Penn State Students Riot Over Firing of Football Coach Joe Paterno

 

The fact that this story is being written shows us what seems to be more important in the minds of Penn State students – and it’s not the fact that innocent children have been sexually abused and the abuse was covered up. It’s all about money-making college football.

Last night thousands of Penn State students rioted after hearing about the firing of 84 year-old Penn State football coach Joe Paterno. Students screamed and chanted “We want Joe.” They threw rocks and bottles and tipped over a news van.

A 20-year-old junior from Scranton, PA and an 18 year-old freshman from Baltimore told news sources that they thought the decision was a little harsh and said they are just allegations.

Do these students not understand that it is against the law NOT to report child abuse? Are students that immune to horrific and immoral behavior against children, that they would rather see a football coach keep his job?

Do they not understand that child sexual abuse is as bad as it gets? That an adult who took advantage of young boys and took away their very foundation?

What are the parents of the rioters thinking?

There was a witness to the sexual abuse of a 10-year-old boy by coach Jerry Sandusky who told Joe Paterno about the abuse. And many more victims have come forward. Paterno did nothing. He might as well have abused the boys himself.

Paterno, Penn State President Graham Spanier and Penn State have been under great scrutiny since former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky was charged last weekend with 40 counts of sexual abuse of children. I repeat 40 counts of child sexual abuse.

Sandusky was arrested last Saturday on charges that he preyed on boys he met through The Second Mile, a charity he founded for at-risk youths. Two high-ranking Penn State administrators also face charges they lied about knowledge of the crimes to a grand jury.

It’s no mistake that child sexual abusers choose careers that deal with children. The Second Mile began as group foster home to help troubled boys.

The grand jury report Read the grand jury report is startling and portrays the actions of a typical child molester.

As a child advocate for over 20 years, it is appalling enough to read the grand jury report because our weakest ones have been egregiously abused, hurt and taken advantage of. Yet to see young adults take the side of Paterno and riot over his dismissal because football is more important – because Penn State will somehow not be able to go on without Paterno leaves one shaking their head in complete disbelief and anger – because where have we as a society gone wrong with teaching our young adults values and morals?

The behavior of the rioting Penn State students needs discussion, education and awareness. The silence of Joe Paterno and Graham Spanier needs criminal investigation. And the audacious acts of Jerry Sandusky need a trial that will convict him of being the child molester he is.

As far as college football, I don’t really know much about it or care to, but I am told there is quite a bit of money to made from this sport.

We’ve been dealing with corporate greed and now it’s come down to the greed of a football coach who made millions and who kept silent for a football team and a college and allowed young boys to be sexually abused.

What does that say about our society and how can we explain this to our child victims?

Ross Ellis
Founder and Chief Executive Officer

Love Our Children USA

Parents Selling Their Children – Sexual Exploitation of Minors

By Guest Blogger Christopher Burgess

There are days when you read a piece in the news and shake your head in disbelief. That was the case yesterday when I read of a couple (Anthony Wayne Hart, 47 and his wife Kathy Lee Hart, 43) indicted in Madison County, Virginia on charges of “human trafficking” of their daughters. The grand jury indictment read, “arranging for their 13 and 14-year-old daughters to provide companionship and affection to male individuals in exchange for money and goods …” The incidents took place between 10 October 2009 and 24 February 2011.


While the fact that any parent would do this to their minor children is and of itself disgusting, the true disappointment was in the realization that this was totally avoidable and the children could have been protected from their parents who had demonstrated their lack of ability to parent some nine years prior. You see, in 2002, that same couple had been arrested and indicted for attempting to sell a three-month old daughter for adoption. Anthony Wayne Hart entered into a plea agreement and was sentenced to two-years in prison. The charges against Kathy Lee Hart were dismissed, she had been found incompetent to stand trial.

This begs the question. How is it possible that these two individuals still had custody of their children, some nine years following their arrest and conviction for attempting to sell one of their children?

The charges facing the Hart’s carry up to 20 years in prison. The children are in foster care and will not be returned to their parents.

Visit http://t.co/yzV4QHT to read more by Christopher Burgess

New York child welfare workers held accountable in child’s death

According to media sources, two former child welfare workers were indicted yesterday in the death of a 4 year-old Brooklyn girl who was starved, beaten and drugged.

This is the first such prosecution in city history thanks to Kings County District Attorney Charles Hynes.

If ACS caseworker Damon Adams did his job and visited Marchella Brett-Pierce in her Bedford-Stuyvesant home, she might be alive today. Instead records indicate that he did not visit the home, but did falsify records after the girl died weighing just 18 pounds. Chereece Bell, 34, the caseworker's direct supervisor, was charged with failing to monitor his work.

Yesterday Judge Patricia DiMango told news sources: "To say there was no failure here would just defy logic and common sense."

Adams and Bell pleaded not guilty to charges of criminally negligent homicide, official misconduct and endangering the welfare of a child.

Bell's bail was set at $25,000. Adams, who was charged with additional tampering and falsifying records, was ordered held on $35,000 bail.

Caseworkers first became involved with the Brett-Pierce family in November 2009 when Marchella's youngest brother was born with illegal drugs in his system.

Prosecutors said caseworker Adams was supposed to make biweekly visits to the home. He only made two entries in the agency's computer records between March and September which included a phone call with a source involved in the hospital incident and an attempt to visit the home in June. Six days afterwards Marchella died. Adams then posted bogus entries saying he visited the home in March, April, June and August, prosecutors said.

"His failure to make the visits is what ultimately led to her death," Kagan said.

The two ACS workers resigned a month after Marchella was found dead.

Prosecutor Jacqueline Kagan said "This child was wasting away. Had the ACS workers done their job, "this child would have been removed" from the home.”

Marchella's grandmother Loretta Brett, 56, was also indicted Wednesday, pleading not guilty to second-degree manslaughter.

According to prosecutors, Brett slept in the same room as the child night after night as she lay tied in her bed with no food and the grandmother never reported the suspected abuse.

The innocent 4 year-old was beaten, starved, bound to her bed and forced to take multiple doses of Benadryl and other adult medication between July and September.

She died severely malnourished on September 2nd – similar to the horrific abuse and death of Nixzmary Brown in 2006.

Marchella's mother, Carlotta Brett-Pierce, 30, was charged in November with second-degree murder and is awaiting trial.

Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes vowed to investigate whether the city agency followed recommendations it implemented after Nixzmary's death.

Hynes said: "We're going to find at long last what they're doing at ACS so there are no more children fatalities. “

Faye Moore, the head of the Social Service Employees Union, said ACS layoffs and program cuts have overburdened workers. Frankly we’ve been hearing that tired excuse for years. And it’s not just Marchella who died because of ACS failures. ACS has been linked to at least four other child abuse tragedies.

In a statement, ACS said the indictments "may have the opposite effect from what's intended because it may discourage excellent, idealistic individuals from taking" jobs as social workers.

This is not true. First … ACS doesn’t hire just social workers as caseworkers. This reporter saw an ad in the NY Times a few years ago. ACS was looking for caseworkers and the ad read that all one needed was a college degree. They did not have to be a social worker. And while shopping in Bloomingdales this reporter overheard a salesperson saying she was going for an interview to ACS. When this reporter questioned the salesperson about the interview she had just graduated from college with a degree in fine arts and had no work experience other than being a salesperson.

Kudos to District Attorney Charles Hynes for arresting these caseworkers. Our children deserve to live in happy, healthy and safe homes. If their parents are abusive and neglectful than we need a system that will protect them at all costs!

April is National Child Abuse Prevention month. Let’s start protecting our kids instead of protecting the people who are supposed to be protecting them!

College student tweets to end child abuse: what one person can do!

Becca Jude of New Jersey is an 18 year-old college freshman at Miami University. And she’s not just any college student, she is one with passion, perseverance and commitment.

During her senior year of high school she began researching child abuse. Her research led her to fully realize what a horrific epidemic child abuse is in today’s world. She had no idea how many kids were abused and how many die all over the world. That’s when she found Love Our Children USA.

Being completely addicted to Twitter which her parents weren’t too happy about, Becca decided to create a twitter account to spread the word about how serious the issue of child abuse is and began to raise awareness. Her Twitter name is @st0pchildabuse.

Last July, Love Our Children USA received an email from Becca saying she wanted to raise money and awareness for us on Twitter.

She talked about it on her personal twitter page and spread the word. For the first few days she tweeted facts and statistics about child abuse and put up links to Love Our Children USA’s Website. After two days, she realized that there was more that she could do, because just tweeting about the problem was not enough. So she decided to donate 10 cents to Love Our Children USA for every follower that she gained until 2,500 followers, $250. Her goal of 2,500 followers seemed very far off and she didn’t know how long it would take, or if she would ever get there.

A few days later, Justin Bieber’s mom, Pattie retweeted Becca’s tweet saying she wanted to follow and help spread the word. Becca was thrilled!! Thirty minutes later she gained over 250 followers. The following day Justin Beiber’s Road Manager and a member of his crew, Ryan Good retweeted Becca’s tweets. The account grew to 300 followers! Then Justin’s bodyguard followed, saying he loved the cause. If you are a Bieber fan on twitter any member of Justin’s crew noticing you is a huge deal and the fact that they noticed the account meant a lot to Becca and to Love Our Children USA!

Suddenly the rapper Lil Twist followed. After that the followers just kept increasing and Becca was thrilled that people were supporting her and telling her that what she was doing was amazing and that she was a true inspiration.

When Becca receives all of this kudos she’s not quite sure how to react. She doesn’t think she’s anyone’s hero – but she is to Love Our Children USA and many others!

How many 18-year-old’s do you know who would donate money per tweet to a charity to stop child abuse? Not many!

On September 18, 2010 Becca reached 2,500 followers and raised $250 for Love Our Children USA! That was an amazing day. She cried from happiness and shock! The icing on the cake was that the very next day Justin Bieber followed! That meant so much to Becca because she tells us she is possibly one of Justin Bieber’s biggest fans!

In addition to raising more money and awareness for Love Our Children USA, Becca’s goal is to get Justin Bieber to tweet #st0pchildabsue to spread awareness. She feels Justin’s tweets could really help to make a difference about putting an end to child abuse. Becca feels that Justin’s tweets could help make it a Trending Topic which is much needed, since so many are afraid to talk about child abuse.

Justin has thousands of supporters and raises a great deal of money for his pet charity Pencils of Promise. Becca hopes that somehow she can get him to support Love Our Children USA as well – because not only does the organization work to end violence against children, but they have an amazing signature program called STOMP Out Bullying.

Other well know people who follow Becca @st0pchildabuse are Ellen DeGeneres, Jay Sean, Mandy Rain, Boyz_II_Men, Monique Coleman, Marlon Wayans and a retweet from Boyz II Men!

To date almost 9,140 people follow Becca who donates 5 cents per follower to Love Our Children USA.

Becca also donated to another child abuse prevention group until November 1st, and now is exclusively donating 5 cents per follower to Love Our Children USA.

In addition to looking for celebrity followers, Becca is looking for corporate sponsors to help as well.

She told us that she is so grateful for this account and this cause because it has truly changed her life.

Everyone at Love Our Children USA is so grateful to Becca. Not only is she helping to raise money and awareness, but she is a role model as to what one person can do!

There are many forms of child abuse, including bullying and cyber bullying. By educating parents, we can keep children safe from the very people who are supposed to be protecting them.

Meeting with parents in New York and all over the country, many tell me that they wish there was something they could do to help. Well, here is a college student who is doing something!

Ending child abuse begins with you! It begins with all of us!

Just look at what Becca is doing! Kudos and gratitude to Becca Jude!

“Battling Bullies” WABC TV Special With Guest Ross Ellis, Love Our Children USA

Ross Ellis, founder and chief executive officer of Love Our Children USA and STOMP Out Bullying was a special guest on the show and chatted with viewers on line offering help and hope. Watch the Video!WABC TV ”Battling Bullies” with guest Ross Ellis

Girls or Boys? Who are the bigger bullies?

We know that bullying is an ongoing problem which has reached epidemic proportions, with a distinct difference between the actions and responses of boys vs. girls.


Whenever you hear of bullies one might think of boys with their fists tightened ready to fight. We always think of girls as verbal bullies and mean girls who socially alienate and exclude others.

Today we see a rise in boys using verbal bullying, gossip and social exclusion, while we see girls who bully with a lot of it related to sports.

And with the internet, both boys and girls cyberbully at an alarming rate — and it’s anonymous, making it that much easier for kids. With 43% of kids being cyberbullied, it’s been found that girls are cyberbullied more than boys.

Whether its boys or girls bullying and/or cyberbullying, it’s out of control and clearly inappropriate.

We must STOMP Out Bullying!

Cyberbullying: Is it a cry for help or a need for attention?

Jessi Slaughter, an 11-year old Florida girl whose profanity-laced video spurred online death threats after she claims she was cyberbullied on Facebook, told Good Morning America and other news sources that she has no intentions of staying off the Internet, which is also a decision backed by her parents.


Jessi's rage, graphic language and violent threats that she used against her online tormenters has everyone talking.

She told ABC News: "I'm going to continue making my videos, I'm going to continue updating my Twitter and going on Stickam and stuff -- just going to be a little more careful with who sees what I'm doing," the girl told ABCNews.com. Because she is only 11-years-old only screen name is being used.

Jessi broke down on the video which she made on her webcam. Even her father appeared on the video in an absolute rage.

She created an Internet firestorm by posting an almost five-minute video raging against online bullies who had called her names and accused a friend of raping her.

READ THE ENTIRE STORY HERE and WATCH Ross Ellis, Founder and CEO, Love Our Children USA and STOMP Out Bullying on  the ABC News Nightline video in response to this story.

The second leading cause of child deaths are from drowning: Learn water safety now

Swimming is a fun activity for many children to celebrate their summer vacation.


The water can be so much fun, yet it can also be dangerous for young children. Even for kids who know how to swim, there have still been drownings.

According to the National Drowning Prevention Alliance, drowning is the second leading cause of unintentional death among children ages 1 to 4 years old and children 10 to 14 years. Children 4 and under actually have the highest drowning death rate in the U.S. and the majority of child drownings occur in backyard pools & spas.

Just this week, former NFL quarterback Randall Cunningham's 2-year-old son drowned in his parent’s pool spa in Las Vegas and last week NYC sixth grader Nicole Suriel drowned on a class trip to Long Beach. Two-year-old Joseph Anthony Daignault died on June 29th after drowning in his family’s swimming pool. Since the end of May, eight children died in pool drownings in Tennessee.

According to Dr. Mark Waltzman at the Children’s Hospital in Boston, toddlers have a difficult time keeping their top-heavy bodies balanced when sitting up and they often have a hard time getting back up after they fall, and can drown in just one inch of water.

READ MORE OF THE STORY HERE AND SEE VIDEO

Wild West 2.0 hits the nation by storm! The reality of the dangers that lurk online

Your kids use the Internet, you use it, so do your family and friends.

We live in a digital frontier and it’s not going away. Our kids spend most of their time on the Internet which is a virtual playground for online bullies, cyber attackers, stalkers and predators.

You use the Internet for business, or you might be looking for a job, trying to make new friends or even find your mate online. You’d be surprised how many online dangers lurk online for adults as well.

There are moms who bully, people who want to ruin other’s reputations, stalkers and other cyber attackers.

No doubt about it -- the Internet IS your life!

While setting up Google alerts for you and your kids are a good practice, people aren’t going to check to see what “he said …she said”, and who is telling the truth.

Wild West 2.0 already in its second print has hit book shelves across the nation! And it’s a must read for every parent!

READ THE ENTIRE STORY HERE

Norton online family protects families worldwide

This week Norton/Symantec announced that its award-winning online family safety service, Norton Online Family, will now be offered for free worldwide in 25 languages.

Previously available in English only, the new version of Norton Online Family is the first globally available free solution to give parents the comprehensive tools they need to not just block inappropriate websites, but truly connect with their children's online lives and foster ongoing dialogue about safe Internet behaviors. According to the Norton Online Family Report, a global study that was released today, 62 percent of kids worldwide have had a negative online experience, underscoring the need for a service like Norton Online Family that helps create positive online experiences for their kids.

READ MORE ABOUT THIS STORY

Mayor Bloomberg encourages NY fathers to be more active in their kids’ lives

Kudos to New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg as he told news sources about his plans to hire a fatherhood-services coordinator as part of an initiative to encourage dads to be more active in their children's lives.

As reported by the Wall Street Journal, City agencies plan to offer parenting classes at homeless shelters and at public hospitals as well as publishing a guide to city services available to fathers.

This comes as great news to all of the child advocates in New York City.

Mayor Bloomberg told news sources that "Strong families make a strong New York. But too many children in this city are growing up without their fathers." The administration reports that 32 percent of all children under 17 in New York City grow up in a fatherless household.

Read more of the story here

Are supermarket carts safe for your kids?

Last week a New York City mom was checking out her local supermarket and looked down to see her toddler’s leg stuck in the narrowest bar of the shopping cart. Her daughter’s leg was completely stuck.

While the toddler cried the mom tried to remain calm by slowly slipping her leg back out, but it wouldn’t move. The checkout lady, manager and security all came to their rescue to no avail. Someone cried “get the Crisco oil”, another yelled “don’t touch it” and someone yelled “call 911.”

The poor mom was panic stricken and screamed for someone to get a cutter which is used to cut large metal bike locks.

Someone came to the rescues with the metal cutters but the frantic mom couldn’t help but think “Do it and don’t miss” and prayed her daughter’s leg or ankle would not be broken.

Soon the little girl was free with only a few scratches and bruises.

Read more of the story here

Teen Pregnancy and How to Prevent It

We have all heard the expression "kids don't come with instructions" and it's so true -- they don't.

And when teens become parents they are not emotionally mature enough to handle parenthood.

How is a parent to know if their teens are sexually active? If they are ... are they taking precautions?

Parents can learn The Real Truth about Teens and Sex by Sabrina Weil, President of Weill Media and former Editor-in-Chief of Seventeen Magazine.

The results are revealed for the first time in The Real Truth about Teens and Sex. This book is a great tool for parents to learn about their teens sexual activity and how to keep them from becoming teen parents.

Although teen pregnancy has been on the decline over the past decade, more and more teens are having sex.

According to facts at http://www.stayteen.org/ three out of ten teenage girls in the United States get pregnant at least one before age 20 -- that amounts to 745,000 teen pregnancies each year.

The United States has the highest teen pregnancy rate in the industrialized world -- twice as high as in England or Canada and eight times as high as in the Netherlands or Japan.

Click here to read more of the story

Bullying continues to take lives. When will it stop?

Scott Walz should be celebrating his high school graduation from Johnsburg High School in McHenry County, IL.

He can’t. Scott took his life this past March 4th as a result of years of being bullied. His family says the school didn’t do enough to stop it.

Sadly this is not a surprise. Most schools don’t do enough. Some do nothing. The victims endure torment and pain.

Scott’s mom told CBS news that Scott was quiet and shy. He had a black belt in Karate but never fought back – even after nine years of being bullied. He was even beaten up and choked to the point of passing out.

Bullying and cyberbullying hurt. The pain can be devastating!

And this past Monday on Memorial Day, Christian Taylor, a 16-year-old freshman at Grafton High School in Yorktown, Va., took his own life after reportedly enduring months of relentless bullying.

Scott Walz (Illinois), Christian Taylor (Virginia), Alexis Pilkington (New York), Phoebe Prince (Massachusetts), Celina Okwuone and Hope Witsell (Florida), Ryan Halligan (Vermont) and all of the others who took their lives were tormented on a daily basis. But they might be here today if their schools had listened – if they took a stand against all forms of bullying.

Read more of the story here

The baby is coming …Dr. Jeff Gardere educates young fathers to be on VH1 “Dad Camp”

According to the Alan Guttmacher Institute in New York, nationally, nearly one million young women under age 20 become pregnant each year. That means close to 2800 women get pregnant each day.

Where are the fathers?

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, over 24 million children live apart from their biological fathers. That is 1 out of every 3 (33%) children in America. Nearly 2 in 3 (65%) African American children live in father-absent homes. Over 1 in 3 (34%) Hispanic children, and 1 in 4 (25%) white children live in father-absent homes.

Last year, President Obama challenged young men to step up as fathers, urging them to recognize that their “responsibility does not end at conception.”

VH1 and Dr. Jeff Gardere are coming to the rescue with their new show “Dad Camp.”

Dr. Jeff Gardere is a licensed psychologist and national relationship expert in New York City who prepares six young twenty-something young men for fatherhood in this VH1 eight-episode series.

Here the young fathers will face reality: A baby is on the way! Through parenting classes, personal challenges and powerful couple and group therapy, these young couples will learn about responsibility and the dedication, commitment and importance of selflessness that they must make to their children ... because it's the right thing to do and because fatherhood can be a positive and rewarding experience.

In each episode, Dr. Jeff offers intensive parenting lessons and challenges to prepare these young men for fatherhood. They’ll learn about parental nurturing, conquering their fears and commitment.

"Dad Camp’s” goal is to educate these young men and turn them into responsible fathers, when they’d much rather be out with their friends and other young women, spend time playing video games, drinking, using drugs, etc.

Dad Camp also addresses many of today’s societal issues, including the importance of male role models, absent fathers and the struggles of being a young parent.

The degree of risk to children of very young parents may be determined by the financial, social, and emotional stresses these families face. Yet, few participate in parenting education.

Click here to read more of the article

"To Save A Life" the movie. It's about choices. What's yours?

Are you a kid or teen who is depressed?

There is help!

You have choices and it's all about the choices you make! Whatever is hurting you so bad that you would even think of suicide has a solution. And that's NOT suicide.


Suicide is NEVER the answer. It ends all of your dreams, it's permanent -- you can't take it back, it hurts the people who love you --- and it doesn't solve the problem that's hurting you!

While Love Our Children USA and STOMP Out Bullying does not endorse any particular religious organization or group, we encourage you to see the movie "To Save A Life" and then spread the word!

It can save your life, it can save the life of someone you know. It's up to all of us to help!

An all-star athlete and his girlfriend find their lives spinning out of control when Jake loses a childhood friend. Help comes when he reaches out to others who are hurting, and he realizes some people are just dying to be heard.
The movie asks...

How far would you go?

How much would you risk?

How hard would you fight...TO SAVE A LIFE

See the movie TO SAVE A LIFE in theaters near you.

Visit http://www.stompoutbullying.org/ and remember -- you can save a life --- you can save your life!

Love Our Children USA And Barclays ...Tickets Fore Charity

If you love golf and are passionate about keeping children safe, please support Love Our Children USA by purchasing tickets to the Barclays Golf Tournament at Liberty National Center, Jersey City, NJ from August 27th - August 30th.

See your favorite pros! All you need to do is purchase tickets is click here and use the code LOC !

Renew America With A Day of Service January 19, 2009

Ordinary people living ordinary lives is all it takes to make things happen in your community. President-Elect and Michelle Obama are asking the country to volunteer and renew America on Monday, January 19th … One Single Day of Service.

It can be handing out flyers about bullying prevention which has reached epidemic proportions, mentoring a child, cleaning up parks, volunteering at a homeless shelter, serving food to the hungry … or anything that will help those less fortunate.

Contact Love Our Children USA if you want to hand out flyers on Bullying Prevention or visit USA Call To Service to find an opportunity in your area.

No matter what you do, you will helping to renew the USA, offering help and hope. Please join the Obamas and Love Our Children USA! Make it a day of service… a day of caring … a day of renewal!