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School Social Work NOW!
Supporting Innovative Practice,
Effective Leadership, and Applied Research
Vol 6, Issue 1
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There's still time to Register for the 2015 ACSSW Mental Health in Schools Institute, September 28th. Groups of 3 or more from the same district, school,or agency are eligible for a group discount. Don't delay. Read the brochure and register online today! Avoid a late fee by registering prior to September 23rd. This year's presentations will provide tools that are immediately applicable to your practice. Review the program and see if you don't agree.
WELCOME BACK to school. It's another challenging new school year and, already, some are overwhelmed with the tasks before them. Our work is seldom easy but, usually, satisfying. But I was always very hopeful at the start of the school year, hopeful about students, interventions, support from others, working with parents and teachers. For the most part, that hopefulness carried through the entire school year despite ups and downs.
Basically, we're in this together--SSWs, parents, students, teachers, and administration. When things get challenging, please keep that in the back of your mind. It's all about helping students to succeed, to become full, participating individuals in their own lives and future.
If we at ACSSW can help in some way--a resource? article? general information?--please don't hesitate to contact us. We are here for you.
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Emotional trauma is an overwhelming shock to a person's equilibrium. Trauma might be linked to an emotional, physical, or sexual attack or witnessing such an attack. War, rape, murder, accidents, and even well-intentioned medical procedures might all lead to trauma. So can single or repeated incidents of shaming and other emotional and verbal attacks. Trauma can also happen when heartbreaking losses of any kind occur.
When people are traumatized, it often shapes their beliefs about themselves or life. These trauma-induced beliefs- such as "I'm never safe," "I'm unlovable," "I'm a monster," "love is dangerous," "I'm a failure," "I'm helpless"-affect how people feel and often contribute to depression. Learn more.
Threat assessment represents an important component of a comprehensive approach to school safety that gives schools an alternative to zero tolerance discipline policies. Threat assessment is a violence prevention strategy that involves: (a) identifying student threats to commit a violent act, (b) determining the seriousness of the threat, and (c) developing intervention plans that protect potential victims and address the underlying problem or conflict that stimulated the threatening behavior.
The goals of threat assessment are to keep schools safe and to help potential offenders overcome the underlying sources of their anger, hopelessness, or despair. Effective threat assessment provides adults with useful information about a student's risks and personal resources. Among the other potential student risks that can be identified and prevented are suicide, alcohol and drug use, physical abuse, dropping out of school and criminal activity. Full article.
The dark look associated with Goths may not be all show: Teens in this subculture appear more prone to depression and self-harm than their peers, researchers report.
Fifteen-year-olds who strongly identified as Goth -- recognized by their distinctive black clothes, white and black makeup and black hair -- were three times more likely to be depressed at 18 compared with teens who did not identify as Goth, the British researchers found. And they were five times more likely to report self-harming behaviors such as cutting or taking an overdose of pills as non-Goth teens, according to the study published Aug. 27 in The Lancet Psychiatry. More.
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I absolutely hate it when someone else forms an opinion about me based on something they "heard" from somebody else. They have never met me but they think they know me. I'd be willing to bet that you don't like that either.
Yet it happens everyday. It happens because like it or not, your reputation precedes you.
Everything you do, everything you say, every commitment you keep and every one you don't, they all count. They all matter! They all build up or tear down your reputation. That might not be fair, it might not be right, but that's the way it is. That's good news for some people and terrible news for others. Read on.
Strengths-based leadership is about focusing on your strengths, and delegating tasks that you're not as good at to others who are more skilled or experienced. You can also use this approach to identify your team members' strengths, and encourage them to use these in a way that benefits everyone.
Leaders are sometimes expected to excel at everything, and to have very few weaknesses. In reality, though, you'll likely be an expert in a specific area only, despite your range of qualifications and experience, and this doesn't guarantee that you'll succeed elsewhere. When you attempt to become an expert in all areas, you risk spreading yourself too thin and becoming ineffective. So, it's important to recognize your strengths and weaknesses, and delegate tasks that others could do better. Full article.
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...Much of the existing research in the field has focused on elementary and, to a lesser extent, middle schools, where fostering social and emotional skills is often seen as part of the educational mission and early intervention is possible. As a result, little is known about what effective social emotional learning practice looks like at the high school level-a gap that this study seeks to fill.
We studied three very different high schools that have centered their work on developing young people as whole human beings who are socially and emotionally aware and skilled, who engage a growth mindset that enables them to persevere when challenged, who learn to be mindful, conscientious, and empowered, and who develop a sense of social responsibility about making positive contributions to their school community and the wider community beyond. More. Executive Summary.
Abstract: The purpose of the current study is to demonstrate the relationship between students' attendance in September and attendance over the rest of the school year. The analysis shows that engagement and behaviors in September, traditionally the first month of school, set the stage for the following nine months and is thus a key segment of time in which successful habits and practices can be established. Click on site then clock on "download" to access paper.
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The Community-Partnered School Behavioral Health Modules
~ Free Training Series and CEUs Offered ~
www.mdbehavioralhealth.com
Signs of Suicide Program & Gatekeeper Training Module 1.5 CEUs. Free.
from Teachers College Press. A hard copy will be mailed to you. Free.
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Recommended Read for September
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Swept Under the Rug: A Story from Two Sides of a Long Lasting Heroin/alcohol Addiction
By Alex Person
Amazon: A heart-wrenching, true story, told through memories of a young teen dealing with an older brothers long lasting heroin addiction. This book gives the readers a unique perspective of two sides of a heroin addiction. One side told through the younger brothers (Author) memories growing up as a young teen. One side told through the poems and songs written by the older brother (Addict).
The purpose of this book is to bring to light drug abuse. If this book helps one person either help themselves or another, the job has been done.
If you are looking for, books about drug addiction, heroin abuse, family addiction to drugs, alcoholism stories, or general drug abuse reads, this book will give you a taste of all of it.
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| Professional Development Opportunities |
Teens Use E-Cigarettes to Smoke Pot
A study published Monday in the journal Pediatrics shows an alarming new trend among teens: using e-cigarettes -- marketed by the tobacco industry as a safer alternative to traditional cigarettes -- to smoke marijuana.
In a survey conducted by Yale University researchers, nearly one in five Connecticut high school students who use e-cigarettes to vaporize nicotine also use them to vaporize cannabis. Powered by batteries, e-cigarettes turn on a heating element when you inhale that vaporizes liquid contained in small tubes in the device. They were designed to hold liquid nicotine but some teens are substituting hash oil; wax infused with THC or tetrahydrocannabinol, an active ingredient in pot; or dried cannabis leaves.
The use of e-cigarettes has been increasing rapidly among teens nationwide. In the Connecticut survey, which was conducted in the spring of 2014, 27.9 percent of high schoolers surveyed said they use e-cigarettes. Of those, 18.7 percent were "dual users," who also used the devices to vaporize marijuana. More.
Ten years ago, New Orleans public schools were headed for academic rock bottom. And then Hurricane Katrina came, a disaster so devastating that it offered the rare opportunity to start over. Charter schools, empowered to take over, have raised test scores and graduation rates. But some say that success comes from bending the rules. Special correspondent John Tulenko of Education Week reports. Continue here.
When Grace Enick, now 25, was in a Christian elementary school, no one noticed her behavior after she was raped in second grade. "All I wanted was for someone to ask me what was wrong," she said. No one did.
In recent years, educators have become more aware that some students are carrying emotional baggage that can interfere with their ability to learn. They may be dealing with trauma from exposure to street violence, domestic violence, drug addiction, sexual abuse, poverty and homelessness, or grief over a parent's death or illness or unsettled feelings over their parents' divorce.
While some of the traumas are more prevalent in poor, urban communities, neither wealth nor suburbia provides a shield. Teachers are the most important school-controlled factor in learning, but many other factors play important roles as well.
Nearly half of U.S. children experience some type of trauma - and 1 in 5 experienced at least two types of trauma - that can affect their development, according to a study released in 2014 by Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. Continue. |
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School Social Work Positions
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Continued - listed by state abbreviation
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Death and grief will affect the lives of almost all children at some point, often leading to struggles with academic performance, social relationships, and behavior. The death of a loved one is immensely challenging for anyone, but children and teens can find it particularly difficult. Scholastic.com, through the generosity of the New York Life Foundation, hosted a live, interactive webcast on the subject of Children and Grief. Using actual scenarios from children and parents, childhood grief expert, pediatrician, and author Dr. David Schonfeld, MD, and Chris Park, president of the New York Life Foundation, talked about misconceptions, and imparted valuable advice on how educators and all other caring adults can best support grieving children-whether it's right after the loss or years later. Download webcast.
Archived by SAMHSA & KSOC-TV
One Hour in Duration
This archived wepisode describes SAMHSA's definition of trauma, the long-term effects of unaddressed trauma, and ways communities can work together to minimize the impact of trauma. View webisode.
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SchoolGrants
SchoolGrants was created in 1999 as a way to share grant information with PK-12 educators. Grant writing can be intimidating to those who are new at it. SchoolGrants helps ease those fears by providing online tips to those who need them. Finding suitable grant opportunities requires a great deal of time and research - SchoolGrants reduces the effort by listing a variety of opportunities available to public and private nonprofit elementary and secondary schools and districts across the United States. Sample grants are available as well as the opportunity to sign up for a listserv and newsletter. More info.
3rd Quarter Deadline: September 30, 2015
Grants of up to $500 are available for "innovative programs, events, or projects" from the Meemic Foundation for Michigan, Wisconsin or Illinois. Apply online using their easy application that takes less than 30 minutes to complete. These grants are open to any employee of a K-12 public or private school. Universities and colleges may also apply. Fill-in-the-blank application.
Grants are accepted year round, but the third quarter cycle ends September 30th. Grants are up to $500. Recipients will be notified by November 15th.
The foundation says it supports "basically anything that supports teachers and enhances the student's educational experience" - from field trips to books to behavior modification programs; science, music, or art equipment to professional development.
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