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…

Approximately 14 to 17 percent of adolescents today self-harm, deliberately cutting, burning, or bruising themselves. Most self-harming adolescents use the behavior as a coping strategy to get immediate relief from emotional distress or other stressors in their lives. Stressors include fitting in with peers, activity and homework overload, fears…

Teachers should engage in active, collaborative, creative problem solving with their colleagues and students when developing solutions to common behavioral problems. Children communicate through their behaviors and need to learn more positive alternatives. Teachers should help students make successful transitions, create a sense of control, follow…

Foster children's most common problems are falling behind academically, failing to do homework, disrupting class, failing courses, being picked on, cheating and lying, fearing school, and engaging in truancy. Teachers and other school staff members can help by developing reasonable expectations, becoming advocates, involving foster families, and…

An evaluation of 14 independent experiments in early intervention, conducted in the late 1950s and early 1960s, revealed program characteristics related to positive outcome: the early age at intervention; the higher adult-child ratio; and more home visits, direct participation of parents, and services for families. (Author/MLF)

If educators cease trying to teach difficult students, there will be no one left to enculturate them. Violence is unleased in the presence of broken social bonds, unmanageable doses of stress and conflict, our violent culture, and brain abnormalities. Teachers cannot reform society, but can achieve major victories on three fronts: primary…

The author's experiences with short-term interventions show that students with identified learning disabilities exhibit no problem-solving difficulties when problems are interesting and engaging. In fact, studies show that adolescents with suspected learning disabilities can match nondisabled students' performance on complex math problems.…

Explains how the instrumental enrichment program helps adolescents and adults develop higher order thinking and problem-solving abilities. (Author/MLF)

Young people who daily endure hateful words, slurs, and epithets at school often become fearful and/or enraged. No magic solution or program exists. Teachers must firmly, consistently interrupt usage of degrading language and model acceptable behaviors. Such interventions reduce escalating situations and reassure vulnerable students. (MLH)