Guns at School: Collateral Consequences

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If your child gets caught bringing a gun to school, he or she may have trouble getting into a college and the military may not be an option. Possession of a weapon on school grounds is a felony and kids don’t realize the consequences of their actions, according to the Macon Telegraph. The newspaper looked at a sampling of colleges in Georgia and found that most applications ask if students have ever had a felony conviction or been suspended from school. Those who answer yes have their transcripts and disciplinary records reviewed by a special panel. This doesn’t mean an automatic denial for a student with a record, but it can severely hamper his or her chances of getting in.

Experts to Share Latest Bullying Prevention Strategies

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Every day, thousands of kids wake up afraid to go to school. They check their Facebook or look at their cell phones, worried about what they’ll find. If there’s a child in your life who needs help, check out a webcast sponsored by the Federal Partners in Bullying Prevention Working Group, taking place October 27 at 1:00 p.m.

The webcast will feature a panel of experts including:

Dr. Catherine Bradshaw, Associate Director, Johns Hopkins Center for the Prevention of Youth Violence
Kevin Jennings, Assistant Deputy Secretary, Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools, U.S. Department of Education
Capt. Stephanie Bryn, Director, Injury and Violence Prevention Programs, Health Resources and Services Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

The registration deadline is October 25. To register and get log in information, click here.

Teens Drinking Less in Georgia: Feds Credit Community Teamwork

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Underage drinking has declined in Georgia, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). SAMHSA has released a video on the many ways the state of Georgia has successfully fought underage drinking. “I’m happy to say that Georgia has the lowest reported binge drinking rates of all the states and I firmly believe that this is the result of a concerted effort,” said Brenda J.D. Rowe, Ph.D., Director of Substance Abuse Prevention & Behavioral Development for Georgia’s Department of Human Resources. The Cobb County Alcohol Taskforce is one of the groups on the frontlines. Coordinator Cathy Fink also sees great progress.

Sixty Percent of Kids are Exposed to Violence

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More than 60 percent of children have been directly or indirectly exposed to violence within the past year, according to a national study by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Nearly one-half of kids surveyed were assaulted at least once in the past year and more than 1 in 10 were injured in an assault.

Conducted between January and May 2008, the National Survey of Children’s Exposure to Violence, measured exposure to violence for kids 17 and younger. They looked at conventional crime, sex crimes, school violence and threats, family violence and more. Attorney General Eric Holder recently unveiled the Defending Childhood Initiative, focused on this issue. So far, the Department of Justice has aware $5.5 million to eight cities (none of them in Georgia) to focus on:

Providing appropriate programs and service for families and children
Increasing access to quality programs and services
Developing new services where gaps exist.

Attorney General Holder Unveils Defending Childhood Initiative

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Department of Justice
Office of Public Affairs

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, September 23, 2010

Attorney General Holder Unveils Defending Childhood Initiative
$5.5 Million in Grants Awarded for First Phase of Initiative

WASHINGTON – Attorney General Eric Holder today officially unveiled Defending Childhood, a new Department of Justice initiative focused on addressing children’s exposure to violence. The goals of the initiative are to prevent children’s exposure to violence as victims and witnesses, mitigate the negative effects experienced by children exposed to violence, and develop knowledge about and increase awareness of this issue. “For me, the issue of children’s exposure to violence has been both a personal and professional concern for decades. As our nation’s Attorney General and as a parent, it remains a top priority,” said Attorney General Holder. “Through renewing and refocusing our efforts to serve our nation’s most vulnerable and most distressed children we can transform the country we love for the better – one child at a time.”

A key component of the initiative is a multi-year demonstration program.

Hotel and Airline Workers Get Training to Spot Victims of Child Sex Trafficking

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Hotel and airline workers are getting trained to spot child sex trafficking, according to Reuters.com. Innocents At Risk, a nonprofit focused on fighting child exploitation and human trafficking, is working with Airline Ambassadors International and the Air Transport Association. They have a training program to help flight attendants, hotel desk clerks, cleaning crews and other workers spot children in trouble. Signs of child trafficking include:

The child has few personal items when they board the plane. The child avoids eye contact, looks paranoid, undernourished and behaves in an unusually submissive manner.

Update: Teen Driver Dead, Roy Barnes’ Granddaughter in Surgery

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A 17 year old boy died Monday, after a head-on collision that injured the grandchildren of gubernatorial candidate Roy Barnes.  The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is reporting that Mario D. Zuniga of Kennesaw passed away from a head injury.  Cobb police say he was behind the wheel of a Porsche Boxster and driving too fast on Sunday, when he swerved into oncoming traffic, hitting the mini-van carrying Allison Barnes Salter and her two children. "We definitely know that speed was a factor in the crash, but we don’t know the exact speed,” said Cobb County police officer Joseph Hernandez. Police are still examining the teen's Porsche Boxster. They don't know if other factors, such as a cell phone, might have played a role. The crash has taken a toll on three different families and four children.  Barnes’ 4-year-old granddaughter, Ella, had surgery for a broken arm, according to Anna Ruth Williams, a spokeswoman for his campaign.

Reducing Gang Activity: OJJDP Best Practices

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Looking for some help to reduce gang crime in your neighborhood? Doing a thorough assessment of the nature and scope of the youth gang problem in your community is just one of the Best Practices from OJJDP. The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention has just released a new report called Best Practices To Address Community Gang Problems: OJJDP’s Comprehensive Gang Model, which includes nationwide research on effective gang reduction methods. Some of these Best Practices include:

Addressing the problem
Holding youth accountable
Providing relevant programming
Coordinating community participation

For the full model, click here.

Jailed Kids Drugged Without Diagnosis

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Kids behind bars in American juvenile facilities are getting anti-psychotic drugs intended for bipolar or schizophrenic patients, even when they haven’t been diagnosed with either disorder, according to a year-long investigation by Youth Today. Even in cases when diagnoses are made for such disorders, some experts believe those diagnoses are rooted in convenience rather than the medical evidence. “Critics believe most of these diagnoses are simply a cover for the fact that prisons now use drugs as a substitute for banned physical restraints that once were used on juveniles who aggressively acted out,” Youth Today points out. The findings come from state juvenile systems that provided in-depth information on their use of the drugs. Only 16 states responded to a nationwide survey by Youth Today.

Push for Harassed LGBT Kids to Take Action

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There’s a new campaign that focuses on empowering lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered students, as well as their supporters, to report incidents of bullying, harassment or discrimination to the Office for Civil Rights at the U.S. Education Department. Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays has partnered with the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network to launch the Claim Your Rights campaign, which revealed some alarming statistics:

Approximately 85 percent of high school students report being harassed in school because of their real or perceived sexual orientation … and only 18 percent of LGBT students report their schools have policies [that] offer comprehensive protections. The campaign provides detailed information on how to file a report, as well as an easy to print fact sheet. To further check out the campaign, click here. To access the fact sheet, click here.