ExchangeEveryDay Past Issues

Are you kidding me. Promoting more early childhood development will make for a better high school student. How about if the parents parented like they should, be home for them after school and give guidance, then students do better in the long run! I am a preschool teacher, see parents drive up in BmW's, Very nice SUV's etc...they WANT to work, do not want to parent. I live in California where it is expensive to own a home but I do. I have ALWAYS been home when my kids come home from school. No I am NOT lucky, I did it by choice. A choice to no buy a brand new care every two years etc. Parents are self-centered, want the preschool teachers to teach their children when you cannot teach a child that young. The are not even to the age-of-reasoning! It's like stating that if you teach a 6month old to walk he would be better at sports in high school. Perfect example!!!

I am concerned about our children and the reason why they are having problems. Seems that mental issues in our world keep increasing. How do we have 1 in 150 children diagnoses with Autism. This is a spectrum that includes ADD, ADHD, ODD, Asbergers and of course Autism.

Why can we not see the forest for the trees.

When are we going to demand answers. Stop telling me that shots do not cause autism and tell me what does.

Tell me why it is virtually non existent in the Amish community and in the rare cases these were in adopted children and other children who had been immunized.

Tell me why we would ask pg parents to get a flu shot and children under age five when there is mercury in the vaccine.

Lets look at our environment and get some answers. And please do not tell me that if immunizations were the cause that all children would have autism. Why doesn't every adult have diabetes we eat the same awful food, heart problems, and Alzheimer’s. So yes there is more to it. But are you willing to take the chance?

I know all of you who are involved in Early Childhood care about children. Caring is not enough we need to demand answers. Look at the work of Kennedy.

Our bodies were not made to handle all the toxins that exist in our society and especially when they are injected into a child within a day of birth. Especially Hepatitis B which is a blood born pathogen. What are we protecting this child against unsafe sex and dirty needles.

Sorry, but this is pure hogwash. Parents need to learn how to raise their children and be good role models.
Teaching early education is good. But is not and should not be mandatory. It is government’s way of controlling, and indoctrinating your children. They have their hidden agenda. And it will be at the tax payers expense.
You want to fix the problems we face today? Start with values, morals, and consequences for actions taken. Enough of this garbage already! Bring back common sense! Bring back the strong America we once knew! God included because NO WHERE will you find in the constitution "Separate Church and State" It is NOT in the CONSTITION. Don't believe me.. Read it for your self! Our country was strongest when we included GOD!

I am disturbed by the article,the concept, and the implications.The main reason for the military industrial complex to advocate universal quality early childhood education is to assure recruitment quotas by 2030.

Shouldn't we be advocating for peace instead? I am disheartened to see the Secretary of Education as part of this group.

The socialization process should be used for negotiating and communicating, not responding aggressively.

I am sure some retired Generals and other officials did not endorse this program. Who are they and what are their reasons?

Gandhi once said "If we are to teach real peace in the world we shall have to begin with the children."

Improving the overall education system is, of course, a noble and worthwhile undertaking but let's keep the military recruiters out of it.

Fantastic. My 23 years of research has maybe found a cohort and mentor.

Brochure/Statement
Critical Crisis Intervention
The rules elucidating teacher responses as mandated reporters are not being enforced. Lee Cantor has a well-established hard copy frame-plan-to facilitate enforcement of stipulations called Positive Assertive Discipline. It has been used successfully for many years.

As medical professionals we can take proactive measures to support this.

We can implement this plan and gain access to these children. Since this is law we need to consistently insist that this plan be implemented immediately! Children’s rights and protection from neglect and abuse are second and third laws not enforced. Do not keep it a secret. Let us bring these issues to light and join statistics.

Alena Gabriel
Researcher / Teacher / Program / Administrator / Founder, Children Of Today

One year later+ Saint Barnabas Hospital in the Bronx- 3 children a week in New York die of child abuse. See St. Barnabas Hospital Child Advocacy Center Nixzmary

Child abuse reporting up to 30%.
Update: Daycare Saftey/4 yr. old raped

Now an echo from Quachaun; there is a program that can facilitate a safer net to protect these children. The following message went unanswered.

Nixzmary calling my teacher for help.... What child called teacher-mandated reporter - (list teachers’ stories) - please help me. All these teachers have tried to engage support but have been left with escalated behaviors passing on from year to year without an answer to help their student. Why? There is a program which, by the end of the first six weeks of school, enables teachers to have a list of children they are concerned about. Many of these concerns should be addressed by fluid (osmotically nucleic) classrooms (regular ed) connected to therapeutic resources within the school that maintain consistent engagement with the people in these children’s' home lives on a daily basis at school. There needs to be a safe room where this occurs. Where ACS can direct itself and network crisis intervention. A room where people are trained in Lee Cantor’s Assertive Discipline because this is the program that trains the entire school family including Administration, Guidance Counselors, Social Workers, Therapists, Aids, Bus Drivers/matrons etc. It teaches how we safeguard who in the school family the child is comfortable with regarding abuse and neglect issues. Surely, ACS can be trained and connected also. Reform needs to begin connecting from the classrooms out in a cutting edge fashion facilitating an inclusive structure of critical crisis intervention. Socio economic factors play a part also with many of our needy children.

Lee Cantor & Associates outlined this program, Positive Assertive Discipline, years ago, yet it goes unimplemented in the schools. School families are untrained and do not know how to work empathetically as a team providing safety in a child’s life. Top down, or Administrator, Social Worker, Guidance Counselor, Family Worker, or Parent threatening a law suit, control need not replace the empathetic team facilitated from the classroom teacher out. Why? because this is where the children are during their day. Because of this children can feel the safest.

Teachers as mandated reporters should present the documentation as outlined in this program to protect children by law they are suppose to protect. School Administration, ACS, and Government should connect appropriately to facilitate better care of our children. People who have given their life work to study this approach such as Lee Cantor should be utilized to help children from being killed and harmed. A network and an accountability of follow through of mandated teacher statistics should be followed through with appropriately from the teacher on up. Isn't that right Mayor Bloomberg? If in Pre-K or Kindergarten Nixzmary, on a daily basis in the above outlined environment, had been part of an engaged in therapeutic intervention, where, if the step father had been a victim of abuse, there might have been a diffusion of what actually took place. When parents or caretakers are engaged and accountable via a connected network from year to year ongoing from grade to grade via the classroom teacher we might save children from death by facilitating safer communication regarding the problems the parents were having.

Also, teachers need not be threatened when presenting their concerns. The "system" needs to see to protecting teachers in doing this job, not disenable such communication on the part of teachers through fear of reprisal such as being fired (perhaps "rubber room" consequences). Just last year my immediate supervisor said to me when I tried to engage support for several of my Kindergarten students, “Miss Shannon why are you the only teacher with concerns?” She meant, ignore it, or you will reap the consequences. When I did have an initial conference with one of the children’s’ parents, both my principal and assistant principal did not discuss my concerns and told me not to meet with the parent regarding them. The parent hugged me and had wanted to meet. I felt she might need to meet to talk about possible frustration she felt about having more patience with her child. Maybe she had a parent who was not physically patient with her. What do I say to Jennifer? She kept hitting children and when two parents approached her mom, she was upset because the principal had told me to tell her everything had been Ok. When she went to the principal again, instead of engaging to help the parent and child ongoing and therapeutically, he transferred Jennifer into another Kindergarten class. Why? especially since Jennifer was hitting children in Pre-K also.

So Jennifer may say, “Why did you not help me?” Lee Cantor teaches how to recognize and connect respectfully with the child in need. Right now our team is not a team. It is a mass of people who are disconnected from the children they need to serve. Lee Cantor's work is the only intervention I have studied that actually facilitates the team we need. A village beginning from within the classroom stemming to ACS, Administration, Government, and whoever that child feels confident and bonds with. People can be trained to be sensitive to the child’s bonding whoever that is. Again, it is facilitation to and from the child that Lee Cantor's work will teach everyone to be collaborative about. Maybe the matron on the bus 2005-06 school year would have stopped the student from banging his head if she had a team to respond to. Maybe she reacted like many others in a system where rubber rooms exist. Be tough!!!!!!!!! Not at all mild managed like Miss Shannon, or you will be the pointed to one who got caught, possible definition of rubber room placement. A mantra I have been hearing and living with professionally for almost 19 years. You’re not tough enough but behind closed doors I won’t be the one within the Dept. Of Ed who gets caught.

Sincerely concerned for life,
Ms. Shannon
BA Research (Chem. Premed/Natural Science)-Top Honors-
MS Learning Technology-Top Honors-
-Researcher/NYC Public School Teacher for 19 years. I taught in many elementary and several junior high schools in Manhattan and the Bronx.
-Board Representative/Asst. Adm.
”It Takes A Village & No Child Left Behind”
-Teacher-Director, Children’s Learning Company Daycare

Letter to the editor/Village Voice 2006-07 School Year
From: Rubber Room Teacher
3246 Kingsbridge Avenue
Bronx, NY
Cell (646)851-7729

Mind Control…

The DOE supports mental illness, deviance, and harm of and to human beings in creating mental destruction of teachers. This is why there are ‘Rubber Rooms’. The Department of Education and the UFT have escalated in this since the current administration as noted in an article run in the VOICE, TEAHCERS IN DETENTION.

Stuck inside the ‘rubber room’, by Mara Altman. Lee Cantor and authoritative systemic critical crisis intervention could help this atrocity. Ask residents of Harlem and this is why The Civil Rights Movement still exists and is alive today. Recently, David Pakter, Art teacher, brought to light a situation as written from the 70’s, The Cannibals at 110 Livingston Street. Get the book and read it. Then don’t be like Germany on the other side of the concentration camps, on the outside. Children learn by example, yes? Inner city children can learn but are not…for decades?

Manipulation, “mind control” by the DOE etc. facilitates an, “I care as long as I am the small percent”, or hope to be the small percent, that gets out of the rubber room, I get out with my retirement” mindset. This refers to “black listing” or the so called go ahead to return to your so called “professional” duties in what professional boiling pot/DOE, all linked with the “rubber room” access to administrators (tion). It is always bad teachers? New teacher recruits, campaigns and initiatives, year after year and still bad teachers? A half century of public outcry of “bad teachers” and each administration change while sacrificing teachers year after year, for what? THINK. Why do so many teachers leave? -Answered above-. What professional DOE? Why would there be no statistics kept prior to 2005 or why would statistics not be assessable or accountable in the year 2007. A note, note: the Office of Special Investigations supports falseness to the demise of the students, parents and resulting community whose history can be traced back to the 60’s and beyond.

(Yes, I'm writing from Canada, but I am half American.)

This is so sad that children have to be seen as future soldiers and cogs in the militarism machine in order to get the funding and policies they need. But of course, in our field, we have to take backers from wherever. Oh the irony. Have a healthier start kids, so you can die for your country.

My initial reaction to this "Military Leaders for ECE" article is horror - it seems immoral to bring up children to be exploited by the state to kill and die for their country. In a recent lecture Professor Theodora Papatheodorou used the metaphor of the education systems of Athens and Sparta to discuss the worldviews inherent in current ECE curricula - with a contrast between a democratic Athenian model raising self-aware citizens and a technocratic Spartan model preparing "good citizens" to serve the state. It seems that this now risks being more than a mere metaphor and that the US is aligning itself with Spartan principles!

Although I, too, would like to see today's youth graduate high school, stay out of jail, and become physically fit, but not for war. If we would spend money wasted on wars over the past 100 years on education and treating teachers and all those in the educational field with respect and gratitude, our schools and our children would not be suffering. Furthermore, since we are discussing early childhood education, since we teach young children to use their words instead of their hands, and have found out that spanking lowers IQ points, I would like to know when that methodology exactly ends and teaches that going to war actually solves things? If you and I are fighting and you win because you are bigger or smarter or a better strageizer than I, the problem still exists.
Karen Ellefsen, PhD Student, Walden University, ECE