I’m going to share something very personal here… When I was growing up, my mom lived with an abusive partner. It was a terrifying time in my life.  Eventually, she left him or he left her – it was pretty back and forth for a whole lot of years. I love my mom, but part of me will always resent what we all went through at that time. It is impossible to live with violence and not have it affect you in some way.
I’ve been following the Rihanna/Chris Brown “alleged” physical violence situation. What she’s doing, going back to …read more

I cannot find the words to express how utterly sickened I was at hearing the story of Victoria Lindsay. I could not even watch more than a few seconds of the video footage of the beating delivered by six fellow cheerleaders. It was brutality at its worst. My husband and I immediately told our kids that if they ever took part in any kind of gang violence or mob activity, that the jail time would be nothing compared to what they would have to face at home.
I don’t know what Victoria did to anger her squad mates, but it certainly could …read more

A group of teens who Get It!
Oshkosh Teens Speaking Out is a group of local young people from various religious denominations taking a stand against bullying in light of school violence throughout Wisconsin by asking parents to pay more attention to their kids.
The group, which started meeting around the end of October, is finalizing a letter to local parents with instructions on how to be better parents and how to deter their kids from becoming future bullies and perpetuators of school violence.
A sampling of tips for parents from Oshkosh Teens Speaking Out:
Understand that I am not perfect – be patient
Teach …read more