Franklin Schargel’s Blog

I am being quoted in an article from Gambia, Africa dealing with school bullying

Wednesday, July 25, 2018

“Bullying brings about violence and where violence exists it results to anarchy, which directly or indirectly will affect the lives of the young children of our society,” said a senior education officer in Region One.

So many children feel very discomfort in schools as a result of school bullying. Authorities need to do lot to dent this menace because it has and still serving as obstacle for so many children.

Bullying exists in schools and in communities and therefore a more collaborative effort is needed to make a stop. This would require both parents and teachers to work hand-in-glove by putting in mechanisms that would arrest the situation.

In the United States, according to the FBI, “Bullying remains one of the largest problems in schools, with the percentage of students reportedly bullied at least once per week steadily increasing since 1999.”

In today’s world, bullying goes beyond school. It goes on the internet which is becoming even more common in Western world. According to Franklin Schargel, cyberbullying has become more rampant and has contributed many committing suicides especially among children. The Internet has unleashed meanness to a degree unseen before. Thanks to the accessibility to the Internet and the affordability of new technology, bullies now have multiple ways to harass their victims. The current generation has the added ability to use technology to expand their reach and the extent of their attacks exponentially.

To address the issues in advanced world, Schargel suggest a need to assess the awareness and the scope of the bullying problems at school through student and staff surveys.

Also in The Gambia, to address the issue of bullying and other violence, matters concerning them should not be hidden. They should come to the fore for relevant authorities to take all necessary steps in solving them or minimizing them to certain level.

Our school authorities should also be vigilant as we are in a technological world in which many students go to school with electronic material including mobile phones and tablets and other gargets. These materials can be used as tools for students to bully their fellow students making them very discomfort in their learning.

Parents should also be checking on their children to monitor their performances and their relationship with their colleagues so as to help them to be comfortable to learn.

“Bullying is never fun, it’s a cruel and terrible thing to do to someone. If you are being bullied, it is not your fault. No one deserves to be bullied, ever. “

Raini Rodriguez

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Franklin Schargel

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The Secret Service and FBI issued a report on school violence as a result of the mass school shooting in Columbine, CO on April 20, 1999.  Mass school shootings have not abated. This month, the Secret Service released Enhancing School Safety Using a Threat Assessment Model: An Operational Guide for Preventing School Violence as a result of mass school shootings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL and Santa Fe HS in Santa Fe, TX. This report can be accessed at https://www.secretservice.gov/data/protection/ntac/USSS_NTAC_Enhancing_School_Safety_Guide_7.11.18.pdf.

It is in the public domain.

I do not use this website to recommend movies however I have just seen a movie which I highly recommend Wonder. It is based on a book with the same title. The film should be seen by every teacher and student. You might want to show it on the first day of school. I think it can generate discussions at the elementary, middle and high school level.

The film deals with a boy born with a deformed face and his first year going to a private middle school.. The film deals with people who do not fit it and that includes all of us. It is a story of love, friendship, bullying and more. The acting is superb, the directing is excellent. Bring tissues.

I delivered two workshops at the Wounded Child Conference in Orlando Florida. Here are some selected evaluations:

I loved Franklin’s use of statistics, his humor and the strategies he present. A really great program!

Wise concepts for non-traditonal learners of today.

The best thing about the workshop was “the factual information. A. Banks, AVID

All great information and facts. Great at incorporating humor into the training.

Great workshop tools and techniques offered from a presenter who is passionate about his work!

Interactive. T. Dumas, Director, Cleveland OH

 The deaths of Anthony Bourdain and Kate Spade highlighted the rising tide of suicides in the United States. There are alarming new statistics that show that young children are increasingly at risk of suicidal thoughts, attempts and deaths. According to a recent study from Vanderbilt University published in Pediatrics, there was a more than doubling from 2008 to 2015 of school-age children and adolescents hospitalized for suicidal thoughts or attempts. Just more than half of those were youths between the ages of 15-17, followed by those between the ages of 12-14 (37 percent) and those ranging in ages from 5-11. More than two-thirds of children hospitalized for thinking about or trying to kill themselves were girls. But boys are more likely to die by suicide.  According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 2015, suicide was the second leading cause of death, behind unintentional injuries.

The rate of hospitalization is higher during the school year, suggesting that academic and social pressures are influencing their behavior. Social media and cyberbullying may also be a factor. What causes these very young children attempting to take their lives?

• Breakup of relationships
• Teen isolationism,
• Break up of families through separation and divorce.
• A perception of being a burden
• A disconnection from others
• Pressures from school (via testing, being cut from a team or play
• Sleep deprivation
• Increased media use

I will be delivering two workshops at the Wounded Student Conference to be held June 24-June 27 at the Embassy Suites  Lake Buena Vista South,  Orlando, Florida. One workshop deals with bullying prevention and is called No Place to Hide. The other workshop is entitled Stopping Wounded Students from Dropping Out. Come and join me.

According to a report by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), based on research from the 2015-2016 school year, 94 percent of teachers are laying out an average of $479 a year for classroom supplies so that students would have the tools they need for learning. About 7 percent spend more than $1000 a year. Teachers in high-poverty schools spend more than those in affluent schools. This cost is burdensome for teachers who earn low salaries. In Oklahoma, where teachers did not receive a pay raise in a decade until their strike, teachers still reached in their own pockets. One teacher resorted to panhandling to pay for school supplies. The practice of teachers paying for school supplies caused Congress in 2002, to pass a bill giving teachers a $250 tax deduction for classroom supply spending. A recent Republican tax proposal threatened to eliminate the deduction but after an outcry  Congress preserved it.

Yet an article in Education Week (May 15, 2018) written by William Bennett and Karen Nussle (Mr. Bennett is the former Secretary of Education and is now chairman of the Conservative Leaders for Education.Ms. Nussle is the organization’s president.)entitled Teacher Strikes Do Not Help Children(May 15, 2018) Mr. Bennet and Ms. Nussle state, “Our public-school system exists to give our children a foundation in literacy and numeracy and to help them become informed citizens. It is not the purpose of the public schools to use children as leverage for the gains of others”¦ the most vulnerable families least able to cope with abrupt changes in the routines of their children”. In what other professional business do we expect employees like accountants, lawyers or doctors to reach into their own pockets to pay for the supplies that clients/patients need? Educators are at least as valuable as doctors, lawyers and accountants. Our society would not have accountants, lawyers and doctors and even Secretaries of Education if it were not for teachers.

I am delighted to announce that edCircuit has published my second article on “Youth Suicide” which identifies the causes, warning signs and ways to prevent youth suicide.