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Source:
Charles Smith, 785-532-1946, casmith@k-state.edu
http://www.mediarelations.k-state.edu/WEB/News/MediaGuide/smithcharlesbio.html
News release prepared by: Erinn Barcomb-Peterson, 785-532-6415,
ebarcomb@k-state.edu
Thursday,
October 26, 2006
K-STATE
EXPERT APPLAUDS EFFORT TO TEACH CHILDREN TO COMBAT SCHOOL SHOOTERS,
OTHER VIOLENT INTRUDERS IN THE CLASSROOM
MANHATTAN
-- A program encouraging students to confront and counterattack
a violent intruder in their school is earning applause from an expert
at Kansas State University.
Charles
Smith, professor of family studies and human service at K-State's
College of Human Ecology, wrote "Raising Courageous Kids: Eight
Steps to Practical Heroism." When he heard about a school district
in Texas that is training its students to fight back against an
attacker, Smith thought the idea was right-on.
"Yes,
finally somebody is really looking at this and saying, 'Don't be
a lamb,'" he said. "It's telling kids to keep their heads
up and to defend themselves with a sense of honor and self-respect."
Smith
said fighting back and fighting for your life is a message that's
been delivered to adults as a self-defense tactic for years, and
that it's about time children start hearing the same thing. When
he conducts bullying-response programs in schools, one of Smith's
messages to children is "don't feed the bully," don't
give bullies what they want. Bullies want to intimidate and cause
fear in their targets. That's why Smith said a program like the
one in Texas is good in that it encourages children to overcome
their fear.
"I
don't think we do a very good job of teaching kids about and learning
to respond to their own fear," Smith said. "One of the
greatest things this program is doing is to encourage public discussion
about issues of fear, courage and risk management in kids. I think
this is going to bring a sea change in how we look at these kinds
of circumstances."
Smith
has seen firsthand the power that even half a dozen preschoolers
can have. When Smith was a preschool teacher, he once engaged his
preschool group in a game of tug-of-war. He was surprised by the
children's combined strength, as they dragged him around the playground
despite his strongest efforts to resist.
Although
in theory a group of older grade-schoolers may have enough physical
power to combat an attacker, it doesn't mean they can keep their
composure in a school shooting situation in the way a middle school
or high school student might.
"They
don't have the capacity to control fear, avoid panic and act in
any decisive way," Smith said.
Smith
said respecting differences in age and maturity level is something
schools will have to keep in mind as they consider implementing
this kind of program.
"And,
adults still have to assume the primary responsibility to do all
they can to protect children at all grade levels," he said.
Schools
also should pay attention to who's teaching the program and how.
If children aren't given a good understanding of when and why they
should stick up for themselves, Smith said teaching them how to
fight back can cause even more problems.
"You
can teach kids to defend themselves, and you can embed that in a
nonviolence philosophy," Smith said. "Being nonviolent
doesn't mean being passive and weak. I think we really need that
perspective."
Some
parents might fear that teaching students to defend themselves from
an attacker will cause their children to worry unnecessarily about
a rare event that is unlikely to occur at their school. But Smith
doesn't think it will make students paranoid. Beyond whatever anxiety
about school violence they pick up from parents or the media, Smith
said students have bigger worries.
"I
don't think kids really go to school and worry about being attacked
by strangers," he said. "The biggest worry the children
have at middle school and high school is being shamed in front of
their classmates."
If
children are taught how to confront an attacker at school, their
parents may worry about whether their children make the right choice.
"It's
a matter of how you want your children to live their lives,"
he said. "Do you want them to manage and overcome fear, to
have self-respect and a personal strength that courage can give
them? The alternative is to leave them powerless and vulnerable."
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