tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-54325505133721815912024-03-12T19:40:54.249-04:00Charles Warren. AuthorUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger31125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5432550513372181591.post-65017566032852033662015-03-08T13:13:00.000-04:002015-03-08T13:13:07.515-04:00Homelessness: A Solution That Saves You Money<div class="MsoNormal">
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<b><u><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: blue;">The Problem</span><o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
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<b><u><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></u></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;">Most of us
are an accident away from becoming homeless. Or an illness away. Or a job
loss away.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;">Anyone can become homeless.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;">Only 15% of the homeless are those
individuals we so often think of as “the homeless.” Most are families. Usually
one parent families. The average age is nine.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;">Remember the
scruffy man on the street corner holding the barely legible cardboard sign: “Will work for food?” Even if you stopped and bought him a meal, you know that’s
not a real long-term solution. Right?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So, what is?</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><u><span style="font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: blue;">The Solution</span><o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
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<b><u><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: blue;"><br /></span></span></u></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;">More and
more states and cities are finding that by offering the homeless places to
live of their own, not only helps these unfortunate individuals, it also saves
the city and state money—a lot of money. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;">Huffington
Post recently reported that Camden, N.J. will be providing apartments to the
homeless. Those who have jobs will pay a portion of their rent. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;">The state of
Utah has been providing permanent housing and case management services to their
homeless population for about ten years.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">This program has reduced their homeless
population by 72%</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> and has</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> saved the state a bundle of money.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">How is that
possible?</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><u><span style="font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: blue;">Here’s how: </span><o:p></o:p></span></u></b><br />
<b><u><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></u></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;">In Utah, a
homeless person living in shelters and eating at soup kitchens costs taxpayers
$19,200 per year. The cost includes emergency room visits, health care, jail,
and other expenses that are paid by taxpayers. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;">To provide
that homeless person with a permanent home and case management services costs
the taxpayers $7800 per year—a savings of $11,400 per person per year.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;">In Florida
they found that a similar program saved the taxpayers about $21,000 per
homeless person per year. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"><b>The National
Alliance to End Homelessness </b>states that providing homes for the homeless
should take priority over other services.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;">Think about it: how much harder would
it be to deal with an addiction problem or getting cleaned up for a job
interview if you’re living on the streets.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Persons who are homeless spend more time in jail which is very
costly to local and state governments. Often, they are in jail for “crimes”
that target the homeless such as loitering, sleeping in public places, and
asking passersby for a handout. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 115%;">Emergency
shelter is a costly alternative to permanent housing.</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Studies have shown that, in real dollars, providing people
experiencing chronic homelessness with permanent supportive housing saves
taxpayers money.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">A few examples:</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0in 0in 3.75pt 1.5pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Seattle—a savings of $2,449 per person per
month when homeless persons with severe alcohol problems and other medical and
mental health issues were placed in residences instead of conventional
shelters. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0in 0in 3.75pt 1.5pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Rural Portland, ME—found significant cost
reductions when providing permanent supportive housing as opposed to serving
the people while they remain homeless. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0in 0in 3.75pt 1.5pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Los
Angeles—</span></span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">found that placing four chronically homeless people into
permanent supportive housing saved the city more than $80,000 per year.</span><span style="font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b><u><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;">What You Can Do?</span><span style="color: #333333;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></u></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;">Check out
National Alliance to End Homelessness.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Go to: </span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.endhomelessness.org/pages/housing_first">http://www.endhomelessness.org/pages/housing_first</a></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The Alliance provides
trainings, toolkits, webinars, and guides designed to provide practitioners and
community leaders with skills and strategies to successfully understand and
implement rapid re-housing as part of a larger, system-wide approach to ending
homelessness.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 3.75pt;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Do we want to pass laws that throw people in jail for sitting on
the sidewalk, or develop programs that can make homeless citizens into productive
citizens and save money at the same time?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 3.75pt;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What are your thoughts?</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5432550513372181591.post-59327547381216020162015-02-16T15:24:00.002-05:002015-02-16T15:34:42.506-05:00Racism in Disguise. What You Should Know.<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b style="font-size: 16pt;">So,
we can check off racism as one social problem solved? Right?</b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: large; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><b>√ Racism—taken care of…<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: large; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><b>Not
really.</b></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Even though</span> we elected a
black man for president in 2008. </span></b><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Did it again</b><b> in 2012.</b></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">And even though</span><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> Oprah Winfrey
is one of the wealthiest and most respected women in America— <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: large; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><b><span style="color: #6aa84f;">Consider
the following: </span><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #00b050; font-size: large; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Which country incarcerates
the largest number of its racial and ethnic minorities?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">___ </span></b><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><b>China<o:p></o:p></b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: large; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><b>___
Russia<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><b>___
Iran<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><b>___
United States<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><b>No
other country in the world incarcerates so many of its racial or ethnic
minorities as the United States. The US imprisons a larger percentage of its
black population than South Africa did at the height of apartheid.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><b>The
US has the highest rate of incarceration in the world, surpassing Russia,
China, and Iran. In Germany, 93 people are in prison for every 100,000 adults
and children. In the US, the rate is 750 per 100,000. <o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><b>I
know what you’re thinking…<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="color: #00b050; font-size: large; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #6aa84f;">But Isn’t That Because of
the War on Drugs?</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><b>The
drug war does account for most of the increase in our prison population. <o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><b>But
if you think the War on Drugs began because of crack cocaine…think again.
President Reagan announced the War on Drugs in 1982, before crack cocaine
became an issue in neighborhoods or the media.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: large; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><b>Drug
crime was actually decreasing when the War on Drugs began. </b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><span style="font-size: large; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: blue;">Check This Out—</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><b>Studies
show that people of all colors use and sell drugs at similar rates. Even though
studies indicate that white youth are involved in drug crime at a higher rate
than youth of color, our jails and prisons are overflowing with black and brown
drug offenders. <o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><b>So,
what’s going on?</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="font-size: large; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="color: #00b050; font-size: large; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #38761d;">Penal System or Social
Control?</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><b>In
1972 fewer than 350,000 people were in prisons and jails nationwide. Today—over
2 million.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><b>One
in three young African American men will serve time in prison if current trends
continue. <o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><b><span style="font-size: large;">In
some cities more than half of all young Black men are in prison or on probation
or parole. </span><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><b>The
primary targets of the American Penal system can be defined largely by race.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><b>Crime
rates in other western countries are about the same as in the US.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><b>While
incarceration rates in other western countries have decreased or remained the
same—<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><b>incarceration
rates in the US have mushroomed.</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> <b>This <i>mass
incarceration </i>is more than just the criminal justice system.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><b>There
is also the larger web of laws, rules, policies, and customs that control those
who are labeled criminals…even after they leave prison.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><b>Mass
incarceration is the most damaging backlash against the Civil Rights Movement. </b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="color: #00b050; font-size: large; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #6aa84f;">Life After Prison</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><b>This
system of control permanently blocks a huge percentage of the African American
community from participating in mainstream society.” <o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Former
inmates are often denied the right to vote, excluded from juries, kept from
jobs and housing, and relegated to a subordinated existence. </span><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><b>These
laws, regulations, and informal rules, all reinforced by social stigma, confine
former inmates to the margins of mainstream society much as second class
citizenship during the Jim Crow era.</b> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="color: #00b050; font-size: large; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #6aa84f;">What Can You Do?</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><b>For
a more in-depth discussion, read THE NEW JIM CROW: MASS INCARCERATION IN THE
AGE OF COLORBLINDNESS by legal scholar Michelle Alexander. Well-written,
informative, and well documented. <o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Check
it out at: </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/New-Jim-Crow-Incarceration-Colorblindness/dp/1595586431"><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">www.amazon.com/New-Jim-Crow-Incarceration-Colorblindness/dp/1595586431</span></a></b><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><b>
(Much of the information for this blog came from Alexander’s book.)</b><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: large; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><b>To
thrive, this system needs for each of us to remain indifferent. <o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><b>Consider
writing letters to editors of local newspapers to alert others of the need for
penal reform.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><b>Contact
your congressman to push for penal reform, especially ending the War on Drugs.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: large; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><b>Agree?
Disagree? What are your thoughts? I’d love to hear from you. <o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Chuck
</span></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5432550513372181591.post-37561033473160792772015-02-09T16:02:00.000-05:002015-02-09T16:11:05.995-05:00If You Are Male or Female or Know Someone Who is, You Must Read This<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="color: #c0504d; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent2;">One Billion Rising: A Movement You Need
to Know About<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">One Billion what?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">One in three women on the planet will be
physically abused during their lifetime.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">That’s one billion people.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="color: #c0504d; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent2;">So, What’s One Billion Rising?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: red; font-family: "Hurry Up"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Energy<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #00b0f0; font-family: "Arial Black","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Paradigm shift<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #00b050; font-family: "Rockwell Extra Bold","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Drumming<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: "Hurry Up"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Dancing<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: "Hurry Up"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 150%;">On Valentine’s Day, millions
of people around the world will dance, perform </span><span style="font-size: 21.3333339691162px; line-height: 32px;">theater</span><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 150%;">, drum, and find other
ways to raise awareness of this violent epidemic.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">Men and women will stand up and demand
ENOUGH!!!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="color: #c0504d; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent2;">What Can You Do?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-stretch: normal;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">Go to </span><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><a href="http://www.onebillionrising.org/">www.onebillionrising.org</a></span><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"> to learn more.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 150%;">To be moved, I mean seriously jolted,
watch </span><span style="font-size: 21.3333339691162px; line-height: 32px;">“</span><b style="font-size: 21.3333339691162px; line-height: 32px;"><span style="color: red;">Break the Chain</span></b><span style="font-size: 21.3333339691162px; line-height: 32px;">” at</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 150%;"> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=one+billion+rising+dance">www.youtube.com/results?search_query=one+billion+rising+dance</a></span><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 150%;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 150%;"> Four minutes and twenty-nine seconds of pure
passion. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">If there is a One Billion Rising event in your area,
participate.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-stretch: normal;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">If there is not one, start one.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5432550513372181591.post-58652724004010435862012-08-10T15:17:00.003-04:002012-08-10T15:17:39.130-04:00Free Teacher Guides Available<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: purple;">Homelessness and bullying</span> <span style="color: purple;">are serious issues facing </span><span style="color: purple;">students today. The middle grade novel <em>Address Unknown </em>helps<em> </em>students face these issues in a thoughtful manner. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: purple;">Now free teacher guides are available for grades four through eight. You will find more information about <em>Address Unknown</em> and the free teacher guides at <a href="http://www.charleswarrenauthor.com/">www.charleswarrenauthor.com</a>. </span></span><br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5432550513372181591.post-8522450159592707262012-07-15T17:00:00.000-04:002012-07-15T17:00:03.376-04:00Review of Address Unknown by a Young Reader<span style="color: blue; font-size: large;"> I recently received a very thoughtful review of my book <em>Address Unknown</em> from a young reader. Her comments show her to be a caring individual and a good indication that we won't go wrong by placing hope and confidence in her generation. Below is her review.</span><br />
<br /><span style="font-size: large;">My Review of Address Unknown, by
Charles Warren<br /> <br /> Mr. Warren's book Address Unknown was great! I read it in
about 1 to 1 1/2 days, it was that interesting!<br /> I like to read books that you
could say are 'real world' type themes, like things that happen in the
world today, which is why I loved Address Unknown! I think it was a great
theme to write about.<br /> <br /> I am going to be completely honest, I loved the
book, but the beginning wasn't boring, not at all, it wasn't like
nothing happened, but not much did. I understand that you needed to portray
Marshall, Mindy, and<br />their Mother homeless, and that they will only be
homeless for five weeks, and that they needed to keep it a secret. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> The part
of the book when things were happening, like when Crystal stayed on
Marshall, repeatedly asking things like when she could see his new house, got
me thinking, and got me excited for the rest of the book. But during the
beginning, in my point of view, anyway, is that what happened mainly in the
beginning was a sort of routine, maybe? That is my only negative comment, the
rest of which I loved!<br /> <br /> Being 12 years of age, I have begun to
understand many forms of crisis' in our world, such as homelessness, and
things like that. I think it is important for people to be aware of
homelessness, whether it be just knowing about it, or deciding to start food
drives, donate money, or even if you are homeless for a temporary period
of time, to stay calm, not panic, and to realize hundreds of thousands of
people deal with this sort of thing every day! </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> Like I said, I like to read
about things that can happen in our world, so this book I particularly
enjoyed.<br /> <br /> All over all, I think you did an excellent job creating this
book! I love it, and I am sure other kids like me will enjoy this book
also.<br /> <br />Sincerely,<br /> <br />Ellie<br /> <br />(P.S. Thanks for signing my and
my sisters copy of your great book!)</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5432550513372181591.post-10038930884464047342012-02-14T10:19:00.000-05:002012-02-14T10:19:12.719-05:00Address Unknown Available on Kindle<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"><em>Address Unknown</em>, my novel about the struggles of a homeless student is now available for Kindle and many other eReaders through amazon.com. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">Praise for <em>Address Unknown</em>:</span><br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"> <span style="color: black; font-size: small;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="color: purple;">“Right on target with what homeless students and families go through.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><span style="color: purple;"> </span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dee Dee Wright, Homeless Liaison for Students in Polk County, Florida<o:p></o:p></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><o:p><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: purple;">"A compassionate and engrossing story about homelessness in America. Its vivid descriptions bring each character and scene to life, helping the reader to experience some of the pain and anxiety the homeless endure. I highly recommend 'this read'!! <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><span style="color: purple;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ms. Joyce K. Viscusi, MA, 28 years in education.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: purple;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><o:p><span style="color: black; font-size: small;"> </span></o:p><span style="color: purple;">This novel will help promote awareness and empathy for an ever growing problem that families often keep secret due to shame and fear.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is a great story and a timeless social commentary for students, teachers, and community members. </span></div><span style="color: purple;"> </span><span style="color: purple;">Bernice S. Warren, Elementary School Counselor for 30 years, National Board Certified</span><br />
<span style="color: purple;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><span style="color: black; font-size: small;"> </span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5432550513372181591.post-32854276597529589282012-01-09T15:44:00.000-05:002012-01-09T15:44:40.900-05:00My Novel: Address Unknown, the Story of a Homeless Teen Is Available<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">Many of you have been asking when my novel <em>Address Unknown</em> would be available. I am happy to report it can now be purchased on <a href="http://www.amazon.com/">www.amazon.com</a> and other outlets. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">This is a novel for middle grade students, eight to thirteen years old, about a boy who becomes homeless. Those who have read it give it high praise. I hope you will enjoy it as well.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5432550513372181591.post-73597860232429560352011-11-15T15:57:00.000-05:002011-11-15T15:57:55.394-05:00Resources for Bullying<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">Here are some very helpful websites for information on how to deal with bullying.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.pacerkidsagainstbullying.org/">www.PacerKidsAgainstBullying.org</a></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.stopbullyingnow.hrsa.gov/">www.StopBullyingNow.hrsa.gov</a></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.tolerance.org/">www.tolerance.org</a></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.stopcyberbullying.org/">www.StopCyberbullying.org</a></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.safeteens.com/">www.Safeteens.com</a></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">Do you know of others to share with us?</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5432550513372181591.post-72410962602836412232011-11-08T14:53:00.000-05:002011-11-08T14:53:49.376-05:00Do You Know If Your Child Is Being Bullied?<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"> Up to 160,000 students miss school every day to avoid being bullied. As many as 25% of students say they have been bullied in school. With such high numbers saying they have been bullied, how do you know if your child is one of them? </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"> It's not easy to know and it's not the first thing one usually thinks of when school isn't going well.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"> Following are some signs that parents should look for that are possible indications of being bullied. While bullying isn't always the answer, it is always something that should be included in the possible reasons for these symptoms.</span><br />
<br />
<ul><li><span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">Has his behavior changed lately? Is he more sullen, withdrawn?</span></li>
<li><span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">Are his grades going downhill?</span></li>
<li><span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">Does he not want to go to school? Is he often sick or not feeling well on school days?</span></li>
</ul><span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"><strong><u>What you can do if you suspect your child is being bullied</u></strong>:</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">Let him know it's not his fault-it's the bully that has the problem.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">Whether or not your child admits to being bullied, let him know that no one has the right to bully him. Encourage him to tell you and an adult at school if anyone bullies him. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">If your child isn't sure, have him answer these three questions:</span><br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">1. Did someone say or do something that made him feel bad or afraid?</span><br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">2. Has it happened more than once?</span><br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">3. Is that person bigger, older, or more powerful than your child?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">If the answer to these questions is "yes" then he is being bullied.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">Go on your local school board's website and learn what resources they have in place to deal with bully behavior and what their policies are. Work with school personnel to stop all forms of bullying.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">What has been your experience with bullying behavior? Do you have any suggestions to add that might be helpful to others?</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5432550513372181591.post-51618426708476816112011-10-28T08:57:00.001-04:002011-10-28T08:58:28.538-04:00Homeless Statistics Aren't Just Numbers, They Have Faces<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"> The numbers of homeless people continues to increase every year. In the 2008-2009 school year the Hearth Project identified 2,038 homeless students in Polk County, FL. In the 2009-2010 school year the number increased to 2,289. For the 2010-2011 school year it continued to increase to 2,453. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"> We must never forget that these are not just numbers. Each of the 2,453 has a face. Most of the homeless are single moms with small children. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"> My soon-to-be-published novel, <em>Address Unknown,</em> speaks to this issue and encourages discussion.<em> </em>Perhaps it will lead to more being done to assist those in this very difficult situation. That is my hope.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5432550513372181591.post-5370320678754313872011-10-04T15:12:00.001-04:002011-10-04T15:12:47.501-04:00Road Kill Snow Skiing<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"> I've been snow skiing one time. "Road Kill." That's what they called me. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"> As I struggled to the beginners class over snow and ice, skis clamped firmly in place, I had two "aha" moments: </span><br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"> 1) I would rather be walking barefoot across hot beach sand and </span><span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">2) do I have an up-to-date last will and testament? </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"> We beginners stood in a line facing the instructor. He told how to bend our knees and lean this way in order to go that way. He very gracefully demonstrated. Then it was our turn.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"> I bent my knees and leaned as instructed, but my skiis apparently weren't listening--they never went in the direction the graceful instructor said they would go. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"> I did learn how to stop. All you do is fall down. I practiced stopping more than I wanted to. I was good at it. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"> Often, when I stopped, the skiers behind me were surprised since we weren't practicing stopping at the time and, being beginners, they practiced stopping also--by running into me. Road kill.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"> The class grand finale was to go on a ski lift and ski down the "easy" beginners slope. For those of you who have never been skiing before let me tell you a secret they don't tell you until you are in line for the ski lift-<strong>the lift doesn't stop for you to get on.</strong> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"><strong> </strong>When your turn comes you have to hurry to position yourself so the lift chair hits you in the buttocks and you fall into the seat. It sounds easy, but here's the tricky part-you're wearing skiis. When I hurry, I practice stopping. You're not supposed to stop when in line for the lift.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: purple;"> Another secret they don't tell you until you are actually seated on the lift-<strong>it doesn't stop for you to get off.</strong></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"> Directions for getting off the ski lift:</span><br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"> 1. Jump.</span><br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"> 2. Land upright on your skis.</span><br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"> 3. Very quickly ski out of the way so the person seated behind you,</span><br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"> who will be jumping into</span><span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"> the very same spot you jumped, does not </span><br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"> land on your head. Falling is not recommended.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"> I do not remember skiing down the easy beginners slope. This should not come as a surprise--people who go through a traumatic event often can't remember anything they did while going through said event.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"> I wouldn't mind going to a ski resort again. But next time I'll watch the skiers from the lounge with a hot drink in my hand. And I won't have to worry about my last will and testament.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"> </span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5432550513372181591.post-25315086087221825372011-09-07T21:33:00.000-04:002011-09-07T21:33:44.306-04:00The Writer's Life<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"> It's not easy being a writer. Oh sure, you say, writers just sit around all day drinking coffee and thinking of cool things to write. How hard is that? </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"> It's hard. Really hard. First of all, drinking all that coffee requires a lot of bathroom breaks. So I write half a sentence and then get up for a break. By the time I return, I've forgotten what I was going to write so I start over. That's why you'll see many writers only using very short sentences. Meanwhile this blank page is staring at me, taunting me to write something really cool. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"> Pressure. There's lots of pressure in writing. And I don't mean just in the bladder. Think of the last time you read a book with a really scary scene. Well, here I am, sipping on a latte trying to think of a scary scene to write. Not just the scene, but the right words to make you feel really scared. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"> Finding the right words is a matter for our brains. But brains don't always cooperate. I know you've tried to think of something and couldn't: the name of a movie, the name of that guy you met ten minutes ago who's walking towards you right now and you need to introduce him to the person standing next to you, the names of your children; and your brain has locked it away so that you can barely see it, but not enough to remember it. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"> What was that actor's name? I know it started with a "P." ...Peter?...No, not Peter...Phillip?...No, that's not it...Patrick?...Maybe it starts with a "R"...Yeah, I think so...Robert?...No...Say, Hon, what was the name of that actor we saw in the movie last night?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"> "We didn't see a movie last night?"</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"> "What <strong>did</strong> we do last night?"</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"> "I can't remember either."</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"> "I think it started with 'B.'"</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"> Some brains are better at this than others. Some brains specialize. Names seems to be a favorite, but some lock away dates, or memories, or words. If you're a writer--it's words.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"> What does your brain lock away? And how do you retrieve it? While you're trying to remember, I'll go get another cup of coffee. </span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5432550513372181591.post-77240517769015949852011-08-24T15:25:00.001-04:002011-08-24T15:26:05.025-04:00My Neighbor Riley Talks to Outer Space<span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">At first glance, my friend Riley seems normal. He lives in a normal neighborhood. His wife and two children seem normal enough. But if you spend more than fifteen minutes with him, you would notice something wasn't quite right. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">One day I asked to borrow his weedeater. He grimaced so strongly I reached for my cell phone to call 911. But after a pause, though his grimace never quite left, he said, "Look, my weedeater isn't really a weedeater."</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">"But I saw you using it to eat weeds last week." </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">"That was a cover."</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">"Cover for what?"</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">"Can I trust you?" His eyes darted to his garage and back at me. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">"I'm pretty sure I can handle a basic weedeater."</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">"That's what I'm telling you." He leaned closer to me and raised a finger to make his point. He whispered, "My weedeater is more than what it seems. Can I trust you to not say anything to anyone?"</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">"About your weedeater?"</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">"Listen, my weedeater is really an antenna so I can talk to the space station."</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">"An antenna?"</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">"Right. I hook it up to my tool box."</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">"You're kidding."</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">"No, really. I'm dead serious." He poked me in the gut with his finger.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">"I think there are only Russians up there now," I said.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">"Trotski bulloski monotrilutski."</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">"What's that?"</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">"Russian."</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">"That was Russian?"</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">"Don't tell anyone."</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">"Does this mean I can't use your weedeater?"</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5432550513372181591.post-14394229923738644952011-08-19T14:43:00.000-04:002011-08-19T14:43:53.631-04:00Some Research is Stinky<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">I strive for accuracy, even when writing fiction. Research is as essential as water is to mud. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">Sometimes research doesn't work out.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">I wrote a children's novel about a young boy's encounter with fairies. To make sure I got it right, I purchased a book online-<em>My Life as a Fairy.</em> The postage stamp size book was too small to read. I couldn't turn the tiny little pages with my mortal person fingers. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">I placed an ad in the local paper asking for anyone who had seen or talked with a fairy to come forward for an interview. </span><span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">I received three responses. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">The first was a woman who wore a long dress and seemed to glide when she walked. She didn't make a sound walking across a wooden floor. I'm not sure her feet touched the ground. Maybe she wore roller skates. She has conversations with fairies in her fairy garden every night. She invited me to spend the night with her drinking the fairy juice she makes in her basement and talking to the fairies. I graciously declined.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">The second interview was with a big man, probably three hundred pounds. His arms were hairy and hair stuck out the top of the undershirt he wore. Colorful tattoes were plastered over his body. He had a soft, tiny angelic voice. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">He claimed fairies had saved his life when he crashed his motorcycle into a tree. The little ones had come with their little wash clothes and bandages and magic medicines and had healed him. The medicine changed his voice into a fairy voice. With tears in his eyes, he said in his tiny angry voice that shortly afterwards he was asked to leave the Hellion Bikers Club. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">The last interview was with a young woman who had been a fairy in a previous life. In fact, she was the queen fairy. I think this may have been true because she was bossy. She kept telling me where to sit which annoyed the other patrons of the coffee shop. "Sit there...no, over there, no..." </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">My latest attempt at research came from my book <em>Address Unknown. </em>The protagonist in <em>Address Unknown </em>creates an experiment for a science fair that causes havoc due to its smell. I needed to know whether or not his experiment really would cause such a stench. So I duplicated it in my back yard. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">I placed leftovers from meals in small plastic containers like those for individual servings of yogurt. Then I poured in milk to fill each one and sealed them. I trembled at the potential for stink inside each of these innocent looking vessels. Then I placed them in the sun to bake and rot and ferment. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">Ten days later I peeled off the first lid. The stench hit me like a bolt of electricity. I dropped the container and took rapid steps backwards. My eyes burned and I held my breath. I tried breathing by sipping air in through little openings I made with my lips. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">With stinging eyes and scorched lungs, I trembled from excitement at opening the other five. I wrapped a wet towel around my face and held my breath. I reached for the second, keeping it at arms length. I ripped off the lid. The putrid smell penetrated the towel, my clothes, my pores. I fought the urge to run far, far away. I was elated.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">I pulled off the third lid and thought surely I will die. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">I continued taking little short whimpy breathes. Each breath was as painful as pulling a tooth. I forced myself to sip in the stinky air. Ouch...ouch...ouch</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">Quickly, without thinking, I yanked off the three remaining lids. I didn't know you could see smell. A yellow, ugly, wavy cloud rose and spread through the neighborhood. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">Dog lovers know that dogs love foul smells and will roll, squirming with delight, on a dead rotted fish if they should be so lucky to come upon one. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">Every dog within a three block radius lifted his muzzle to the heavens and howled. It was reported later that all dogs in the smell zone flopped on his back and wriggled in ecstacy. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">I couldn't see out of my red swollon eyes and I had been weakened by the lack of life-sustaining air. I felt my way to the back door and quickly slipped into my house and into good air.</span><span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">A few minutes later a white van pulled up. Two men in astronaut suits and holding some kind of smell meter walked slowly to my back yard-the meter pointing their way. I watched them pick up each container with three foot tongs and place them in hi-tech impervious urns. They drove off with never a word to me. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">I was proud and filled with my own scientific prowess. I had triumphed.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">Some day, I feel sure, the neighbors will speak to me again. </span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5432550513372181591.post-16691566549173708932011-08-09T21:50:00.000-04:002011-08-09T21:50:22.204-04:00Loving Cats Too Much<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">I have a neighbor who loves cats. Too much. She brings strays home and turns them loose on the neighborhood. For some reason they gravitate to my yard. I don't know why. Hope it's not the fish pond.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">I felt sorry for them once and put out a saucer of milk. It was soy milk...with vanilla and multi-vitamins added. Cats, especially hungry cats, shouldn't be particular. A white liquid with the word "milk" in its name in a saucer should be good enough. They never touched it.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">My deck has become their Playboy Mansion. I can't tell if their night howling is from ecstasy or pain. Maybe it's just me--I never can tell. After the third litter had been born in my yard and cat urine overpowered the honeysuckle, I decided the time had come to close them down. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">I have some control of my back yard because it has a fence around it and I have some experience in making animals do what I want. The fence was an attempt to keep two black labradors and one brown cocker spaniel from destroying the neighborhood. This attempt turned out to be</span><span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"> a challenge of the human intellect versus animal drive and passion. Drive and passion won. I hoped this time would be different.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">I knew their two favorite places to enter the yard were from under the fence. I carefully blocked both openings and, after several failed attempts was successful in closing off their entryways. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">I came home one night and squealed to a stop in the driveway as a cat was having his way with a feline in the spot where I park. He was built like a boxcar and was not about to stop. He glared at the car daring it to come any closer. He won. I retreated to the house whispering mia culpas for the interruption.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">Yesterday I noticed a hole had been ripped into the fence at a different place. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">Human intellect versus animal passion--passion wins every time.</span><br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"> </span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5432550513372181591.post-82714465606007560842011-08-02T11:20:00.000-04:002011-08-02T11:20:47.891-04:00Six Universal Laws of Vacationing with Grandchildren<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">I recently spent a week with three grandchildren ages two, four and six. Some of what I observed happened so frequently and consistently, I believe they must demonstrate basic truths of spending time with small children. I share them with you in the hope that you will benefit from my experience.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">UL #1: Do not plan on sleeping in. Young children wake up fully wound up and ready to go. They do not need an alarm clock, wake-up call, or reason to get up early. Good luck with finding the time to brush your teeth and using the bathroom. If you're looking for a place to rent to vacation with small grandchildren, your first question should be, "Do the bathrooms have locks?" </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">UL #2: You cannot, under any circumstances, buy enough food. So you went to the store and bought enough food for a small city. Tomorrow you will need something else--not just anything else--something of unnatural importance, something you cannot be without, like air. The second question you should ask, "Is there a large grocery store nearby that is well stocked?"</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">UL #3: There are never enough adults. We had three adults and three children. The adults were hopelessly outnumbered. For one-half of a day we had five adults--that was a little better. No matter how many adults, the following will still happen: the two year old will disappear, he will climb somewhere the adults consider dangerous, he will run naked. The older children will crave your attention at the same time, will crave something to eat, drink, do, or watch. There will be moments when none of the adults will know where they are or what they are doing. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">UL #4: Grandmothers are indispensable. Grandfathers are fairly useless unless given a specific task by the aformentioned grandmother. Suggestion--if you're a grandfather without a wife--borrow, rent, kidnap, somehow find one to take along. Out of respect to other grandfathers out there, this may be my own personal law. You might have that innate ability to know what needs to be done and how to do it. I am missing that gene.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">UL #5: PBS Kids is the best baby sitter when you need a few minutes to prepare a meal or take a break. All of the PBS Kids shows have a calming effect and teach things like words and numbers. I suspect PBS Kids has some kind of tricky thingamabob that sends out hypnotic rays from your TV screen to hypnotize kids six and under. I don't care. The peace it brings is better than a glass of wine. Two glasses of wine.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">UL #6: A vacation with grandchildren is never as bad as Rules 1-5 make it sound. We played together, the two year old fell asleep in my arms, I held the four year old in my lap as we talked, and had some enlightening conversations with the six year old. I will cherish that week for a long time. And now I am wiser for next year. Of course they will be a year older and I'm sure will have a few new things to teach me.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5432550513372181591.post-8808926120561235232011-05-02T10:22:00.000-04:002011-05-02T10:22:24.194-04:00Developing Characters for Children's Literature<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"> Someone asked me recently how I develop characters in stories for and about children. That's a good question and it has caused me to look more closely at this process. Having only written two children's novels and a few short stories, I can't say that I have a long established system, but what I do has worked thus far.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"> Basically, my stories begin with the germ of an idea or theme. Then I expand the idea by asking "what if" questions and/or brainstorming using "clustering." </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"> "What if" questions might go as follows: (let's say the germ of an idea is that a young girl's mother dies and she's left to live with her father) We can ask--what if her father marries again; what if she has two mean daughters of her own; what if they make her do all the drudgery work; what if a handsome prince throws a ball looking for his princess; what if this young girl has a fairy godmother; etc. You get the point.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">"Clustering" means to brainstorm connecting words,and these can lead to more ideas. For example if we chose the word "magic." Associated words might be: disappear, change, magician, fairy godmother, wand, hat, rabbit, fairy, etc. Then go deeper by taking each word: fairy godmother--wand, help, kind, rescue, etc. This method can lead to new twists you hadn't thought of before.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">As the story develops, I decide on the protagonist: boy or girl, age, family, education, etc. and then go deeper. There are many good lists that are helpful to ask about the protagonist (and the antagonist) that get to her personality and faults. A list I like is in the book <em>Story Engineering </em>by Larry Brooks. He suggests questions such as:</span><br />
<ul><li><span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">What are her inner demons and how do they influence her actions and decisions?</span></li>
<li><span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">What is her worldview?</span></li>
<li><span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">What is her most secret yearning?</span></li>
<li><span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">And many others.</span></li>
</ul><span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">My characters and stories usually develop together, although she is usually well thought out in the early stages.</span><br />
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<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">Any writers have other thoughts on developing characters?</span><br />
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<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"> </span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5432550513372181591.post-80893217590935044092011-04-12T14:11:00.000-04:002011-04-12T14:11:20.690-04:00A Part of Life We Shall Not Know<div align="center"><span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">If, on a starlit night,</span></div><div align="center"><span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">with the moon brilliantly shimmering,</span></div><div align="center"><span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">we stay inside and do not venture out,</span></div><div align="center"><span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">the evening universe remains</span></div><div align="center"><span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">a part of life we shall not know.</span></div><div align="center"><span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">--Rev. Marni Harmony</span></div><div align="left"><br />
</div><div align="left"><span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">If we don't venture out into life, we will miss something of great value. This is true whether it is a starlit night or a stormy one, all of life has something to offer and value.</span></div><div align="left"><br />
</div><div align="left"><span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">I have a friend who loves questions. Questions push us to seek answers we might not otherwise have searched for. Here are a few questions we might ask ourselves:</span></div><ul><li><div align="left"><span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">What am I missing in my life that I regret not having?</span></div></li>
<li><div align="left"><span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">What am I missing that I want to pursue?</span></div></li>
<li><div align="left"><span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">What would I have to do in order to pursue that missing element?</span></div></li>
<li><div align="left"><span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">How would my life change if I took up the challenge to pursue it?</span></div></li>
<li><div align="left"><span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">What is keeping me from the thrill of pursuit?</span></div></li>
</ul><div align="left"><span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">I hope you pursue your dreams and love the journey.</span> </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5432550513372181591.post-87109019620661910982011-04-04T22:30:00.000-04:002011-04-04T22:30:25.569-04:00Art and Soul Festival<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"> If you'll be in Winter Haven, Florida on Saturday, April 16th be sure to come by the Art and Soul Festival located at 253 Avenue A, SW from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm. There will be over 50 artists, live music, poetry readings and numerous talks and discussions. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"> This Festival is being sponsored by the Drops of Jupiter Gallery and the Center for Personal Growth. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"> I will be speaking about two of my books<em>: Address Unknown</em> and <em>Unlikely</em> <em>Heroes</em>. Guaranteed to be lots of fun and interesting artsy things going on. I tend to want to have conversations rather than just talk myself. This gives the participants the opportunity to get what they want from the program and, hopefully, makes it more interesting for them.</span><br />
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<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">I hope to see you there. </span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5432550513372181591.post-27344954774215678432011-03-26T23:08:00.000-04:002011-03-26T23:08:27.333-04:00Helping the Bully<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"> We usually think of the bully as someone who should be punished for his bullying behavior, we don't have any desire to help him. When the bully is a child, however, without help to change that behavior, the bully has a good chance to grow into a criminal lifestyle. One study showed that 60% of boys who were bullies in middle school had at least one criminal conviction by age 24. Not good.</span><br />
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<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"> I am aware of one elementary school counselor taking a child who had made remarks about killing another person and working with him to help develop compassion and understanding for that person. It is too early to know how that child will turn out, but I would bet money that he now has a better chance of escaping an antisocial lifestyle.</span><br />
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<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"> Here are some ways to help the bully:</span><br />
<ul><li><span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">Don't minimize the problem, treat it seriously.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">Don't believe everything your child tells you--check out the facts.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">Try to find out why your child is exhibiting bullying behavior, get professional help if necessary.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">Let your child know that bullying behavior is not tolerated.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">Don't model bullying behavior, such as threats, slaps, etc.</span></li>
</ul><span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">This is the last of my series on bullying behavior. It has become a special interest of mine since a bully became a part of my novel <em>Address Unknown.</em></span><br />
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<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">Have you had an experience with bullying? I would be interested in hearing about it.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5432550513372181591.post-34029594719008803202011-03-07T16:13:00.000-05:002011-03-07T16:13:48.498-05:00Parents Should Be Aware of the Many Types of Bullying<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">I was happy to learn this past week that the White House is holding a conference on bullying. Perhaps this will give it the national attention it deserves. So often we pay attention to bullying when a tragedy has occured, too late to help the victims. We should be mindful of bullying at all times. </span><br />
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<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">In keeping with this, following are the types of bullying:</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">1. <u><strong>Physical Aggression</strong></u>: Hitting, pushing, kicking, spitting, stalking.</span><br />
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<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">2. <u><strong>Verbal Aggression</strong></u>: Name calling, teasing, insulting remarks, threatening, disrespecting a persons race, disability, appearance, religion, sexual orientation, or anything different about the person.</span><br />
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<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">3. <strong><u>Emotional Aggression</u></strong>: Spreading rumors, isolating a person from a peer group.</span><br />
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<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">4. <strong><u>Sexual Aggression</u></strong>: Unwanted sexual advances or actions intended to make the person uncomfortable, embarrassed, or humiliated, and might include obscenities or gestures, exposure or physical contact.</span><br />
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<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">5<strong>. <u>Cyber Bullying</u>:</strong> Using the internet, interactive and digital technologies or mobile phone to communicate words, images, or language to willfully harm a person as described above.</span><br />
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<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">Any thoughts about bullying? I would love to hear from you.</span> Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5432550513372181591.post-43689554227295289482011-02-15T20:40:00.000-05:002011-02-15T20:40:43.415-05:00What is Bullying? <span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">Exactly what is bullying? It's good to have an idea what constitutes bullying behavior so one can recognize it when it happens. We shouldn't dismiss this behavior as "just kid stuff" when it is in reality harmful. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">A good place to find a definition is from the school system as they deal with this behavior on a daily basis. The Polk County School System in Florida defines bullying behavior as needing to meet three criteria: </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"> 1. </span><span style="font-family: TTE1B9D4F0t00;"><span style="font-family: TTE1B9D4F0t00;"><span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">A behavior must be unwanted, offensive, </span><span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">threatening, insulting, </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: TTE1B9D4F0t00;"><span style="font-family: TTE1B9D4F0t00;"><span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"> humiliating, or interferes </span><span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">with the individual’s school performance</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: TTE1B9D4F0t00;"><span style="font-family: TTE1B9D4F0t00;"><span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"> which results in the victim feeling </span><span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">stressed, injured, or threatened.</span></span></span><span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<div align="left"><span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"> </span></div><div align="left"><span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"> 2. There must be an imbalance of power </span><span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">between the victim and the</span></div><div align="left"><span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"> aggressor.</span></div><span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"> 3. The behavior must be repeated.</span><br />
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<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"> This seems to me to be a comprehensive and helpful definition.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"> In future blogs I'll look at other facets of bullying and what we can do about it.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">Meanwhile, if you have any thoughts or experiences with bullying, I would appreciate hearing from you.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5432550513372181591.post-29964531572717047062011-01-24T17:04:00.001-05:002011-01-24T17:07:44.428-05:00Write with Passion<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"> I returned last week from the annual Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators conference in Miami. It was a great conference with plenty of agents,editors, and successful writers to meet and learn from. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"> One of the best sessions was taught by Sarah Davies, an agent with the Greenhouse Literary Agency. She emphasized writing stories that take your breath away, that make the reader contemplate the human condition and to think--What if...?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"> She absolutely sold me. My goal is to write with passion and to write stories that make one pause, that make one see in a new way, that make one feel a connection to the characters. Not an easy task, and I know it won't be easy for me; but I want to do this. So there it is--my goal for this year. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"> Have you read any stories lately that took your breath away? I would love to hear about them.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5432550513372181591.post-85604753435582052011-01-10T12:29:00.000-05:002011-01-10T12:29:09.578-05:00Communication Without Evaluation<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"> Nonviolent communication requires that we learn to separate our observations from evaluations. While this may seem easy, it is not. For most of us, when we observe others and their behavior, we too frequently add our evaluation to the observation.</span><br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"> For example, suppose while walking along a city street I see a man sitting on the sidewalk. His clothes are disheveled and dirty, his hair a mess, and he sports several days growth of beard. I most likely would think that he is homeless and has a drug and/or alcohol problem. I have added my evaluation of him to my observation. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"> Or, my teenage child has not cleaned her room in months. In trying to get her to clean the room, I might tell her, among other things, "You are lazy."</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"> Here, again, I have added my evaluation to my observation. The problem is that all she is going to hear from me is the criticism-"you are lazy." This will lead to hurt feelings and, possibly, an argument. If I had just kept to an observation without the evaluation by saying, "You have not cleaned your room in months" we would have a better chance of discussing the situation and working out a solution. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"> Also, claiming she is lazy does not take into account other areas where she shows effort, perhaps school or sports.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">Other examples of how to omit the evaluation:</span><br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">--With evaluation: Tom is a poor baseball player.</span><br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"> Without evaluation: Tom hasn't had a hit in the last five games.</span><br />
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<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">--With evaluation: You are always too busy for me.</span><br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"> Without evaluation: The last three times I have asked to speak with you, you said you didn't have time. </span><br />
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<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">--With evaluation: _____ (name your group of people) are lazy.</span><br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"> Without: The _______ family at 213 Main Street haven't cut their grass in two months.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">To avoid evaluations in conversation be specific as to the behavior and the situation. By avoiding evaluation we learn to speak more accurately and with less criticism, thereby increasing the likelyhood that the other person will hear us and not respond angrily to our being critical.</span><br />
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<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">What do you think? </span> <span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">Using evaluation in our conversation seems to be ingrained in our culture. For me, it is difficult to stop evaluating. Difficult, but something worth doing.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5432550513372181591.post-79774298904591978602011-01-04T23:02:00.000-05:002011-01-04T23:02:50.731-05:00Communication That Blocks Compassion and Alienates People<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"> "She is soooo lazy." </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"> "He is the most selfish person I know." </span><br />
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<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"> Language such as this "traps us in a world of ideas about rightness and wrongness-a world of judgements." So says Marshall Rosenberg in his works on nonviolent communication. I agree. When we judge others, we cut ourselves off from a compassionate relationship with that person.</span><br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"> We also become preoccupied with who's right or wrong, good or bad, smart or ignorant. Not a helpful way to look at others. I know. I have been plenty judgemental in my life. Trying to change to a more compassionate outlook is not easy because we are taught to think and talk in a judgemental manner early in life. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"> We should not confuse value judgements with moralistic judgements. Value judgements are those qualities we hold dear in our lives; we make moralistic judgements of those people who fail to live up to our values.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"> Other forms of communication that blocks compassion include: comparing others or ourselves; denial of responsibility-we are each responsibility for our own thoughts and feelings; making demands of others; and the concept that certain actions deserve rewards and others deserve punishment. Concerning this last concept-it is in our society's interest that people change not to avoid punishment,but because they see the change as benefiting themselves. </span><br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"> Rather than being judgemental, Dr. Rosenberg believes that we would be better served if we focused on what our needs are and what others needs are and whether or not those needs are being met. When we are in contact with our feelings and needs, we open ourselves up to compassionate relationships with others. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"> How can we begin to communicate and think in a more compassionate manner? That is the topic of the next blog.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"> Do you see yourself as being judgemental? Tell me about it. I would love to hear from you. </span><br />
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<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"> </span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0