The Scandalous Neglect of Children's Mental Health: What Schools Can Do

165 Pages·2018·1.067 MB·English

by  James M Kauffman, Jeanmarie Badar

The Scandalous Neglect
of Children’s Mental Health
The Scandalous Neglect of Children’s Mental Health: What Schools Can
Do makes the case that children with mental health needs are under-
identifi ed and under-served by schools and other agencies. After
reading this brief but powerful book, you will better understand the
need for expanded services for children in schools and communities.
The risks and benefi ts of treatment, especially early intervention, are
discussed and guidelines for action by teachers, parents, and others
are provided. The sad fact is that many people do not understand
that most young people with mental health needs never receive any
treatment of any kind and most of those who receive any treatment at
all receive those services only in schools.
James M. Kauffman is Professor Emeritus of Education at the Curry
School of Education at the University of Virginia. He was the William
Clay Parrish Professor of Education 1992–1994, the Charles S. Robb
Professor of Education 1999–2003, and received the Outstanding
Faculty Award from the Curry School of Education in 1997. He received
the Research Award, Council for Exceptional Children in 1994 and the
Outstanding Leadership Award, Council for Children with Behavioral
Disorders in 2002.
Jeanmarie Badar is Instructional Assistant in second-g rade classrooms
in the Charlottesville City Schools. She was a special education teacher
for 25 years and served on the faculty of James Madison University.
She completed her Master’s degree in special education at Kent State
University (KSU) and received her Ph.D. from the University of Virginia.
The Badar/Kauffman endowed Conference on Contemporary Issues
in Special Education at KSU was named in her honor. She is co- author
with James M. Kauffman, Daniel P. Hallahan, and Paige C. Pullen
of another Routledge book published in 2018, the second edition of
Special Education: What It Is and Why We Need It .
Other Eye on Education Books
Available From Routledge
(www.routledge.com/eyeoneducation)
Coding as a Playground:
Programming and Computational Thinking in the Early
Childhood Classroom
Marina Umaschi Bers
The Bridge to School:
Aligning Teaching with Development for Ages Four to Six
Claire Bainer, Liisa Hale, and Gail Myers
Teaching Children with Challenging Behaviors:
Practical Strategies for Early Childhood Educators
Edited by Gayle Mindes
Anti- Bias Education in the Early Childhood Classroom:
Hand in Hand, Step by Step
Katie Kissinger
Nurturing Young Thinkers Across the Standards:
K–2
Wynne A. Shilling and Sydney L. Schwartz
Developing Natural Curiosity through Project- Based Learning:
Five Strategies for the PreK–3 Classroom
Dayna Laur and Jill Ackers
Five Teaching and Learning Myths— Debunked:
A Guide for Teachers
Adam Brown and Althea Need Kaminske
Eco- Education for Young Children:
Practical Approaches for Teaching 0–8- Year- Olds
Ann Lewin- Benham
The Scandalous
Neglect of Children’s
Mental Health
What Schools Can Do
James M. Kauffman
and Jeanmarie Badar
F irst published 2018
by Routledge
7 11 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
a nd by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2018 Taylor & Francis
T he right of James M. Kauffman and Jeanmarie Badar to be
identifi ed as authors of this work has been asserted by them in
accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and
Patents Act 1988.
A ll rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic,
mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented,
including photocopying and recording, or in any information
storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from
the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks
or registered trademarks, and are used only for identifi cation and
explanation without intent to infringe.
Library of Congress Cataloging-i n-P ublication Data
A catalog record for this book has been requested
ISBN: 978- 0- 8153- 4893- 1 (hbk)
ISBN: 978- 0- 8153- 4895- 5 (pbk)
ISBN: 978- 1- 351- 16580- 8 (ebk)
T ypeset in Palatino
b y Apex CoVantage, LLC
Dedicated to the Loving Memories of Our Late Spouses
Patricia L. Pullen
Steven G. Bantz
And to the Loving Memory of Jeanmarie Badar’s Late Father
Lawrence J. Badar
Gifted Teachers All

Contents
Meet the Authors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .viii
Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .xii
Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .xiii
1 The Scandal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
2 Measurement of Mental Health . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25
3 Mental Health Problems Kids Have . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41
4 Common Causes of Children’s Mental Health Problems . . . . .59
5 Prevention Remains a Good Idea, But Is Seldom Practiced . . . . 77
6 What We Should Do . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .92
7 What Educators Should Do First . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .114
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .136
Meet the Authors
We describe individually some of our relevant experiences that have
infl uenced what we’ve written. This experience includes not only our
work with children and teachers but also our training as educators in
both general and special education and our familiarity with mental
health issues and services.
James M. Kauff man
I began teaching general education in a public school in 1962. However,
among my early employment was teaching emotionally disturbed
children and adolescents in a private psychiatric residential treat-
ment center. Children with emotional and behavioral problems may
be called by a variety of legitimate labels. Among them are “emotion-
ally disturbed,” “mentally ill,” “behaviorally disordered,” or “children
with emotional and behavioral disorders.” The labels don’t matter
much, but the diffi culties these children and their families and their
teachers experience matter a lot. The children I taught in a residential
treatment center were called “emotionally disturbed.” In my work in
the treatment center, I had frequent contact with child psychiatrists
and psychologists as well as other teachers.
L ike most people, I didn’t realize when I began teaching that most
children with mental health needs are in regular public schools, going
to regular classes. Often, they have been driving their teachers to dis-
traction. Too often, their problems are neglected or are met with coun-
terproductive responses from others. I eventually became a teacher of
both general and special education in public schools, and since then I
have studied the problems and treatments of children and youth with
mental health needs as well as the typical behavior of children and
youth. I have trained and supervised teachers in a variety of school
settings, been a consultant to private and public schools and institu-
tions, and engaged in considerable research and publication involving
exceptional children. I have studied and written about those having
Meet the Authors ◆ ix
mental health needs as well as those having a variety of disabilities and
special gifts or talents. Some of the children I have studied have had
special mental health needs as well as other exceptionalities.
I am an educator by training and experience, not a psychologist or
psychiatrist. Nevertheless, a substantial proportion of my training and
experience has involved study of the literatures, concepts, and prac-
tices of psychology and psychiatry. Perhaps it is fair to say that I am
an educator with more than the typical grounding in children’s mental
health problems and what to do about them. Eventually, I earned my
Doctor of Education degree in special education at the University of
Kansas, where my emphasis was on educating children with emo-
tional and behavioral disorders (EBD).
T he fact is that most people who need mental health services don’t
get them. Psychologists and psychiatrists know this. I know this as an
educator with special concerns for children and youths with emotional
and behavioral problems. My research and writing have been about
children in schools, not adults. Jeanmarie and I hope to promote kinder
and more effective treatment of children whose behavior and/or emo-
tional development has gone off the tracks.
I ’m deeply indebted to my late mentor, Richard J. Whelan, Ed.D.,
an extraordinary teacher, researcher, writer, speaker, administrator,
and distinguished professor of special education, child development,
and pediatrics and lecturer in psychiatry at the University of Kansas.
He also served in what is now the U.S. Department of Education,
Offi ce of Special Education Programs. Early in his career, he became
principal of the Southard School (the Children’s Division of the Men-
ninger Psychiatric Clinic), where he introduced me to the fi eld of spe-
cial education for children with mental health diffi culties.
Jeanmarie Badar
I was a special education teacher for 25 years, mostly working with
students with serious mental health problems. I remember feeling
overwhelmed and underprepared to work with this population, even
though my undergraduate program at Boston College was otherwise
quite good. My very fi rst teaching job was in a small suburban public
school district near Cleveland, where I was tasked with creating a
brand- new program for K–3 students with severe behavior handicaps