Tuesday, July 17, 2012

FOR EACH TIME A MAN OR WOMAN STANDS UP...

"Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and during those ripples builds a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and injustice." 
 given
Robert F. Kennedy"
narative of a speech given in South Africa


From - Narrative of the Life and Times of Frederick Douglass

I now understood what had been to me a most perplexing difficulty—to wit, the white man’s power to enslave the black man. It was a grand achievement, and I prized it highly. From that moment, I understood the pathway from slavery to freedom. ... Though conscious of the difficulty of learning without a teacher, I set out with high hope, and a fixed purpose, at whatever cost of trouble, to learn how to read." Frederick Douglass, aged about 10, after hearing his master say teaching him to read "would forever unfit him to be a slave."

What was the administrator's power to enslave the teacher? We think it was using terror to figuratively lobotomize our teachers so they would stop thinking. We propose that the solution that worked for the slaves, will work for teachers - READ. It will unfit you to be an abused slave and bring you back to your calling that made you want to be a teacher in the first place. We suggest you start with BREAKING THE SILENCE, the revolutionary book by Joseph and Jo Blase. It will not only help you see how this system insidiously controls your mind, but it will help you see what we are doing to children by not being the adults and taking a stand against abuse. Together we can sweep down this wall of oppression and injustice.

READ. READ. READ... Read our web site(s). Read the teacher stories. Learn the politics by going through the POLITICS section. Come back as many times as it takes to get through it and read new information each time. Our REFERENCES page will have a continually growing list of books and links that will help give you insight and support to stay in your power and not let fear drive your decision making. A critical mind is the only protection againt propaganda, a speciality of this system. Learn about your situation and about yourself and draw strength from this knowledge. Books and our web site will empower you. Visits other sites that offer support and knowledge to stay strong.

Learn who your enemies are. Yes they are real. As you read about the union and think beyond the hype, you will see that they empower our administrators to abuse us. There is a lot of information on this site explaining their priorities that do not add up to caring about teacher abuse, and instead prove that they have a vested interest in its existence. This information includes teacher testimonial about how they have let them down or even sabotaged their cases. Become wise and you will regain the reins for your own life.

Contact teacher friends who have stories to tell, and encourage them to send them in to us. The more we have, the more we have to be believed. Once believed, the system will be forced to change. This is all too outrageous and it only can exist in the darkness. Shine a light on it any way you can.

The courage you need is in you, buried under the scars of abuse that our school systems have so successfully created in you to keep you under their tyrannical control. If your district objects to the t-shirt, ask them why. If they have rules about all t-shirts, then wear them only to events where t-shirts are acceptable. If they object due to the message, ask them why? If they do not abuse teachers, why would they object to you being part of a group that wants to eradicate teacher abuse? Their objection to your wearing it speaks for itself. Let us know the name of the district that prohibits them. Don't be afraid to speak up about it.

Get your friends to wear t-shirts with the message. Get the message out as well as start breaking the silence. You will find many people who support ending teacher abuse once the topic is public. You can help make it public, and help yourself at the same time.

 Emotional support is very important and we find that family members can only hear so much about this topic before they stop listening. But other abused teachers welcome conversation about teacher abuse as it helps them heal too. Contact us and we will provide you with support buddies as well as give you support from our staff.

Tell everyone about our web site(s), and encourge people interested in donating to a worthy cause, to donate money to us. This might include businesses you frequent as well as family members. Everyone has an interest in the future of our country. This is important to everyone.

Contact your former university or college and make sure at least their teacher education department knows about teacher abuse, NAPTA, and our web site. Spread the word.

Students and Parents will benefit from all of the above. In addition, contact us for consultation regarding specific problems with your children dealing with our schools. From us you will get advice that is based on our professional knowledge, as well as our willingness to speak truthfully about what you need to help your child, or reality. You will not get appropriate advice from anyone oppressed by the terror, or lining their pockets with the failure of our schools. We are the authentic teachers that care about and know how to help children. If you have any doubt about the political climate of your school, contact us and we will help your through the intentional obstacles in place with our candid, practical advice. We will also match you up with a teacher informed in the particular area and grade level of concern for a phone consultation.

Turn to your religion and/or to spirituality to stay in the eye of the hurricane throughout this abuse. Some things that happen in this life cannot be explained. Teacher abuse seems impossible. Why would the people who care so much about others be treated so badly? The main reason it is happening is because it can. People have choices between good and evil and there is more opportunity in education for all the reasons we explain on the site. Wherever there is opportunity, there will be greed. There are just some things that can only be understood through spiritual avenues and if you haven't developed it before, you need to now. We will have many book suggestions for spirituality. Your religious leader can suggest books also.

AS WORKPLACE ABUSE ESCALATES
WHY DON'T WE WORKING PEOPLE CONFRONT IT COLLECTIVELY?

by Judith L. Wyatt.
We are all in psychotic denial when due to speed up on the treadmill of daily life we don't confront the assaults on our freedoms, and we don't admit how bad work abuse is getting. Presently, as things get worse, we hang on tighter to whatever we've been doing -- we do it harder, even though it isn't working, rather than to stop, look at the situation and take action to prevent what's inevitable.

1 in 10 New Yorkers Has PTSD
Trauma of Sept. 11 Lingers in Wide NYC Area

-- More than one in 10 New York-area residents suffer lingering stress and depression in the aftermath of the attack on the World Trade Center, new research shows.


After correcting for background levels, the study suggests that the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks resulted in an extra 532,240 cases of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in the New York City metropolitan area. The study -- conducted two months after the disaster -- appears in the Aug. 7 issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association.

Many psychologists predicted that the trauma of watching the Sept. 11 events on television would cause a wave of PTSD to sweep the nation. The study shows no evidence of this, even though television watching was associated with a high degree of distress.

"That is a piece of good news for the country as a whole, but we find an important public-health problem for New York City," researcher William E. Schlenger, PhD, tells WebMD. "There is a substantial PTSD problem well beyond the downtown area. PTSD is quite high in all five boroughs of the city as well as in the suburbs of New Jersey and Connecticut."

When you are directly in it, it can effect you. Have compassion for others too.

You may be directly in a situation that causes PTSD - teacher abuse. Do not minimize its effects. Stay on top of your mental health by saying no to teacher abuse. You may think you can live in an abusive situation without consequences, but it has a way of seeping into your psyche unless you are proactive. That is why you have to learn about it, address it, and protect yourself by refusing to be a victim. Remember, even if you are not being abused, watching colleagues while doing nothing is an affront to you too. Also, the things you do to play it safe, and the compromises you make to stay on the good side of the abusers, slowly strangle your sense of power, making you a victim too. BE A SURVIVOR. 

Author Rene Dietrich describes Herself as: ART SOLDIER! Artist, Writer, Poet, Teacher, Scholar, Editor, Advocate for Students/Teachers, Education Activist, Emberrorist, Proletariate, Bad Speller with Joan of Arc Complex. Single mom with one very fine young son and usually a few strays in tow. I like books, readings, MAC (mad art APPs No Bill Gates), independent films (Baxter, Vagabond, wings of Desire, Dark City, City of God, Brazil) experimental theater, exceptional music: Cohen, Morrisons, Cave, Cale, Coletrain, Winehouse, VU, QT soundtracks, Miles, and Iggy.

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This is the fight of our professional careers. Are You In or Out?

What's taking so long? This is the fight of our professional careers. Are You In or Out? "Hell has a special level for those who sit by idly during times of great crisis."
Robert Kennedy

The Art of SETTING LIMITS, Its not as easy as it looks.

Art of Setting Limits Setting limits is one of the most powerful tools that professionals have to promote positive behavior change for their clients, students, residents, patients, etc. Knowing there are limits on their behavior helps the individuals in your charge to feel safe. It also helps them learn to make appropriate choices.


There are many ways to go about setting limits, but staff members who use these techniques must keep three things in mind:
Setting a limit is not the same as issuing an ultimatum.
Limits aren’t threats—If you don’t attend group, your weekend privileges will be suspended.

Limits offer choices with consequences—If you attend group and follow the other steps in your plan, you’ll be able to attend all of the special activities this weekend. If you don’t attend group, then you’ll have to stay behind. It’s your decision.
The purpose of limits is to teach, not to punish.
Through limits, people begin to understand that their actions, positive or negative, result in predictable consequences. By giving such choices and consequences, staff members provide a structure for good decision making.
Setting limits is more about listening than talking.
Taking the time to really listen to those in your charge will help you better understand their thoughts and feelings. By listening, you will learn more about what’s important to them, and that will help you set more meaningful limits.
Download The Art of Setting Limits

SYSTEMATIC USE OF CHILD LABOR


CHILD DOMESTIC HELP
by Amanda Kloer

Published February 21, 2010 @ 09:00AM PT
category: Child Labor
Wanted: Domestic worker. Must be willing to cook, clean, work with garbage, and do all other chores as assigned. No contract available, payment based on employer's mood or current financial situation. No days off. Violence, rape, and sexual harassment may be part of the job.

Would you take that job? No way. But for thousands of child domestic workers in Indonesia, this ad doesn't just describe their job, it describes their life.

A recent CARE International survey of over 200 child domestic workers in Indonesia found that 90% of them didn't have a contract with their employer, and thus no way to legally guarantee them a fair wage (or any wage at all) for their work. 65% of them had never had a day off in their whole employment, and 12% had experienced violence. Child domestic workers remain one of the most vulnerable populations to human trafficking and exploitation. And while work and life may look a little grim for the kids who answered CARE's survey, it's likely that the most abused and exploited domestic workers didn't even have the opportunity to take the survey.

In part, child domestic workers have it so much harder than adults because the people who hire children are more likely looking for someone easy to exploit. Think about it -- if you wanted to hire a domestic worker, wouldn't you choose an adult with a stronger body and more life experience to lift and haul and cook than a kid? If you could get them both for the same price, of course you would. But what if the kid was cheaper, free even, because you knew she wouldn't try and leave if you stopped paying her. Or even if you threatened her with death.



Congress Aims to Improve Laws for Runaway, Prostituted Kids

by Amanda Kloer

categories: Child Prostitution, Pimping

Published February 20, 2010 @ 09:00AM PT

The prospects for healthcare reform may be chillier than DC weather, but Democrats in the House and Senate are turning their attention to another warmer but still significant national issue: the increasing number of runaway and throwaway youth who are being forced into prostitution. In response to the growing concerns that desperate, runaway teens will be forced into prostitution in a sluggish economy, Congress is pushing several bills to improve how runaway kids are tracked by the police, fund crucial social services, and prevent teens from being caught in sex trafficking. Here's the gist of what the new legislation is trying to accomplish:

Shelter: Lack of shelter is one of the biggest vulnerabilities of runaway and homeless youth. Pimps will often use an offer of shelter as an entree to a relationship with a child or a straight up trade for sex. In the past couple years, at least 10 states have made legislative efforts to increase the number of shelters, extend shelter options, and change state reporting requirements so that youth shelters have enough time to win trust and provide services before they need to report the runaways to the police. Much of the new federal legislation would make similar increases in the availability and flexibility of shelter options.

Police Reporting: Right now, police are supposed to enter all missing persons into the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database within two hours of receiving the case. In reality, that reporting doesn't always get done, making it almost impossible for law enforcement to search for missing kids across districts. This hole is a big problem in finding child prostitution victims and their pimps, since pimps will often transport girls from state to state. The new bill would strengthen reporting requirements, as well as facilitate communication between the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and the National Runaway Switchboard

We Must Never Forget These Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen and Women

We Must Never Forget These Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen and Women
Nor the Fool Politicians that used so many American GIs' lives as fodder for the fight over an english noun - "Communism"