There are three types of kids who may be at the highest risk of extreme violence. obviously, you must take seriously any threat or indication of danger from any kid, so if a dangerous child you know doesn't fit one of these categories, please don't just breathe a sigh of relief. Rather, the point of emphasizing these three top-risk youth, is to have you apportion your time wisely. You can't monitor each child equally. This information may guide you on who you monitor most closely, especially in the absence of other events or information to guide you.

In this space, we will have time to cover only one of these youth in any kind of detail. We will cover the second two kids in a subsequent article. But, we understand you may want to know all that right now, so if you want to learn more immediately about any of these three youth, go to our web site and read a reprint of the full article that this text is excerpted from. Our information on the 3 most violent kids was first published by The Child Welfare Report in 1998, and is updated and revised here.

The youth at highest risk of extreme violence may be the conduct disordered child. If you don't already know this term, visualize the fictional character, J.R. from the TV show "Dallas" because the hallmark of being a conduct disorder (c.d.), is having no heart, no conscience, no remorse. Only a mental health professional can diagnose a conduct disorder for sure, but being aware that you may have a conduct disordered child in your class or group, is important to ensuring your safety, along with the safety of your kids, because you work with conduct disorders completely differently than other kids. Since the c.d. child has little relationship capacity, you should not use relationship-based approaches with a diagnosed conduct disorder.

It would be insensitive to call a conduct disorder a "baby sociopath," but that is close to what the term means. It means that the child acts in ways that appear to be seriously anti-social, and the concern is that the child may grow up to be a sociopathic type of person. Since this child cares only about himself (c.d.'s are predominately male), there are little brakes on this child from serious or extreme violence. Not every conduct disordered child will engage in horrific behavior. There is a range of misbehavior c.d.'s may get involved with, ranging from lying to setting fires or being a sexual predator. At the most serious end of the spectrum, lies the possibility of extreme violence, such as a school shooting.

In our Breakthrough Strategies to Teach and Counsel Troubled Youth Workshop, we spend at least an hour helping you understand how to work with conduct disorders. You can come to one of our classes, or get books (like our All the Best Answers for the Worst Problems: Conduct Disorders,it will help teach you how to work with this most hard-to-manage kid. But do something to make sure you thoroughly understand how to work completely differently with this youth than any other child.

METHODS FOR CONDUCT DISORDERED YOUTH

There's not space for all the critical do's and don't's that you must know but here are some of the most important:

DO'S:

*The main point we give in our classes is that these children operate on a cost-benefit system, and that to control your c.d. kids, you must keep the costs high, and benefits low.

*These children also especially need to pro-actively learn how to manage their fists, mouth, and actions.

*Your goal is to teach them that when they hurt others, it often hurts them too. All interventions must be in the context of "I-Me," because that is all this kid is capable of caring about.

DON'T'S:

There are so many of them, it is hard to know where to start because so many of the techniques you use with other kids fall apart with this kid. Here are some of the most critical don't and do's when you work with a diagnosed-- that's the important word here-- conduct disorder. Without the diagnosis, use these guides especially carefully.

*Don't: have a heart-to-heart relationship.

*Don't work on building trust.

*Don't put an emphasis on compassion, caring, empathy, values, morals.

*Don't expect compassionate behavior.

*Don't trust.

*Don't give second chances.

*Don't believe they care or feel remorse.

Hopefully this brief guide to the hardest-to-manage, most potentially dangerous kid will help you avoid using everyday interventions that will be unproductive, even dangerous. Hopefully this information will steer you towards relying on non-relationship-based interventions that emphasize learning skills like anger control, managing the fist, etc. along with firm rules, boundaries and limits. Be sure to visit our web site for more information.

Students Coming Back to School Doesn't Have to Mean Back to Behavior Problems

There are so many great ways to motivate students to see the value of school, and have better behavior. Our web site is packed with hundreds of methods, but here is a small sampling to start off your new school year. If you're a
teacher, you will want to use every one of these gems.

These interventions should be used beginning with
Day 1:

Brains Replace Brawn: Many youth say that school is a waste, that they know many people who have survived without education and skills. But many of those people won't be going as far into our new, high tech millennium as your students. Show them they'll need education and skills to survive. At the start of the 20th century, 80% of jobs were manual labor. At the start of the 21st century, an amazingly tiny 15% of jobs are manual labor. A strong back has been replaced by brains and fingertips.

Got Skills?: Few schools have a formal plan to train students on the nuts and bolts of being a student. Some students look that way! They don't seem to have a clue how often to talk in class, manage their homework, arrive on time, etc. Be sure you teach all these skills, no matter how old or young your students are. Until they obtain these basic skills, they will struggle. Here is a very enjoyable way to easily teach even oppositional students to hear the homework assignment: Let your students know that "embedded" in some of the next assignments, will be a "goodie" that they will easily obtain just by carefully listening to the assignment as it is given. (You could direct listeners to cached
cookies or stickers, for examples.) Be sure to cover all other aspects of homework management too. Many of our books provide dozens of lessons to teach all those additional components.

What is On Time, Really? Being on time can seem like unimportant to your youngsters. Ask them if they will ever need to work. When they say they will, ask them to name all the jobs that allow you to show up whenever you want, or never show up at all. There are none.

BONUS TIP: For students who are nasty to others, adapt the preceding intervention. Ask the student to name all the jobs and businesses they can do and be mean whenever they want. There are none. Ask recently fired, winning Indiana coach Bobby Knight, who makes an excellent example of how anyone can lose their job. Show them nastiness does matter.

Lost in Cyber Space: High tech tools are becoming absolutely essential. In 5-10 years, most bills may come via e-mail. Test your students' readiness to survive on our High Tech Planet by having them define these terms: Mailer Daemon, DSL, Spam, Server, Secure, Domain.

A Few Clicks Can Solve it All! Fast, New Tools at Youth Change's Expanded Web Site

Get surprising, all-new tools to solve youth problems at our revamped web site. The new site is packed with hundreds of the most powerful, effective, must-have, problem-kid problem-solvers. Be sure to get all of these awesome tips and tricks to turnaround troubled youth:

Instant Answers: Our new Solve It Now! page, allows you to immediately obtain answers to specific youth problems. If you need solutions, but don't want to wait, visit our web page. Your answers will be e-mailed to you immediately. Areas covered: motivation, violence, and bad attitudes. Check back
for new problem areas to be added.

Locate Solutions Fast: Tired of hunting for better ways to manage problem youth? Visit our new Search Page, on our web site, to quickly search our entire site to instantly get the information you seek. This search engine allows you to pinpoint the answers you need, and immediately click right to them.

Help is Here: All our tools to solve your worst youth problems are now in one
part of our site, The Solution Center. Now, you won't have to miss a single must-have tool. You will find strategy-filled Newsletters on ADD, motivation and apathy. You will also find our brand-new interventions, so new that the internet may be one of the few places you can find them. Our All-Time Favorite Interventions, and Answers to Your Questions About Problem Youth, are all now easy to find in the Solution Center. Be sure to add the Solution Center to your "Favorites" so that you can turn to it whenever you need it.

Here's a Peek at the Instant Answers Now on Our Site!

Happy New School Year! For students who may be sour about returning to school, host a Happy New School Year Party similar to a Happy New Year Party. Students can make Happy New School Year Resolutions.

Punctuality Makers! To teach the importance of coming to school on time, ask students to name all the jobs and businesses they can do and show up whenever they want, or never show at all. (There are none.)

Attitude Busters! Use this intervention only with youth who would appreciate a humorous response like this. This intervention is not appropriate for every youth. When a child announces that they finally completed a task they had been repeatedly asked to do, such as arriving on time, say with a sly grin, "Thank you for doing what you are supposed to do!" Many children will reward you with a big grin.

Make School Matter! To teach students that even math matters, ask students to count the number of times that they use math, from counting the number of minutes left in class, to calculating their grades, to determining if they have enough money for lunch. Ask students to determine how long they can last without math, then once they start counting the minutes, note that they can't even go one second without needing math!

Visit our huge, improved web site for hundreds more colorful, creative, problem-stopping interventions. Plus, our workshops, books, and tapes cover the more complicated and sensitive areas including sexual abuse, family problems, and emotional disorders.

Ruth Wells
www.youthchg.com