Been a while

Then all this stuff at Penn state took off and despite not writing, I just felt the need. You see if a University such as Penn State can cover up the abuse of young men for 20 years, then I reckon we are in big trouble. If a man of such stature as Joe Paterno has knowledge of this crime and does nothing...oh sure he informed the AD, that is not enough. Why are we not protecting our children? And why are predators not identified? In this day and age how does a thing like this happen? One of the finest Universities in the country was fooling everyone. The Catholic church duped us, now Penn State has duped us. And there is a problem because our children do not feel safe to report when they are being abused. We have to change that! Children should feel safe in reporting anything, about anybody! In 40 years we have not made a significant change in our society, enough so children feel they are safe. We worry about standardized test scores, we worry about no child being left behind, we drill into our children the importance of college prepared - where in the curriculum are the sections about reporting, and feeling safe, telling what happens? Two parents working, single parent families, children raised by relatives - where in the world has our humanity gone? Goodness it makes me sick! Wake up people! Wake up, put aside the text books, test scores and add some quality time with our children! Every adult needs to find a child, reach out to that child, open your heart to a child. If we each adopt one child, we can make a difference. There is no profession, no institution, no person, who is exempt from suspicion. Let's start a conversation with our children about how they feel. At my school, the bullying that takes place horrifies me. Student to student, teacher to teacher, parent to teacher, administrator to teacher, student to teacher...everyday I witness at least one incident of bullying. What is the district's response? A 15 minute cartoon video! That is it. At the beginning of the year 15 minutes of a cartoon. When we witness abuse we are to make the two children shake hands and apologize. That's it! "They are only words." we are suppose to tell a crying child, "They are only words, let it go." Seriously? Yes, seriously! Should the incident be so aggrecious we can make a referral to the office. Folks, we are missing the boat! Our country won't fall into deeper darkness due to taxes, scam artists, & capitalism...our country is losing its children, and these children become broken adults. They become predators themselves. They end up in prison, mental institutions, or homeless faceless people we step over on the sidewalk! All the talk of taking back this country begins with one person willing to stand up for another. Cyber-bullying is so easy. Yet I wonder who is watching the children when they are on the computer? Freakin' wake up! Nothing is going to mean nothing if our children grow into grey ghost. Adults who have lost the ability to empathize. If our children have bruised souls and broken hearts, if they are incapable of feeling because they spent their childhood burying their feelings - gas or electric won't make a difference! So the next time you hear a racist, sexist, bigoted, bullying remark...what are you going to do? Are you strong enough to take a stand? Are you brave enough to speak up? What is going to be your legacy?