The approach to teaching and caring for children with behavior challenges has undergone great change over time. Some 15 hundred people in downtown Lexington participated in the 2024 Behavior Institute.
Laura McCullough founded the Behavior Institute in 1993 at a time when she says the school approach was often to expel kids with serious behavior issues. Today, McCullough said it’s more about teaching young people that certain behavior won’t be tolerated or be good for them.
“We don’t say you don’t have consequences, of course, but what we have to make people understand is that the educator is there with the kids saying we care about you, now your behavior is another thing,” said McCullough.
McCullough said trauma in all its forms is often a key factor. There were more than a hundred Institute-vetted sessions pertaining to kids from pre-school to high school.
The far-ranging topics included noncompliance, trauma-informed school discipline, and fighting youth vaping. McCullough said intentional connection can build resiliency in kids.
“If the kid has one person who will absolutely stick with them through thick and thin, who will love them, who will care about them, and will support them and help them work through all their challenges regardless of how bad or troubled they are, that that can make all the difference,” said McCullough.
The annual summertime conference attracted teachers, principals, health counselors, school psychologists, and officials with the Department of Juvenile Justice. McCullough said trauma is almost always a big piece of kids with serious behavior issues.
McCullough noted there was information about the shooter in former President Trump’s assassination attempt discussed during the conference. She added nationally known school shooter expert Malcolm Smith said an FBI representative working the case said the 20-year-old shooter had been the target of bullying and was unattached in many ways.
Here's the interview with Laura McCullough:
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