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INTERNET MATTERS.ORG Online issues What issues could be affecting your children? Get to grips with what they may come across on the internet and how to get help if you need it. Find out what to do if you’re worried about anything you or your child has seen online.
Tips & Advice
From age-specific online safety checklists to guides on how to set parental controls on a range of devices, you’ll find a host of practical tips to help children get the most out of their digital world.
"President John F. Kennedy said technology ‘has no conscience of its own. Whether it will become a force for good or ill depends on man.’ Yet swayed by digital-age myths, we are providing our children with remarkably little guidance on their use of technology.”
Mental health days for students: An increasingly accepted !
FORBES:Should You Let Your Kids Take A Mental Health Day?
Does a mental health day constitute skipping school?
Fotolia
Last summer, the story about a CEO who encouraged employees to take mental health days went viral. It led to numerous media stories about the importance of taking care of your mental health — including taking a mental health day when you need one.
But what about kids? Should you let your child take a mental health day from school? Clearly, the answer isn't a simple yes or no.
In my 15 years as a psychotherapist, I've encouraged a few parents to let their kids take an occasional mental health day from school. But, I've also had to convince many other parents that their children's mental health days were doing more harm than good.
How to Know if Your Child Needs a Mental Health Day
You wouldn’t question keeping your child home from school if she had the flu. But, it’s harder to recognize when your child needs to stay home for mental health reasons.
It’s important for kids to power through some discomfort (like going to school even when they’re afraid of giving a presentation or when they don’t have their math homework done). There’s a lot of value in showing them they’re stronger than they think.
Today In: Leadership
But, when they’re feeling so bad they’re struggling to function—and going to school is likely to make them worse — a mental health day might be just what the doctor orders.
PASTOR,MENTAL HEALTH ADVOCATE JARRID WILLSON DIES BY APPRENT SUICIDE WIFE REPORTS
Mental health days for students: An increasingly accepted reason to stay home from school
Public school students would be allowed to cite the need for a mental health day as an excuse to miss school, under a bill filed in the Florida Legislature for the 2020 session. The proposal is part of a growing movement in multiple states aimed at improving students' mental well-being.
Rep. Susan Valdes, D-Tampa, says she wants to elevate mental and behavior health issues to the same level as the flu, colds and dental appointments as a legitimate reason for students to call in sick.
“It is time for us to take mental health as a whole more seriously,” said Valdes, as she explained that kids today are under a lot of pressure.
Supporters of similar measures approved in other states cited studies that indicate the mental health of teens and young adults has dropped dramatically in the past decade.
Florida HB 315 would allow one mental health day per semester as an excused absence. As is the custom, a parental note would be required for the missed day not to be counted as a pattern of truancy, which could lead to sanctions. A similar proposal was filed last month in the New York State Assembly.
Teen suicides have spiked, particularly in Orange County.
Teen suicides have spiked, particularly in Orange County, but new habits can save lives
Carol Carlson, center, of Waymakers Laguna Beach Youth Shelter, the nonprofit operator of youth shelters throughout Orange County, talks with juveniles in crisis along with tutor, Krista Swanson, left, and youth specialist David Cabrera, right. Wednesday, March, 13, 2019 in Laguna Beach.
A full year after four Orange County teens took their lives over a three-week period, the Board of Supervisors has decided to give $600,000 to create a suicide prevention program.
That’s a good move, yet we are left wondering if faster action might have saved a 13-year-old Aliso Viejo boy who apparently took his life earlier this month.
Mind you, several families who lost children to suicide courageously and selflessly agreed to go public for a three-part series I wrote last March about this national epidemic that takes 6,000 lives a year among people age 10 to 24.
Hundreds of readers followed up by attaching their names to published letters crying out for help. Then, Trinity Broadcasting Network went national with a secular program focusing on Orange County’s crisis.
In announcing the belated county program, supervisors reported the county’s per-capita suicide rate in the last two decades increased a whopping 45 percent.
“This compares to an average increase of 22 percent nationwide during the same time frame,” supervisors acknowledged, “and was the largest increase in any metropolitan county in the U.S.”
Sorry, a six-figure grant for a countywide suicide prevention program doesn’t impress. But at least it’s something and, fortunately, our supervisors aren’t alone in trying to stem the tragic tide.
A series of organizations have battled suicide for years. Among the most storied is an Orange County nonprofit called Waymakers. For more than four decades, the group has provided teens with help and hope.
This 16-year-old’s suicide letters are a cry for help and a national call for changeLess than two months ago, 16-year-old Patrick Turner — “Patty” to his family — took his life in centerfield in a nearby park. (Courtesy of the Turner Family)Orange County Register PUBLISHED: March 19, 2018 at 7:36 am
In a very nice part of California and in a very nice home, a very nice family sits down to a dinner of chicken tetrazzini, salad and croissants.
Dad asks his 18-year-old son about the baseball game he just pitched. The team lost, but the family knows there are bigger things in life. The Corona del Mar High School senior feels fine about his performance.
But no matter how positive and relaxed the conversation, an unshakable gloom filled with humankind’s deepest questions hangs in the air.
The dinner is courtesy of caring neighbors who want to help. Someone is missing from the table who should be here, but will never return.
States weigh mental sick days for students By William Wan The Washington Post Nov 4, 2019 Updated Nov 4, 2019
In the face of rising rates of depression, anxiety and suicide among young people, some states and school systems have started allowing students to take mental sick days off from school.
Last year, Utah changed its definition of valid excuses for absences to include mental health issues. This past summer, Oregon enacted a law, driven by a group of high school student activists, that allows students to take days off for mental health. Students in other states, including Colorado, Florida and Washington, are attempting to get similar laws passed.
“High school can be a lonely, difficult place to begin with,” said Hailey Hardcastle, 19, who spent months lobbying for the Oregon law as a high school senior. “But there’s so much more pressure these days — getting into college, the social pressure, even just the state of the world and what you’re exposed to with climate change, and everything going on with politics. A lot of times it can feel like the world is about to end.”
Hardcastle and others encountered skepticism and resistance from lawmakers who worried that students would use mental health days as an excuse to skip school or that such a law would coddle young people.
MANY SILOS TO OVERCOME BEFORE WE CAN BRING AWARENESS
Internet a ‘Lord of the Flies’: Teen suicide rise started after Instagram, Snapchat began Dr. Courtney Harkins, a clinical supervisor at Jserra Catholic High gives a presentation to Jserra students about suicide, depression, how to recognize the symptoms and what to do about it in San Juan Capistrano on Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2018
Third of three parts. Part 1 and Part 2
A counselor at JSerra Catholic High School in San Juan Capistrano faces a gathering of somber students and asks if they knew any of the teens who recently took their lives.
A half-dozen hands immediately rise. After a pause, more hands poke up.
“I knew Kyle,” one boy quietly volunteers. “He always seemed super happy. I never would have guessed.”
In new series of sessions about suicide at JSerra — as well as at many other schools — little by little kids open up.
One student talks about 13-year-old Emma Pangelinan who lived in Mission Viejo. Another teen says he knew Patrick Turner, a 16-year-old who lived in Corona del Mar. A girl mentions two girls in a nearby town. A boy asks about another boy who died.
It used to be that kids in high school knew one, maybe two kids who committed suicide. Back then, there wasn’t the reach of social media and methods to kill yourself weren’t just a Google search away.
With the Internet as well as Instagram and Snapchat “likes” creating round-the-clock races for online popularity — who sleeps anymore? — high school today is not your mother’s high school.
A calm and modest life brings more happiness than the pursuit of success combined with constant restlessness. Albert Einstein
The only thing more dangerous than ignorance is arrogance.
If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales. Albert Einstein
Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius, and a lot of courage, to move in the opposite direction.
OUR MIND IS A VERY WEAK WHEN WE FAIL TO STIMULATE PROPERLY.
Too Much Screen Time Can Have Lasting Consequences for Young Children’s Brains“The results show that there is a lasting influence of screen time, especially when children are two to five years old, when their brains are undergoing a period of tremendous development,” Madigan says.
By Alice Park January 28, 2019
Growing data suggests that exposing young children to too much time in front of a TV or computer can have negative effects on their development, including issues with memory, attention and language skills.
In the latest look at the topic, researchers report in JAMA Pediatrics that more screen time is linked to poorer progress on key developmental measures such as communication skills, problem solving and social interactions among young kids over time.
Sheri Madigan, an assistant professor of psychology at University of Calgary in Canada, and her colleagues studied 2,441 mothers and children enrolled in the All Our Families study, which followed young children from ages two to five. Mothers reported on how much time their children spent in front of a television or computer screen on a typical day, and also reported on developmental measures by answering questions about their children’s communication skills, behavior and social interactions. The data were collected at the start of the study, when the children were two years old, then again when they were three and five.
Excessive screen-time linked to changes in preschoolers’ brains Children who used screens for long periods on a daily basis were found to have lower structural integrity between the connections found in white matter - the parts of the brain that support language and literacy skills. By Amy Barrett 10th November, 2019 at 08:00
Children who spend more time in front of screens appear to have structural differences in their brains and scored lower on tests than those with a stricter media relationship, researchers at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Centre have found.
The team looked at the brains of 47 healthy children aged 3 to 5 to find out if the use of screens, such as TVs and smartphones, had visible effects on the brain.
Read more about children and screen time:
- Screen time can delay development in children
- Smartphones won’t make your kids dumb. We think.
- GCSE results suffer as screen time rises
Children who used screens for long periods on a daily basis were found to have lower structural integrity between the connections found in white matter – the parts of the brain that support language and literacy skills. They also scored lower in vocabulary and literacy tests.
To assess the children’s screen time, the researchers gave their parents a screening tool, ScreenQ, which was based on the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommendations for children’s media use to create a 15-item questionnaire. Questions were designed to establish the type of content viewed by children, their access to screens and how often they consumed screen-based media.
A comeback for cursive? More states encouraging penmanship in school. Support for the handwriting style has declined in recent decades, but now more states aim to bring it back into fashion.
Cursive, the art of penmanship cast aside in recent years as schools increasingly focus on keyboarding, may be getting a second act.
Last year, Alabama and Louisiana became the latest of 14 states to pass laws requiring cursive proficiency in public schools. And in the fall, New York City Schools – the country's largest school district, with 1.1 million students – encouraged teaching cursive to elementary school students.
As we as a society find ourselves relying more and more on computers, cell phones, and other forms of technology to communicate and express ourselves, many educators have declared cursive an unnecessary skill. In 2010, most states adopted the Common Core curriculum standards, which don't mention handwriting.
COMMON CORE UTOPIA WAS A MYTH WHEN THE DROPED CURSIVE WRITE
Cursive letters offer more than aesthetic, study says Cursive letters' disappearance from US schools could be shortsighted; a University of Montreal study shows that learning cursive improves syntax and spelling. he pseudo-science of graphology has for centuries maintained that handwriting is a window into the soul: by scrupulous observation, an expert graphologist could, in theory, divine personal qualities, truthfulness, and even the moral character of the writer emanating from the handwriting that they were studying. And while handwriting analysis might be overambitious about what it reads into the written word, it plays on an essential truth: the way we write relates to the way we think and express ourselves. As cursive handwriting is drummed out of schools from coast to coast, there has been push back from parents and educators – initially on an emotional basis, but increasingly with some more rigorous backing. A study (published in 2012, but hitting the newswires this month)
The development of automatic motor movements, the study suggested, was key – when you can write in a smooth, no-thought-required manner, you can concentrate on expressing yourself, not on grinding out each individual word or letter. Cursive in particular forced students to develop a stroke order that resulted in no backwards letters, and it also pushed students into laying down proper word spacing.
Interestingly, the study didn't examine what might happen to students who weren't taught any handwriting whatsoever, but were instead simply drilled on expressing thoughts through keyboards (or voice recognition software) alone. That may sound like a dark future, but as more and more of human communication moves onto tablets and phones, it's entirely possible that handwriting will one day be as generally relevant as donkey taming or archery.
As a still-active participant in the potentially dying art of writing letters out by hand, I think its possible death is a bit of a shame. A hand-written thank you note or invitation, for example, still trumps even the most animated of .gif-based communiques. And on those rare occasions when I receive written communication from someone with beautiful handwriting, I have to admit to
Digital predators, teen victims, Part 1: Editor’s note: This is the first of a three-part series. “We were just 13 and 15 years old.” With those words, a teenager we will call Jane Doe starts to write her Victim Impact Statement about how a young man she met on the Internet stole “the most precious years of a girl’s life.” With the support of her parents, she practices reading her statement again and again, struggling to stop from weeping as she recounts the assaults three years ago when she was 15 and one of the other victims was just 13. More than almost anything, the teenager wants the man who pleaded guilty to two misdemeanors and four felonies involving four different victims in four different places to hear her voice
Editor’s note: This is the first of a three-part series.
“We were just 13 and 15 years old.”
With those words, a teenager we will call Jane Doe starts to write her Victim Impact Statement about how a young man she met on the Internet stole “the most precious years of a girl’s life.”
With the support of her parents, she practices reading her statement again and again, struggling to stop from weeping as she recounts the assaults three years ago when she was 15 and one of the other victims was just 13.
More than almost anything, the teenager wants the man who pleaded guilty to two misdemeanors and four felonies involving four different victims in four different places to hear her voice in a courtroom ring loud and strong and clear.
But after 33 god-awful months, her fear, anger, confusion and pain prove too much. It is mid-September – less than a month ago – and Jane, now a high school senior, breaks down in the halls of justice, unable to speak.
No teenager should have to sit in a courtroom struggling to read her own words because she is sobbing, because when she was a high school freshman she connected online – according to her Victim Impact Statement – with a “sick, narcissistic predator that searches for girls on social media and then preys on girls that are much younger.”
Yet that is what happened three years ago, between Thanksgiving and Christmas, she writes in her statement.
More alarming is that despite widespread warnings about Internet predators, there are scores of Jane Does.
Similar crimes continue to occur across America as new waves of unsuspecting and naive teens meet online predators who masquerade as kindly men or the proverbial boy next door.
Consider that Jane’s assailant, who was 18 when they met, was a soccer player on his high school and college teams.
He also was an Eagle Scout.
Smartphone danger
Digital predators, teen victims, Part 2: After sexual assault, a life is shattered A sexual assault is only the beginning of trauma. Victims often face shattered lives, but little by little many also learn to rebuildEditor’s note: This is the second of a three-part series. Nearly three years after a sexual assault, a teenage girl finally has her opportunity to give voice to thousands of others who have been similarly affected by Internet predators. “Because of you, my trust in others is broken. Because of you, I close everyone off and I can’t bring myself to open up to anyone anymore,” she writes in her Victim Impact Statement. “Think about all the girls you hurt.”
Editor’s note: This is the second of a three-part series.
Nearly three years after a sexual assault, a teenage girl finally has her opportunity to give voice to thousands of others who have been similarly affected by Internet predators.
“Because of you, my trust in others is broken. Because of you, I close everyone off and I can’t bring myself to open up to anyone anymore,” she writes in her Victim Impact Statement. “Think about all the girls you hurt.”
It is a passionate, powerful and heart-wrenching declaration. Yet perhaps the most tragic point comes a little later when she says the hurt never goes away, that there will be “pain for days, weeks, months and even years.”
You’ve heard the old saw that our criminal justice system favors the criminal, not the victim. That’s debatable. But it’s clear that in its current state, justice – at best – is a long and winding road for sex assault victims.
By the time she faces her assailant in court for the sentencing, the girl we’ll call Jane Doe already has endured a tortured journey of 33 months.
Consider that soon after the then-15-year-old is sexually assaulted in her home by an online predator, she must be examined for sexually transmitted diseases. Yet even that day quickly fades into the maelstrom that follows.
While her assailant, then 18, reports online that his parents have taken away his smartphone – a tool he used to lure others, according to court records – Jane Doe’s life begins to slip away.
SMARTPHONES mobile 25 APPS that could be problematic Child
Digital predators, teen victims, Part 3: Surviving and changing sexual assault cultureMost sexual assaults are devastating, but victims learn to find a new normal and there are tips on how to move forward as well as how to help teens stay safe. 14, 2018 at 8:00 am | UPDATED: October 15, 2018 at 9:51 am Editor’s note: This is the third of a three-part series. The mother of a 15-year-old assault victim stands in court, glances at the man her daughter met on the Internet and, knees shaking, begins to read. “I never thought it possible that my daughter would be a victim of any crime,” she says, “nor that my husband and I would ever be considered victims of anything.” Yet the man Mom faces has pleaded guilty to unlawful sexual intercourse not just with her daughter but with three other teenage girls, including a 13-year-old. Until her daughter faced an assailant, Mom – like most of us – didn’t truly grasp the staggering power of the Internet, a digital world where ruthless, soulless
Still, not even the 15-year-old victim’s father, a technology geek with deep knowledge of both the Internet and the extraordinary reach of smartphones, could save his daughter from allowing a man she’d never met in person to enter the family home.
Consider that the U.S. Department of Justice reports that an estimated 60 percent of child sex abuse cases involve acquaintances.
Perhaps more troubling is that a national survey found that one in nine girls under the age of 18 experience sexual abuse or assault.
Still, there are ways to fight back and stop assaults before they happen.
A coffee mug my sister gave me states, “Read, rise, resist.” Let’s start there.
Internet stalkers
The image of an older man ensnaring a teenage girl over the Internet is familiar. Less known, however, is the fact that many predators are teens or young adults.
A nonprofit called Child Lures Prevention reports, “Nearly one-third of sexual offenders are aged 12-19, teens themselves.”
CHILD LURES PREVENTION THINK FIRST STAY SAFE
Research-Based & Evidence-Based
Sexual Abuse Prevention Curriculum:
For 35 years, Child Lures Prevention/Teen Lures Prevention has been dedicated to preventing all forms of child & teen victimization by teaching educators, administrators, parents/guardians, students and community members to recognize, interrupt, stop and report inappropriate behaviors and situations.
Think First & Stay Safe™ (PreK-6) Adult Training and Youth Curriculum, America's leading classroom-based child personal safety program, is research-based, evidence-based and PROVEN to be effective in teaching PreK, K and elementary school children (Grades 1-6) how to stay healthy and safe.
Teen Lures TV Newscast School Program™ (Gr 7-12)
for Grades 7-12 allows teenagers to actively participate in student-led newscasts addressing healthy relationships in an effort to prevent sexual assault, harassment, dating violence, sexting, bullying/cyberbullying, identity theft, online luring, suicide, human trafficking and more.
Research-Based & Evidence-Based Sexual Abuse Prevention Curriculum: For 35 years, Child Lures Prevention/Teen Lures Prevention has been dedicated to preventing all forms of child & teen victimization by teaching educators, administrators, parents/guardians, students and community members to recognize, interrupt, stop and report inappropriate behaviors and situations. Think First & Stay Safe™ (PreK-6) Adult Training and Youth Curriculum, America's leading classroom-based child personal safety program, is research-based, evidence-based and PROVEN to be effective in teaching PreK, K and elementary school children (Grades 1-6) how to stay healthy and safe. Teen Lures TV Newscast School Program™ (Gr 7-12) for Grades 7-12 allows teenagers to actively participate in student-led newscasts addressing healthy relationships in an effort to prevent sexual assault, harassment, dating violence, sexting, bullying/cyberbullying, identity theft, online luring, suicide, human trafficking and more.
A Trusted & Time-Tested Solution
Child Lures Prevention/Teen Lures Prevention is proud to reach hundreds of thousands of students annually via our partners, including:
- 7000+ Schools & Districts in 43 States
- 475 Faith-Based Organizations in 30 States
- 160 Civic Groups in 26 States
- 100+ Law Enforcement Agencies in 37 States
- 50 Hospitals in 22 States
- 46 Military Bases in 20 States & 6 Foreign Countries
- 40 Child Advocacy Centers
- 29 Government Agencies in 21 States
social media experts on the problems facing teens
MAY 31, 2018 Teens, Social Media & Technology 2018 YouTube, Instagram and Snapchat are the most popular online platforms among teens. Fully 95% of teens have access to a smartphone, and 45% say they are online 'almost constantly'Until recently, Facebook had dominated the social media landscape among America’s youth – but it is no longer the most popular online platform among teens, according to a new Pew Research Center survey. Today, roughly half (51%) of U.S. teens ages 13 to 17 say they use Facebook, notably lower than the shares who use YouTube, Instagram or Snapchat. This shift in teens’ social media use is just one example of how the technology landscape for young people has evolved since the Center’s last survey of teens and technology use in 2014-2015. Most notably, smartphone ownership has become a nearly ubiquitous element of teen life: 95% of teens now report they have a smartphone or access to one. These mobile connections are in turn fueling more-persistent online activiti
The survey also finds there is no clear consensus among teens about the effect that social media has on the lives of young people today. Minorities of teens describe that effect as mostly positive (31%) or mostly negative (24%), but the largest share (45%) says that effect has been neither positive nor negative.
These are some of the main findings from the Center’s survey of U.S. teens conducted March 7-April 10, 2018. Throughout the report, “teens” refers to those ages 13 to 17.
Facebook is no longer the dominant online platform among teens
The social media landscape in which teens reside looks markedly different than it did as recently as three years ago. In the Center’s 2014-2015 survey of teen social media use, 71% of teens reported being Facebook users. No other platform was used by a clear majority of teens at the time: Around half (52%) of teens said they used Instagram, while 41% reported using Snapchat.
In 2018, three online platforms other than Facebook – YouTube, Instagram and Snapchat – are used by sizable majorities of this age group. Meanwhile, 51% of teens now say they use Facebook. The shares of teens who use Twitter and Tumblr are largely comparable to the shares who did so in the 2014-2015 survey.
Anonymous $1 million donation helps suicide-prevention author spread advice to teensristi Hugstad in Dana Point on Thursday, Nov. 9, 2017, is shown with two books she’s authored, “What I Wish I’d Known,” left, written after her husband committed suicide and her latest book, “R U OK?” focuses on teen suicide. A reader anonymously donated $1 million so Hugstad can offer the book free of charge to schools, youth shelters, recovery centers, mental health clinics, hospitals and other organizations that work with teens. (
A transformative experience gripped San Clemente High School students this fall when Kristi Hugstad stood in front of them, relating how her husband had ended his life in 2012 – suicide by train.
The students in six ninth-grade health classes were riveted, learning how the Dana Point resident had managed to overcome her despair to become a grief counselor, public speaker and author.
Hugstad’s first book, “What I Wish I’d Known,” was the guide she had searched for but couldn’t find, she said, while struggling to process her husband’s death. It offers 10 tools she developed to help her through her “grief journey.”
She then offered a gift to each student in class: a copy of her new book, “R U OK? Teen Depression & Suicide,” which came out in April (Dog Ear Publishing).
Proclamation on National Child Abuse Prevention Month, 2019 LAW & JUSTICE Issued on: March 29, 2019 SHARE: menuALL NEWS Every child deserves the security of a stable, loving, and nurturing home. During National Child Abuse Prevention Month, we recognize the importance of all Americans working together each day in defense of the most vulnerable among us — our children. We must make every effort to ensure that they are treated with dignity and respect, and have the opportunity to pursue their dreams in secure and healthy environments. The relationships that children have with parents, family members, teachers, and other caregivers profoundly shape their lives. When they are subjected to abuse and neglect, they are exposed to toxic stress that can disrupt early brain development and increase the risk of depression, suicide, substance abuse, developmental disabilities, future violence, juvenile delinquency, and other unhealthy behaviors. These and other devastating effects
As a Nation, we must do everything within our power to stop child abuse and neglect before they occur. The best defense against these menaces is a strong family led by loving and caring parents. My Administration has a broad vision for strengthening families, which includes raising awareness, focusing on prevention, and working to help parents and children thrive. For this reason, I signed into law the Family First Prevention Services Act — an important step in helping move child welfare to a more prevention-based system. This legislation increases the support available to at-risk families through services such as mental health and substance abuse treatment and parenting skill-based programs, so that more children may remain safely in their homes and communities.
1 in 5 California high schoolers who responded considered
Patrick's StoryChristmas of 2017 was an extra special one for the Turners as it marked the last time that all six would be together. The holidays are one of the only times that all of the kids were home at the same time, and the family made the most of it with many rounds of golf, beach trips to the Wedge, Patty’s birthday, family Christmas traditions, and a ski trip to Idaho. Four weeks later, on January 27th, 2018, Patrick died by suicide at the age of 16. Patrick was suffering in silence with a battle that he could no longer bear. He never showed any signs of depression, anxiety or struggle of any kind. We all hate to think that had we known, we could have done something to help Patty.
Sadness and despair can’t begin to describe the feelings that we all have felt since Patty died, however we do find some sort of comfort with the letters that Patrick left, and perpetuating the changes that he wished for. Through the words in his letters, it was easy to see that Patrick noticed things that many people don’t. In order to truly articulate what Patrick was feeling, here is a small portion of his last words to the greater community,
"So much pressure is put on kids to do good, and a lot of kids make mistakes. One slip up makes a kid feel like the smallest person in the world. All anyone talks about is how great they are or how great their kid is. It’s all about how great I am. It’s never about the other kid. The kid who maybe does not play a sport, have a 4.0+ GPA, but displays great character...Nobody can understand what people might be going through. Be nice to everyone, and most importantly be inclusive. If there is a kid out there who is alone it never hurts to sit with them or ask them how they’re doing."
The 16 years that we had with Patty will never be enough, however we are so grateful for the time that we got to spend with him. Please join us in helping to honor Patrick by partaking in random acts of kindness in your community.
“If the dead can come back to this earth and flit unseen around those they loved, I shall always be near you; in the gladdest of days and in the darkest nights…always, always…” -Major Sullivan Ballou
Most animal cruelty isn’t a federal crime. The House just passed a bill to change that.
Oct. 23, 2019 at 4:02 p.m. PDT
Many acts of animal cruelty are closer to becoming federal felonies after the House’s unanimous passage Tuesday of the Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture Act.
If passed by the Senate and enacted, the bill will outlaw purposeful crushing, burning, drowning, suffocation, impalement or other violence causing “serious bodily injury” to animals. Violations could result in a fine as well as up to seven years’ imprisonment. Oct. 23, 2019 at 4:02 p.m. PDT
Many acts of animal cruelty are closer to becoming federal felonies after the House’s unanimous passage Tuesday of the Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture Act.
If passed by the Senate and enacted, the bill will outlaw purposeful crushing, burning, drowning, suffocation, impalement or other violence causing “serious bodily injury” to animals. Violations could result in a fine as well as up to seven years’ imprisonment.
Advocates say the PACT Act would fill crucial gaps in national law, which only bans animal fighting as well as the making and sharing of videos that show the kind of abuse the PACT Act would criminalize. All states have provisions against animal cruelty, said Kitty Block, president of the Humane Society of the United States, but without a federal ban, it’s hard to prosecute cases that span different jurisdictions or that occur in airports, military bases and other places under federal purview.
“This really is something that should pass,” Block told The Washington Post. “It’s not controversial. It’s what the American people want.”
Holly Gann, director of federal affairs for the Animal Wellness Foundation, said in a statement that most people “are shocked” that the law is not already on the books.
The bipartisan act, introduced by Reps. Ted Deutch (D-Fla.) and Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.), builds on a 2010 law that targets videos depicting animal cruelty, spurred by disgust over a gruesome genre of “crush” videos often showing small critters stomped under a woman’s shoe.
Block says videos capturing such torture needed to be addressed at the federal level because content shared online transcends state boundaries. But no national law targets the acts behind the films — despite previous congressional efforts with widespread support.
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The Senate has passed a companion bill to the PACT Act twice, making supporters optimistic that with the House version passed, the measure can sail into law. Advocates point to opposition from recently retired congressman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), a former House Judiciary Committee chairman, as blocking previous attempts to pass the bill in the House. The Post was unable to reach Goodlatte on Wednesday.
The Senate now needs to vote again on its version of the bill, which lists 38 sponsors. Jason Attermann, a spokesman for Deutch, told The Post that PACT Act backers do not anticipate any hang-ups.
“It’s never been the Senate’s fault for this not happening,” he said.
The PACT Act has been cheered not only by animal welfare groups but by many members of law enforcement who want federal tools to — in Deutch’s words — “stop animal abusers who are likely to commit acts of violence against people.” Leaders of groups such as the Fraternal Order of Police and the Major County Sheriffs of America have thrown their weight behind the proposed law.
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“And animal lovers everywhere know this is simply the right thing to do,” Deutch said in a statement.
The legislation outlines exemptions for humane euthanasia; slaughter for food; recreational activities such as hunting, trapping and fishing; medical and scientific research; “normal veterinary, agricultural husbandry, or other animal management practice"; and actions that are necessary “to protect the life or property of a person.”
Rep. Vern Buchanan✔@VernBuchananThe U.S. House just passed the #PACT Act, legislation that I introduced with my colleague @RepTedDeutch to criminalize animal abuse. This important piece of legislation would make animal cruelty a federal offense. Great news for my fellow animal lovers!
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FBI warns parents 'sextortion' cases involving children on the riseWhat Would You Do?': Online Predator Tries to Lure Away 16-Year-Old BoyAs the school year across the country winds down, the threat of online predators is on the increase, the FBI said. Specifically, the FBI warns parents that they are seeing in increase in the number of sextortion cases involving minors across the country. (MORE: 'Sextortion' Becoming a Growing Problem for Children, Teens ) Over the last five years, they say prosecutions are up 60 percent. Sextortion is "when an adult coerces or entices a child to a minor kid under 18 to produce a sexually explicit image of themselves and then transmit that image to them on the internet," Brian Herrick, the Assistant Section Chief of the FBI's Criminal Division told ABC News. Mark Barnwell is one of those adults and was sentenced to 35 years in prison in January for setting up female-presenting, false personas on Facebook the Department of Justice said. Barnwell,
would usually say, according to the indictment.
Once Barnwell received the images, he'd threaten to post them online, attempting to hurt the minor victim, if he didn't receive more.
His technique was textbook according to Herrick.
"This starts the cycle of victimization that is very hard to break out of because now, it's not one picture. It's several pictures, it's videos," Herrick said.
In some cases, the predator will get a sibling involved as well.
Barnwell, according to the government had 43 victims, which is common practice for offenders.
"We go to an arrest and we put them in handcuffs, we take his computer, we look at his computer and we don't find one victim. We don't find 10 victims. We find 100, 200, 500 victims," Herrick said.