SEE ME, HEAL ME Troubled youths often provide clues to their mental states months, even years in advance.

The Cleveland Municipal School District's response to the Asa Coon/Success Tech shooting has been predictable - limited access to schools, increased security, metal detectors - and mostly appropriate. But what has gone unsaid and seemingly unquestioned by both the administration and the local media are the issues of intervention with obviously troubled youths before they act out, as well as the internal dangers from teachers.

If the latter startles you, consider that in recent years there has been one deadly act by a student in school unrelated to gang activity. Meanwhile, there are 145 Cleveland teachers on a state discipline list for civil and criminal acts for reasons such as "inappropriate comments/gestures to student," "assault/domestic violence/disorderly conduct," "criminal damaging/trespassing," "tampering with records," "grand theft," "telephone harassing," "attempted child endangering," - the list goes on and on. And no, they're not all in Cleveland and inner-ring 'burbs - presumably safe havens Hudson, Beachwood and Solon which have one, two and three teachers on the list, respectively.

The number of teachers committing civil and criminal offenses throughout the state and the nation greatly exceeds the danger from emotionally disturbed students. Since 2000, more than 1,700 Ohio school teachers have been disciplined for crimes ranging from theft to assault to sexual misconduct, drug and/or alcohol abuse, and other matters. The Ohio Department Of Education has an educator conduct search available to parents, teachers, principals, superintendents and the general public on its Web site, and it would seem that the listing by school district (or name or zip code) should prevent convicted offenders from being around children. However, the list offers few, if any, indications as to whether a child was involved, or whether the offense occurred in school or on personal time.

Worse, in violation of state law, some of the reasons for discipline are listed as "confidential by statute," though no such blanket statute exists, according to the state attorney general's office. This means that there is no way of knowing if a crime was committed against children or if there is a risk to having a disciplined teacher continuing to work in schools, as many will do. The problem is aggravated by the fact that, in the past, school superintendents have not routinely been alerted to potential staff members on the discipline list. In addition, neither the superintendents nor parents can learn of a teacher's criminal past, if any, if the records have been expunged.

The potential for trouble also comes from the men and women who may be on the periphery of the school system, from maintenance personnel to hourly workers such as tutors. One instance uncovered in the Upper Arlington School District by the Columbus Dispatch involved a tutor who had been reprimanded while working as a teacher, but said nothing to his new employer. The copy of the reprimand was not in the teacher's file, and the tutor worked closely with high school students for five years. The tutor's past was revealed after the tutor was caught hosting an underage drinking party.

The teacher danger issue is either not being addressed within this region or is not being reported. Although the Free Times expects to eventually learn what, if anything, the Cleveland Municipal School District is doing to address this concern, two weeks of telephone tag with press relations personnel has yet to result in an interview for this or future articles.

The problem for students and teachers faced with a teacher whose actions are inappropriate is the same as the other concern about emotionally disturbed students: The current response is reactive. The problem of emotionally disturbed youths with violent tendencies will continue to exist without diminished risk to students and teachers until the school has a mechanism for proactive response, a situation that has been successfully handled elsewhere. And part of that response, anonymous reporting of concerns, is as effective when looking at teachers allegedly acting inappropriately as it is for students.

Information is readily available. The emotionally troubled loner turning violent is the type of child studied extensively by the US Secret Service whose report is available online, and by communities such as Reseda, California, which created WARN, one of the nation's first effective prevention programs. They mention the need for greater security, but they go much farther and deal with the critical issue of anticipating problems months or years before a tragedy might occur.

Admittedly, getting the troubled child meaningful help can be difficult. Both Medicaid and most private insurance plans limit adolescent in-patient treatment to five days a month. The correct dosage of an anti-psychotic medication, or even finding the right medication, is a task requiring several days of experimentation and observation. The child is invariably released from in-patient treatment one or more days before the success or failure of a pharmaceutical can be determined. This would not happen with "nice" illnesses such as juvenile onset diabetes, leukemia and heart disease, but the mentally ill child is treated differently. Children are routinely dismissed from psychiatric facilities such as Laurelwood (where Asa Coon spent time) and the Cleveland Clinic before the effectiveness of medication adjustments can be determined.

When Congress and the state legislature discuss medical care for children, the issue is generally presented as an economic one and the debate is in the abstract. Asa Coon was a reminder that not providing adequate mental health care when the first signs of a troubled youth are revealed is a life-or-death issue. Fortunately there are alternatives for which many of these children qualify, including Beechbrook Treatment Centers, Applewood Treatment Centers, Berea Children's Home, Parmadale, Bellefaire JCB and others, most of which offer help based on families' ability to pay.

Regardless of the medical insurance crisis, regardless of school lockdown and secured access, there remains the critical issue of how kids, parents, neighbors and teachers can anonymously alert authorities to possible problems. Perhaps the oldest success model is the Reseda, California High School WARN program developed by Drs. Robert Kladifko and Jay Shaffer in response to a school shooting - after which it was learned that seven students knew of the shooter's plans before he opened fire. The students weren't protecting a friend; they had no idea where to go, whom to tell, or who might listen, comments reportedly made by some of Asa's classmates.

WARN (Weapons Are Removed Now) involves precautions ranging from restricted school access and metal detectors to having a uniformed police officer selected for his or her professionalism, friendliness and belief in the right of all students to have an education free from fear. They work with the students to prevent problems, rather than viewing students as the enemy.

WARN also has an anonymous tip line to which anyone can report threats or signs of impending violence. The tips are all checked immediately, and if the story proves groundless, that is okay. Almost as important is the fact that the tip line eliminates the need for the caller to decide if what was threatened was serious. This was certainly the case with Asa, whose angry threats were heard two days earlier, the listeners deciding that it was "just kids." Yet even if they had been concerned, without a program in place, where would they have gone?

Reseda also introduced the Principal's Inner Ear Program. Forty student leaders are identified each year, trained in conflict resolution and peer management, and work to identify and defuse problems. Reseda is a multi-ethnic, multi-language area (35 different tongues), and the leaders are from all facets of the student body, from gang members to jocks to nerds. The high school students also go into the elementary schools to talk with the students and get them to change their values about snitching. Students traditionally have an unspoken code of silence about one another and WARN assures that critical knowledge is shared, not withheld out of a misguided sense of loyalty.

Other concerns, again based on schools that have tackled this issue after experiencing violence, involve the teachers. They must interact with the students in ways that assure the students feel trusted talking with them. And when something seems amiss with a student, and many of the students who become violent have been writing and/or drawing their feelings in their classes for as long as four years before they explode, the teacher must act with the administration's support. This means getting involved with the child and getting support services for the child, rather than dismissing the matter through suspension so the troubled youth is even more alone with festering emotions.

If there has to be a zero-tolerance attitude toward weapons, a similar standard should be applied to those adults who betray the trust parents and students should have in them. Disciplined teachers must be known, their offenses weighed against school jobs for which they are eligible, and if there is any question, the teacher should not be allowed in the system in any capacity. This means regularly utilizing the state list and demanding full disclosure of information not currently available. It also means that both students and teachers need to have the same anonymous call ability that has proven to work with children obviously in crisis though perhaps months or years from acting out.

Will the Cleveland Municipal School District, or other districts in the area, for that matter, address ways to anonymously report and immediately investigate problems with troubled students who have not yet acted out and teachers who are a possible concern? That's not clear. The issue has not been mentioned in press releases. The local media has not covered the questions. And our effort to learn more has been stymied by a lack of response from those in positions to know.

news@freetimes.com

RESOURCES

Syndistar, Inc. - Syndistar has made the WARN program available nationally.

The U.S. Secret Service - Click on National Threat Assessment Center and scroll down to the Safe School Initiative information. You will be able to download the various study results that provide guidance for schools and law enforcement working with schools.

The National School Safety Center

The Child Safety Network - Adolescents Violence Prevention Resource Center Educational Development Center Inc.

Ohio Department of Education - Click on the educator conduct search.