JACK ARMY, scanning my sector!
I know some my writing would normally send up red flags these days which is why I would never turn that in for an assignment for a class.
Yes, we do have the potential of stifling a creative voice, but one of the most important lessons I ever learned was that you do not go to school to become a good writer. You write to become a good writer. A Stephen King will write because he has to, because it is the way of exercising his mind and removing the overload of thoughts and ideas, along with the desire to share.
HOWEVER, the idea of watching closely those students who do write things that disturb faculty disturb me. We are starting to watch people for signs of inappropriate thoughts. That worries me more than anything as I do not want my government or any of its agencies determining what is acceptable for me or my children to think. It won't be long before my thoughts that an individual is responsible for his own actions, good and bad, and has a right to the rewards and requirement to take the punishments associated with those become seen as pathologic and indicative of a person not willing to think of the good of the community.
I think we are attacking the problem here incorrectly. So what if the writing of someone is morose. The goal is to prevent violence and death. There are far too many people who are writing dark things who do not commit violence, and there are far too many people who do commit violence who do not write anything to draw any sort of correlation beyond the anecdotal. There are more indicators that children who write of dark things are releasing the demons resultant from abuse at home, but still, it is not enough to automatically signal an investigation.
I have a problem with the whole tracking thing. I am now fine after years of suffering from misdiagnosed Panic Disorder. Once I got a good doctor he gave me something I must take every day. I haven't had a problem with it since then [1995].
I have PTSD, which is what made the Panic Disorder kick in. The problem is with insurance companies. Because of them virtually all good support groups are gone. They only pay 50% and the cost of treatment is terribly expensive. Insurance companies do everything from tell doctors what meds they can give to limiting hospital stays. Unlike any other health issue, you must struggle for every bit of help you get.
If they want to keep track of ill patients, they need to first make sure they can get medical help. The doctor treating the patient is responsible for monitoring their patients. But, again due to insurance companies they have to almost treat patients like cattle. In for 15, then rushed out the door.
Now that's once you get a patient in treatment. Some disorders like obsessive compulsive, manic depressive and especially schizophrenia are by nature resistant to treatment due to the nature of the disease or disorder.They require a strong support system as they are unable at certain stages to self monitor themselves. Schizophrenics often have extreme paranoia. Manic depressives feel so bad when they are depressed they can become non functional. When they are in their high cycle they feel so good [like a drug high] and often can't even remember anything from when they are high. Both Manic and Schizophrenics can be psychotic.
All three of these disorders can be difficult to diagnose depending on the stage and the doctors experience. But generally they respond to medication if they are well monitored so adjustments can be made when needed.
I know this is a lot of info. You can delete the post if you like. But, state or government monitoring will only warehouse these people. I say that because because most wind up on SSI or SS and once their checks are paid directly to a facility by the state then they may often never be "well."
Case in point, a very wealthy man in my town lost his immediate family while committed. He was the heir to a fortune. The money was paid directly by his executor. The facility refused to say he was well and discharge him because they would lose a big chunk of money. Several times relatives and friends helped him get an impartial evaluation and he was declared sane and no longer a threat to himself or others. But the facility fought in court and kept him there for years longer than necessary for the money. He did finally succeed in getting out and was in fact well. The facility eventually went under after some other treatment discrepancies and billing practices which cost them accreditation.
The laws need to be changed back to where a family member can have a person admitted for a 72 hour observation period if they are unable to go voluntarily or if there a
As an ex-high school English teacher I would like to make a couple of simple points. First, I always encouraged my students to think about their audience when writing. They were told not to write anything that would not be appropriate for me or other teachers to read. Sexual content, bad language, violence all being things that would not be appropriate. Hey, this was public school, and it was important to control the atmosphere. Just because school is public and free doesn’t mean you get to do and say whatever you want. Sure a kid could write how he hated the food in the cafeteria, but he could not write that he would like to kill the cafeteria workers. If a kid did write something inappropriate, it should certainly set off bells and be dealt with accordingly. Which bring me to my second point - any teacher worth his/her salt should be able to discern serious threats of violence and just simple mouthing off (or showing off). Knowing your students, watching their behavior, sensing their emotions is a large part of teaching (yeah being a psychologist is part of it). I could give lots of examples here, but will spare you my battle stories. The “dealt with accordingly” has several meanings. It could mean the student is watched closer, questioned and talked to by the teacher, sent to the school counselor, sent to the principal, suspended, expelled, etc.
Having freedom of speech sounds great, but nothing is ever truly free. There are boundaries everywhere - from public schools to the work place to the everyday life. Kids must learn to function within those boundaries. If an employee wrote sexual or violent fantasies in the work place, you bet your bottom, it would be dealt with seriously. Being taught what is appropriate for different situations or different audiences is part of education not stifling the imagination. There is plenty of freedom in writing other places, but not necessarily in public school.
Okay, one quick example: A few years ago I was in charge of the youth portion of a local art show. It was a typical small town art guild art show. Local schools were encouraged to send in student art work. One school sent in a drawing of a person looking into a shattered bathroom mirror pointing a gun at his own head - basically a kid committing suicide. Truthfully, it was a great piece of art work - thought provoking and well drawn, but the audience was horrified as was the judge of the art show. It did not win any prizes and most people had comments like, “That kid needs serious help.” The art teacher was angry that the drawing did not win and said it was because our art show was a bunch of old fogies and that in a college environment the drawing would have done very well. I agreed, but pointed out that a painter or writer must keep his audience in mind. That school has never participated in our art show again which is too bad for the students - another form of stifling the imagination?
We are at a stage in our society where the fear of an event happening is so strong that it is becoming acceptable to do what ever it takes to avoid.
This is great I guess, but we are chasing tails and shadows because everyone from the Administration, Congress/Senate, and School Administrations do not understand the issues at hand so they are wrongfully watching the wrong thing.
Instead of leaving this sort of thing up to the teachers (excellent comment above) we are taking the teachers and parents out of the business of raising and mentoring kids and we are throwing meds at them and zero sum if/thens. If the kids does this...they are going to shoot up the school. If they write that...then they are going to kill themselves.
All of that is wrong. People are way to complex. And worse, most of these kids who have crossed that line are already on meds and already having problems. So they know the game.
Just a quick point...in the end it is up to parents and teachers to work subtlety behind the scenes, watching, talking, and helping.
Quote from my mother: "If you and your friends started wearing black trench coats and lugging things in and out of the house...and I even thought you were playing with guns like that...we would have had a big talk". And as a cajun woman from south Louisiana...she is not talking about talking.
cl
Commenting by HaloScan
