Collegial effort produces new book, "Working With Troubled Youth"

BY JAMES J. LIDINGTON

The hope that he had for his New York City junior high school students in the early 1970s drove Garrett McAuliffe to write and edit his latest book, "Working With Troubled Youth in Schools: A Guide for All School Staff" (Bergin & Garvey, 2002).

McAuliffe, associate professor of counselor education, said he drew on his early experiences as a teacher of corrective reading with high-risk, low-achieving minority and lower-class pupils. What he discovered then, more than two decades ago, was that their hopes and strengths belied their low reading levels. And it was they who inspired him to enter the counseling field.

"The driving impulse [for the book] came from a recognition that these kids had powerful barriers, and strengths," McAuliffe said. "Merely teaching them reading wasn't going to move them to an emotional place where they could use that knowledge. I wanted to help create that foundation as a counselor."

The book is actually a collegial effort, drawing on the talents of six Old Dominion faculty, local school counselors and other faculty in the region, McAuliffe said. ODU faculty contributors include Dennis Gregory, Lynn Doyle and Mark Blagen, all of the educational leadership and counseling department, and Robert Gable of the special education program.

McAuliffe's co-leadership of a series of conferences on "Promising Practices in Working With Troubled Youth" led to the writing of the book, which shares methods for reaching young people who otherwise might get lost. The book includes behavioral and ecological interventions, anecdotes of successes, community actions, and organizational factors that might help troubled youth in schools.

The counseling perspective, specifically the challenge of paying attention to students' psychosocial development, guided the book, which offers both a conceptual foundation and a practical guide for helping troubled youth. Chapters are written by veterans of school systems who are or have been principals, special education directors, directors of guidance, school counselors, school psychologists, teachers and school social workers.

Topics range from a call for socially critical leadership from school administrators to moment-to-moment suggestions for interactions with students.

The book also reflects the response of some ODU counseling faculty to the Columbine High School shootings, who contributed to the "Promising Practices" conference series by openly discussing possible interventions for students like the two who were responsible for the killings.

More than 100 professionals from the region took part in the "working conferences." The assembled professionals noted that 10 to 20 percent of children in school are "significantly troubled," exhibiting signs of internal difficulties or acting out in a way that is hazardous to them and distracting to others.

With the book, "I think … we have brought forth some of these issues, which are otherwise lost in a climate where emotional development is ignored in favor of academic achievement," McAuliffe said.

"And yet they are inextricably linked. By focusing on only intellectual growth, we deny the felt life which nevertheless expresses itself in academic difficulties, social problems and even violence. We thought we could say something about reminding the world to not forget about the lessons of Columbine."

Two sets of words echo throughout the book: prevent and connect. Prevention, as opposed to reaction, McAuliffe said, is necessary if schools are to assist troubled youth. Part of that prevention lies in school staff members connecting not only with students, but with the students' families and the community at large, as well as other school colleagues.