The Dream Keepers cover the nightmareOne of the oldest and most basic instances to civilized man is the desire to protect children
The Blind Truth
Out of Sight our of Mind
See no evil, speak no evil, hear no evil
Ignorance is bliss
Truth is like a torch and from it we shield our eyes for being burnt
Sweep it under the rug
Skeleton's in the closet
Keep them in the dark
Hide from the truth
Can of worms
Tip of the icebergThe Dream Keepers cover the nightmare our children live...
I hate that the stats on child abuse and other of the conditions that
harm our children are
always two or more years on the past. I think reporting the present
truth of the matter is
too shocking. If it is in the past we have the thought well,
I hope that it isn't that bad now.
Reading in the "A Better Life" section of a news paper on April 3,
2003, I read:
Lacy Petterson case has national interest I think because of the
underlying concern of the
fact that this case represents tip of the iceberg of abuse of pregnant
and murder of
pregnant women. The fact that MURDER is the number one killer
of pregnant women by their
husbands, or the fathers of these unborn children is a deep seeded and
dark real of our
culture. A taboo and crime so true and horrible that we have
to watch. Like slowing
down at a wreck to see if we can see the blood. Auto wrecks are the
number one killer of
humans, as a side note to this automated road of death that we race down...
This is a dark specter inside our culture. Like child abuse and
the murder and neglect of
children we want to shed light on the darkness inside many of us.
"Truth is like a torch...
we shield
our eyes for fear of getting burned.
Martina McBride's
Concrete Angel![]()
She walks to school with the lunch she packed
Nobody knows what she's holdin' back
Wearin' the same dress she wore yesterday
She hides the bruises with linen and laceThe teacher wonders but she doesn't ask
It's hard to see the pain behind the mask
Bearing the burden of a secret storm
Sometimes she wishes she was never bornThrough the wind and the rain
She stands hard as a stone
In a world that she can't rise above
But her dreams give her wings
And she flies to a place where she's loved
Concrete angelSomebody cries in the middle of the night
The neighbors hear, but they turn out the lights
A fragile soul caught in the hands of fate
When morning comes it'll be too lateThrough the wind and the rain
She stands hard as a stone
In a world that she can't rise above
But her dreams give her wings
And she flies to a place where she's loved
Concrete angelA statue stands in a shaded place
An angel girl with an upturned face
A name is written on a polished rock
A broken heart that the world forgotThrough the wind and the rain
She stands hard as a stone
In a world that she can't rise above
But her dreams give her wings
And she flies to a place where she's loved
Concrete angel
Young girls in America are going to jail in record numbers. They are starting crack and sex at 12 years old, and
one in four are arrested for assault...I am setting her watching a speical on MSNBC. Little girls 12 are talking
about how sex and drugs enter into their life...over 1/2...50% have been sexually abused and 1/2 have mothers
in prison...WHAT AM I HEARING? It is July of 2005, hey Mr. President, I found a few more left behind...
I get tired of crying...hell, I'm a grown man. I set working on projects
and watching CMT
Country Music Television and Concrete Angel by Martina McBride comes
on and I start
to cry. I cry out loud and tears come down my cheek as I watch
this music video and all
the years of what I know and hurt a million pains and cry now thousands
of tear drops for...
So there is a God? O...sure, and what is the lesson from this
dear God? Come on...speak
to me. You sure don't help these kids, you sure have not helped
me all these years help
this kids...come on now Lord God Jesus, what is the reason so many
children suffer and
why do I have to cry again? Pray tell? "Blessed are the
children." you say?
Then John Walsh comes on
CHILD ABUSE CASES INCREASE IN 2001
Cases of child abuse and neglect rose slightly
in 2001 for the second straight
year, government officials said.
The increase was not statistically significant, but
children's advocates expressed concern
that it could signal the start of a trend.
(trend my ass this has been going on
for twenty fucking years already.)
About 1,300 children died of abuse or
neglect in 2001, 100 more than in the
previous year. Overall, 903,000
children were victimized , said Wade Horn,
assistant secretary for children and families
at the Department of Health and
Human Services. Child protective
service agencies across the country re-
ceived 2.6 million referrals in 2001;
about a third of these were substantiated
after investigation. Of cases that
were confirmed, 59% suffered neglect, 18%
were physically abused, 10% were sexually
abused and 7% were psycholo-
gically maltreated. Prevent Child
Abuse America, a private group based in
Chicago, said that the stress of an economic
downturn and unemployment in-
creases the risk of child abuse.
BOY'S DEATH BRINGS PROBE INTO AGENCY
Woodbridge, N.J.--One was the neighborhood
bully, a 10 year-old raised by his
blind single father, reviled for throwing
rocks, picking fights and vandalizing cars
and homes. The other was a toddler
eagerly learning his ABCs, content to while
away the hours coloring or listening to
the local librarian read aloud...The two
young lives collided Wednesday, when police
say the older boy lured the 3 year
old out of a library, fatally beat him
with a baseball bat, sexually assaulted him
and dumped him in a ditch.
Gov. James E. McGreevy, a former Woodbridge
mayor, has asked Human
Services Commissioner Gwendolyn Harris
for a report of the Division of Youth
and Family Service's involvement with
the older boy...It is the second time this
year McGreevey has asked about the agency's
handling of a case. The first was
in January, after two abused boys and
the decomposed body of their brother
were found in a Newark Basement.
ELEPHANT scores top Cannes Honor
Gus Van Sant's film "Elephant," about
high school shooting in America, won
top prize at the Cannes Film Festival
on Sunday. The director case real high
school students, not professional actors,
to star in the film, and asked them to
improvise their lines.
The movie starts out showing an ordinary day at school
that turns to tragedy when two students
go on a shooting spree in the hallways.
Ban Sant, best known for "Good Will
Hunting," won the prize for best director.
Just reported that last year
over 4,000 teens commited suicide last
year and it could run much higher
because many deaths, including auto
accidents are not reported as
suicide. 2004
IT'S A BRAVE NEW WORLD PILL
PROZAC NATION--Frightening because the manic side effects of Prozac
can be dangerous.
Prozac makes you feel better by disabling those crippling doubts and
inhibitions that are the
hallmarks of despondency, but it often does so at the expense of your
better judgment. You
stop over-analyzing, but you also stop thinking things through, and
that can precipitate some
pretty bad behavior from otherwise mild-mannered people.
Ample anecdotal evidence and expert testimony link reckless or even
criminal behavior and
manias induced by selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors--the class
of drugs to which Prozac
and other antidepressants like Paxil and Zoloft belong. This
should give us all serious pause,
especially now that the Food and Drug Administration has approved these
drugs for children.
A society jacked up on Prozac, especially one in which non depressed
people are using it for
kicks, is one that is filled with people who have renounced unfiltered
self scrutiny and em-
braced the unexamined life at the behest of a semi euphoric drug.
That is truly a civilization
in decline.
Norah Vincent--Los Angeles Times
Psychiatric drugs for kids on the rise
The number of US children and teens on Ritalin, antidepressants or other
psychiatric drugs has
surged. Some experts have warned that US children are being overmedicated.
Some say it
indicates the growth of mental problems in youngsters. It has
been reported that the FDA is
approving the use of Prozac for teenagers.
8 MILLION KIDS ON RITLAN...FOX NEWS JUNE 2005
After two months of investigations and countless lurid headlines, much appears to be known about
John T. Jamelske, indicted last week on five counts of kidnapping, "with the intent to violate or abuse"
his victims. Jamelske will be arraigned June 10 before County Judge Anthony Aloi, the first time he
has appeared in court. If convicted, he could face five consecutive maximum penalties of 25 years
to life in state prison.
His victims have been interviewed by the police, their horrible stories related in the press. One of
his sons, Brian, has even described what it was like growing up with a man who is now accused of
being one of the most notorious rapists in Onondaga Country history. But broader questions about
the case remain.
Jamelske originally was charged with kidnapping, sodomy, rape and
sexual abuse of a 16-year-old girl. On Thursday, May 29, he was indicted
on kidnapping that victim and four other women. The section of that
statute under which he was indicted charges that he abducted his victims
"with the intent to violate or abuse her sexually." Jamelske might face five consecutive maximum penalties of 25 years to life in state prison if convicted of all the kidnapping charges. Jamelske's last victim was kidnapped in October 2002 and rescued April 8, 2003, at Fayetteville Dodge after she was able to surreptitiously call her sister. Jamelske kept the girl chained for about four months, but then began taking her out in public. Jamelske later called his victim his "girlfriend." Shortly before she was rescued, they were seen together at a karaoke bar in Mattydale, where the girl sang for the crowd. Jamelske kept his victims in an underground bunker constructed in 1983 and 1984 about three feet below his lawn, police reports say. The bunker has two 12-foot-square rooms with 8-foot ceilings. It is connected to the basement of Jamelske's house by a 6-foot-long tunnel. The bunker was furnished with a foam mattress, a bathtub, a TV and a bucket used for a toilet. HOW MANY MONSTERS ARE THEIR OUT THERE... WHERE HAVE ALL THE CHILDREN GONE? |
Among American children under 18, antidepressants use rose 49% in just
4 years. 1998--2002. In Britain they banned the use of these drugs for
children except Prozac
PRESCRIPTION FOR SUICIDE?
FROM TIME MAGAZINE FEBRUARY 2004
British authorities say some antidepressants
can be deadly for kids.
Now the FDA is investigating.
(On now that is the wolf watching over the hen house if I ever heard...)bs
Kara Jayne-Anne Otter, 12, had been on the antidepressant
Paxil for seven months when she
committed suicide....Baker (her mother) is convinced
PAXIL is what killed her daughter, and that's
what she'll tell a U.S. Food and Drug Administration
panel meeting this week in Bethesda, Md.
For years a small but vocal group of patients
and doctors have insisted that certain antidepressants,
including PAXIL, ZOLOFT, PROZAC and other medications
known as selective serotonin
teuptake inhibitors (SSRIS), carry an unacceptable
risk of antisocial behavior and suicide in kids
who take them.
The issue is coming to a head. By last Dec.
the British Medicines and Healthcare Products Reg-
ulatory Agency, the equivalent of the FDA, had
declared CELEXA, EFFEXOR, LEXAPRO,
LUVOX, PAXIL and ZOLOFT (but not PROZAC) too
risky for kids under 18.
ABOUT 2 MILLION TEENS IN THE U.S. HAVE CLINICAL
DEPRESSION says Dr. Harold
Koplewicz, a psychiatrist and director of the
NYU Child Study Center. "But 3 million kids have
suicidal thoughts. The seem to be part
and parcel of the adolescent experience."
Mark Taylor, 19, woonded in the Columbine school
shootings by Eric Harris, 18, who was taking
the antidepressant LUVOX at the time, will be
speaking to the FDA.
"EVERY ONE OF THE SYMPTONS THESE DRUGS IMPROVE
THEY CAN ALSO
MAKE WORSE, AND THAT INCLUDES SUICIDE."
Dr. Martin Teicher, McLean Hospital
White Rabbit for Alice
take the pill little girl
go to your room
and watch MTV
even though you live alone
with your mother
have no worry
the doc is here...
FDA Warns of Possible Drug-Suicide Link
Mon Oct 27, 3:18 PM ET Add Health - AP to My Yahoo!
WASHINGTON - Some anti-depressant drugs undergoing trials in children may be associated with suicides,the Food and Drug Administration (news - web sites) said Monday.
The agency said reports in the press and medical journals describe suicide attempts and suicides in children
receiving antidepressants. Many such reports also have been submitted to the FDA.
While the data do not clearly establish an association between the use of the drugs on trials and increased
suicidal thoughts or actions by pediatric patients, FDA said it also is impossible to rule out an association.
Determining if the drug was at fault is a problem, as suicide attempts also occur in patients with depression
who are untreated.
Nevertheless, the FDA said it is issuing a public health advisory to alert physicians to reports of suicidal
thinking and suicide attempts in clinical studies of various anti-depressant drugs in pediatric patients.
Currently only Prozac is approved for use in major depressive disorder among children, but physicians
sometimes use other drugs approved for adults.
The FDA said it has completed a preliminary review of reports for eight anti-depressant drugs —
citalopram, fluoxetine, fluvoxamine, mirtazapine, nefazodone, paroxetine, sertraline, and venlafaxine
— in tests in children.
In addition to the advisory, the agency scheduled a meeting next February of its Psychopharmacologic
Drugs Advisory Committee and the Pediatric Subcommittee of the Anti-Infective Drugs Advisory
Committee to discuss the question.
OVER 700,000 PEOPLE HAVE BEEN KILLED BY GUNS IN THE U.S.A. SINCE
JOHN
LENNON WAS SHOT AND KILLED ON DECEMBER 8, 1980
It is reported this May 2003 that the Oregon Police ID Second Set of
Remains The nationwide
search for two girls who disappeared from the same apartment complex
ended at a neighbor's house
just a few hundred yards from their homes. Authorities said Monday
that a body recovered from a
barrel buried under concrete in Ward Weaver's yard was that of 12-year-old
Ashley Pond. The body
of her friend, 13-year-old Miranda Gaddis, was found over the weekend
in a backyard shed.
Ashley disappeared Jan. 9. She was last seen eating breakfast
with her younger sister and was to
walk about eight minutes to a bus stop near Weaver's home. Michelle
Duffey, Miranda's mother, last
saw her daughter in a bathrobe eating breakfast on March 8.
Mom Accused of Child Killings Left Notes
AP Jan 06
A mother accused of smothering her three young children left notes that officials say could help determine what led to the killings, and her priest said Sunday that she had expressed "tremendous remorse." Paula Eleazar Mendez, 43, was in a county jail Sunday after being treated at a hospital for swallowing a toxic substance. She had collapsed as officers arrived at her home Saturday morning in response to a telephone call from the children's father in New York. Inside the home, the officers found the bodies of the children, ages 6 to 8, lying side by side on a bed, said Chris Brackett, an investigator with the Sevier County Sheriff's Office. He identified the children as 8-year-old Elvis and 6-year-old twins, Samanta and her brother Samuel. Autopsies were planned to determine whether the children had been poisoned or smothered, as their mother told police, Cooper said. The children's faces were not covered when police found them. Cooper said an emergency room doctor told him Mendez had not ingested enough of the toxic substance to kill herself. Her arraignment is expected Monday, McKinley said. In the house's yard Sunday was a seven-foot pile of burned papers. A page in a religion book bore the words "vamos a celebrar" — Spanish for "let's celebrate." A child's handwriting was scrawled in blue ink across some papers, and there were charred letters from a labor union in New York City.
|
Far too often the photos are the last we see of them: school portraits
or family
snapshots reproduced on blurry newsprint or flickering TV screens.
The parents hold
up the pictures at press conferences and tell their sad, familiar stories:
one minute
the child was there — in a bedroom, a store, a car seat
Lately we have been seeing these pictures everywhere, practically a new
one every day,
and sometimes at the top of national newscasts that don't usually feature
such stories so
prominently. In the U.S. the press coverage cyclone kicked up months ago
with the
kidnapping and murder of Danielle Van Dam in San Diego, California, then
gained
intensity with the still unsolved disappearance of Elizabeth Smart in Utah,
and,
incredibly, grew even fiercer with a series of cases from all over the
country. The British
parallels are Sarah Payne, who left a game of hide-and-seek with her siblings
in July 2000
and was found dead 16 days later; Milly Dowler, still missing since her
disappearance on
March 21 of this year; and most recently Jessica Chapman and Holly Wells,
two best
friends who vanished from Soham in Cambridgeshire on Aug. 4. Their bodies
were
reported to have been found 30 km away on Saturday, and two people were
arrested in
connection with the case. So many shocking stories, so suddenly — a genuine
crime
wave or media hysteria? The statistics on child abductions
are unreliable,
unable to settle the matter of whether such crimes are growing more common,
or even
how widespread they are. The figures depend on the vagaries of local police
reports that
classify disappearances differently — sometimes as murders, sometimes as
other things
such as rape, depending on the circumstances of the crime.
The fear and confusion unleashed by the abduction stories can't be expressed
as math.
Its power is primal, as gripping as an empty crib. Journalists know this:
imperiled children
mesmerize. There aren't many stories with villains so wholly evil and victims
so
absolutely undeserving. Little wonder that within moments of a snatching,
across
countless radios, televisions and even electronic highway signs, the kidnapping
stories
have a new immediacy. They call for involvement, not just outrage. They
enlist the
audience as participants, and even potential heroes.
That they're far too easy to find is undeniable. Still, there are other
children in danger's
path — harmed and neglected in a thousand ways that don't offer melodramatic
storylines or a chance for TV viewers to play detective — whose photos
will never be
passed around at press conferences, and whose names will never be flashed
above a
freeway. While we may not know if the number of kidnapped children is rising,
there is
another figure — the number of kids abandoned by parents, dumped onto social
services or left in the care of irresponsible adults — that is on the increase.
That these
children don't rate headlines is perhaps natural. To disappear, a kid must
first exist, must
be cherished by someone, cared about — at least enough for someone to snap
her
photo. Remaining forgotten, though, is not a story.
It would be nice if, when the next alert goes out, rousing the public's
justifiable outrage
and the media's sometimes questionable interest, it might trigger a wider,
silent alarm as
well — for the kids who can't disappear because they are already lost
Chamber of
horrors A windowless, underground room. A foam bed. A grate with a metal chain. A bucket for a toilet. Beatings, rape, humiliation. Five women tell the same horror story of being dragged off the street into a dungeon in Dewitt and losing all contact with the outside world. May 4, 2003 By Mike Fish Over several months in the early 1980s, Jamie Carncross delivered more than half a dozen loads of concrete to the DeWitt back yard of John T. Jamelske, who said he was building an underground room to hang out in. Carncross thought the construction project was odd, but he had no clue how odd. Two decades later, a 16-year-old girl, accompanied by Jamelske, walked into the Manlius bottle recycling office of Carncross' wife, Terry, and made a hushed phone call to her older sister, triggering a rapid-fire series of events leading to the April 8 arrest of Jamelske and to the still-unfolding story of the grisly, underground universe where police say he was master. "The man I thought was sort of a normal person is not a normal person, and a lot of people have been hurt by him," said Terry Carncross, who has known Jamelske for about 20 years. Some neighbors and acquaintances saw the 67-year-old Jamelske as an eccentric, retired handyman who collected bottles and cans. Authorities now describe him as a collector of women - a serial rapist who scooped up runaway girls and other vulnerable women off the street and stashed them, one by one, in his windowless, concrete cocoon until he finally released them, blindfolded or in the dead of night, after months or years of captivity. Authorities say five victims have been found, including one girl taken underground in 1988 at age 14 and released at age 17. Until the day Jamelske was arrested, some victims had no idea where they were held. Jamelske is being held in the Justice Center Jail on charges that he kidnapped and raped the 16-year-old girl and held her captive for about six months.
|
October 4, 2002
WENTWORTH, N.C. (AP) - Bone fragments and a skull found on a
rural property are the
remains of a 9-year-old girl who vanished after her parents were fatally
shot in their home seven
weeks ago, authorities said Friday. Investigators said they have
not made any arrests but would
ike to talk with a man whose rented house and mobile home in Rockingham
County were recently
searched.
Jennifer Short's remains were discovered Sept. 25 near a home in Stoneville,
N.C., about 30
miles south of her home. She had been shot in the head, Rockingham
County Sheriff Sam Page said.
Jennifer had been missing since Aug. 15, when her parents — Michael
Short, 50, and Mary Short,
36 —were found shot to death in their Bassett, Va., home. Investigators
had said they believed the
girl had been abducted.
"The skeletal remains in Rockingham County have been determined to be
a positive match with the
DNA profile of Short and are hers," Page said.
The investigation and search for the little girl had been emotionally
difficult, said Sheriff Frank Cassell
of Henry County, Va. Tests by a lab in Roanoke, Va., showed Jennifer
had been shot, Page said.
Neither sheriff would say whether evidence indicated she had been raped.
Fertility issues
ABC News.com
so sad to see kids that have been born from sperm donors wanting to
find their
fathers. Some sperm banks let a person father 15 kids with their
sperm
some want to know even who their brothers and sisters might be
Mom Sentenced for Putting Infant in Oven
WETUMPKA, Ala. (AP) - A woman who put her infant daughter
in a hot oven set on broil pleaded
guilty to attempted murder and was sentenced to 25 years
in prison.
The child survived after her father heard her screams
and rushed into the kitchen, but she suffered
third-degree burns over 70 percent of her body and still
faces years of reconstructive surgery, said
District Attorney Randall Houston.
Her mother, Melissa Wright, at first told investigators
the 18-month-old girl fell from her arms as
she was cooking, and that the child hit the oven door,
rolled in and the oven door closed behind her.
Prosecutors had planned to argue at trial that Wright
acted intentionally because she was jealous
of the attention the child's father was paying to the
infant. She didn't suffer from any mental illness,
Houston said, ``She is just mean.''
Wright, 27, of Coosada, pleaded guilty Thursday in Elmore
County Circuit Court. Her daughter
remains in the care of relatives.
FROM THE NATIONAL CENTER FOR MISSING AND EXPLOITED CHILDREN
How many missing children are there?
Answer: The problem of missing children is complex and multifaceted.
There are different types
of missing children including family abductions; endangered runaways;
non-family abductions; and
lost, injured, or otherwise missing children. The best national estimates
for the number of missing
children are from incidence studies conducted by the U.S. Department
of Justice's Office of
Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
To date two such studies have been completed. The first National Incidence
Studies of Missing,
Abducted, Runaway, and Throwaway Children (NISMART-1) was released
in 1990, and the
second, known as NISMART-2, was released in October 2002. According
to NISMART-2
research, which studied the year 1999, an estimated 797,500 children
were reported missing;
58,200 children were abducted by non-family members; 115 children were
the victims of the most
serious, long-term non-family abductions called "stereotypical kidnappings";
and 203,900 children
were the victims of family abductions.
I THINK THAT THEY SHOULD BE ASHAMED THAT THEY
DO NOT STUDY
THIS PROBLEM EVERY DAY, WEEK, MONTH AND YEAR
THAT THE PROBLEM
EXISTS. That 12 years would pass in between
studies of something so important and
that they are using even today data from a
1999 study, when we all know that the problems
that face children are and at the same time,
even if you don't know and realize how bad
the are...well they are historic. Year after
year after year...how can we do a study and
as a government realize how bad it is then
not study it again to any extent for 12 years
then here we are five years later still using
the old data to study a PRESENT AND
CLEAR DANGER in the lives of hundreds of thousands
of kids, if not millions.
The stats on the numbers of children and youth in America that are in adult jails, detention
centers, foster homes, living with single parents, on probation, living in the streets in special
schools to keep them out of trouble has to be looked at in how the totality of this effects our
culture. The numbers are historic and a national tragedy. The number goes into the tens
of millions.
The number of runaway and homeless children and youth in America has tragic porportions.
A study authorized by the Department of Justice estimated that over 450,000 teenagers ran
away in 1988. The US Government reports that in 1990 there were approximately 1.3 million
runaway and homeless youths on the streets. All indications from the National Center for
Missing and Exploited Children are that the numbers have been increasing each year since
1988 and are currently running much higher. A 1996 study conducted by the National Network
for Youth suggests that approximately 1.8 million young people run away from home each year.
Today it could be as high last 3 to 5 million children and youth are homeless in the streets of
these United States of America.
Aren’t most missing kids a result of custodial disagreements?
Answer: The largest number of missing children are “runaways”; followed
by “family abductions”;
then “lost, injured, or otherwise missing children”; and finally, the
smallest category, but the one in
which the child is at greatest risk of injury or death, “nonfamily
abductions.” Many times this
question is asked under the assumption that family abductions are not
a serious matter; however,
this is not true. In most cases children are told that the left-behind
parent doesn’t want or love them.
These children may live the life of a fugitive, always on the run with
the non-custodial parent and
stripped away from their home, friends, school, and family.
How big of a problem is child sexual exploitation?
Answer: The sexual victimization of children
is overwhelming in magnitude yet largely un-
recognized and underreported. Statistics show that 1 in 5 girls and
1 in 10 boys are sexually exploited
before they reach adulthood, yet less than 35% of those child sexual
assaults are reported to
authorities.
U.S. needs to better take care of its children
Shay Bilchick, the executive director of the Child Welfare League
of America, discussed
Monday a new report on the sexual exploitation of children with
CNN's Natalie Allen.
CNN: This may be tough for America to absorb, Mr. Bilchick,
these numbers coming out, and we learned that just 3 percent of
exploitation and abuse of children is from strangers.
What do you make of the numbers?
BILCHICK: I think what the report highlights is that we
are simply not doing a good enough job in this country taking care of our
children.
And this is another area of concern that we have, the
exploitation, the sexual exploitation of our children, and this report
highlights
with wrong numbers 300,000 to 400,000 children that are
out there right now being sexually exploited, that we have to pay closer
attention to the problem, including what's happening
right in our own homes and neighborhoods, with kids who we think we're
taking good care of.
CNN: Exactly, because that seems to what is so astounding
by this; 47 percent ... of abuse comes from family members. And these
are middle class homes. Many children who are the runaways
are just children who are trying to escape being sexually abused at
home.
BILCHICK: I think [what] we have to realize, is that these
children in many ways, whether they are runaways, throwaways or within
their own home not being taken care of, they're not nurtured
and protected the way they need to. They're simply different at stages
of
process, so to speak. If they're not taken care of, usually
when they run away, they're running away from something, not to
something. They're being thrown away by parents who aren't
taking care of them and protecting them.
We need to do a better job as a society identifying those
children, those families, and doing the kind of prevention and interventions
that could be successful in reducing those numbers, including
greater levels of enforcement on this issue.
CNN: Do you think ... that is the first time that this
has been exposed in this study, the numbers have been here all along? Or
have
things like this sex trade, which has been just skyrocketing
and growing via the Internet, is fueling more problems with sexual abuse?
BILCHICK: I think at different periods of time, we get
a report that highlights this problem and this issue, and it alarms us,
we pay
attention for a while and then it fades.
What we have to realize is that this has been a building
problem, it's -- the numbers are exponential, and we need to pay closer
attention to them, and not let the issues fade. Our leaders
need to get a hold of this issue, get their arms around it and do the
multifaceted things this report recommends to really
get on top of the issue.
CNN: So if there are teen-agers or young boys and girls
that are watching this show, what do you say to children, if they're being
abused a home, where do they go, who do they talk with,
what do they do?
BILCHICK: I'm glad you asked that question. And really,
there are various aspects to it. It's not just what you tell the children,
but
what you say to a community as a whole. And that is to
put in the kind of prevention programs that might prevent this problem
from
happening in families that are struggling with how to
protect their children, how to better intervene when abused, and neglect
and
exploitation is reported, and how to empower, which is
the question you asked -- empower our children.
It's OK to talk about these issues when they do happen.
Go to a school counselor, a teacher, someone at their church or synagogue,
and talk about the issue, because it's not their fault.
They are not to blame. Our children are simply being exploited. They need
to know
that it's not their fault.
CNN: Final question: It seems every week we have a report
about a pedophile being arrested, and there's always videos or pictures
of
children being abused, some children being raped. What
happens to these children -- we never hear about that part -- when they
grow
up?
BILCHICK: One of the things that we see is that there's
a devastating impact on the lives of these children, when there is no proper
intervention. Even when there is, there is going to be
an impact. But when we don't have treatment, we don't pay attention to
the needs
that they have at this crisis in their lives, they really
have very little chance to make into a whole kind of fruitful, productive
life.
We need to put the treatment programs in place to help
those children deal with the issues, and conversely, we need to make sure
we
ratchet up the prosecution of these cases, stop the kind
of benign neglect that we heard about in this report from happening in
prosecutor's offices, or in the justice system as a whole.
CNN
12 year old boy kills Mother and brother...
A 12-year-old boy is expected to appear this
afternoon before a juvenile court master in connection with the death of his
mother and younger brother.
Katrina Denise Powe, 31, and her son Mystery Toma Hillian, 9, were found dead in
their apartment in the 3700 block of Donnell Drive, in District Heights, Md.
around 11 a.m. Sunday. Police took Powe's oldest son into custody Sunday. The
boy's name has not been released because he is a juvenile, said Cpl. Clinton
Copeland, of the Prince George's County Police Department.
"It apparently was a domestic dispute that turned deadly," said Cpl. Debbi
Carlson, a police spokeswoman. Police have not said how the victims were killed.
"Forever Young"
May God bless and keep you always
May your wishes all come true
May you always do for others
And let others do for you
May you build a ladder to the stars
And climb on every rung
May you stay forever young
Forever young, forever young
May you stay forever young.
May you grow up to be righteous
May you grow up to be true
May you always know the truth
And see the lights surrounding you
May you always be courageous
Stand upright and be strong
May you stay forever young
Forever young, forever young
May you stay forever young.
May your hands always be busy
May your feet always be swift
May you have a strong foundation
When the winds of changes shift
May your heart always be joyful
And may your song always be sung
May you stay forever young
Forever young, forever young
May you stay forever young.
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MORE
NATIONAL INFANTICIDE, CHILD ABUSE,
RAPE
AND DEATH OF THE CHILDREN OF THESE
UNITED
STATES OF AMERICA...
SOME RAN EAST...SOME RAN WEST
CHAPTERS
Read I Ran West for more on the Saga that Benford Standley
has been on riding on in the name of children and youth
"TRUTH IS LIKE A TORCH...
FROM IT WE SHIELD OUR EYES
FOR FEAR OF BEING BURNED"
in the sand
In
Their Own Words
Poems
and words from the streets
Down and out
in L.A.
an
ongoing saga of the homeless
REMEMBER
WE WERE THE CHILDREN