Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Children Being Taught To Fight Back

Well, not quite. The media, as usual, has overstated and overblown this report. A school district in Massachusetts is CONSIDERING ditching the failed law enforcement policy of run and hide in our elementary schools. They are CONSIDERING teaching kids, in a last ditch effort when death is eminent, to throw books, chairs, backpacks, and other items at an armed intruder in an effort to distract their attention. I don't know. This makes sense to me. What do you think?

Sunday, December 7, 2008

Parents Must Demand That Schools Protect Victims

I just wanted to further comment on the High School Hazing post from a few days ago. Even though laws were broken and 11 girls were humiliated, mistreated, and possibly had their lives endangered when they were blindfolded, bound, and thrown into a swimming pool, the 11 victims reported being harassed at school. The parents have asked the school what it will do to protect their children, but the school had not responded at the time of the article I read.

What these parents need to do is stop ASKING the Principal what he will do and start TELLING him and the District Superintendent exactly what they will do to protect further humiliation and victimization of the 11 students.  It is shocking how bullies continue to get away with their violence often encouraged by the very INACTION of school officials!!!

Saturday, December 6, 2008

Study Shows Technolgy Robbed Family Of Social Skills

I believe I saw this on Good Morning America this morning. They conducted a study of two families. One family was plugged-in to the web 24/7, the other family had a wall mounted, old-fashioned telephone and electric typewriters. The swap took place over the course of one week.
 
To make a long story short, the high-tech family was absolutely crazy without their cell phones, computers, ipods, etc. Meanwhile, the other family did not even know how to turn on the laptops they were given. They said they missed the connection they had before the technology came into their home and could not wait to get rid of the gadgets and go outside and play. 

Sadly, the high tech family did not experience the closeness that the other family had sans gadgets. If I'm not mistaken, that would be because the technology has robbed them of the social skills necessary to form a strong family bond. They never had that bond in the first place thanks to the gadgets and multi-media exposure. One of the teenage daughters said that she was completely socially isolated during the week-long experiment. It is a sad testament to what our American society has become.

Friday, December 5, 2008

CROC Warning!!!!

Whoa! I just heard this in the news this morning. A woman is suing CROC (the maker of those gummy clogs that all the little ones are wearing these days) for $7.5 million after her son's big toe was mangled by an escalator. Poor little guy! While the amount is ridiculously excessive, I agree with the lawsuit. As a result, CROC has admitted, according to the Channel 5 report this morning, that there have been over 200 similar incidents world-wide!

Keep those little piggies safe!

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

High School Hazing Gone Sooooo Wrong!

I just read a very disturbing post on Blogher.com today about a case of high school hazing gone very wrong written by fellow blogger Jennifer Satterwhite, founder of TheMomBlogs.com of which I am a member. This incident happened back on July 25th, but is only now getting a bit of media attention. I know I did not hear any mention of this school violence over the summer.

Apparently, 7 varsity cheerleaders from Katy Morton Ranch High School in Katy, Texas were supposed to take 11 cheerleaders from the school’s junior varsity squad to breakfast in their pajamas. Unfortunately, the seven girls decided to show up at 4 a.m., making some parents a bit nervous, to take the girls out for breakfast at IHOP. Instead, they drove the girls to a private residence, blindfold their unsuspecting victims, tied up the girls’ hands with duct tape, and threw them into a swimming pool!

Are you outraged yet??? I know I am!!! I once knew of a man who drove off the road and ended up in just 1 foot of water in the dark. The gentleman did not know how to swim, panicked, and drowned. It was very tragic. All he had to do was stand up. It is shocking, but these terrible accidents actually happen.

The varsity cheerleaders were indicted on hazing charges. I am furious to learn of the girls’ attorneys are stating that it was just “poor judgment”, and that it is unfortunate that the girls have to go through this ordeal during the holidays. What!!!!!!??????? Poor bullies!!!!!! I am sick and tired of hearing how the bullies didn’t mean any harm. Yes they did!!!! Otherwise, this would not have happened and they would not be facing criminal charges!!!

Some people are saying that this was not a crime. Actually, yes it is. The state of Texas has a law known as the Anti-hazing Law of 1995. Oh, and kidnapping is a crime, too!!! When the bullies decided to blind and tie up their victims, they committed another crime!!! The list of charges must be a mile long. Other people think that these girls should not be held accountable for their actions. That would be a HUGE MISTAKE!

A clear message needs to be sent out to BULLYLAND, that violence against others WILL NOT BE TOLERATED. PERIOD. I hope that justice will be served in Texas. The rest of the country and BULLYLAND are watching.

To add insult to injury the victims have been harassed at school during the on-going, criminal investigation. Big surprise! In this society, when we report bullying and the school administration does nothing to stop the bullying, our children are re-victimized. According to one dad, David Cruz, whose daughter was one of the victims, “The victims in this case are being treated like the guilty parties.”

The school has done nothing to protect the victims. Nor has the school assured parents of the victims that their children will be safe. When the Houston Chronicle asked the school what it would do respond to the victim’s parents’ concerns, the school had no comment.