Abusive teachers: Are our children safe at school?

In the midst of National Child Abuse Prevention month teachers are in the news. Not for stellar teaching but for abusing children.

• Waterville, NY: David Lemery, a physical education teacher has been accused of sexually abusing a young girl while in school
• New York City: Sabrina Milo, a 34 year-old teacher was arrested for telling co-workers she planned to bring a shotgun to school and "settle some scores" in what was described as a "Columbine style" plot.
• Bronx, NY: An 11-year-old Bronx girl has sued New York City, claiming that police officers overreacted last spring, handcuffing her after a fight with a third-grade classmate and denying her mother’s request to be present when they interviewed her.
• Moutainview, CO: Courtney Bowles, a former teacher at Mountain View High School, got national exposure for having sex with a student in a car
• Huntsville, AL: A Huntsville elementary school teacher arrested on several counts of sexual abuse against students
• Mirimar, FL: teacher tapes 13 year-old student’s mouth shut for talking in class
• Brevard County, FL: Group Leader at South Lake Elementary School taped a 5-year-old student to a chair with packing tape. 

Child abuse has reached epidemic proportions in schools throughout our nation and has become an alarmingly frequent occurrence. The cases that are surfacing almost daily serve as a wake-up call to everyone in America to protect our children!

Whether it’s sexual abuse or corporal punishment, child abuse in our schools is happening all over the country. Although the vast majority of educators and other school employees are not child abusers, the stories continue to unfold throughout our nation.

A former teacher was sitting in the audience of the popular TV talk show “The Talk” and when asked her views on corporal punishment she said she believed in hitting a student to keep them disciplined.

Corporal punishment must not be allowed.

  

Any sexual contact between teacher and student is a crime. Sexual abuse is a child becoming a sexual partner for an adult. Anyone under the age of 18 who is used by an adult for sexual gratification is being Sexually Abused whether or not the child consents.

Children are taught to respect and honor parental authority figures such as teachers, guidance counselors, and principals and not to question their actions. We trust our schools to protect our most vulnerable … yet children are being sexually molested by the very people who are supposed to protect them. Most abusers remain undetected and free to continue their abuse of power and violation of professional ethics.

To believe it can't happen to us and our children - that no one we know would ever abuse our kids, and certainly not someone entrusted with their care or well-being --- is to live in denial. Sexual abusers tend to choose occupations that put them in close contact with children. They can be found in every profession. They are heterosexual and homosexual -- they don't discriminate.

What can we do?

Covering up abuse in schools sends a message to the abuser that it is acceptable behavior. We must report the abuser and get help for the children. School boards must send a message that they care and accept zero tolerance.

We must insist for and demand:

• Laws that mandate fingerprinting teachers and other school employees and conduct FBI checks on their criminal history

• Educate about child abuse prevention education beginning at the school board level … establishing strong, clear policies that warn teachers of inappropriate conduct, such as putting themselves in vulnerable positions where they are alone with students.

• Hold mandatory child abuse prevention training and educational seminars for all staff including teachers, bus drivers, cooks, etc. on a monthly basis. Training sessions can help educators understand their district's policy, the warning signs of possible sexual abuse, and the procedures for reporting abuse when they see it.

• School leaders must make it clear to all staff that the district is serious about investigating any hint of child sexual abuse.

• District policies must stress all employees are mandated to report any suspicion of sexual misconduct and make clear that they will be disciplined if they fail to do so

• Stricter reference and background checks. Meticulously screening of new hires. School administrators must do criminal background checks on applicants and call their former employers and associates, including some who may not be listed on their resumes. Be leery of gaps and frequent changes in an applicant's job history.

• Remove the accused teacher from contact with children, usually with a suspension, during the investigation

• Immediately notify police or community social service authorities.

• Train students about inappropriate behavior by adults and where to report it if they ever see it occur

• Organize a team of supervised peer counselors where students have a place to go

We must write to our legislators and demand Zero Tolerance.

Contact your politicians and ask for stronger laws that protect our children and for a stronger statute on mandated reporting of child abuse. All responsible citizens with knowledge of child abuse, which is a crime, should be required to report it, even if it's only suspected. Write letters, e-mail, make phone calls … take action.

It's time for America to wake-up! Knowledge is power. Learn all you can about child abuse. Educate yourself, your children, your family, your friends, neighbors --- everyone you know. We must keep our children safe!

April is National Child Abuse Prevention month.

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!

Through the eyes of a bullied teen’s video saves a teen’s life

I first heard about Patrick Kohlmann in 2008 on Good Morning America. After a long battle with bullies at school and online, having his life threatened, and receiving a concussion which the Udall Road Middle School in West Islip, New York never even reported to his parents, Patrick reached out in a high-tech cry for help.

Patrick Kohlmann, then 13, was afraid to go to school because the violence got so bad. He was picked on, pushed and kicked and the death threats were abundant.

He was so upset and frightened that he told his parents and the school. After numerous complaints by Patrick and his parents to the school, they did little if anything to stop the violence.

So Patrick, created a seven minute montage video urging kids and teens to stop bullying! He posted it on YouTube attracting more than 15,000 viewers.

He even asked his school to show it to students there, but they responded to Patrick’s complaints in their own defense in a six page written document and sent letters to the homes of all of their students in their Long Island district.

That very day STOMP Out Bullying contacted Patrick’s mom and spoke with her to see if we could help. Ultimately the family moved to South Carolina and Patrick is thriving, happy and has become one of our Teen Ambassadors.

Fast forward to a few nights ago, Thursday night, February 3rd when Patrick called me and could barely speak.

His mother received a call from a woman on the West Coast who wanted to thank Patrick for saving her tween daughter’s life.

Patrick’s mom was a bit confused as Patrick was sitting right in front of her. The woman explained that hours before her daughter came to her telling her that she had a noose hanging in her room and something made her go to “YouTube” where she found Patrick’s repost video “Through My Eyes.”

After seeing Patrick’s video she realized she wasn’t alone and that there is hope and help. Patrick’s mom recommended they contact STOMP Out Bullying™ and seek counseling for their daughter, which one can only imagine that they sought counseling immediately.

Patrick, his family and all of us were deeply stunned and grateful that this young girl is alive due to his video. And it is our hope that every kid will watch it.

And my personal message to kids and teens: when it seems so bad that you can’t go on, that there is nowhere to turn, that you can’t take the pain and torment anymore – take a deep breath – think – go to the Internet, watch Patrick’s video, contact STOMP Out Bullying™, tell someone you need help … because there is hope, there is help and there are heroes like Patrick Kohlmann!

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!

NOT MY KID: My kid would never bully anyone

How many times have parents been approached by other parents because their kids and teens are being bullied only to hear parents loudly proclaim “NOT MY KID.”


How many times have you blamed your child’s friend or a neighbor for negative behavior of your child? It is not MY kid, it is the friends he/she is hanging with. MY kid would never bully anyone. I taught them better than that, they are too smart for that. But are they smart enough, kind enough, respectful and compassionate for others?

Think about it. The faster you remove yourself from the “NOT MY KID” excuse, the sooner you can work on getting your child the help he/she may need.

Parents should not only look at their kids’ behavior, but as a role model what message do you send to your kids and teens? Do your kids model your behavior? Are you continuing the cycle of what you were taught as a kid?

ENOUGH with the excuse of NOT MY KID! Parents must take responsibility for their child’s behavior!

So, if your child’s school calls you and tells you that your child is bullying other kids, if other parents are complaining to you that your child is bullying their child, or if you notice that your child is constantly getting into fights … take a deep breath and admit that your child has a problem.

Drop the stance of denial or feeling that others are being mean to their child. It takes a courageous and open parent to realize that their child has a problem and that they need help.

Parents may think there is no problem – that it’s just a little teasing, or that it’s natural for kids to fight with one another. Take all accusations of bullying seriously. What may seem natural to you may be harming others a great deal.

Sit down and have a conversation with your kid. Tell them that the school or other parents have reported their aggressive behavior, that you love them no matter what, that their behavior has to change and that you support the school’s punishment and will not tolerate this behavior.

Explain that bullying, whether it’s physical or verbal, causes pain to others. Let them know that name-calling, teasing, hitting, pushing, starting or spreading rumors are wrong and not acceptable behavior.

Let your child know that you will help them to change the behavior and correct the situation. Ask them how they think the bullying could stop. What do they think has to change in order for them to change?

Depending on the age of the child, they may not know any better. Young children, especially, need to be told that hurting another child is not acceptable.

After you have thoroughly discussed this with your child, meet with their teacher. Listen to the teacher’s perspective without being judgmental.

Let the teacher know that you are willing to work with the school to help stop your child from bullying. It’s important to tell the teacher if there are any family problems that you might be experiencing.

Additional counseling may be needed for your child. It will help them learn to behave differently, accept responsibility for their actions and teach them how to develop guilt, as well as learn how to form cohesive relationships.

Parents need to understand that ignoring these signs or blaming it on others is not going to help your child. You need to seek help so it doesn’t escalate to anything worse. A parent in denial is not helping their kids, it is actually harming them.

There isn’t any shame in having a kid that is who is a bully, the only shame is if you don’t get your kids help!

Three Bully Suicides In One Week: It Has To STOP

November 4 -11th:


16-year-old Cassidy Joy Andel Cooperstown, N.D. posted a good-bye note on her Facebook Page and hung herself, 14 year-old Samantha Kelly of New Boston, Michigan hung herself and 14-year-old Brandon Bitner of Middleburg, Pennsylvania committed suicide by running into the path of a tractor trailer – all of them tormented by bullying!

This is more than a wake-up call. This is a national crisis and if we don’t do something to educate kids, parents and schools and get everyone working together, I am afraid of what we will see in the next 5-10 years. Our future is disappearing before us because kids and teens are bullying others.

Parents – talk to your kids – everyday. Enough with the “Not My Kid” attitude! Take responsibility and teach your children morals and ethics. I’d rather know my kid was a bully and I could get him /her help to stop it, than hide my head in the sand and live in denial.

And — recognize the signs of bullying and cyberbullying so you can help your child if they are victims. Don’t wait for them to come to you!

Schools – Wake Up! I’m tired of hearing from teachers who say they don’t want to be policemen. It may not be what you signed up for but it’s a different world today! We are living in the wild west frontier with the Internet and kids are getting bolder and more aggressive. So yes teachers and principals, it’s your responsibility to educate our youth about bullying and cyberbullying even if you have to police them!

It really does take a village and for those who think our youth are not in crisis mode – think again!

The bullying and cyberbullying MUST stop!

Parents MUST do better parenting!

Anti-bullying and cyberbullying Education MUST be a priority!

Bullycides MUST STOP!

If you’re being bullied, we know how awful the pain is, but taking your life is NOT the answer!

If you know someone who is being bullied, be an UPSTANDER and help them!

If you’re a bully, ASK FOR HELP. What you’re doing is bad enough, but the reality is you could be responsible for someone taking their life? Can you really live with that? Think about it!

Call STOMP Out Bullying at 888-347-KIDS (5437) for help, call someone, call anyone. There is so much help out there for victims and we’re all here to help the victims get help and to save their lives and we’re here to get help for the bullies so this insanity STOPS once and for all.

Bullying can kill – Kindness goes a long way and feels really good!

Develop a plan for help with the person. If you cannot develop a plan and a suicide attempt is imminent call “911.”

There is help!

Talk to a trusted adult!

Or contact any of these organizations who can and will help you!

National Suicide Prevention Hotline 1-800-SUICIDE (1-800-784-2433) Deaf Hotline: 1-800-799-4TTY (1-800-799-4889)

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 1-800-273-TALK (1-800-273-8255)

Yellow Ribbon 303-429-3530

Boystown Hotline 1-800-448-3000

Covenant House Nineline 1-800-999-9999

The Trevor Helpline 866-488-7386

If you or someone you know is on the verge of suicide PLEASE call 911 immediately so you can get help!

Life may not feel so great right now, but there is hope!

STAY ALIVE!

SAVE SOMEONE’S LIFE!
Ross Ellis
Founder and CEO
Love Our Children USA (http://www.loveourchildrenusa.org/ )and STOMP Out Bullying (http://www.stompoutbullying.org/)

“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