Description of safety strategy:
I'm writing to you today not just as the author of School Mobbing and Emotional Abuse, but as the mother of two teenagers whom I love very much.

Another tragic school shooting was in the news this week. According to news reports, the cause had not been determined but students revealed that the freshman shooter was teased about having severe acne, seemed very shy and quiet and isolated himself from others.

Did mobbing play a role in this tragedy? Could insight and awareness have helped prevent it? It is hard to say without having all of the information.

The following excerpts from "School Mobbing and Emotional Abuse: See It - Stop It - Prevent It with Dignity and Respect" may give you some insights to share with your own community.

"In another worst case scenario, the target of mobbing/bullying behavior may become the aggressor. Something inside of the student finally says, "Enough." The student can't take any more mistreatment and retaliates, either spontaneously or by a planned act of violence. When this type of horrific situation occurs, the student who retaliates by externalizing their anger and despair in an act of violence is the one held accountable. That is, if the student is still alive, has not committed suicide after the act, which often is the case.

Facts such as the student having been continually harassed, isolated, excluded, terrorized on the bus going to school, had their personal property ruined or stolen, and been subject to humiliation in countless ways pale in comparison to the action taken.

Many adults say that we all had problems when we were in school, but we didn't take a gun and shoot someone over it. Times have changed. School athletic departments didn't have to circulate a statement of appropriate conduct for parents watching school sports events, either. But many have found that it is necessary in today's world."

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"Some common characteristics of the perpetrators of mass killings are isolation, paranoia, feelings of persecution, and preoccupation with survival. People who are being mobbed are often isolated first by others and then engage in self-isolation due to fear. They may develop feelings of paranoia and not know whom to trust. Personality changes may occur. They often suffer from acute anxiety disorder or even post traumatic stress disorder just as those who have witnessed disasters, have been mugged, raped, or gone through war may experience.

If you knew that the environment in your school had the potential to take a previously "normal" student and, through subtle and continual abuse at the hands of peers and others, trigger this kind of personality change, wouldn't you want to take action? If you are thinking "that can't happen here," please think again. Take another look. None of the schools where extreme violence has occurred were in communities where people expected it or thought that it could happen to them."

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We don't have to wait until violence erupts in tragedy or near-tragedy to take action. Please consider taking a stand for Dignity and Respect in your own community.

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"There is very little question left that mobbing in schools is at the heart of the violence problem. Readers will see mobbing in their own lives, and once that is done the teaching will easily follow."-Tom Golden, LCSW, author Swallowed By A Snake: The Gift of the Masculine Side of Healing

"School Mobbing and Emotional Abuse addresses a national need faced by every child in school. It is very possible that a teacher who utilizes this material may save a child from both physical as well as psychological abuse and may ultimately save a child's life. This material is that powerful and that important."- Peter D. Blauvelt, President and CEO, National Alliance for Safe Schools

"This book is a forceful reminder that it is the adult in the school setting who must take deliberate steps to stop bullying and prevent it, and who must declare with firm resolve, "Dignity and Respect for all - no exceptions!"" - Frances M. Carothers, Ed. D., English Department Supervisor, Cumberland Valley School District, Pennsylvania

Gail Pursell Elliott
"The Dignity and Respect Lady"
Innovations "Training With a Can-Do Attitude"
Box 552, Roland, IA 50236-0552
515-388-9600
www.innovations-training.com
info@innovations-training.com
Promoting Dignity and Respect. No Exceptions.
In Companies and Communities Nationwide.