Globe Staff Writer
HURLEY -- Violence is infiltrating our schools, and the video game industry and television are major contributors to that aggressive behavior, according to a national speaker on school violence.
With no violent acts at the Hurley School to date, school officials are taking a pro-active approach to the problem.
"It is preventable. It is treatable," said fourth grade teacher Ronda Olkonen, who attended a Student Media Awareness Reduction Training conference in Escanaba presented by Lt. Col. Dave Grossman of Jonesboro, Ark.
Fourth grade teacher Monica Kolpin and second grade teacher Michelle Santini also attended the SMART session.
A leading expert in the study of school violence, Grossman will be at the Hurley School on Sunday and Monday to talk with parents and educators about the "virus" of violent crime.
On Tuesday, Grossman said he hopes his presentation will accomplish three things: Save lives, increase the quality of life and increase the quality of education.
Grossman has been presenting the Student Media Awareness Reduction Training program to schools throughout the nation.
The SMART program shows how television and video games have a detrimental effect on our youth.
Grossman said studies show those involved in the SMART program have shown enormous cuts in violence, bullying and obesity.
He talked about the brain.
Dividing it into two sections, he stressed the importance of "detoxing" students from the impacts of TV and video games, and reintroducing them to human behavior.
"The forebrain is that which makes us human -- reading, writing, arithmetic, decision making, social skills, etc. -- everything people can do that a dog cannot do," he said.
"The mid-brain brings out the animal instincts -- basic survival, fighting, reproduction," Grossman said.
"When we read, we exercise our human side. Violent visual imagery brings out our animal instincts," he said.
Grossman was in Escanaba in October. His presentation there was the start-up of the SMART program in Escanaba.
Noting that within three days, kids can be "detoxed" from the impacts TV and video games have on the brain, Grossman said after the SMART program was enacted in Escanaba, "They got a double-digit increase in test scores."
A West Point psychology professor, professor of military science and an Army Ranger, Grossman has combined his experiences to become the founder of a new field of scientific endeavor, killology.
Grossman said killology is his personal area of study. It teaches about how people in the military are taught to kill and how video games do the same.
"The military has a safeguard built in, discipline," he said. "It's being done to our children without the safeguard of discipline."
Grossman will be at the Hurley School on Sunday at 7:30 p.m. to talk with parents about media violence and its effect on children.
This session is free of charge.
He will talk with educators and other area agencies on Monday beginning at 8 a.m.
Presentations will be held in the high school auditorium.
No comments:
Post a Comment