logo
Login Subscribe
Google Play App Store
  • News
    • Obituaries
    • Lifestyle
    • Opinion
  • Sports
  • E-edition
  • Calendar
  • Archives
  • Contact
    • Contact Us
    • Advertisers
    • Form Submission
    • About Us
    • News
      • Obituaries
      • Lifestyle
      • Opinion
    • Sports
    • E-edition
    • Calendar
    • Archives
    • Contact
      • Contact Us
      • Advertisers
      • Form Submission
      • About Us
Mostly Educational
commentary
February 1, 2024
Mostly Educational
By By Tom Deighan,

Safe Places Possible For All Students

In my previous article, written after the tragic shooting in Iowa, I described the crisis in public schools related to students with a high potential for violence. Such students represent a tiny fraction of children, but they have a disproportionate, disruptive impact on schools. We know how to identify these children, and they can almost always be helped with intensive interventions, but we currently have few options for them. So, we them back to home and school.

According to a May 30, 2020, article in the Muskogee Phoenix, Oklahoma detained 3,998 juveniles in secure facilities in 2017. By May of 2020, that number fell to 125, due to the pandemic and other factors, like HB 1282 that reduced the total number of beds for juvenile offenders. I am thankful that we are hesitant to incarcerate kids, but I also wonder if we ever replaced such reductions with other services.

Struggling students need safe places to get the help they need, and our schools need to once again be safe places. Since the pandemic, more children than ever exhibit troubling behavior, but we also have record numbers of emergency certified educators, so we have less experience to help them. Consequently, schools across Oklahoma are overwhelmed trying to educate our communities’ children while serving as substitute juvenile justice centers or mental health providers.

We do not wish to punish children, but we must address violence or threatening behavior. Most students simply need mental health support, but unfortunately, some need long-term care to protect them and others. We have state-level places for the most dangerous, but we have few, if any, options for students who just need temporary outof- school placement, so they can get the help they need – before they hurt themselves or others.

No one wants more state-level beds, and no one wants to recreate the cruel “reform schools” of yesteryear. Removing children from their homes and communities should always be the last resort. Oklahoma schools, however, need local temporary educational settings for students who need intensive mental or behavioral interventions. They need safe places to get the help they need, so our schools can be safer and less disrupted.

Children rarely need residential detention; they simply need targeted and temporary help. They need safe, secure, local places, staffed with professionals trained to help them. Our kids are resilient and can quickly outgrow troubling behavior with the right interventions and help. We know the danger signs, however, and we endanger everyone if we cannot help them early enough.

No one caused this crisis alone, so no one can fix it alone. It is a statewide problem, but we need local solutions to keep these kids connected to their families while they get help. The state of Oklahoma could cover a portion of the costs through matching funds. Local schools, law enforcement, health care, and other youth services would share the remainder through interlocal agreements. Everyone serves children within their areas of expertise in one place. Kids are helped. Schools are protected.

Woodward and other Oklahoma towns have created such programs, so we have several models. The students get the help they deserve in a temporary setting. And without the constant disruptions, schools can once again focus on education instead of juvenile justice or psychiatric services. We know how to do this for Oklahoma children at a county or multi-county level, but no one can do it alone.

With state level help and local partnerships, we can create temporary, wrap-around services for troubled children in their own communities. We also protect the remaining students and staff from violence or constant disruption. Our struggling children need safe places to heal, and just as importantly, our local schools must once again be safe places for all staff and students.

Tom Deighan is an educator and author of Restoring Sanity in Public Schools: Common Ground for Local Parents and Educators. Email: deighantom@ mailto:tom@gmail.com gmail.com

Mary Isham retires from USPS
A: Main, News...
Mary Isham retires from USPS
By LADONNA RHODES STAFF WRITER 
May 8, 2025
Mary Isham retired last week after 20 years with the Checotah Post Office. She started her career with USPS Dec 25, 2004. “I was a stay-at-home mom of four kids until my youngest started school,” Isha...
this is a test
A: Main, News...
Community invited to Memorial Day Service at Greenlawn Cemetery
May 8, 2025
Honoring All Veterans Friday, May 23 at 5 p.m. Veterans Park in Checotah Free Hotdog & Hamburgers Games and Fellowship Compliments of the McIntosh County DAV The DAV Chapter 3 Mc-Intosh County will ho...
this is a test
A: Main, News...
Checotah Schools Dates to Remember
May 8, 2025
May 9 – Kindergarten Graduation May 16 – CIS Track Meet on Football Field May 16 - 9th-12th Awards Assembly at 9 a.m.-10:30 a.m. at PAC May 16 – Emerson Ramsey Talent Show (MS/HS) from 1:30 -2:30 p.m....
this is a test
A: Main, News...
Early voting May 8, 9
May 8, 2025
On May 13 there will be a general election for State Senate District 8 and for Green Country Tech Center Proposition. Early voting for those two elections will be at the Mc-Intosh County Courthouse fr...
this is a test
Pooches paraded at Art and Bark in the Park
A: Main, News...
Pooches paraded at Art and Bark in the Park
By LADONNA RHODES STAFF WRITER 
May 8, 2025
The first annual Art and Bark in the Park presented by the Checotah Art Guild was a great success! Visitors had fun choosing outfits and accessories to put on their dogs from the large selection provi...
this is a test
A: Main, News...
Journalism edged out by Sovereignty in the Kentucky Derby
May 8, 2025
The Kentucky Derby was a soggy but sensational race this year as Journalism and Sovereignty went neck and neck to a sloppy finish with Sovereignty taking the crown. Fulfilling a dream decades in the m...
this is a test
ePaper
coogle_play
app_store
Editor Picks
Lake 10 feet above normal, and rising
A: Main, News...
Lake 10 feet above normal, and rising
By JERRY FINK MANAGING EDITOR 
May 8, 2025
Water release rate: 39,429 cubic feet per second More than seven inches of rain have fallen during the past week. That, coupled with severe rainfall north and west of McIntosh County, has swollen the ...
this is a test
Checotah Band Spring Concert and Spaghetti Dinner Fundraiser May 8
News
Checotah Band Spring Concert and Spaghetti Dinner Fundraiser May 8
May 8, 2025
The Checotah Band Spring Concert is May 8 and will be a Spaghetti Dinner Fundraiser. Dinner will be served at 5 p.m. in the HS Cafeteria and then the concert begins at 6 p.m. in the PAC. The bands hav...
this is a test
News
Eastern Oklahoma Library System receives $20,000 grant
May 8, 2025
MUSKOGEE – The Eastern Oklahoma Library System is pleased to announce it has received a $20,000 grant from the Carolyn Watson Rural Oklahoma Community Foundation Fund at the Oklahoma City Community Fo...
this is a test
Olivia Shackelford receives Youth Prevention Award
News
Olivia Shackelford receives Youth Prevention Award
By LADONNA RHODES STAFF WRITER 
May 8, 2025
Olivia Shackelford became a member of Youth Action for Health Leadership (YAHL) to make a difference in her school and oh what a difference she had made! Olivia affectionately known as Livy to her fri...
this is a test
News
Free 5K and Community Fun Run
May 8, 2025
Join the fun on Saturday, May 24 for a free 5k and Community Fun Run, hosted by Neighbors Building Neighborhoods. Preregister for “Just Glow With It” to save your spot and for a free event t-shirt and...
this is a test
Facebook
Twitter
Tweets
Twitter
Tweets

MCINTOSH COUNTY DEMOCRAT
300-A S. Broadway
Checotah, OK
74426

(918) 473-2313

This site complies with ADA requirements

© 2023 Mcintosh Democrat

  • Contact
  • Privacy
  • Accessibility Policy