Students learn to vent their anger

Friday, June 7, 2002 | 3:01 a.m.

WEEKEND EDITION: June 8, 2002

Eliza Toussant wants kids to know that they have a voice, and that somebody is listening.

The local parent and grandparent hopes those voices will be heard through her "I Can Vent" program, which allows kids to write out their emotions on specially designed cards. The Clark County School District has approved a test run of the program in seven elementary schools this fall, deputy superintendent of instruction Agustin Orci said.

Toussant believes that the program will help prevent violence and senseless killings.

"I have learned that when most children go on a killing rampage ... the first thing they have to say is, 'I had no one to talk to,' " said Toussant, who been a pediatric nurse and day-care operator. "Children almost always, before they do something, tell someone. And usually they tell one of their close peers.

"What they are really saying is 'Stop me. I don't want to do this, and with a little encouragement I won't do this.' But if the person is not there to stop them from this crime, then they follow it out."

The postcard-size cards are decorated on one side with cartoon figures of children and icons illustrating the phrase, "I can vent."

On the other side children can write about problems they are having or warn an adult about violence that may occur, Toussant said. The cards can be signed or dropped anonymously into a box, where counselors will read them daily.

"It is basically an opportunity for kids to share that works something like a suggestion box," Orci said. "A person who has a concern or problem can write it out and a counselor can intervene if necessary."

The program will start in Jack Dailey, Betsy A. Rhodes, Myrtle Tate, Robert L. Taylor, Hal Smith, Rose Warren and Elise L. Wolff elementary schools this fall, district director of counseling Jane Kadoich said. The schools are already part of an Elementary School Counseling Demonstration Grant that more diligently records counseling efforts and results. The program will be evaluated after six months, Kadoich said.

Toussant knows how an argument can escalate into a senseless killing firsthand. Her husband's 14-year-old niece died in a McDonald's parking lot after having her throat slashed over an argument about a boy. Her brother was stabbed in the heart during a robbery in St. Louis.

Letting kids vent may prevent these kinds of crimes, Toussant said.

"Writing gives you a chance to kind of cool down," she said.

Writing also allows people to communicate and find a solution, Toussant said. One of her granddaughters suffers from manic-depression, and the cards have helped her express her emotions. She also used the cards to solve a problem in school, Toussant said, by writing to her guidance counselor.

Orci said he respected Toussant's motivation in getting the pilot program into schools. Her original idea, the Silver Paper Bullet, got a lot of negative feedback, because parents saw the imagery as too violent.

"No one could get past the image of the bullet," Toussant said. "But what I was trying to say to people was that instead of using the metal cylindrical bullet that takes lives, use the paper bullet to express your feelings on it first and give a person a chance to talk to you about the troubles you are having, rather than taking it into your own hands and doing this killing. But they said it was politically incorrect."

Toussant found renewed passion for the program after visiting the Andre Agassi Boys and Girls Club. After sharing the cards with the children there, Toussant said the kids opened up to her and started sharing everything from problems with stepparents to stories of sexual abuse.

"When I left, I left there in tears," Toussant said. "Because I'm figuring you know, I am just one person, what can I do? But that just made me work real hard to get this program in effect."

Toussant's 19-year-old granddaughter, Ashley Watkins, illustrates the cards and thinks they are effective.

"As she said, a lot of kids have no one to talk to," Watkins said. "And for some it's easier to write it down than to say it face to face."

Watkins also illustrates Toussant's children's books. The self-published fables, "The Cootie Dragon" and "Soddy Bear," tackle tough subjects such as AIDS and the Gulf War. Toussant plans to publish two new books, "Bini Bear" on Osama bin Laden and "Cloning Around" about the dangers of cloning this year, as well as reprints of her originals.

"I write about these issues so that the kids can understand it," Toussant said. "To help kids get past Sept. 11, I've done some nursery rhymes with Bini Bear to kind of help them to laugh. The war is hard on kids, it's something that they don't understand."

The books are part of Toussant's mission to reach out to kids.

"A lot of people take rights away from kids, and they have no voices," she said. "But they should be heard."