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K-12 educators often face the dilemma of how to respond to a student who makes a threatening statement. They must decide whether the threat is credible and the student poses a real danger, as well as how to respond to keep everyone safe. In such situations, a team of professionals often does a "safety assessment" to learn more about this student and evaluate how credible the threat is. The authors describe an approach many schools use for such an assessment (The Virginia Student Model for Threat Assessment Guidelines). Drawing on research with students who have undergone a safety assessment (and their families), they recommend ways to do the assessment that will keep the school safe and address the underlying problems of the student making the threat.

Opioid abuse has become an epidemic in America and exposure to the drugs often begins in high school. This article shares some facts about opioid use and some signs and symptoms to look for in students who may be addicted to the drug. The authors also offer tips for educators on how to deal with the legal issues involved in assessing, reporting, and managing opioid abuse.

In a time marked by racial divides, the authors of this article argue that teachers are on the front lines of identifying and responding to race-related stress in the classroom. They provide suggestions for how teachers can educate themselves about students' racialized experiences and respond appropriately to support students' mental health.

Data from anonymous surveys reveal that about 15-20 percent of teenagers have engaged in self-injurious behavior, such as cutting. For many, these behaviors stem from their frantic efforts to relieve the painful and intense emotions state that often come with being a teenager. Although self-injury is not necessarily a suicide attempt, it puts a student in a higher risk group for suicide, and it's important for educators to understand these behaviors and how to support students who self-injure. When school staff members discover a student is self-injuring, they should be calm and prepared. A designated staff member with training in self-injury should meet with the student to assess suicide risk, provide referrals, and work with parents or guardians. The school should work with the student's therapist to ensure needed supports, such as a quiet room to retreat to, are available. With help, students can learn alternate strategies for coping with strong emotions.

This article provides an overview of medications used frequently in the treatment of pediatric depression, anxiety, and bipolar disorder. The need for a collaborative relationship between the prescribing physician, school personnel, and the family is outlined. School psychologists can play crucial roles by providing the physician with information at the time of referral, developing school-based psychosocial interventions that augment pharmacological treatment, completing periodic evaluations to assist in symptom monitoring, and alerting the family and physician to any adverse side effects. (Contains 3 tables.)

There is no definitive research on how many students display sexualized behavior in schools. Sexually inappropriate behavior includes using sexual language, gestures, or noises, engaging in pretend play that simulates sex, making sexual invitations to others, inappropriately touching another person, or masturbating in the classroom. These behaviors are relatively rare but can be very upsetting to teachers, who often do not know what to do, and can put the student on a fast track to a self-contained classroom or out-of-district placement because of understandable concerns about protecting other children. Students with sexualized behavior present many challenges to teachers, but when teachers have appropriate responses to such behaviors, they can help students learn to respect personal boundaries, form healthy relationships, and function better in school.

Traditional behavioral plans for children with Asperger syndrome often neglect what they need to learn to manage their anxiety and the underdeveloped skills that contribute to their anxiety. School personnel often identify a desirable target behavior and try to reinforce it through rewards (stickers, praise, etc.), which usually does not work. When educators do not recognize how anxiety prompts some behaviors, such as meltdowns or withdrawal, their responses can unintentionally exacerbate the students' inappropriate behavior and their anxiety. If students with Asperger are to succeed in school, they need a prescribed behavioral intervention plan that addresses anxiety, explicit instruction in underdeveloped skills leading to anxiety, which helps them learn alternative, more appropriate responses to use when they are flooded with anxiety, and includes accommodations that teachers can use while students learn their new skills. An effective behavior plan needs to avoid reward- and punishment-based consequences and focus instead on teaching the student to cope and to use alternative responses. Incorporating preventive strategies and self-monitoring systems, as part of an overall anxiety management approach to behavior intervention, is practical for school-based settings. (Contains 2 tables.)

School truancy--defined by a student's refusal to attend part or all of the school day, along with a defined number of unexcused absences--is an increasingly frustrating and complex problem for teachers and school administrators. Although statistics on the prevalence of truancy in the United States do not exist due to lack of uniformity among states in defining the problem, data show rates as high as 20 percent in some states (Zorn-Heilbrunn, 2007). Data also show that two-thirds of students who refuse to attend school have an underlying psychiatric illness (Bernstein & Garfinkel, 1986). Intervening with these students requires a careful diagnostic assessment, creative outreach, and persistence. Although teachers certainly are not expected to make a diagnosis, being knowledgeable about behavior as a marker for mental illness can help schools effectively respond and rally a team to provide the student with the necessary support. This article discusses the causes of school avoidance and offers ways on how schools can address this issue and get students with school avoidance issues back to school.

When, despite their best efforts, teachers feel defeated by a disruptive student, it seems they're fighting a losing battle. These students often have trouble regulating their emotions, become inflexible and have outbursts, and leave teachers feeling exhausted and incompetent. Through their collaboration, the authors have developed an approach that helps teachers come up with practical interventions that can make a difference in students' day-to-day lives. It's built on the premise that teachers can only control a few variables--such as the classroom environment and their own behavior--in the lives of students with challenging behavior. Because of this, they must put preventative accommodations in place and recognize that how they respond to students' behavior has a huge impact. By understanding what the student is communicating, figuring out replacement behaviors, and building a strong relationship, teachers discover that seemingly intractable behavior can diminish and students can thrive. (Contains 1 figure and 2 endnotes.)

In order to identify differences in risk factors for suicide attempts throughout adolescence, this study utilized a school-based survey of ninth (n = 1,192) and eleventh graders (N = 1,055). Suicide attempts were associated with cigarette and alcohol use, family violence, and depression for ninth graders and with illicit drug use, school violence, and sexual abuse for eleventh graders, while having friends was protective for both groups. Additionally, having more than one risk factor imparted an exponential risk for suicide attempts (ninth > eleventh graders). The differences detected are consistent with developmental changes of adolescence and represent important information for identification of at-risk youth.

For the past 5 years, a large high school in Cambridge, Massachusetts, has attempted to provide an advising program for students based on the premise that constructive student/adult relationships can enhance learning. Students learn to challenge themselves academically and explore healthy alternatives when facing adversity. (MLH)

The article focuses on the increased susceptibility for substance use disorders among adolescents. Topics discussed include treatment for a substance use problem; role of schools in promoting constructive response efforts for opioid crisis; and analysis of confidentiality, medical safety, and stigma for determining opioid epidemic from a school perspective.