The Los Angeles school district will be distributing narcan (naloxone) at all levels, from kindergarten through high school [1]. Staff training in the drug’s use is slated to start in October [2].
The rate of overdoses in Los Angeles county (believed related to fentanyl) has increased by 1700% since 2016 [3]. At least seven teens overdosed this past month alone. Narcan temporarily reverses the effects of an overdose.
The administration of a narcotic antidote is yet another task unrelated to education we are assigning our teachers. However necessary such intervention may be, it does nothing to address the underlying problems. Continue reading →
“Boy with Hands on His Shoulders” by Rian Lemaire Smulders c/o Saatchi Art
The El Paso School District has begun the termination of Amber Parker, an English teacher at Franklin High School, for instructing her students to refer to pedophiles as MAPs or “minor-attracted persons” in a viral video which her supporters maintain was taken out of context [1]. Parker is purported to have said, “So don’t judge people just because they want to have sex with a 5 y.o.”
Dr. Allyn Walker, a professor at Virginia’s Old Dominion University, resigned after having stressed at a panel the importance of pedophiles being treated with “dignity” [2][6].
These are not isolated incidents. There are pedophile advocacy organizations worldwide [3].
The acronym MAP is apparently preferred by pedophiles over the label “child molester”. It represents an attempt to normalize pedophilia, and is increasingly being adopted as politically correct, particularly in the LGBT context.
Seeking to remove any negative connotation from the term pederast, there are even pedophiles now characterizing themselves as virtuous [4]. Such individuals view their twisted desires as mere symptoms of a fallen world — somewhere along the spectrum of normal human sexuality (neither aberrant, nor evil). Continue reading →
Disabled child begging in the street, Source Tropenmuseum part of the National Museum of World Cultures, Author H.W. (Henk) van Rinsum (Photographer), (CC BY-SA 3.0 Unported)
WARNING: Graphic Images
There are nearly 240 million children with mental or physical disabilities worldwide [1].
Across the globe, the majority of these children have meager access to clean water and sanitation; adequate nutrition; and necessary healthcare, including immunization.
53% are likely to suffer from acute respiratory infections, the leading cause of death in children under five [2].
42% are likely to be “wasted” which is to say emaciated, with muscle mass far below normal.
34% are likely to be stunted in growth.
Disabled children are often denied education.
49% are likely never to have attended school.
42% are likely to lack basic reading and arithmetic skills.
Children with disabilities are at higher risk of abuse (including sexual abuse) and neglect [3][4]. In the United States, that risk is 300% higher than for children without disabilities [5]. Continue reading →
Angry Mama Bear (Image courtesy of Big_Grin Brand Posters)
“How and why are we being looked at as bigots because we want our children to learn how to read and write and do math so that they can function in society and make a living for themselves, and that we be the bastions of their emotional and social welfare and well-being? We’re their parents. That’s our job. It’s not the school’s job, and it’s not no politician’s job neither [1A].”
-Gabrielle Clark
Gabrielle Clark is determined to safeguard her son and daughter against what she views as the woke indoctrination of young children with critical race theory (CRT) and gender ideology [1B].
Legal Challenge to Critical Race Theory
Clark (who describes herself as an “atheist, bisexual, bi-racial, homeless person”) brought suit in Nevada in what is believed to be the first case in the United States challenging critical race theory [1C][2]. Clark urges parents who agree with her to do likewise, across the country. Continue reading →
You are a divorced mother of three, working part-time to make ends meet. You have custody of the children your husband expressed no interest in, even before the marriage ended. You receive no alimony and little child support since he, also, managed to hide assets at the time of the divorce.
Your ex and his new wife now feel custody would be cheaper. Their ploy for gaining custody is to accuse you of neglect. Nothing could be further from the truth. But you have to hire a lawyer to defend yourself, and wind up putting the $10,000 retainer on your credit card.
Although there are times divorce is the best option, divorced women are more likely than men to receive public assistance, live without health insurance, and have less earning potential [1A].
29% of custodial mothers live in poverty, as compared with 16.7% of custodial fathers [1B].
Only 43.5% of custodial parents receive the full amount of child support [1C]. The aggregate amount of child support due in 2015 was $33.7 billion.
Children of divorced parents are 1.5 – 2 times more likely to end up living in poverty than children still living with both parents [2].
The lengths to which a good and loving parent may be forced to go, in order to defend against false allegations of abuse are troubling [3A].
A lack of financial resources will exacerbate such a situation. An attorney is not likely to continue with representation in the absence of payment. Necessary psychological evaluation of a child in such a case can cost money, as well.
Unfortunately, the better funded (and less scrupulous) parent often has the upper hand. The falsely accused parent with fewer resources may find herself or himself attempting to prove a negative not only in a custody case, but a simultaneous Dept. of Human Services investigation and criminal action. Continue reading →
The performer of this Sam Cooke classic is 10 y.o. Jordan Hollins.
Known as the “King of Soul”, Cooke was born in Mississippi in 1931, and later moved to Chicago [1]. Like Jordan, Sam Cooke began singing as a young boy. He went on to write hits like “You Send Me”, “Wonderful World”, “Chain Gang”, “Another Saturday Night”, and “Twistin’ the Night Away”.
Cooke’s music contributed to the careers of such greats as James Brown, Marvin Gaye, Otis Redding, Aretha Franklin, and Stevie Wonder.
Sam Cooke is, himself, a charter member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He was, also, important to the civil rights movement. “Change Is Gonna Come” became an anthem of the movement.
Cooke died at the age of 33 from a gunshot wound. The circumstances of his death are disputed. He was posthumously inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and National Rhythm and Blues Music Hall of Fame.
To achieve peace, we must fight for justice and work for change.
“But let justice run down like water, And righteousness like a mighty stream” (Amos 5: 24).
A 12 y.o. Alabama girl chewed through her restraints to escape captivity by Jose Pascual-Reyes, her mother’s boyfriend. The 37 y.o. Pascual-Reyes had kept the girl intoxicated after killing and dismembering her mother and brother.
Typical social media sites, Source Flickr, Author Automotive Social
(CC BY 2.0 Generic)
The following safety tips were supplied by a child advocacy center all too familiar with child abuse in its many forms. Please, discuss them with the teens in your life.
Personal Safety
Never share your personal information with others online unless you already know them offline, and they have good reason for needing to know.
Before sharing the following information with ANYONE, always check with a trusted adult first: last name, address, phone number, date of birth, school name, social security number, passwords.
Social Media
Many social networking websites (e.g. Facebook/Meta, Twitter, and Instagram) have minimum age requirements for signing up. These requirements are there to protect you! Never accept a “friend request” from someone you do not already know offline. Again, never share personal information with others. Continue reading →
Most of us remember the Turpin children because of the extreme abuse they endured.
The 13 children suffered years of torture, starvation, and neglect at the hands of their parents before being rescued in 2018 from the house of horrors in which they were raised.
Now it appears that rescue was illusory.
Further Abuse
The 6 youngest children have filed suit against Riverside County, CA; ChildNet Youth and Family Services; and the Foster Family Network, alleging they were placed with a foster family who emotionally, physically, and sexually abused them [1A][2]. Continue reading →
Mo Farah at 2012 European Athletics Championships in Helsinki,
Author Erik van Leeuwen
(Image modified by MachoCarioca)
(GNU Free Documentation License)
Four-time Olympic champion, Sir Mohamed Farah, has revealed in a BBC documentary that he was trafficked as a child, and forced into slavery in London [1][2][3A][4].
Background
Born Hussein Abdi Kahin, Farah lost his father to a civil war in Somaliland at the age of four. Separated from his mother, he was brought illegally to the United Kingdom by a stranger at the age of nine, and forced to work as a domestic servant.
Citizenship and Freedom
Farah was not allowed to attend school until around age twelve. The school was told he was a Somali refugee.
Physical education teacher, Alan Watkinson, was the first to notice Farah’s outstanding athletic talent. Farah eventually told Watkinson the truth about his past, and moved in with a friend’s family. It was Watkinson who helped Farah apply for British citizenship. Continue reading →
Early Autumn in the Sierra Nevada, Author Don Graham of Redlands, CA (CC BY-SA 2.0 Generic)
“Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul alike.”
– John Muir
The respected naturalist and environmental philosopher, John Muir, believed that nature offers the body and mind opportunities to heal themselves [1].
Muir tirelessly hiked the Sierra Nevada, writing extensively about his experiences and ultimately co-founding America’s premier conservation organization, the Sierra Club. His activism helped to preserve both Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks.
They afford military service members and veterans a temporary escape from the stress of combat or the difficulties of transitioning to civilian life through hunting, fishing, and other outdoor activities. Hometown Hero Outdoors is open to law enforcement personnel, as well.
PTSD
Many of these individuals suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder – an illness to which victims of childhood abuse and domestic abuse are, also, prone. Continue reading →
ANNA WALDHERR A Voice Reclaimed, Surviving Child Abuse 