Preventing child abuse and death

In 2017, an estimated 1,720 children died from abuse, and 72% of them were younger than three years old.  April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month.  https://www.ojjdp.gov/enews/blogs/042419-ojjdp-child-abuse-prevention.html

There is a media campaign with free images and messages you can download called "We Can."https://cantasd.acf.hhs.gov/we-can/   However, as I looked through them I saw only 2 that showed a Mom and Dad together, both active military, which is odd. Why couldn't there be a message about marriage, or the assumption of married parents? What are they afraid of? Married parents are the strongest guarantee against poverty, and fathers active in their children's lives help with self esteem and positive social behavior.

Jeffrey explains how it works today

Jeffrey Varasano:  "I'm old enough to remember when vilification of a 17 year old required that he be accused of grabbing a girl with zero corroboration and an ever changing story. Oh, how I long for those good ole days. Now standing motionless and smiling on video while being provoked by someone banging a drum in your face while his friend tells you to leave the continent, is enough to vilify you, your school, parents and your culture."

Name calling and pejoratives--convenient but not accurate

Not sure where the charges of racism against Trump come from. It's the classic middle school bullying technique. Your mom wears combat boots.  That’s not exactly right.  I do know. It's the leftists' favorite word to stop all discussion and they hate him so it is used constantly.

Islam is a religion trusted by millions of all ethnicities and races, yet when he tries to stop terrorism, he's a racist Nazi using dog whistle words. MS-13 preys on immigrant neighborhoods both for victims and members, yet the MSM talking heads call that a code word for his racism. They think the MS-13 gangs only exist in the mind of Fox News, probably because they don't live in those neighborhoods and have doormen and security guards. The "Hispanics" I see on TV or who are politicians are whiter than I am, and obviously have gotten to the top of their game through persistent "shadeism" in their or their parents' homeland.

We all know immigrants built this country because whether they arrived in 1600s from Europe, 2005 from Ghana or 15,000 BC across a land bridge from Asia covered by rising water when glaciers melted (global warming)--we all came from somewhere, including Trump's own mother. The left refuses to distinguish between the concept that some immigrants come to the U.S. legally and some don't. They use a very broad brush and only glorify those who broke the law. More votes that way.

Why Obama gets the blame for the bathroom wars

 Someone (a liberal) was asking why Obama gets blamed for the bathroom wars--or, the butt stops there. It's his administration that has changed the rules by manipulating Title IX. A policy at Township High School District 211 that was mandated by the U.S. Department of Education to accommodate the transgender student, who was born male but identifies as a female. This violates all the other students in the school, and parents decided to sue. Good for them. You'll call them bigots of course, and keep the door on the bathroom in your house.

Title IX was intended to help women, not terrorize them. Before Title IX, few opportunities existed for female athletes and now 2.6 million are competing. But now transgendered men with more muscle mass, stronger hearts, different blood pressure and blood volume, and no menstrual cycles will be competing with real women. Showers and toilets aren't the goal, but neither are athletic competitions--they are just by-products. It's bullying and shaming in the worst manner--destroying women's natural modesty and sense of decency because some man is embarrassed by his same sex attraction so he gets breast implants, a vagina made out of a penis and hormone shots--with 37 trillion cells that are still male.

 http://deneenborelli.com/2016/05/n-c-house-were-not-going-to-get-bullied-by-the-obama-administration/

 http://dailysignal.com/2016/05/04/50-families-sue-over-illinois-high-schools-transgender-bathroom-policy/

This kind of bully has approval all the way from the White House down

For years, gays (except librarians, stage actors, ballet dancers, male models, some female athletes, women's clothing designers, and hair dressers) thought they needed to hide their sexual preferences. Despite their fear and self-loathing, gays are the most educated and wealthiest demographic in the country. Again, except librarians.  They weren’t loud, or rich, but they were very out, proving it can be done—even in the 60s and 70s.  But that's all changed now--the president finally came out in 2012 against traditional marriage and the entertainment industry particularly has been relentless for four decades in providing gay themed and gay story line and gay actors for TV and movies--far beyond their 2% representation in the population. So now they are popping out of closets like they've run out of moth balls--professional athletes, news anchors, authors, etc. The response? To demonize Christians who have a biblical view of marriage. So I guess it isn't about sexual preference or love or marriage at all, but about power and bullying, very human traits and behaviors that transcend gender, race, ethnicity and religion.

The next victim group

Imagine if next year Rednecks became a protected victim group, everyone who has shared this photo, or laughed at it, or "liked" it, would lose their job.

Bullies (paid) of the worst kind—race and ethnicity

When I was working back in the 90s at Ohio State, I attended a number of workshops on being sensitive to people of other cultures and abilities. Most were pretty good, because you might not notice how difficult access is to buildings, or the strain on necks and arms for high counters and closed doors unless it was brought to your attention. But some were not so good, like recognizing cultural differences and the speaker could barely speak English or the body odor was so overwhelming it filled the room. So I'm wondering about these new workshops to convince those of European descent, particularly men, that they are the scum of the earth and the source of all problems from global warming to the kidnapping of Nigerian school girls. We know it by another name, bullying. And, if it were me, I'd look into an EEO complaint if attending one was a requirement--for anything--particularly reprisal. (Federal fair employment laws prohibit discrimination and require the government to provide equal employment opportunity without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disabling condition or reprisal.)

http://imcw.org/calendar/events/vw/3/sm/613/itemid/794/Weekend-Workshop-White-Identity--Racial-Awareness.aspx

http://www.amazon.com/White-Awareness-Handbook-Anti-Racism-Training/dp/0806135603

http://www.cirtl.net/diversityresources/workshop/awareness

Mozilla CEO fired, er, resigns due to thuggery

Political donations are covered under the first amendment--freedom of speech. Belief in traditional marriage is covered under the first amendment--freedom of religion. In 2008, Obama assured his supporters he was a Christian and supported traditional marriage--one man and one woman--he even supported don't ask don't tell for the military throughout his first term. And now a CEO Brendan Eich  is ripped by the left, deprived of his first amendment rights to speak and believe, and forced to resign because in 2008 he donated money for California's Proposition 8. Why not fire Obama for what he did in 2008 (and 2009-2012)?

 http://hotair.com/archives/2014/04/03/mozilla-ceo-resigns-after-uproar-over-his-opposition-to-gay-marriage/

In theory, it is not the government trying to coerce him, it's a private business, (try firing a Muslim or Orthodox Jew for their beliefs), but we know who are controlling business culture these days, and it isn't businesses like Hobby Lobby or Chick-fil-a.

Never did like Firefox. And supposedly, Mozilla is a non-profit 501c3 getting government perks for existing and competing with for-profits.You know he won't sue and further be smeared by militant gays, but I wish he would.

Gay activists are for purging, discrimination, stifling free speech, denying religious freedom, burning heretics at the stake of their profession, and bullying in the worst way. In 2008 the president made the same stand as the Mozilla CEO, Brendan Eich . I'm sorry he caved at the hands of despicable thugs. Did the President speak out for what he believed and campaigned on in 2008? Of course not. He's not for basic American values of speech and religion.

Stop government bullying now

The IRS is bullying conservatives, Christians, wealthy Republican donors and small government patriots, and using audits, electronic snooping, OSHA and ATF to terrify the president's enemies--maybe they could make a new poster?

Bullying

Not a day goes by that I don’t hear something on the news about bullying. Today it was on Catholic radio and concerned bullying with social media. Here’s an article by a pediatrician, and absolutely nothing in her explanation looks familiar to me, not from my childhood in the 40-50s, or my children in the 70-80s. Bullies are not born. If I was bullied as a child, I must have laughed it off or I gave it back as good as I got, but I do remember some other kids who were bullied, and my perception as a child was that they were objects of scorn because they were different (height, weight, grades, income, teeth, skin, etc.) and not because the person who teased (that’s what we called it then) had psychological or emotional shortcomings.

Now, popularity cliques (ingroup, inner circle, pack) at least among girls were a different matter. By high school, all the mixing and matching we did in 4-H, Girl Scouts and junior choir, camp, and church group was set aside when it came to parties and Friday night get togethers. Also, I dated a lot in high school, so I didn't even go to all the parties, or after game events with my "clique," but I did make it to the birthday events. Maybe I would have been bullied if I'd showed up?

My experience, and that of my children, was that "exclusion" was a bigger hurt than bullying. You could be tall, athletic, good looking and get away with a lot in my children's schools and circles, but if you weren't an outstanding student, then you could easily be excluded by the "in-crowd." Over the years I've talked to other parents who had children in the Upper Arlington school system and I know that their kids were "excluded" from some social circles, but excelled in other areas. They might be homely and awkward, but in the band or orchestra they could excel; or they could have low grades but be outstanding in baseball or track; theater and drama clubs, or singing, saved the self esteem of many. That doesn't mean the top soprano might not make fun of the kid who couldn't carry a tune, or high hurdles guy wouldn't tease the boy with a limp.

But psychological or emotional problems from the taunter? Not sure about that one, Dr. Arca. What do you think?

8th grade, 1953 class trip, Chicago

To paraphrase an anarchist--Benjamin Tucker*

This blog is written to suit Norma, not its readers. She hopes that what suits her will suit them; but, if not, it will make no difference. No reader, subscriber, or body of subscribers, will be allowed to govern her course, dictate her policy, prescribe her methods, or choose her topics. Collecting My Thoughts is published for the very definite purpose of advocating certain ideas, such as faith in Jesus Christ, the free market, conservatism, education, recent medical and technological break-throughs, pro-family issues like not killing the unborn, family memories, and public policy; no claim will be admitted, on any pretext of freedom of speech, to waste its limited space or Norma's time in hindering the attainment of that object. Norma is not afraid of discussion, or even an argument, and shall do what she can to make room for short, serious, and well-considered objection to her views, but intolerance of Christians, Christiphobia, church bashing, blasphemy, name calling, bullying, and long boring essays on atheism should be posted on the reader's own blog. Also, since Norma in an earlier career translated Soviet medical material heavily laced with Marxism, she probably knows more than the reader about the joys of attaining socialist goals, so don't bother cluttering with that clap-trap either. As a former humanist, a career public employee (although not a union member), a librarian and a 40 year registered Democrat, there are few arguments from the other side or from the basement archives Norma hasn't heard.

*Tucker wrote a journal called Liberty in the 19th c.

Bullying on social networking sites

Today's Wall Street Journal has an interesting article on the history of shaming--from the scarlet letter, to names of tax delinquents in newspapers to publicly charging for plastic bags at the grocery store to "encourage" responsible behavior. But the story lead is one of the most interesting. It involves rich, socially advantaged, well-educated young adults--the senior class at Dartmouth attempting to shame their classmates into donating for the class gift, using blogs, social networking sites, names, photos, and personal slurs. Techno-rats without a moral clue.

Oh yes, the names came from the school administration. Link.

So who told us those myths?

We stopped in Brownsburg, Indiana for gas yesterday and I glanced at a USAToday story about the murders 10 years ago at Columbine high school. Apparently, we all believed some "myths." No bullying--they were the bullies. Not goths. Not suicidal. They were just garden variety liars and psychopaths--just like the guys who killed the police, the immigrants, their estranged families during the past month. Harris and Klebold killed 13 and wounded 24, but they had hoped to kill thousands. Feel better?

"A decade after Harris and Klebold made Columbine a synonym for rage, new information — including several books that analyze the tragedy through diaries, e-mails, appointment books, videotape, police affidavits and interviews with witnesses, friends and survivors — indicate that much of what the public has been told about the shootings is wrong."

So who told us all those myths we believed? The media. It certainly wasn't bloggers--we didn't exist then. It wasn't George Bush or Bill Clinton. The media probably launched a thousand bullying workshops.

Today's new word is TRAJECTORY

At least it is new to me the way it is used in Archives of General Psychiatry 2008;65(10) 1185-1192. My sense of the word was that it had something to do with a bullet or something flying through space in some sort of predictable line and going splat. Not so in the social sciences, apparently.

Peer-victimization trajectories
pre-school trajectories
developmental trajectories

I scoured the internet dictionaries trying to nail down a definition, but I guess you have to sit in a classroom and hear it to grasp the meaning. It sounds a lot more hopeless and set in stone than "direction," or "path." First, in case you weren't sure, "peer-victimization" is bullying. I was pretty sure it was, but had to go to the article and look for keywords or tags. Usually, finding a summary of a medical article in layman's language is helpful. This article in Medical News Today manages to summarize the original and only use the word “trajectory” once--maybe they were confused too. Their title was “How And Why Certain Children Receive Chronic Peer Abuse” instead of "Predictive Validity and Early Predictors of Peer-Victimization Trajectories in Preschool." You get paid more if you've got a fancy title.

What I got out of the article, other than a vision of seeing little kids hurtling through the air from pre-school into a gang of bullies in high school, is that the parents’ behavior and the child’s behavior cause something in the dynamics that invites bullying by other children. I’ve read it through several times and don’t see any other conclusion. The children are aggressive or hyperactive from a very early age, and the parents have poor skills and react harshly. When these children are around other kids, they are doing something that causes the other children to react mean or negative. Also, the same predictors for poverty (teen mother, single parent, low education) seem to be in the bullying scenario.

Conclusion: Early childhood preventive interventions should target parenting skills and child behaviors, particularly within families with insufficient income.

Short of taking the children away from the parents, I don’t know where this research is going, because a few public service announcements on public television (I've seen them about 6 a.m. and wonder who is watching) or a one hour parenting class at the Y probably isn’t going to change much, but the concept sure is fodder for the grant money. What do you think (if you’ve read the article.)