A report this past week about the Virginia Tech shooter, Seung-Hui Cho, and the university's handling of the April 16 rampage that left 33 people dead said plenty of clues existed in the young man's life that trouble was brewing.
Middle and high school counselors' reports about his "state of mind," however, did not make it to the university level. Some say the issue was one was Cho's privacy; others believe his parents should have alerted officials to his mental problems.
Aside from a new law that assures one's medical and mental history records follow someone to their new homes or schools, the answer is as close as SAVE-Prescott, Inc.
The new organization is focusing on helping Prescott Unified School District students who need help and getting it for them - before trouble erupts. Mental health care and counseling are the group's primary focus, although it also helped a 9-year-old boy receive much-needed dental care this past week.
"I think there's a tremendous need (for SAVE)," said Yavapai Superior Court Judge Robert Brutinel, who is on the SAVE-Prescott Board of Trustees. "I see a lot of kids in the juvenile court system."
Once children end up in the juvenile court system, most receive help, but not before. "If you want to get your kid help, you have to get him arrested. That's not the way it should be," he said.
These students may have issues of low self-esteem, be victims of bullying or may be bullies themselves. They also may be from abusive or broken homes, among other things.
SAVE-Prescott already has logged two PUSD students receiving free counseling services this school year. We look forward to hearing more about the effects this pro-active group has on our future leaders.
Reader Comments
Posted: Saturday, September 08, 2007
Article comment by:
Brian Williams
I strongly urge anyone genuinely concerned about these issues to look into the work of Dr. Henry Krystal and his son. Dr. Krystal devoted his life to studying and understanding acute mental trauma, particularly in Holocust survivors and child abuse victims. One of his many works, published in the late 80s, is available at the Prescott Library is entitled, Integration and Self-Healing/Affect, Trauma and Alexythemia(sp?) Having survived (barely) a violent and psycotic mother I found Dr. Krystal's work the most accurate and informative of anything I've ever read.
