Did you know that over one billion children in the world never will receive an education—walk in a classroom door—learn their ABC’s or even basic counting and math skills–unless something drastic is done to improve their lives?

We know that the best hope for improving children’s futures is education, but building classrooms, hiring teachers, or providing school supplies is unrealistic when basic human needs like clean water, nutrition, health care, and clothing are missing. But there is an answer to ending the poverty cycle and improving children’s lives: it’s the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project.

The OLPC XO laptop is quite special. It’s made from durable plastic so it can withstand tough weather conditions (think Africa or the Sahara Desert), is childproof, even looks like a toy and has instant connectivity. It comes fully equipped with curriculum in a child’s native language (29 languages and counting now).

The XO retails for $185, is designed by some of the world’s most brilliant minds at MIT Media Lab and developed based on sound theory that supports how kids learn best. And I recently had the thrill of witnessing hundreds of Nicaraguan children’s lives be transformed as they were each handed their own XO laptop.

OLPC in Nicaragua

Nicaragua is one of the largest countries in Latin America and one of the most impoverished in the western hemisphere. One in three Nicaraguan children are chronically malnourished. Parents

struggle to feed their children, provide for their families and simply survive. But thanks to a private alliance done by the Zamora-Teran Foundation (created by an extraordinary husband and wife, Roberto Zamora and MaryJo Teran) many Nicaraguan kids’ lives are now brighter.

Last week the foundation delivered 5000 XO laptops to children on the remote Nicaraguan island of Ometepe.

The group and I traveled via plane, bus and ferry to witness the occasion

which looked like a mini-United Nations representing Germany, Argentina, Italy, Colombia, Denmark, Honduras, the Dominican Republic, Bosnia, South Korea, Belgium, India and the U.S. We were teachers, bankers, doctors, writers, embassy representatives, lawyers, and businessmen, but we all shared a commonality knowing that something immensely significant was about to happen on that Island, and could feel it the moment we walked onto a huge field.

Hundreds of school children-impeccably dressed in their navy and white uniforms-sat in the middle of the field with their teachers. Dignitaries and special guests sat on a stage. Then the Nicaraguan national anthem was played, a blessing followed and then the moment: each child on that field was presented with an XO laptop and the crowd went wild with cheers and tears. Every student in primary education who was once completely isolated from the world now had permanent access to the Internet, and we knew five thousand more kids would receive an education and the potential for a better life.

The Zamora-Teran Foundation’s goal is fundraise to reach 400,000 XOs, which would mean full saturation for all primary school Nicaraguan children. Just imagine!

The Impact of XO Laptops on Children

The first delivery of XO laptops to Nicaragua was in 2009, and the impact is already evident. Statistics show a 40% reduction in drop-outs, a decrease in retention and in violence. Best yet, parents are starting to come to the schools to be involved in their children’s learning, and the teachers recognize those laptops are affecting their teaching!

My new friends who told me how much their XO laptops have helped them learn

The following day I visited a small rural primary school (San Francisco de Asís) outside of Managua using XO laptops since November 2010. There is now full OLPC school saturation. Positive changes are clearly apparent: the parents are more involved in their children’s education; there has been a high increase in school registration; and student learning is increasing, and here’s why.

The teachers were all trained by OLPC and continue with monthly staff development training.

Each computer is equipped with grade-level texts including natural science, geography, geometry, Nicaraguan history and culture, a dictionary, and Wikipedia, books (“Mine has Harry Potter!” one boy exclaimed), as well as programs that encourage children’s creativity, music and art. Teachers report that students are now far more engaged in learning. Parents say their kids are using the computers to continue learning at home.

Over the next hours I observed various teaching lessons using the XOs. Sixth graders working in base teams to learn how to mind-map different types of calendars (Mayan, Greco, Julian). Third graders paired with partners to identify bird species. First graders were learning how to use the XO drawing program and discovering beginning programming skills. Fourth graders were mentoring younger students who needed “catching up” on computer skills. Students were engaged and excited about their learning.

What the Children and Teachers Say About OLPC

I also spent time interviewing students and teachers throughout the day and learned much from them.

Nidia Raquel Morales Alvarez, a long name for a precocious ten-year old, told me that her computer has “greatly advanced my learning.” When I probed for details she explained: “Yesterday I learned about industrial agriculture. Tomorrow I’ll be giving a presentation in my classroom about farming techniques.” She added that her favorite laptop activity at home is doing research on Wikipedia. Her goal, she said, is to become an engineer. I have no doubt that she will.

Seven-year old Lidia, told me that her XO is helping her learn as well as her family. Her mother and father now know how to use the computer, because Lidia is teaching them. “All kids should have a computer like me, so they can learn,” she said adamantly.

But what was especially evident was that great commodity known as “teacher pride.” Teachers were aware that something wonderful was happening in their classrooms that was affecting their teaching. But they also saw a change in their students: the kids were excited about learning.

Gloria, a sixth grade teacher, was exuberant about the OLPC project. “I’ve taught for twenty years,” she said, “but I’ve never seen anything that has helped my students or my own teaching better than the laptops. In just one week, the children learned not only how to use them, but how to teach themselves. They’re now teaching me!”

The veteran teacher also described how she incorporated the laptops into a recycling project. “Across the street is a huge garbage disposal – trash is everywhere,” Gloria explained.  “I had my students use their computers to research the dangers environmental pollution, and how to recycle. Students brought in plastic bottles from the garbage bin and made art projects from them,” she explained. Gloria proudly showed me the students’ recycle art efforts. The child who won “first prize” created an entire outfit using plastic bottles from that garbage bin. “You can’t believe how these laptops have changed my teaching!” she added.

But I didn’t need persuading. Watching the children and teachers had convinced me that the XO laptops were having a profound educational as well as personal impact.

For Many Kids “Hope” Comes in a Laptop

As I left the school I passed one last classroom—all precious three and four year olds who were standing by a gated door–to ensure their safety-waiting to say goodbye. As I knelt to give them hugs, the teacher explained that all those little sweet ones were abandoned–given up by their parents who could not support them. Community members and teachers were helping to raise them by bringing them food and clothes. I stood in disbelief with my heart in my throat trying to compose myself.

The teacher saw my pain, and put her arm around me. And then she leaned in and whispered: “I know, I know. But don’t worry, she said. “Next year each one of them will get their own laptop, and they’ll have hope for a better life, too.”

Oh, how right she was.  The One Laptop Per Child project really is hope for kids.

©2012 Provided by http://www.micheleborba 

The images of SWAT teams marching onto Chardon High School to rescue students from a student shooter sent shock waves through us all. The scene was déjà vu: Columbine—again—and our worse nightmare revisited. As of this post, three students have died at the hands of a student shooter.

The shooting occurred after a steady drop in school violence, which peaked in the 2003-04 school year. We’ve learned important lessons from those school shootings and the 49 students killed on our campuses. Those lessons have helped foil dozens of plots and save student lives. For the past three decades I’ve studied childhood violence and wrote the “Proposal to End School Violence” (passed into California law: SB1667) based on what educators can do to boost campus safety and reduce the likelihood of a school shooting. While no guarantees, there are important lessons to learn.

Lesson 1: Implement a School Safety Plan

Educators at Chardon High School had a safety plan in place and that plan appeared to be activated shortly after the shooter opened fire at around 7:30 am. Administrators notified the police, and the school went into full lockdown mode immediately. Email alerts went out to teachers and the school used a phone-alert system to tell parents about the shooting. Teachers turned off classroom lights, locked doors and covered windows. A school safety plan is essential.

Educator Lesson: Be prepared for the unthinkable. Have an emergency plan in place and train all staff in the operations of that safety plan. Review that plan now. Are all the pieces in place?

Lesson 2: Recognize Kids Are Capable of Violent, Unimaginable Acts

There is no simple answer as to why our kids become violent, but we do know that children are capable of violent acts. It is a sad truth we must admit. Keep in mind that a child rarely “snaps” overnight. Instead, there is a slow, disturbing trajectory in which the child adopts a view that “violence” is acceptable and there are no other options. There is also a “risk build-up” factor involved in violence. Rarely does one bad event cause a child to be suicidal or homicidal. The steady build-up of those risks (such as the bullying, the peer rejection, the bad home, the school failure, etc.) without anyone replacing the risk with something positive is what causes the final violent act.

Parent and Educator Lesson: Get educated about student aggression and violence. Know that violence is learned, but is also preventable. When it comes to mental health, prevention and early intervention must be the goal. Financial constraints have greatly reduced mental health services in our schools. Watch especially for children who come from troubled backgrounds or have witnessed or experienced violence or aggression. And then find that child help, ASAP.

Lesson 3: Watch for Marginalized, Affect-Hungry Boys

The signs of a troubled child are subtle, but predictable. We can begin to spot those signs in kids as early as six or seven. We must tune in closer to “at risk” kids, especially to “marginalized” youth. These kids typically are not troublemakers. They generally do not participate in activities or attend school events. They usually are not connected to a particular teacher or seek out help from a counselor. Because they often isolate themselves and don’t make those waves, they easily be overlooked. Peer and parent comments about the Chardon High School shooter were classic signs: “He was from a troubled home.” “He was always by himself.” “We used to hang around together, and then he pulled back.” “I can’t believe he would do something like this! He was so quiet.”

Educator Lesson: Watch for kids-especially boys-who are socially isolated, withdrawn, victimized by peers, or “affect hungry.” Boost adult visibility in congregated areas such as school cafeterias or gyms and look for loners or kids who appear marginalized. Watch also for “who isn’t there” at school events and activities. Then start discussing as a staff “Who we might be overlooking.” List your vulnerable students. Assign a staff member to seek that child out at least once a day – even if it’s to pass on a smile or a quick, “hello.” One caring adult can be enough to make a transformational difference on a student life.

Lesson 4: Recognize “Commonalities” of School Shooters

The U.S. Secret Service conducted one of the most thorough studies of school shooters over the past decades to try and create a “profile.” That study uncovered certain commonalities of shooters – and many appear to fit the young man arrested at Chardon High School yesterday.  Though these characteristics do not predict a shooter (and information about the arrested youth remains sketchy). The signs are important to discuss as a staff. Student school shooters are more likely to be:

• Male
• Caucasian
• Withdrawn (pulls back from school activities)
• Isolated or rejected from peers
• Living in a rural community
• Have easy access to weapons
• Bullied repeatedly from a young age (there is a point when the bullied child flips roles and becomes the bully)
• From a troubled home

Several school students were also mentally disturbed (read Jonathan Kellerman’s book Savage Spawn). In addition, there are warning signs of a child who may become violent (to himself or others). Michael G. Conner, Psy.D. and Medical Psychologist offers a few other signs to watch for:

Feelings and behavior are easily influenced by peers: Victimized or treated badly by peers; Alcohol or other drug use; Dwells on experiences of rejection, on injustices or unrealistic fears; Reacts to disappointments, criticisms or teasing with extreme and intense anger, blame or a desire for revenge; Increasing anger, aggression, and destructive behavior; Associates with children known to be involved with morbid, destructive or violent behavior or fantasy; Preoccupation or interest in destructive or violent behavior; Has been cruel or violent towards pets or other animals; Fascinated interest or an obsession with weapons or potential weapons; Depicts violent or destructive behaviors in artistic or other creative expressions.

Educator Lesson: Talk as a staff about students who may be displaying such signs. Hold those “courageous conversations” in which you discuss kids who you know may be hurting or whose behavior concerns you. Report your concerns to the counseling staff and to the child’s parents. 

Parent Lesson: Tune into your child closer. Are you noticing a change in his behavior that lasts too long, has become too intense, is spilling over into too many other areas of his life and just is too different from his typical self? If so, seek professional help now.

Lesson 5: Provide Reporting Options and Encourage Students to Tell

Did you know that 75 percent of teens contemplating suicide, homicide or a school shooting tell their plans to a peer? That’s why a key piece to school safety is to provide students with ways to report those threats. While we hope students would tell those threats to an adult, the truth is most kids do not. Therefore, it’s crucial that we provide several types of reporting options including: anonymous reporting strategies (via websites, text, phone lines), designated teachers or counselors to tell, and peer mentors.

We must then encourage students to report any threats. Many students fear “telling” could make a situation worse or that they will lose social status and be seen as a “snitch” by peers. Teach student these distinctions: “Reporting is when you are trying to keep a peer out of trouble or harms way. Snitching is when you are trying to get a peer in trouble.” Stress that reporting could be life saving and it is “always better to be safe than sorry.” More students now report threats (including threats posted via Facebook, texts, emails and twitter). Those actions have thwarted peer suicides and school shootings because they were trained in that important distinction.

Educator and Police Lesson: Make sure your school has a designated website and/or phone hot line where students can report threats. Provide “locked” report boxes in key locations around the school campus where students can post concerns. Last week I spoke with several student high school focus groups, who said many peers are no longer utilizing the school website hot-line service because the staff was not taking their reports seriously or acting on those reports fast enough.  They also thought it helpful to designate trained peer mentors as another reporting option.

Lesson 6: Beware of the Copycat Effect

After a school shooting there is always the danger of a “copy-cat” event. Do also know that research finds that shootings are most prevalent during the spring. The anniversary of the Columbine shooting, April 14, is also approaching.

Educator and Parent Lesson: Monitor your children’s viewing habits and media images of the shootings. Center your attention of the victims, and not on the shooter.

Early intervention to violence is critical! Warning signs of violence can be seen in even six or seven year olds. It’s the build-up of risk factors that makes a child particularly vulnerable to violence. The problem is that those risk factors build, but no one steps in to remove one. Violence is learned and in the vast majority of cases tragedies could have been prevented if someone had intervened.

The best solution for ending the cycle of youth violence is always one caring adult who recognizes a child’s pain and steps in to help. Be that adult!

My heart aches for the community of Chardon, Ohio. My thoughts and prayers go out to the victims’ families.

@2012 Provided by Dr. Michele Borba http:www//micheleborba.com

Guest Post by Dr. Thomas Lickona.

Tom Lickona is a developmental psychologist, author of Raising Good Children, Character Matters: How to Help Our Children Develop Good Judgment, Integrity, and Other Essential Virtues, Educating for Character: How Our Schools and Teach Character and Responsibility (all fabulous, must-read books and Tom is one of my favorite people in the world). He interviewed me about ways parents can prevent bullying. Here is that interview which was featured this month in his wonderful newsletter at The Center of the 4th and 5th Rs. Their mission is to promote the development of moral and performance character in schools, families and communities.

In wake of recent scandals we educators need to tune in closer to ensure children’s safety

A guest post by Edward F. Dragan

“In my kindergarten class this morning I saw Frank and Gail leaving the bathroom together. Should I be concerned that something is going on?”

“I saw this fourth-grade kid run out of the boy’s room and down the hall. I didn’t see who he was and just then a little first-grader came out crying and pulling his pants up. Should I tell the principal?”

“Barbara’s mother stopped my office this morning and reported that Coach Bradford made Barbara and other girls uncomfortable out on the field yesterday with some of the words he was using. Is this something I need to report?”

These sceneries and questions are more common than you would think.

Caregivers have a responsibility for the safety of children and to respond when there’s a concern that a child might be sexually abused. But how someone views and responds to these situations can be confusing.

How should the kindergarten teacher react when Frankie and Gail left the bathroom together? Was Gail abusing Frankie? Should the teacher report this to anyone?

What response is reasonable under the circumstance?

Since the 80’s when early childhood professionals became mandated reporters of childhood sexual abuse, training has included how to evaluate children’s sexual behavior in order to differentiate normal things from signs of a problem, which might include the child being sexually abused. It is foreseeable that children do sexual things with other children, and a school or other group care setting must be prepared to respond to these things and to prevent behaviors which can be sexual abuse.

In a school or group care setting staff should be educated about childhood sexuality. They should learn what normal behavior is for a young child so they know when to be concerned. And they should know when the behavior is the sign of a problem.

In the kindergarten classroom scenario it is unlikely that the behavior of the two children means that one is being sexually abused by the other. More likely, they were acting in a way that healthy children behave.

Healthy Children

Healthy children will often:

• Look at their own bodies and the bodies of others;
• Touch their genital to explore anatomy and sensation; and,
• Engage in mutual touching with similar aged friends and cousi

Abusive Behavior

Sexual behavior is defined as abusive among younger children of similar age when there is:

• Lack of consent – one can’t consent without knowing what is proposed. Cooperation and compliance do not equal consent;
• Lack of equality – refers to the balance of power and authority. Equality implies that two participants are operating with the same level of power and neither is being controlled by the other either by being older, larger, intellectually more advanced or put in charge by an adult; and
• Coercion – is a range of pressures used to get someone to do something. Those pressures can be threats, bribes, physical force, etc.

In sexual interactions between healthy very young children there is usually no coercion and no pressure and both children are just involved in play. There is a sense of privacy and the children might be embarrassed and even fearful when discovered by an adult, however both children will react similarly and there is usually the sense that the interaction was fun.

What Should a Teacher Do?

So, what should the teacher do? Using the above information as a guideline for determining appropriate action is a good start.

It doesn’t sound like sexual abuse was taking place in this situation but if the teacher is not comfortable making that call, she should seek the advice of another professional in the school such as the school social worker or a counselor. I think it’s good to contact the parents of both children to let them know what occurred but also give them some information that’s readily available about the sexual behavior of young children. It’s also a good idea for the teacher to supervise the bathroom more closely so that these situations don’t occur in school since they risk misinterpretation.

And if the care giver has reasonable concern or suspicion that a child is being sexual abused that person has a duty, under every state’s law, to report that to the appropriate child protective agency and, in some states, to the police.

What about the teacher who sees a fourth grader running out of the bathroom with a first grader crying and pulling his pants up after him?

In this case the teacher must apply a different standard. A fourth-grader is physically bigger and may have other advantages over a smaller first-grader who may be coerced by the older child into participating in something that the smaller child doesn’t even understand. This is lack of consent. A younger child might be compliant and cooperate with an older child who says “pull your pants down” but not know why she is being asked to do that by the older child. The older child, because of his or her size and the fact that the child is in an older grade, yields more power and authority. It’s also not uncommon in a situation where an older child sexual abuses a younger child for the abuser to threaten the child not to tell or even bribe the child with gifts.

In this case the teacher needs to apply a different standard.

When there is lack of consent, lack of equality and coercion this is sexual abuse and it must be reported to the appropriate state child protective agency usually within 24 hours. It’s my experience that schools might be operating with illegal policies that require an observer of such behavior to report it to the building principal and then the administration will decide what to do next. This is a breach of the professional standard of care and can cause legal problems for the school and for the teacher.

A Real Case

As an expert witness I am often called upon to review the issues of cases such as these and render an opinion as to whether the school administration met the professional standard of care in a specific situation. One such case involved a teacher seeing a fourth-grader leaving the bathroom followed by a first-grader crying and pulling up his pants. The teacher knew the older student who ran away and comforted the younger student and brought him back to his classroom. When she got to the classroom she told his teacher what happened. The classroom teacher did nothing else even though this older student was known to have harasses other younger kids in the bathroom before. Was there reasonable cause to think that this fourth-grader sexually abused the first-grader? Did the teacher follow the school’s policy and the state law regarding reporting her suspicion? It turned out, in this particular case, that she had not and the abusive behavior of the older student toward younger kids went on for several more months.

Advice

My advice is to err on the side of reporting rather than assuming it won’t happen again or it was just kids being kids. Report observations to the appropriate office of child protective services first and then report to the appropriate administrators according to school policy. In the case I described, if the teacher had reported the suspicion of sexual abuse the state agency would have investigated. That alone would likely have prevented further abuse from occurring.

In the wake of the Penn State scandal it is ever more important for school administrators and others to assure that teachers are trained in their responsibilities to be observant, to report and to protect the children in their care.

Dr. Dragan is the owner of Education Management Consulting, LLC and provides education expert witness consultation to attorneys around the country. He is the author of “The Bully Action Guide: How to Help Your Child and Get Your School to Listen” and can be contacted at www.edmgt.com.

Simple ways to help kids learn the power of giving and and grow into caring individuals

It’s no secret that kids learn best by doing. But they’re also keen observers as well as little copycats. I constantly hear from parents that they want their kids to grow up to be caring and giving individuals. But it’s not enough to merely get the kids involved in giving back opportunities, it’s essential that you (as the parent) lead by example.

In fact, one of the easiest ways to boost our children’s character development is by providing them with the example or model you hope they copy.  Our kids arrive with a huge built-in advantage: research shows children are hard-wired at birth to become empathic. All we need to do is provide the right opportunities and examples to help them “catch” the spirit of giving.

What I mean is, if your kids show an interest in a volunteer opportunity, make sure you go with them. They need to see you participating in the act of giving itself. By seeing you and the joy you get in giving back, you help them grow into caring individuals.

Make sure you also share your experience: “I worked at the soup kitchen. I can’t tell you how great it made me feel to give out meals. The people were so grateful!” It’s amazing to see kids catch that joy. My husband and I raised our three boys this way and we’re quite proud of how they’ve turned out.

Sometimes taking the first step is the hardest part, so start simple. Look for local opportunities, which might be as close as next door. If you have an elderly neighbor, propose that one Saturday morning you all go over as a family and help clean up the yard. Or around the holidays, volunteer your family to serve food at a local food shelter. What counts is the moment when the recipient states his appreciation. Your child suddenly recognizes he or she made a difference on someone’s life, the hero within awakens and the joy of giving begins.

Another option is to find opportunities linked to your kids’ passions. If your son or daughter loves animals, get involved as a family at your local animal shelter by playing with the animals on a monthly basis.  If your child likes to perform, have them go read or play an instrument at a senior center. The secret is to follow your child’s lead. That way your child will be more motivated to volunteer and you just may find him or her taking charge.

If you’d like, you can ask the parents of your child’s classmates to volunteer along with your family. Or even invite their family. My husband and I started the tradition of delivering presents to needy families in our community during the holidays with our three boys and their best friends and parents. To this day all of our kids – and their friends – say it was one of their fondest holiday memories. (One of my son’s friends even wrote about the experience on his college essay describing it as “transforming” and even thanked his dad for the opportunity of learning how it felt to give back. You just never know!)

Photo: A Pack n’ Ship event at General Mills headquarters in Minneapolis, MN. At the event, employees and their families packed backpacks with school supplies and treats including a handwritten note. These items were donated along with laptops to school children in Kigali, Rwanda. The event was sponsored by Betty Crocker® Fruit Flavored Snacks and their “Win & Give” promotion. I had the joy of helping to deliver those backpacks to kids in Rwanda and what they appreciated most were the handwritten notes from the American kids! They touched, read, reread, held those notes and cherished them! Little things can make such a big difference in children’s lives. 

Children learn by watching and they watch their parents more closely than anyone. You don’t have to be extremely creative (although that can never hurt). Just be engaged with your kids. What’s important is that:

1)     You’re recognizing the giving potential in your child

2)     You’re showing your child that you too care about the world around you

Those are sure-fire ways to boost the odds that your kids are going to grow up to be altruistic.

It sounds a little cliché, but clichés exist for a reason, I guess. Truly, in addition to talking the talk as a parent and getting your kids excited about giving back, you need to walk the walk and volunteer with them .

So here’s my challenge to you. Ask yourself, “If my kids had only my example to watch would they be catching a “giving spirit”?

If not, it may be time to tune up your own behavior. After all, the kids are watching!

Let’s make sure what they watch is what you hope they copy.