School teachers will soon track more than a student's academic progress if Dr. James Shaw has his way.
Shaw, a nationally acclaimed expert on school violence and the author of Jack and Jill, Why They Kill, spoke to an audience of 50 on Thursday in Logan Hall about youth violence prevention and school safety.
"Kids are going to school and being executed, not educated," Shaw said. "The perpetrators are turning the school yards into grave yards."
Attacked by school gun fire in the late 1980's, Shaw gave up teaching to discover the motivation behind what he calls "adolescenticide" -- children killing children. During the next four years, Shaw went to state youth prisons to interview 103 adolescents under 16 years of age who had been incarcerated for murder or homicide.
Although some may believe that race is a major factor in this violent trend, Shaw did not find it to be a factor of adolescents' slaying.
"None of the reasons [for children killing] have to do with race, economic class... religious belief or cultural background," Shaw said. "But all the reasons have to do with being alienated, isolated, feeling unloved and bullied... everything has its root in emotion."
Easy access to weapons was another feature cited by the adolescents he interviewed. When coupled with a lack of communication between parents and children, Shaw said that these factors can lead to adolescent depression, which he feels is important to detect early on.
"I am in favor of mental detectors, not metal detectors," Shaw said, adding that he would like to see educators proactively trained to identify depression, as well as to teach character development, in order to help prevent such atrocities from occurring.
"We are more concerned about teaching right and wrong in driver training than we are in social behavior," Shaw said.
With the Centers for Disease Control reporting that 160,000 children refuse to go to school every day -- fearing danger -- West Philadelphia residents are not immune from this concern.
"Like many others, I seek answers for some deeper understanding why violence has swept our country," Pat Walls, a West Philadelphia social and political activist, said. "We need to find ways in which we can deal with it in a proactive stance."
Dr. Shaw also urged children to assume greater social responsibility if a violent threat made by a classmate is overheard.
"The code of silence that every kid in America thinks that they enjoy serves nobody's interest," Shaw said. "It only serves cold corpses."
Shaw's talk preceded State Senator Anthony H. Williams' local Youth Summit, a three-day conference comprised of workshops to encourage positive choices in today's society. Other events included an art and talent showcase, a basketball tournament and day of community service.
Despite the somber subject, many left Shaw's talk with optimism for the future.
"[Young people] can get the word out," area psychologist Dr. Napoleon Vaughn said. "The only thing about it is having the faith to do something. That's what makes the difference."
And to emphasize that the challenge of adolescenticide can be met, Shaw equated it to other illnesses that had once been thought incurable, but are now contained.
"I remember when we vanquished other childhood diseases -- typhoid, polio, smallpox," said Shaw. "Why can't we conquer this? Why can't we teach our kids right and wrong, and the consequences for both?"
