Born with a Spirit of Protest

School shootings are on the increase and it often seems like another shooting is just a matter of time. The emphasis on “encouragement groups”, as a method of preventing gun violence, is dealt with in practical terms. Students will learn to help each other before a perpetrator becomes discouraged enough to shoot other children. The reader will also experience the logic of a young person who verbalizes suicidal ideations and another who develops an eating disorder. Varying strategies to overcome these obstacles is also presented.

Praise to Dr. Carpenter Craig Carpenter for including in this book the work of Alfred Adler and Rudolph Dreikurs. I consider Adler and Dreikurs to be two of the most profound experts regarding the encouragement of Children., Dr. Carpenter provides parents, teachers and students with useful information for the prevention of school shootings. He provides the reader with heart wrenching stories about discouraged children who experienced suicidal thoughts and actions as well as eating disorders. He brilliantly describes the idea of encouragement groups as a viable answer to solving the discouragement epidemic facing children and adolescents. This book is a must read!, For too long, children have been sold short on their capacity to partner in tackling humankind’s knottiest issues like gun violence and bullying. Dr. Craig Carpenter asserts that children are capable “beyond what we believe” in problem solving. The youth movement has energy, insight and practical ideas that must be embraced and tapped. Carpenter illustrates that with an exhaustive litany of examples of how children historically have helped push the frontiers forward. Ever valuable is his call for “encouragement groups” where youth can safely unbundle the forces they confront and grow into veritable changemakers., Children are the most vulnerable population at the time of ever present bullying, domestic violence, gun violence, sexual abuse, trafficking, among others. At the same time, however, children are the most resilient, powerful, vibrant population who can unleash their creativity and imagination to create a social change. In this book, Craig Carpenter offers compelling arguments about ways to empower children, facilitate their capacity to put into action, and cultivate their democratic imagination for social justice. Carpenter brilliantly centers his discussion around children’s capabilities that are often undermined, in oder to showcase their stories of courage and inspiration. Focusing on historical and philosophical accounts of the role of children in the democratic society, Carpenter makes an undeniable intellectual contribution to the field of education, inspiring educators to work with children to further humanize our future. This book is a rarity.

Craig Carpenter is a retired Licensed Professional Counselor of 38 years with Doctoral Degrees from Arizona State University and Drew University (Madison, New Jersey). He and his wife have been married for over 50 years and have four boys and six grandchildren.