MARCH BLOG—2018

In August 2015, I wrote a blog titled “Bad News (for) Boys” in which I reported on boys’ academic achievement, and particularly their difficulties in reading proficiency. I quoted columnist Michael Kimmel:

“Boys’ underachievement is driven by masculinity – that is, what boys think it means to be a man is often at odds with succeeding in school. Stated most simply, many boys regard academic disengagement as a sign of their masculinity.”

“MS Douglas High School was the nation’s deadliest school shooting since a gunman attacked an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, more than five years ago. The overall death toll differs by how such shootings are defined, but Everytown For Gun Safety has tallied 290 school shootings in America since 2013, and this attack makes 18 so far this year.” AP, 2/14/2018

“I challenge you: Put on a ‘boy perspective’ and take a hard look at your school – from the curriculum, to the décor, to the policies and procedures. What is turning boys off and tuning them out?” -Peter DeWitt, the author of Writing the Playbook: A Practitioner’s Guide to Creating a Boy-Friendly School

“What do these shootings have in common? Guns, yes. But also, boys. Girls aren’t pulling the triggers. It’s boys. It’s almost always boys. America’s boys are broken. And it’s killing us. The brokenness of the country’s boys stands in contrast to its girls, who still face an abundance of obstacles but go into the world increasingly well equipped to take them on.” – “The Boys Are Not All Right,” Michael Ian Black, NYT

Resources For You (the “What” – and How)

Call for Action to Prevent Gun Violence in the United States
Interdisciplinary Group on Preventing School and Community Violence, February 28, 2018
https://curry.virginia.edu/prevent-gun-violence

Emma Gonzalez Leads a Student Outcry on Guns: This Is the Way I Have to Grieve https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/18/us/emma-gonzalez-florida-shooting.html

Resiliency After Violence, Usable Knowledge: Connecting Research to Practice, Harvard Graduate School of Education 

• How to talk to children
• The power of student voices
• Student activism
• Creating a welcoming school climate
  https://www.gse.harvard.edu/news/uk/18/02/resiliency-after-violence

American Psychological Association Resources for Coping with Mass Shooting, Understanding Gun Violence—Some Tips

• Talk about it
• Strive for balance
• Turn it off/take a break
• Honor your feelings
• Take care of yourself
• Help others/do something productive
  http://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2017/10/mass-shootings.aspx

Talking to Children About Violence: Tips for Parents and Teachers, National Association for Secondary School Principals

• Validate feeling of safety
• Make time to talk
• Explanation developmentally appropriate
• Review safety procedures
• Observe emotions
• Limit TV viewing
  https://www.nasponline.org/resources-and-publications/resources/school-safety-and-crisis/talking-to-children-about-violence-tips-for-parents-and-teachers
  

Let’s Have Faith and Hope

“Faith makes things possible, not easy.” – Luke, 1:37

“Faith is an expression of hope for something better. More than a wish, it is closer to a belief, but not quite. A belief is rooted in the mind. Faith is based in the heart….All that we hold precious rests upon a faith in people, their potential not yet fulfilled. The evidence of history points us in a different direction—the world is full of ugliness, brutality, and injustices. Yet there is also tenderness, kindness and concern and that takes the bigger part of our hearts.” – Psychology Today, September 28, 2012

“It should be possible both to believe deeply in the rightness of one’s own cause and to hear out the other side. Civility is not a sign of weakness, but of civilization.”  – Nick Kristof, NYT, conservative columnist