your School
Recognized as more than just a problem between kids, schools are called upon to put forth a team effort to end bullies' longtime reign of terror.

Center for the Prevention of School Violence
The Center for the Prevention of School Violence provides information that school officials and community members can use to establish and maintain safe schools.

Creative Partnership for Prevention
This Web site, based on the Creative Partnerships for Prevention initiative, provides current information and resources for using the arts and humanities to enhance drug and violence prevention programs.

Keys To Safer Schools.com
This site dedicated to the detection and prevention of school violence offers information, resources, regional workshops, and a regular newletter.

Help For Young Children Who Have Witnessed Violence
A list of resources and books published by the American Psychological Association.

Keeping Schools SAfe
This excellent Web site is a joint project of the National Association of Attorneys General and the National School Boards Association.

Character Education
This part of the Parents Community Issues in Education section takes a look at character education in our schools.

To Your Health! Lessons to Build Health Awareness
This week, Education World presents ten lessons to help students learn about health and the dangers of substance abuse. Included: Activities that involve students in creating posters about the dangers of drug abuse, conducting experiments about germs, and much more!

Anti-Substance Abuse Program Works ASAP!
Seeing is believing! ASAP -- an anti-drug program in which middle-school students see the effects of alcohol, tobacco, and drugs on realbody organs -- is opening students' eyes to, and opening up discussions about, the realdangers substance abuse poses for the human body. Thursday, November 19, is the American Cancer Society's 22nd Great American Smokeout!

Freevibe
Freevibe promotes a drug-free lifestyle for adolescents and is sponsored by the National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information of the United States Public Health Service.
(Grades: 6-12)

Driving Under the Influence
Driving Under the Influence is the place to find all sorts of important information about the dangers of driving while under the influence of alcohol and other drugs. The site includes interactive quizzes at the end of each section.

Just Say No!
Just say No! is an educational site devoted to teaching drug and alcohol awareness to youth. The site offers a set of projects that students can work on to prevent substance abuse both in the classroom and within the community.

Creative Partnership for Prevention
This Web site, based on the Creative Partnerships for Prevention initiative, provides current information and resources for using the arts and humanities to enhance drug and violence prevention programs.

Prevention Online
From the National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information

National Inhalant Prevention Coalition

Al-Anon/Alateen
A worldwide organization that offers a 12 Step self-help recovery program for families and friends of alcoholics.

Substance Abuse & Alcoholism
A comprehensive list of resources from Mental Health Net.

Another Empty Bottle - A Site for Friends and Family of Alcoholics
This site contains links, help groups, hotlines, information, personal stories related to alcoholism plus a special section for teens.

Center for Substance Abuse and Prevention

SAMHSA/CSAP Prevention Enhancement Protocols (PEPS)
Resources from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Servides Association's Center (SAMHSA) for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP).

SAMHSA/CSAT Treatment Improvement Protocols (TIP)
A helpful set of resources on from the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT).