Their anger stems from the film’s depiction of Soviet era Communists.

"What galls is how together with America we defeated Hitler, and how we sympathized when Bin Laden hit them. But they go ahead and scare kids with Communists. These people have no shame," said Viktor Perov, a Communist Party member in Russia's second city of St. Petersburg. [Reuters, Fri May 23, 2008]

It seems the Russian people have a collective amnesia when it comes to their bloody history. In the early years of the Bolshevik revolution, world leaders - including progressives within the United States - knew about the mass executions of Russian dissidents by the emerging Communists party. By the 1930s as Hitler’s Socialist party began to seize power in Germany the murder of Russian citizens was in full swing under Joseph Stalin.

In fact the best researchers in the world now agree that Stalin was responsible for at least 20 million murders. Professor R.J. Rummel has calculated that the Soviet regime from 1917-1987, murdered 62,000,000 people, of which 55,000,000 were citizens.

Shame on the Russian people! If Germans complained about the portrayal of Nazi’s in Hollywood movies the world would condemn them loudly and aggressively.

But there are many in the United States and Europe who secretly pine for the glory days of Soviet Socialism. They ignore the atrocities committed by criminals in the Soviet Union, Cuba, Eastern Europe and Asia.

Finally I would like to remind the Russian people of one irrefutable fact, in the 20^th and 21^st centuries more people were murdered by Socialist, Communists and Marxists regimes than any other form of government.

Shame on you for your criticism, reform your current government and seek true democracy.

And this assessment is supported by various national studies. Research from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention and the U.S. Department of Education have found that child neglect and family disorganization are major factors in truancy. The OJJDP also found that “Truancy has been clearly identified as one of the early warning signs of students headed for potential delinquent activity, social isolation, or educational failure via suspension, expulsion, or dropping out.”

More disturbing is a document that I have used for many years in criminal profiling, the Juvenile Sex Offender Assessment Protocol (J-SOAP-II). In this well respected assessment tool, caregiver issues and truancy become connected as impetuses for teen sex offender development:

1. Inconstant and instable caregivers before the age of 10. Multiple changes in caregivers and living situations.
2. Chronic truancy, fighting with peers or teachers.

Dr Gerald Patterson sums up the issue this way, “Parenting plays a critical role in the development process of children. Early discipline failures are a primary casual factor in the development of conduct problems. Harsh discipline, low supervision, lack of parental involvement all add to the development of aggressive children”

Bullying, sexual harassment, negative behavior cliques and aggression towards staff are all done by children who come from dysfunctional homes. But beyond the home environment, schools have a big stake in controlling truancy. Not only is it a major part of NCLB compliance but it affects all school safety issues. The US DOE has tracked the following school issues that directly contribute to truancy.

1.     Lack of effective and consistently applied attendance policies.

2.     Poor record-keeping, making truancy difficult to spot.

3.     Teacher characteristics, such as lack of respect for students and neglect of diverse student needs.

4.     Unsafe environment, for example a school with ineffective discipline policies where bullying is tolerated. [5 percent of students in grades 9 through 12 skipped school because they felt unsafe at school or on their way to or from school.]

Truancy happens in rural, suburban and urban schools and all classes of families. School must take control of their truancy problems or they are bound to be overtaken by it.

A well managed school is a safe school! www.SERAPH.net 

The report was developed by the SERAPH Research team of SERAPH.net a group composed of educators and crime researchers. The team used interviews with 1,520 educators, 925 law enforcement officials and numerous scientific studies to create a detailed assessment of problems facing American schools.

“In 2000,” states research team leader Dale Yeager, “The United States Human Rights Projects' - National Campaign to Fight for Children asked SERAPH to create a detailed report on school safety for select members of the U.S. Congress. Because of the misconceptions about school safety by the public and many legislators we felt that releasing this year’s report to the public would assist in educating people about the problem.”

The report is available online at http://www.seraph.net/documents/SchoolSafetyInAmerica.pdf

The report covers many areas not traditional discussed in school safety research such as: Young Children and Aggression, Educational Philosophies and Student Aggression, Health Issues and School Safety, Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Piercing and Tattoos, Girl Aggression, Sexism and School Safety, Youth on Youth Sex Aggression

“The issue of school safety affects everyone in society. Juvenile crime, domestic violence, poverty are all tied to school safety issues. The report will provide factual information to the public so that they can understand the complexity of the problem and provide information to legislators so that they can assist schools in preventing and managing school safety issues.”

Ron Holvey, Gang Interdiction Special Consultant http://seraph.net/about_ron_holvey.html for SERAPH explains the problem, “School officials have been caught off guard by the rise of gangs in suburban areas. Straight Edge, Juggalos, Crips and Bloods have all been recruiting juveniles in these areas of the country.”