ABC'S OF SCHOOL VIOLENCE: ALIENATION, BULLETS, CORRODED FAMILY TIES -- Like the ones that have occurred this week, school shootings have things in common, including alienation of the student shooters, their access to guns, and disengaged parents, according to Temple psychologists Irwin Hyman, Frank Farley and Laurence Steinberg.
-- Dangerous Schools author Hyman, who has developed a Student Alienation and Trauma Survey to help identify kids at risk for committing violence in school, says, "Alienation in the school is the common thread in every one of them. If it wasn't, then why didn't these kids do this in the mall or the library or somewhere else? It's because school is where they've been alienated. And it's not just kids bullying other kids. It's also adults who are ignoring and isolating kids. School officials aren't paying enough attention to the climates in the schools. They need to spend money on prevention and screening and to invest heavily in anti-bullying programs." Reach Dr. Hyman at his home office, 215-579-4865.
-- Farley, a behavioral psychologist who has studied violence, adds, "The culture of the gun is totally out of control in this country. A kid who does the shooting is not normal, and the availability of guns gives him power. The mere presence of a weapon raises the probability of aggression." Reach Dr. Farley at his office, 215-204-6024, or at home, 215-881-7776.
-- Steinberg, director of the MacArthur Foundation Research Network on Adolescent Development and Juvenile Justice, who has testified before Congress on juvenile justice issues, notes that gun control and disengaged parents are just two of a number of contributing factors to school violence. "Gun control is unquestionably the most important aspect of the youth violence problem. I think it's safe to say that if we could reduce the prevalence of negative parenting--if we could reduce abusive, hostile, neglectful and disengaged parenting--we would see a significant drop in youth violence and significant improvement in adolescents' mental health, school performance, and general well-being," he says. Reach Dr. Steinberg through the Office of News & Media Relations, 215-204-7476.
HIGHER PRICES NOW COULD LEAD TO LOWER PRICES LATER FOR CALIFORNIA ENERGY CONSUMERS -- California desperately needs conservation to make it through this year energy-wise. However, conservation efforts only show results when prices rise, according to Temple business professor Frederic Murphy. "The lesson for California governor Gray Davis is that if he allows the price to rise now, people will conserve electricity and the accumulating liability the state is incurring will be much smaller," says Murphy, an expert on the energy industry who was consulted by the Bush administration for his perspective on the California situation. In the California electricity market, adds Murphy, conservation that leads any capacity to be idle will start the market working again and lower the average purchase costs for electricity. "People will pay somewhat higher prices now, but the cost of paying down the cost of electricity the state is buying now will be a lot less," he says. Reach Dr. Murphy through the Office of News and Media Relations.
Cheryl AfonsoTemple UniversityOffice of News andMedia Relations215.204.7476[email protected]
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