connecting the dots

I attended a Level 1 Risk and Threat Assessment Training Seminar on Thursday and Friday of this last week. One of the possible avenues that I am interested in, after June when my time at the church expires, is to work as a family school liaison counselor. It’s a long shot to be sure but if things would work out I would be so excited to work in this field. Anyways part of attending was an attempt to bolster my credentials in being considered for any opportunities that might arise. But really more than that this was an area that I have been very interested/concerned about.

The whole course focused on assessing kids for potentially violent actions. There is a strong team based approached that has been developed in the wake of the Taber school shooting which took place several years ago. The protocol and assessment tools are simple but clearly a very responsible way to address the complexity of potential threats to school safety. Of course with recent North American events it is all the more poignant to address this issue. I could not help being overwhelmed with a deep sadness. Fear was palpable in so many conversations and discussion around these issues yet I was warmly reassured as I sensed the care that these professionals held for the children in their care.

A couple of interesting thoughts came out of the time there:

I guess there are some places in the U.S. where it is being suggested that teachers be armed with hand guns as a way of defense in these violent episodes. Several teachers were joking around at the break about what a handy tool that would be during recess. “A couple of warning shots fired over Johnny’s head would teach him to go down feet first on the slide.” It was funny and sick all at the same time.

I couldn’t help noticing the place where certain strategies that were discussed seemed to deal directly with issues of social engineering. I’m not sure why it surprised me really?! I wonder if sometimes we as Christians think we have the corner on behaviour modification or social adjustments. I realized that here were a bunch of people who working toward some of the same goals that I have been in their ‘secular’ context. It was refreshing in some ways. I think that a lot of us religious people worry about the social engineering that might be taking place. We think that unless the people who are doing the manipulation are not Christians their efforts are suspect. Of course we can cite acceptance of homosexuality in sex ed. and other similar issues but…

In some ways I think these professionals are proactively moving toward some pretty Biblical principles in regards to respect, bullying, and other similar issues.

The media bears such a huge culpability in the exacerbation of school violence. The sensationalist news media need to own the way their coverage affects the psyche of the adolescent culture. Personally I think that the media needs to be held to account. Where are the stories of success where school counselors and intervention teams have averted possible conflict? Where are the stories about how proactive policies are making a difference? They are very rare. That failure should haunt these reporting agencies.