Jane O'Neil Cook

Jane Cook, adjustment counselor for Hopkinton High School, balked at grouping the alleged cutting party with individual self-harm.Instead, the alleged partygoers were likely displaying their "liquid bravado" and engaging in a kind of drunken one-upmanship, not necessarily exorcising their inner demons, said Cook.

"Human beings do really stupid things when they're drunk.Substance abuse and the impact of crowd mentality: put those two things together and you really can't deduce anything about self-mutilation," she said.

Jane O'Neil Cook, an adjustment counselor at Hopkinton High School, said her work with Bose's Center of Organizational Development and Education gave her new ideas for communicating within a group.While helping Bose reexamine parts of its training program, Cook said she saw many values the high school teaches -- respect, compassion, conflict resolution -- reinforced at the company.

Cook also said she had a "rude awakening" about her lack of computer skills.

"I do a lot of work with computers, but maybe it needs to have a higher profile at school," said Cook.

Next month in Hopkinton, high school students will take part in seminars about sex and the law, said Jane O'Neil Cook, school adjustment counselor at Hopkinton High School.The planning for the April 4 sessions started well before the recent controversy, Cook said, but educators are mindful of it.
...
Cook said she wants students to understand what might seem like a consensual act isn't if alcohol or an underage partner are involved.

"The idea of being charged with a sex crime has implications far beyond your high school career," Cook said.

For the past several months, Hopkinton High has been coordinating with the Middlesex District Attorney's office for information, Cook said.

A panel of adults who have firsthand knowledge of student problems will share their perspectives, including high school adjustment counselor Jane Cook; school nurse Adria Pavletic; Jay Porter, resource officer at the high school; David Shane, resource officer at the middle school; and Jill Leach, district wellness coordinator, who planned the survey.

An adult panel will include Leach, school resource officer Jay Porter, school nurse Adria Pavletic and adjustment counselor Jane Cook.

Jane Cook, adjustment counselor at Hopkinton High School and a co-facilitator of the workshops, said parents can never start too early to instill healthy attitudes among their children.

"Resiliency against drugs and alcohol begins in the crib," she said."Parents need to strike a healthy balance between helping kids comfort themselves and being there for them.Some try to protect their kids from every adversity, to the point where they don't let them build resilience."As a result, Cook said, some of these coddled children turn to substance abuse when they cannot handle a difficult stage of their lives.

Jane Cook stirred in her sleep, then jolted awake when she heard the sound that every person living alone fears: an intruder.

It took a few panicked seconds before she realized that it wasn't a burglar...just her college-aged son Jesse, who had recently moved home for the summer and was returning during the wee hours after a night with his pals.

"Your brain says 'burglar' before you realize that your kids are home," said Cook, a counselor at Hopkinton High School."They're not here for 10 months, then they're home for three.It's a huge adjustment."

After putting up with his odd hours and his dishes piled in the sink, Cook told her son: "I'm not living with a college roommate here.

Jane Cook stirred in her sleep, then jolted awake when she heard the sound that every person living alone fears: an intruder.

It took a few panicked seconds before she realized that it wasn't a burglar...just her college-aged son Jesse, who had recently moved home for the summer and was returning during the wee hours after a night with his pals.

"Your brain says 'burglar' before you realize that your kids are home," said Cook, a counselor at Hopkinton High School."They're not here for 10 months, then they're home for three.It's a huge adjustment."

After putting up with his odd hours and his dishes piled in the sink, Cook told her son: "I'm not living with a college roommate here.
...
Cook says this ambivalence is perfectly normal, especially for parents who have grown accustomed to having the house to themselves.

"Once they are out of the house, you have a sense of space and home, and you're used to going to bed at a certain time," she says.

Cohen and Cook, both experienced counselors who've raised grown children themselves, say that mixed emotions are normal.

"Between the ages of 15 and 18 kids go through a tremendous amount of change," says Jane Cook, adjustment counselor at Hopkinton High School.
...
"When I came here nine years ago, it was very rural," said Cook.
...
Parents can and should play a role in nurturing their teen through the most turbulent periods, said Jane Cook, the adjustment counselor in Hopkinton High School.