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American Morning

Aggression, Kids

Aired December 09, 2003 - 07:44   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: There has been a disturbing increase in aggressive, even violent, behavior among America's youngest schoolchildren, ages 5 and 6. "TIME" magazine reports this week on some outrageous examples of kindergarteners and first graders act out in Fort Worth, Texas and elsewhere.
Michael Parker is the director of psychological services for Fort Worth's Independent School District. He joins us this morning from Dallas.

Nice to see you, sir.

And Ron Clark, a teacher and author of "The Essential 55," an award-winning educator's rules for discovering the successful student in every child. And he joins us right in the studio this morning.

Gentlemen, nice to have you both. Thanks for joining us.

Mr. Parker, we're going to start with you. I want to read a short clip of what you told "TIME" magazine: "I am clearly seeing an increasing number of kindergarteners and first graders coming to our attention for aggressive behavior."

Give me a list of some of the worst, most egregious behaviors that you have seen.

MICHAEL PARKER, FORT WORTH INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT: Well, I screened many calls from teachers and principals requesting that I send out a school psychologist to assist them, and behaviors have really changed. It used to be a matter of fighting with slapping, and now it's fists and throwing punches, kicking, which is very difficult to defend against. The profanity is worse than you'd expect from an adult. It's gotten to be very serious. Kids are biting teachers as well.

O'BRIEN: There was a study in your county, I believe, that suggested that the problem is significantly worse than it was just five years ago. To what do you attribute this, Mr. Parker?

PARKER: Well, there's a myriad of contributing elements to why we're seeing more aggressive behavior. Certainly there are kids who are abused and have experienced other traumas, but the people that I'm talking to are describing situations in which children are so much neglected in the sense of supervision, but haven't had as much involvement with rule-setting as they need. They're not prepared to come to school and sit down, pay attention and do as they're directed. Young children don't differentiate frustration from anger, so when they get frustrated, they get mad and they act out in an angry way.

O'BRIEN: Mr. Clark, you've spent much of your time traveling around the country, talking to other school teachers like yourself.

RON CLARK, AUTHOR, "THE ESSENTIAL 55": Right.

O'BRIEN: What you heard from Mr. Parker, is that reflected in what the school teachers are telling you, that it's significantly worse? And we're not talking about children with special problems, but just your sort of average kid. Is that right?

CLARK: Yes, I've been surprised. As I've traveled across the country I thought, you know some of the main issues would be funding or overcrowded classrooms or administration, but it's just been discipline. These teachers are saying that the discipline is so bad in the classroom they can hardly teach. And it's not all of the kids, you know because there are some great families raising wonderful kids out there. But there are some kids who have really got some disciplinary issues. And if you've got three or four kids in the classroom, you know, it can disrupt the learning process for everyone.

O'BRIEN: And would you agree that the problem, Mr. Clark, is that the parents really aren't able to be as hands-on, as Mr. Parker seems to suggest?

CLARK: I think that's true. For one reason, maybe it's because of the economy, because people are having to work harder now than they had to work five years ago. And if you've got two parents in the home and both parents are having to work, or if you're a single parent, good grief, you know, you're having to work two or three jobs, you know. And the time to get to raise kids and spend time with them and get to know them, you know, is just not there anymore.

O'BRIEN: So, Mr. Parker, what's your school doing to try to alleviate these problems? Obviously, to some degree, punishing the children because they can't tell the difference between frustration and anger can't really be the right solution, right? But you also can't quite punish the parents who seem to be responsible, in your eyes at least.

PARKER: Well, it's important to remember that discipline is synonymous with control, not punishment. When you speak of self- discipline, you're talking about self-control. And what we want to do is establish a framework for these kids so that they'll comply and begin to internalize those controls. Normally that happens at the very young ages of 2, 3, where you have to sit at the dinner table and finish your meal before you get your dessert.

As far as what we're coming in Fort Worth, I'm very pleased to be part of such a progressive district that provides a continuum of services. As I mentioned, I have specialists in school psychology on my staff, 25, that can go into the classroom and consult with teachers. Of course, we have school counselors that can consult and also provide groups on anger management. We have our community support program that teaches psycho-educational groups including topics on anger management, all of the way to our school-based family resource centers that provide family counseling, individual counseling and even connect families with other services in the community in a wrap-around format.

O'BRIEN: Before we run out of time, Mr. Clark, I'm going to give you the final word here. What do you advise parents to do? I mean, if they cannot physically work less than they're already working, as you say, because of the economy. Give us some advice on what a parent should do.

CLARK: The No. 1 thing that I would ask of any parent is just to give your child attention. The main reason these kids are acting out is because they want love and they want attention, and they're not getting it. And then they get to school, and then they act out this aggressive behavior.

So, spend time with your kid. Show that kid that you love them. Read to your child. And do whatever you can to build a bond there.

O'BRIEN: Michael Parker, nice to have you, sir. Ron Clark as well. Thank you guys for joining us. Appreciate it, and appreciate the advice as well.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.







Aired December 9, 2003 - 07:44   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: There has been a disturbing increase in aggressive, even violent, behavior among America's youngest schoolchildren, ages 5 and 6. "TIME" magazine reports this week on some outrageous examples of kindergarteners and first graders act out in Fort Worth, Texas and elsewhere.
Michael Parker is the director of psychological services for Fort Worth's Independent School District. He joins us this morning from Dallas.

Nice to see you, sir.

And Ron Clark, a teacher and author of "The Essential 55," an award-winning educator's rules for discovering the successful student in every child. And he joins us right in the studio this morning.

Gentlemen, nice to have you both. Thanks for joining us.

Mr. Parker, we're going to start with you. I want to read a short clip of what you told "TIME" magazine: "I am clearly seeing an increasing number of kindergarteners and first graders coming to our attention for aggressive behavior."

Give me a list of some of the worst, most egregious behaviors that you have seen.

MICHAEL PARKER, FORT WORTH INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT: Well, I screened many calls from teachers and principals requesting that I send out a school psychologist to assist them, and behaviors have really changed. It used to be a matter of fighting with slapping, and now it's fists and throwing punches, kicking, which is very difficult to defend against. The profanity is worse than you'd expect from an adult. It's gotten to be very serious. Kids are biting teachers as well.

O'BRIEN: There was a study in your county, I believe, that suggested that the problem is significantly worse than it was just five years ago. To what do you attribute this, Mr. Parker?

PARKER: Well, there's a myriad of contributing elements to why we're seeing more aggressive behavior. Certainly there are kids who are abused and have experienced other traumas, but the people that I'm talking to are describing situations in which children are so much neglected in the sense of supervision, but haven't had as much involvement with rule-setting as they need. They're not prepared to come to school and sit down, pay attention and do as they're directed. Young children don't differentiate frustration from anger, so when they get frustrated, they get mad and they act out in an angry way.

O'BRIEN: Mr. Clark, you've spent much of your time traveling around the country, talking to other school teachers like yourself.

RON CLARK, AUTHOR, "THE ESSENTIAL 55": Right.

O'BRIEN: What you heard from Mr. Parker, is that reflected in what the school teachers are telling you, that it's significantly worse? And we're not talking about children with special problems, but just your sort of average kid. Is that right?

CLARK: Yes, I've been surprised. As I've traveled across the country I thought, you know some of the main issues would be funding or overcrowded classrooms or administration, but it's just been discipline. These teachers are saying that the discipline is so bad in the classroom they can hardly teach. And it's not all of the kids, you know because there are some great families raising wonderful kids out there. But there are some kids who have really got some disciplinary issues. And if you've got three or four kids in the classroom, you know, it can disrupt the learning process for everyone.

O'BRIEN: And would you agree that the problem, Mr. Clark, is that the parents really aren't able to be as hands-on, as Mr. Parker seems to suggest?

CLARK: I think that's true. For one reason, maybe it's because of the economy, because people are having to work harder now than they had to work five years ago. And if you've got two parents in the home and both parents are having to work, or if you're a single parent, good grief, you know, you're having to work two or three jobs, you know. And the time to get to raise kids and spend time with them and get to know them, you know, is just not there anymore.

O'BRIEN: So, Mr. Parker, what's your school doing to try to alleviate these problems? Obviously, to some degree, punishing the children because they can't tell the difference between frustration and anger can't really be the right solution, right? But you also can't quite punish the parents who seem to be responsible, in your eyes at least.

PARKER: Well, it's important to remember that discipline is synonymous with control, not punishment. When you speak of self- discipline, you're talking about self-control. And what we want to do is establish a framework for these kids so that they'll comply and begin to internalize those controls. Normally that happens at the very young ages of 2, 3, where you have to sit at the dinner table and finish your meal before you get your dessert.

As far as what we're coming in Fort Worth, I'm very pleased to be part of such a progressive district that provides a continuum of services. As I mentioned, I have specialists in school psychology on my staff, 25, that can go into the classroom and consult with teachers. Of course, we have school counselors that can consult and also provide groups on anger management. We have our community support program that teaches psycho-educational groups including topics on anger management, all of the way to our school-based family resource centers that provide family counseling, individual counseling and even connect families with other services in the community in a wrap-around format.

O'BRIEN: Before we run out of time, Mr. Clark, I'm going to give you the final word here. What do you advise parents to do? I mean, if they cannot physically work less than they're already working, as you say, because of the economy. Give us some advice on what a parent should do.

CLARK: The No. 1 thing that I would ask of any parent is just to give your child attention. The main reason these kids are acting out is because they want love and they want attention, and they're not getting it. And then they get to school, and then they act out this aggressive behavior.

So, spend time with your kid. Show that kid that you love them. Read to your child. And do whatever you can to build a bond there.

O'BRIEN: Michael Parker, nice to have you, sir. Ron Clark as well. Thank you guys for joining us. Appreciate it, and appreciate the advice as well.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.