Educational Psychologist Offers Tips to Help Schools Help Kids

In a recent interview marking the anniversary of a school shooting that killed two students and wounded 13, the then-teenaged gunman shares the warning signs he displayed before his tragic meltdown. "My dad noticed my grades slipping … I would come home with bruises and lie to him,” says Charles “Andy” Williams, now 27, in the Oprah Winfrey Network interview. "I didn't know how to communicate that somethin' really, really bad was goin' on. I didn't know how to talk about it." Take Andy’s story, says educational research specialist Dr. Mariam Azin, and multiply it by hundreds of thousands of students across the country. Among them are the next Adam Lanza, James Holmes, or Andy Williams – people who have become so emotionally disturbed, they turn to killing strangers. “It’s the quiet kids who slip through the cracks and don’t get the help they need,” says the founder and CEO of Mazin Education (www.mazineducation.com), a social psychologist who has spent decades conducting research in educational settings and on at-risk students. One high school for which she gathered data found that 750 of its 2,500 students reported having a substance abuse issue. But, in the year she studied, only 10 students were referred for substance abuse intervention, and just five of them connected with a program. Three completed it. “The loud and disruptive kids who are having problems get the attention they need; the quiet ones don’t,” Mazin says. “If we can identify them – and we can! -- and intervene, we can help prevent future violence and suicides.” She says schools can take some simple but effective steps right now to begin identifying troubled students.

1. Make it everybody’s job. From the lunch lady to the custodian to the bus driver to the teacher, many adults notice small signs, like Andy Williams’ declining grades and his bruises. If everyone reported the small signs they saw, the cumulative effect could be one big indicator of a problem. “The cafeteria worker may notice he’s not eating,” Azin says. “The custodian may see him being bullied. One sign here or there gets overlooked, but if everyone knows that, if they see something that concerns them, they document it, then we’ll be able to connect those dots and make sure more kids get the help they need.” School leadership should make it everyone’s job to report.

2. Provide a safe way to report. Some people say nothing because they’re afraid they’ll be expected to make a decision about what the behavior means or they’ll have to do something about it. Some fear reporting will make them legally accountable. “Everyone involved with students needs to understand they are expected only to report what they see -- changes in behavior, incidents that may cause emotional distress,” Azin says. “A single, isolated incident will not necessarily result in action being taken.” Schools also need to embed an infrastructure through which concerns can be documented securely as soon as an incident takes place. 

3. Identify community services that can help. Schools may be reluctant to identify troubled students because they don’t have the resources to provide them with help. “Identify and develop relationships with programs and resources in the community to which students can also be referred,” Azin says. “While schools are the place where many troubled students can be identified, it does not necessarily follow that it is solely the school’s responsibility to provide all of the necessary services to those students and their families. It takes a village to help provide services to at-risk youth and their families and to help prevent school violence. But if we can’t document and clearly identify the need, it’s impossible to get these resources in place.

4. Embed a system for follow-up and monitoring. Once students who are showing signs of academic, behavioral, or emotional risk are identified and referred to appropriate services, a system for follow-up and monitoring needs to be embedded to ensure that they actually connect with appropriate mental and physical health services, academic intervention or other family services. Ideally, subsequent monitoring of progress will occur to see if the identified services and interventions are appropriate and producing the intended effects and to make necessary adjustments. “Oftentimes, the way it is now is that schools will make a referral but then it just goes into a black hole – nobody knows what happens afterwards,” says Azin.

After a tragedy, Azin says, those who knew the perpetrator recall the signs they witnessed: not speaking to classmates, drug use, bullying. “People see the signs,” she says. “Shouldn’t we create a way for them to document that information and get these kids help before something terrible happens?”

Litter problem increasing with more than 1 billion pieces of trash collected annually

AUSTIN

You might think Don’t mess with Texas® is just a saying, but it’s way more. It’s a call to action created by the Texas Department of Transportation 27 years ago to stop litterers in their tracks. Today, TxDOT announced the state’s anti-litter campaign is getting a makeover. With a new look, Don’t mess with Texas® is designed to appeal to young adults between the ages of 16 and 34 who were not born when TxDOT first rolled out its now world-famous litter prevention program. “Don’t mess with Texas® is an iconic brand and campaign that we want people to be proud of and that helps keep our state clean,” said Ted Houghton, Chairman of the Texas Transportation Commission. “It’s our shared responsibility to prevent littering and to pick up after ourselves when travelling around our great state.” “We want to remind all Texans and visitors that trash belongs in a trash can and not along our roadways,” said Phil Wilson, TxDOT’s executive director. “That’s why trash barrels are playing a key role in the re-launch of Don’t mess with Texas®, our state’s most critical and successful anti-litter campaign.” An estimated 1.1 billion pieces of trash are tossed along more than 80,000 miles of state-maintained roadways. In an effort to reduce this growing volume of litter that includes fast-food packaging, cigarette butts, candy wrappers, small pieces of paper, plastic bags, and other items tossed from vehicles, TxDOT is taking Don’t mess with Texas® back to its roots by resurrecting the iconic red, white, and blue trash barrels. In the coming months, the “CANpaign” will be visible to Texans everywhere as more than 300 of these barrels will appear across the state at travel information centers, popular tourist attractions, sports venues and other high-traffic locations to remind drivers to properly dispose of litter. Texas is home to more than 25 million people, and an estimated 1,000 people move into the state every day who may not realize that littering is against state law. Litterers can be fined up to $500 for the first offense. Repeat offenders can face fines of up to $2,000 and 180 days in jail. “Not only is it our responsibility to pick up our trash, but doing so reduces the amount TxDOT and taxpayers spend on litter prevention efforts,” added Wilson. “In fact, our estimates show that these programs are saving TxDOT and taxpayers some $4.7 million annually.”

More information on Don’t mess with Texas® can be found at dontmesswithtexas.org. This website features background on the campaign, research information about litter on Texas roads and highways, and engaging content to help raise awareness about the importance of litter prevention.

BAYTOWN

Gov. Rick Perry announced that Borusan Mannesmann Pipe will expand its manufacturing operations to the U.S. with a steel pipe plant in Baytown, creating 250 jobs and $148 million in capital investment. The state is providing $1.6 million through the Texas Enterprise Fund (TEF) to close the deal on this project. “Texas continues to be a leader in energy production, supplying not just the oil and gas that fuel our cars, homes and businesses, but also the products and workforce necessary to support domestic drilling in the U.S.,” Gov. Perry said. “With the help of competitive incentives like the TEF, Texas continues to attract employers from across the country and around the world to expand within our borders, creating jobs and opportunity and further strengthening our economy.” Headquartered in Turkey, Borusan Mannesmann is a global leader in steel pipe production for a variety of industries, including oil and gas drilling and transmission, with current production of around one million tons of pipe products. The Baytown facility will produce casings used to secure oil wells and tubing to extract gas and oil from the ground, adding 300,000 tons of manufacturing capacity. “This investment will establish Borusan as a local manufacturer in the U.S. market,” Borusan Chairman A. Ahmet Kocabiyik said. “This investment is the beginning of a new era, not only for economic relations between the U.S. and Turkey, but also for our steel sectors. I would like to extend our sincere appreciation to the Texas Governor’s Office for their immense support during and after the decision making process.” “The creation of 250 jobs is a significant number of new jobs  in a modest-size county of less than 40,000 people,” Sen. Williams said. “These are great jobs that will support families. I welcome Borusan Mannesmann Pipe to Southeast Texas. We’re glad to welcome the jobs and the capital investment and appreciate the governor's help in attracting this company to our state.” “Borusan Mannesmann’s expansion into Chambers County, and Texas in general, is a testament to the prosperous business climate our state offers,” Rep. Eiland said. “I am excited about the expansion, and I am fully supportive of Borusan Mannesmann’s decision to bring additional jobs and added revenue to my constituents back home.” The Legislature created the TEF in 2003 and has re-appropriated funding in every legislative session since then to help ensure the growth of Texas businesses and create more jobs throughout the state. TEF projects must be approved by the governor, lieutenant governor and speaker of the House. The fund has since become one of the state’s most competitive tools to recruit and bolster business. To date, the TEF has invested nearly $490 million and closed the deal on projects generating more than 67,000 new jobs and more than $19.9 billion in capital investment in the state.