Jackson Free Press

A Non-Partisan Invite

Frank G. Ross Sr., Lumberton

A non-partisan invite certainly did peak your intrigue

A route to eliminate a thorn and have your guy succeed

Did see the problem and knew it was politically wrong

But a thumb in the eye of the Tea Party was really strong

And now being one of those people it is better to not crow

As you voted both parties' primaries which they now know

You did vote for a Democrat in the June 3rd Primary election

And voted Republican on that June 24th non-partisan defection

Those ads declared Chris was clad in a KKK robe you believed

But a Democrat wonk admitted that dirty deed meant to deceive

May have a Childers for Senate planted in the front yard

But don't want to take it down and then simply discard

Went to his rally and listened to what you wanted to hear

Now going to Cochran's is supposed to bring you cheer

Know this may bring discomfort but getting into this mess

Violated State's voting law doesn't matter it was a request

Do not vote in the general or risk upping the fraud intent

No matter for which side you cast a vote up the intent is sent

Invitation has robbed you of your preference and more

And now please be aware it's opened the prosecution door

True you may not have meant to break our State's voting law

Intent can't cancel intent but invite made you a vote-fraud star

On High-School Counselors

Shawna Davie

Go to any large superstore, and the back-to-school displays, filled with paper, pencils and highlighters to equip students with everything they need for the next school year, greet you at the front door. But there is one very important school resource that you can't buy at your local supermarkets: school counselors, who are qualified and prepared to deal with the social and emotional needs of high school students. High-school counselors have the power to lower suspension and discipline rates, reduce the number of fights and create a culture of safety and well-being for an entire high school. Providing schools with enough counselors will decrease behavior issues and lead to higher academic achievement.

When social and emotional needs go unmet, it may result in behavior problems and poor academic achievement. The Center for the Study of Social Policy says that "there is not a specific identifiable cause of mental health disorders ... there are, however, some factors that have been shown to have particular impact (on) children's social, emotional and mental heath. They include poverty, trauma and inadequate treatment."

Students work to help their families put food on their tables, raise children and manage incarcerated parents, the deaths of loved ones and violent neighborhoods. These issues cause stress for adults, let alone teenagers who haven't developed necessary coping skills.

Schools in impoverished neighborhoods with few jobs, little access to resources and high crime open their doors to more students coping with stressful situations related to poverty and trauma than the average suburban school. As adults, we know how important it is to seek help from loved ones, counselors or our faith when dealing with stress. Teens often do not seek out the care they need and sometimes let their emotions build up until those emotions lead to behavior problems. We must provide adequate support to teenagers, so that their social and emotional needs don't turn into behavior issues.

The American School Counselor Association recommends a ratio of 250 students to one counselor. During the 2010-2011 school year, Mississippi's ratio was 448 students to every one counselor.

Since the Columbine school shooting in the late 1990s, schools have relied heavily on zero-tolerance policies to address behavior, forcing many students into the school-to-prison pipeline. Zero-tolerance policies have taken the place of preventive programs and evidence-based interventions. School administrators have used zero-tolerance policies to remove students with unsatisfactory behavior. Unfortunately, many students in the school-to-prison pipeline enter youth detention centers for minor non-violent infractions. The Mississippi State Conference of the NAACP's report Handcuff's on Success from 2013 stated: "In the last few years in Meridian, a male student estimated that he went back and forth between school and the juvenile justice system 30 times. In eighth grade, he was put on probation by a youth court judge for getting into a fight. Since then, reportedly any infraction, even some as minor as being a few minutes late to class or wearing the wrong color socks in violation of the dress code, was counted as a violation of his probation and resulted in immediate suspension and incarceration in the local juvenile detention center."

As the old saying goes "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." Investing in preventative measures such as school counselors to help more of our students cope with life will help schools avoid sending students to youth detention centers.

According to the National Center for Mental Health Promotion and Youth Violence Prevention's National Center Brief from 2011 "students who suffer from personal or emotional problems are less likely to succeed academically, stay in school and develop a love of learning. These children and youth may act out in class, be truant or drop out, or not achieve academic success—which affects the entire school." Students who have academic, social, and emotional support are less likely to have behavior problems and are more likely to graduate high school and succeed in college and at work.

Jackson State graduate Shawna Davie is now a fellow at Baruch College in New York City.

Response to "McDaniel Campaign: Over 15,000 Votes Should Not Have Been Cast in GOP Runoff" by Anna Wolfe

—edinman

This "challenge" is getting extremely silly. Even if all 3,500 crossover votes and 2,275 absentee votes were eliminated Cochran would still have won. So what are the 9,500 so called "irregular" votes? I assume these are simply "suspected" Democrats who they think voted for Cochran after voting in neither party's first primary. The trouble for Chris is that there is no law against it. If there was, you might as well argue Democrats should have declared Lumumba mayor of Jackson because of "irregular" votes by Republicans for Yarber.