A critical shortage of school counselors
Look at these statistics on the number of students that counselors in American public schools are expected to help: Though the recommended number per counselor is 250 students, the American School Counselor Associations shows that the national average is actually one counselor for every 457 students. And those figures were from 2008-09, the latest available, but before many states slashed school budgets last year. Some states have much higher ratios than the national average, including Arizona, the home state of Jared Lee Loughner, the 22-year-old charged with killing 6 and wounding 14, including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.
How to talk to kids about violence
The saturation media coverage of the Tucson shooting rampage that left six people dead, including a 9-year-old girl born on Sept. 11, 2011, makes it vital for parents and teachers to talk to young people about what happened. Here, from the National Association of School Psychologists, is advice on how to talk to children about violence: