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Anti-Violence Education Urged
American educators must choose
between turning schools into virtual
prisons or putting the emphasis on
steering students away from guns
and fighting, according to a national
expert on violent youth
Many schools are try ing to solve
the problem with security guards,
surveillance cameras and metal de
tectors.
"How is America responding to
school violence? It's responding as
we do to most issues in America -
with technology," Syracuse Univer
sity professor Arnold Goldstein told
school psychologists at a recent con
vention in Florida.
Goldstein favors a more com
plicated approach that combines
some security with lots of education
to teach students how to act without
aggression. An author o f mans books
on youth violence, Goldstein also is
director o f the New Yo rk State Task
Force on Juvenile Gangs and creator
o f a 20-year-old curriculum that
teaches youth to become less aggres
sive.
Goldstein’s workshops, planned
last year, came at a critical time,
when the need to find ways to pre
vent violence in schools is so evi
dent, said Lissette Villaneuva, a
school psychologist.
"W e can't close our minds to the
fact that children are in desperate
need o f learning how to deal with the
issues they’re confronted with,"
Villaneuva said.
Educators nationally are buying
metal detectors and other electronic
equipment after violent incidents.
Many school systems are taking even
more drastic steps.
For example. Goldstein said, a
S41 m illion school in Texas was built
with security as a primary focus. The
school has 37 surveillance cameras.
To help administrators and police
keep an eye out for trouble, an obser
vation area was built above the cafe
teria and other common areas.
“ 1 ask you, as we move toward
blending schools and prisons, is this
the teacher o f the future?’ Goldstein
said, turning to a slide that showed a
man in riot gear with a helmet and
protective padding. Magazines for
Ossie Tudman Turns 100!
Ossie Tudman recently cele
brated her 100th birthday at D e l’s
Care Center in northeast Portland
Tudman was bom Nov. 7,1895
in Texas and moved to Portland in
the 1940s. She lived on a farm most
o f her life and continues to enjoy
being outdoors when the weather is
nice.
She makes her daily rounds at
D el’s, smiling and holding hands with
staff. She also enjoys the homemade
cornbread and cold milk other resi
dents prepare in the cooking group.
“She also loves hard candy - it
always brings a smile to her face,"
said Karen Jenkins, activity director.
Happy Birthday, Ossie!
Ossie Tudman
Shoppers Get Help
From Charity Store
Holiday shoppers w ill get a help
ing hand this year, courtesy o f Our
Children’s Store, a seasonal store
open through the holidays with pro
ceeds benefiting area children in cri
sis.
The store’s “Take 5” program
promises to help shoppers find "Five
gifts in five minutes” and still have
time for lunch. In-store shopping as
sistants w ill be available at the outlet
on the third floor o f the Galleria.
Merchandise w ill be arranged by
price range, age and gender appro
priateness
Every children's store receipt
will entitle shoppers to lunch dis
counts at participating Galleria res
taurants. In lieu o f a discount, some
Galleria restaurants are donating a
percentage ofsales to Our Children's
Store when customers display re
ceipts from O C S
"W e wanted to find a way to
m ake h o lid ay sh o pp in g p ain less
fo r d ow n to w n w o rk e rs , w ho
som etim es have to squeeze a lot
into a lunch hour," said Ann C a rt
er, O C S co -ch a ir. “ By co m b in
ing a q u ick in-and-out sh opping
experience with lunch disco u nts
in the G a lle ria restaurants, we
think w e’ve succeeded
“ In addition, gifts purchased at
Our Children's Store give twice be
cause all proceeds go to Portland and
Vancouver area children in c r is is ,"
Carter said
educators urge teachers to buy per
sonal attack alarms. Schools are re
moving lockers, hiring more police
officers and in many cases, lengthen
ing the time students are in class
rooms to keep them out o f hallways
where there's more trouble Those
actions may reduce the chance for
violence, but don’t lead to a lasting
solution, Goldstein said.
Students learn to be aggressive
by what they see around them at
school and in society , he said. Schools
need to teach students non-aggres
sive ways to behave. H is curriculum
inc ludes exerc ises students do to prac
tice social skills.
Instead o f yelling at a teacher
when they’re angry, students prac
tice how to discuss the situation calm
ly and rationally.
School psychologists said they
hope they can convince school dis
tricts to give them more time for such
instruction.
"I ve seen a lot more aggressive
kids since I started working in schools
five years ago,” school psychologist
Elizabeth Lebeau said
Capitol Hill
Elementary
Offers
Parenting
Skills Class
Turning Sibling Rivalry into
Sibling Harmony and Managing
Stress as a Parent are just some o f
the topics Southwest Portland par
ents and community members w ill
explore Wednesday (Nov. 15)dur-
ing 'An Evening for Parents" from
6:45-8:45 p.m. at Capitol H ill E l
ementary School (8401 S. W.
17th).
Speakers from Western Psy
chological & Counseling Servic
es also will discus Homework Has
sles. Anger in Children and Ado
lescents and Supporting Yo u r
Children Through Divorce
The free event is open to par
ents and neighbors o f Southwest
Portland elementary schools in
clu d in g C a p ito l H ill, Sm ith,
Maplewood, Reike, Stephenson,
Markham. Bridlem ile. Hayhurst
and St. C la ir’s Catholic School.
For more information, con
tact Pam Wilson, child develop
ment specialist, Capitol H ill E le
mentary, 280-6306.
With Schools
The first annual National Take
Our Parents to School Week, Nov.
12-18, promotes the importance o f
parent involvement in education -
both at home and in school through
partnerships with their children's
teachers
The event is part o f a multi
year educational awareness cam
paign, Hand in Hand: Parents,
Schools, Communities United foi
K ids, jo in tly sponsored by the Insti
tute for Educational Leadership and
the Mattel Foundation.
U.S. Secretary ofEducation R i
chard Riley, mayors, superinten
dents and celebrities are participat
Hand in Hand’s eight target
cities, where some o f the most com
prehensive programs are being de
veloped. include Portland. Birm ing
ham, Ala.: Los Angeles; Tampa,
Fla.: Chicago; New Y o rk C ity;
PhiIdelphia; and San Antonio. T ex
as.
"W e strongly believe that par
ent involvement is the necessary
quotient to improve the environ
ment for learning,” said Joan
Dykstra, National P T A President
and a National Advisor to the Hand
in Hand campaign.
"This campaign reflects the Na-
tional P T A s mission o f encourag
ing parents to be involved as first
educators in the home, as partners
with the schools, and as advocates
for all children and youth in soci
e ty," Dy kstra said
The Institute for Educational
Leadership is an independent, not-
for-profit national organization
headquartered in Washington. D C.
which seeks to improve policy and
practice in public education by de
veloping and supporting leaders
who work together at the national,
state, and local levels.
ing in special school-based events
around National Take Our Parents
to School Week in order to high
light community efforts to strength
en fam ily involvement in educa
tion.
“ National Take Our Parents to
School Week is a time to create or
strengthen partnerships in educa
tion among those who influence a
child's academic success the most
— families and educators,” said Jill
Barad, President and C h ie f Operat
ing O fficer o f Mattel, Inc. "But sup-
If spanking really worked, the
United States would hav e one o f the
lowest crime rates in the world in
stead o f one o f the highest, family
science students were told at Wash
ington State University .
Joan Durrant, a family studies
professor at the U n ive rsity o f
Manitoba, reported to W SU stu
dents on her research on corporal
punishment in Canada, weden and
the United States. She said study
after study correlates physical pun
ishment with aggressive behavior,
not only in childhood, but in the
adult who was spanked as a child
She said U S. citizens who look
at the country’s high reliance on
corporal punishment and its high
crime rate should realize spanking
doesn't work in the long run
“ Ifcorporal punishment really
worked in terms o f socializing ch il
dren and teaching them appropriate
behavior, you would have a low
crime rate,” Duirant said. She also
noted that most child abuse starts as
discipline.
“ B elie f in physical force and
being in a state o f high frustration or
anger is a fatal combination,” she
said
Data show that 18 percent o f
all child deaths in Sweden were due
to family violence in the early 1970s.
After the country became the first
nation in the world to outlaw spank
ing, even by parents, the child death
rate from family violence dropped
to zero.
Today, six nations have sim i
lar laws. Joining Sweden are Nor
way, Denmark, Finland, Austria and
Cyprus. Since Sweden outlawed
spanking, use o f alcohol, tobacco
and drugs among 15-year-olds has
dropped sig n ific a n tly . Teenage
crimes such as illegal use o f narcot
ics and burglary are down 12 percent
and auto theft is down 30 percent,
Durrant says.
Sweden’s murder rate o f teen
agers has fallen to I out o f 2,000,
compared with 2.3 such deaths per
thousand in Canada and 16.9 per
thousand in the United States, ac
cording to data for 1990-1991.
Durrant says the United States and
Canada have laws that condone cor
poral punishment.
Sweden repealed such a law in
1957 and made spanking illegal in
1979. In 1965 she said 53 percent o f
Swedish citizens believed spanking
is necessary to discipline children.
The figure fell to 35 percent in 1971
to 26 percent in 1981 and now stands
at only 11 percent. Most people in
Canada and the United States take it
for gtanted that all children need to
be spanked.Durrant is challenging
the assumption that spanking is nec
essary or even good. She believes
spanking reflects the value cultures
place on children, that Sweden val
ues them more than Canada or the
United States.
A 1991 study showed that 93
percent o f U S . parents have received
phy sical punishment. 90 percent have
administered it,' 87 percent say they
approve of spanking and 84 percent
agreed with the statement: “ It is some
times necessary to discipline a child
with a good, hard spanking."
Durrant is researching links be
tween attitudes towards corporal
punishment and broader cultural
State-Of-The-Art
The U S. Census Bureau is un
veiling the state-of-the-art American
Community Survey in Portland and
Multnomah County . Oregon This is
an innovative survey designed to
determine the size and make-up o f
Am erica's communities every year.
Lawrence M cGinn o f the Census
Bureau says, “this survey has the
potential to change the way federal,
state, and local governments con
duct business because they w ill have
accurate profiles o f their communi
ties yearly. It is an unparalleled op
portunity for Portland and Mult
nomah County residents to partici
pate in a historic event that w ill ben
efit them.”
S p e c ific a lly , The A m e rican
Com m u n ity Su rve y w ill enable
our leaders to keep up-to-date on
our e ver-ch an gin g country, not
ll()|)|)l|
Thanksgiving
Campaign Connects
port from the community and corpo
rate world is critical to parents hav
ing the time to get fully involved in
their children's schools.”
Parent involvement in educa
tion - both at home and in school - is
fundamental to children achieving.
Yet a recent national survey found
that parents of elementary-age kids
are highly active in their ch ild 's edu
cation at home but less involved at
school.Lack o f time and understand
ing o f how to participate in schools
are two major obstacles parents re
port to getting more involved in their
children's education.
‘A s A m ericans face busier
schedules, and mam. schools face
grow ing staffing demands and finan
cial constraints, kids need the sup
port o f their families to make their
education as enriching as possible,"
said Michael Usdan. President o f the
Institute for Educational Leadership
“National Take Our Parents to
School Week is a vehicle designed to
link parents more closely to school
activity and thus foster stronger par
ent - teacher communication, which
is so important to children achiev
ing."
Spanking Linked To Violence
ju st at the national level but in
A m e rica 's states, counties, citie s
and towns as w ell. The A m erican
Com m u n ity S u rve y w ill produce
current so cia l and econom ic pro
file s o f com m unities. Fo r exam
ple, incom e, poverty and em ploy
ment p ro files w ill be a v a ila b le
every year. N ever before has the
C ensus Bureau been able to p ro
vide local data so frequently. T h is
survey w ill enable federal, state,
and local governm ents to better
understand the needs o f the peo
ple they serve and ultim ately to
plan more e ffe ctiv e ly for the fu
ture.
So be on the lookout for your
opportunity to help Portland and
M ultnomah County! B e g in n in g
in N ovem ber and over the next
year, a random group o f house-
views.Her own research shows an
adverse correlation between indi
vidualism and child welfare. She
said the U S. culture has the highest
index rating for in d ivid u a lism
among 40 countries studied Cana
da’s individualism index is some
what lower and Sweden’s is lower
yet O f the three countries included
in her lecture to W SU students, only
the United States doesn't provide
public health insurance. Neither
Canada nor the United States pro
vides public child care The United
States provides the least parental
leave o f the three nations.
Durrant says the results are re
fleeted in measures o f child well
being The U S. infant mortality rate
is 9 per thousand deaths, the highest
o f any industrialized nation Cana
da’s rate is 7 per thousand and Swe-
den’s, 5 per thousand Results also
are reflected in the data on children
being raised in poverty Twenty
percent o f U S. children are being
raised in poverty compared with 9
percent in Canada and less than 2
percent in Sweden
Durrant says poverty increases
stress and stress is a major compo
nent in child abuse.
The fam ily scientist says Swe
den is lead ing the way by treating its
citizens the way it wants them to
treat children. Sweden relies more
on education and assistance than on
punishment. Durrant believes an
important element in Sweden’s suc
cess in changing public attitudes
about corporal punishment and
greatly reducing its practice lies in
the lack o f penalties in the law
against spanking.
Survey
holds in Portland and M ultnomah
C o u n ty w ill receive a q uestio n
naire from the U .S . C e n su s B u
reau If y o u r household is se le ct
ed to participate in the A m e rican
C o m m u n ity S u rve y, you w ill be
asked to com plete this q u e stio n
naire and return it to the C e n su s
Bureau.
The American Community Sur
vey is initially being conducted in
selected ares during 1996 The U S.
Census Bureau is planning to imple
ment the full nationwide program in
1999 Other sites selected for 1996
include two urban counties: Rockland
County, New Y o rk, and Brevard
County, Florida, and one rural coun
ty : Fulton County, Pennsy lvania
Help plan your com m unity's
future Participate in The American
Community Survey!
Speakers Motivate At Masters Series
Guy Kawasaki
C ora S m ith
Two outstanding motivational
speakers were recently profiled as
part o f the Masters o f Excellence
series at the Jantzen Beach Red Lion
O lym p ic speed skater Dan
Jansen talked on “G oing for the
G old,” in which he demonstrated
how 20 years o f hard work paid o ff
when he brought home a gold medal
in the 1994 Olym pics. I he victory
followed several unsuccessful at
tempts, coupled with family m is
haps
“Obstacles are those frightful
things you see when you take your
eyes o ff your goal," he said
After failing at the Oly mpics in
Sarajavo, losing by 1/16 o f a sec
ond, his father commented on the
importance o f winning - and indi
cating there was more to life than
skating around in circles Jansen
advised listeners to take one step at
bv
Dan Jansen
a time - that there was no such thing
as setting your goals too high
“Getting up and going on, go out
there and do the best you can do -
vourbeliefsystemmust stay focused
You cannot explore the ocean if you
lose sight o f the shore,” he said.
“ Yo u are never through preparing
until you are on the finish line and
remember to maintain balance, its
important to your success.”
Jansen said at his winning mo
ment. he knew God was by his side
Jansen now spends much o f his team
teaching, statingthatdreamsdocome
true!
Guy Kawasaki, author o f “ Sell
ing the Dream" and “ How to Drive
your Competition C razy” was the
marketing genius behind A p ple’s
Mackintosh computer
Kawasaki now spends much of
his time teaching the “process o f
convincing people to believe in your
Les Brown
product, company or idea as much
as you do.”
Customer service is a priority,
he said, focus on the customer not
fluff. Growing adamant when dis
cussing the Apple rival. Microsoft,
he commented "when pigs floss" will
Windows 95 compare to Mackin
tosh.
Inspiring and full o f pep in his
presentation, Kawasak i took the au
dience through the process o f find
ing a cause, making it grow, and
harvesting the results, encouraging
anyone without computer skills to
learn the process
The next series speaker w ill be
Les Brown “ It’s Possible - It’s
Necessary - It’s Hard - It's Worth It!
on Wednesday, Nov. 15 at the Ore
gon Convention Center at 6 p m .
with networking and horsd’oeuvres
at 5:30 p m The cost is $129. C a ll
1-800-996-8338