Students need help before catastrophes occur, UB expert says

An article in The Washington Post about the need for more health professionals to help students before catastrophes occur interviews Amanda Nickerson, director of UB’s Alberti Center for Bullying Abuse Prevention, who said the inevitable calls for immediate action after a shooting often miss the point. “We are getting better providing, unfortunately in some ways, the crisis intervention, but that’s after something terrible happens,” she said. “As we look toward solutions after something like this happens, people automatically go to highly expensive hardware sorts of solutions. Why don’t we have metal detectors? Where are the cameras? Where are the guards? I’m not saying those things aren’t important. But to create a safe and secure environment, we have to address psychological safety and connectedness and how we are resolving conflicts that doesn’t involve more conflict.”

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2018/02/15/if-americans-really-cared-about-students-mental-health-these-school-ratios-would-be-very-different/?utm_term=.df8b5f513968