Education Commons^™

Growing Ideas - Building Belonging: Providing Guidance For Social Skill Development, University Of Maine Center For Community Inclusion And Disability Studies

Early Childhood Resources

As young children with and without disabilities grow, they are learning how to develop relationships with others and to be members of a community. All children need support to learn and achieve these important life skills. The process adults use to teach and support this learning is known as guidance. Effective guidance assumes the following conditions: Respect, understanding, and appreciation for every child’s unique qualities; Knowledge that children’s mistaken behaviors provide learning opportunities; An encouraging community where every child belongs and feels safe; and a developmentally appropriate, culturally responsive setting.

Weapons Of Minor Destruction, Marc Baranowski

Child Development and Family Relations Faculty Scholarship

The calculated rampage of two boys has left four classmates and a teacher dead and 11 others wounded at a middle school in Arkansas. It is a shocking, chilling disaster that begs for explanation. But there are no easy answers or quick solutions to violence as devastating as the murder of children by other children.

A wise sage once said, "When a society gets sick, teen-agers are the most likely to show the symptoms." American society suffers from a chronic disease not covered by most HMOs. I call this disease "LOV" -- Love Of Violence, and the Arkansas incident is …