This is my son. He's white so he’ll never pose a threat to anyone in his life because well, he’s white.
While I hope it's true that he'll never pose a threat to anyone, I hope it's true because he's a good boy - not simply because he's white. But apparently that's not how people like George Zimmerman think.
Is your family prepared for an emergency?
Making sure you have a safety plan in place can make an enormous difference in the event that a natural disaster hits. In fact, your survival could depend on it. Especially since during a time of disaster, you’re not likely to have time or be in the proper frame of mind to deal with the unexpected.
Here are some ways to make sure you're prepared:
1. Make sure you’re able to receive warnings and updates, be aware of your area’s street evacuation routes. There are different ways to receive warnings and updates:
Do the blaring sirens of fire trucks and ambulances give you the willies? If you’re like most people, that answer is a resounding yes. Nobody likes to think of emergencies, but they creep into all of our lives.
Just watch the news and you’ll see coverage of homes torn apart by tornadoes, towns destroyed by hurricanes, and trees felled by lightning storms. And that’s just the natural disasters. Anyone who lived through the harrowing images of the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, DC knows that emergencies strike when you are least expecting them.
I read an article in the New York Times last week that completely freaked me out; it was about new parents who are taking non-toxicity to the extreme by purging their households of anything with dangerous chemicals in it.
As mothers, we often teach our young children about “Stranger Danger” and how to deal with the creepy man down the street. We instruct them on how to react to the man in the car who offers them candy or what to say to the person on the other end of the phone asking if their mommy or daddy is home.
Several weeks ago, I was driving with my daughters in the van and ahead of us was a vehicle that said "Halton Women’s Place." My 10-year-old daughter asked what that was. For a brief moment I was tempted to say it’s a nice place that women go to get their nails done, have a glass of champagne and spend time with their friends.
What can parents do to protect their children?
To help answer that question, KidSafe Foundation in collaboration with Kristi Kernal of The OAASIS (Oregon Abuse Advocates & Survivors in Service) Organization in Oregon is continuing the important discussion of child sexual abuse by trusted adults in our schools.
The following is a guest post by Kimberly King, author of the children's book, I SAID NO!
It's a sad day when you have to sit your kids down to warn them about being too trusting of coaches and mentors.
The Penn State sex-abuse scandal has people up in arms, and in some ways we find ourselves in a similar position as when the scandal in the Catholic church was exposed - stung by the realization of the extent to which people will go to conceal what they wish to deny.
