Expert: Kids Thrive When They Feel Safe February 12, 2002
News Summary
A youth-violence expert emphasized the importance of violence prevention in school, at home, and in the community as a means of helping children thrive, Youth Crime Alert reported in its January 2002 issue.Stuart Twemlo, co-director of the Peaceful Schools Project at the Child & Family Center of the Menninger Clinic, said that children thrive when they have a routine and live in a nurturing environment. He stressed that if a child's school does not feel safe, or if drug dealers plague a community, then children will not succeed.
Twemlo, who advocates small schools located in the communities they serve, said that schools should be small enough to allow students and teachers to know each other. Parents and teachers should be aware of community influences that could impact a child's developmental stages, he added.
Twemlo was the keynote speaker at a recent conference sponsored by the New York-based Center for Social and Emotional Education.
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