NUMBER 1
Search for a scientific article about newer understandings of the Neanderthals within the last 10 years. What surprises you about the Neanderthals? Including the link of the article.
What about Homo Floresiensis? or Homo Nadeli? or Homo Luzonensis? Search around for some information about these species- what is current research showing at the moment?
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NUMNBER 2
Week 10 discussion
As we know, this year there has been recent school shootings at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas where 19 children and two teachers were murdered, at Michigan State University were 4 students were killed, at the University of Virginia where three students were killed, and at Central Visual and Performing Arts High school in St. Louis, Missouri where a student and a teacher were murdered.
Here is a recent article in Education Week about the mass school shooting for this year, 2023.
School shootings this year: How many and where?
https://www.edweek.org/leadership/school-shootings-this-year-how-many-and-where/2023/01
The shocking and tragic mass shootings at our educational institutions including Columbine High School, Sandy Hook elementary school, high school shooting in Parkland, Florida, Oxford High School in Michigan, as well as the college shootings at Santa Monica College, Umpqua Community College, Virginia Tech University, and the University of California, Santa Barbara, have all led school administrators, teachers, staff, parents, and fellow students to ask such questions as “How could this have happened at our school?””Could we have prevented this tragedy?, and “Why does this keep happening?”
It is heartbreaking that these shootings seem so common now that they are almost “normalized” as a part of our daily lives. Many of us are shocked, saddened, and angry, but we unfortunately are no longer surprised.
As we know, almost five years ago a mass shooting occurred at a high school in Parkland, Florida in which 17 students were killed. It became evident after the shooting that the shooter was reported 18 times to the local sheriff department about his mental instability and tendency for violence. A mental health professional met with him and did not recommend that he needed to be institutionalized. On November 2, 2022, the Parkland shooter was sentence to life in prison without parole.
Many school administrators, teachers, staff, counselors, and psychologists have said that these tragedies could have been avoided. What indicators might be most important in determining whether a student is “at risk” for violent behavior?
Please read the following NPR article, “School shooters” What’s their path to violence?”, which was published on February 10, 2019.
In this article, the reporter highlights many “risk factors” such as the following: current or former students, young, childhood trauma, mental health issues, social rejection/loneliness, absence of social support, depression, anger, and access to weapons. The article ends with the discussion of the case of one of the Columbine High School shooters as well as ways to increase support for those who are at high risk to become a school shooter.
What are your thoughts about this article? Do you feel that some “risk factors” are more serious than others?
Please also keep in mind an important quote from the article: “Mental health issues don’t cause school shootings, Van Dreal emphasizes. After all, only a tiny, tiny percentage of kids with psychological issues go on to become school shooters.”
To what degree is it the responsibility of the student’s peers, parents, teachers, counselors, psychiatrists, psychologists, and/or administrators to “pick up” the signs of a troubled student, so he/she does not “slip through the cracks?”
What if school administrators do follow-up with a student, but nothing is done as in the case of the Parkland high school shooter?
What if the troubled individual rejects the mental health support such as in the UCSB shooter?
What do we need to do on our school campuses and in our communities to prevent such tragedies in the future?
Lastly a former student shared this powerful YouTube video titled “I was almost a school shooter.” It is the story of Aaron Stark and it is 7:29 minutes. I think that the title says it all.
I Was Almost A School Shooter | Aaron Stark | TEDxBoulder
* This is a very sensitive and challenging topic and I want to gently remind everyone to be respectful in your responses to each other.
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NUMBER 3
* Your writing assignment should be AT LEAST 350 words for EACH question. If your assignment is too brief, then you will be marked down. *
- Have you ever been curious about a certain psychological disorder? Well if you have, then this writing assignment is the perfect opportunity to learn more about it.
Find a psychological disorder from the DSM-V (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Version five) that you are interested in.
Why did you decide to research this particular psychological disorder? What are the symptoms? Are certain sub-populations more at-risk/vulnerable than others?
What types of treatments are available to these individuals who suffer from this disorder? What do you think about these treatments? Do you agree, disagree, or have mixed feelings? Why?
You can use your textbook, but I would also highly recommend that you find some information on the Internet (reputable website(s)) regarding this psychological disorder too. Please be explicit in your description and remember to cite your websites too! Remember that Wikipedia is NOT considered a valid source.
- Please watch the following TED TALK below titled “I Am Not A Monster: Schizophrenia.”
The speaker is a young woman named Cecilia McGough, a student at Penn State University. This talk was given in March 2018 and I find it to be incredibly powerful. I hope that it makes you reflect on the devastating toll that schizophrenia has on the people who are afflicted with it. According to the World Health Organization (last updated Feb. 2017), over 21 million people worldwide suffer from schizophrenia (although Cecilia states that there are 54 million people worldwide). It is a severe mental disorder in which these individuals experience distortions in their thinking, emotions, language capabilities, perceptions, as well as their sense of self.
* Please be aware that Cecilia is going to talk about some of her hallucinations (minutes 2:42 – 4:12), which may be disturbing to some of you. Please feel free to skip forward in the video if it is too uncomfortable for you.
After watching the talk, please answer the following questions:
- a) Before watching this film, what was your understanding of schizophrenia?
- b) In February 2014, what happened to Cecilia?
- c) How did her mother respond to Cecilia’s diagnosis of schizophrenia? What do you think of her mother’s response?
- d) What were THREE pieces of information and/or reflections that you learned and/or took away from her talk?
- e) Lastly, how did/does your high school and/or college address mental health issues such as schizophrenia? What do you think that we should be doing better in our communities and/or in our society as a whole to address issues regarding schizophrenia, particularly on our high school and college campuses?
FYI – She continues to speak out about mental health issues. Here is a short 1-minute clip from Cecilia McGough approximately 2 years ago talking about reducing stigma.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlqctbOSN_Y
