"... for (in a democracy) it is not enough to allow dissent, rather... we must demand it!" Robert Kennedy 1966. All material appearing in this hole are offered in the public domain and may be reproduced. However, this publication may not be reproduced for a fee without permission. This blog is not for profit. WE ARE NOT AFILIATED WITH ANY SCHOOL DISTRICT, LABOR UNION, SCHOOL BOARD, or COLLECTIVE. WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO INSULT THEM ALL! Proudly, we are NOT Owned by Rupert Murdoch or the CTA!
No way does JulieAnn Stewart-Cleaveland want the utility company to snuff out thousands of the community's neighborhood streetlights.
Especially now, when public safety is uppermost in everyone's mind on her street, not far from where Norma Lopez, 17, was kidnapped and killed earlier this month, she said.
But the city could get darker if homeowners don't approve a $15 annual fee hike to keep 8,500 residential streetlights ablaze. That works out to an additional $1.33 per month that would be included on the 2010-11 property tax bill.
Stewart-Cleaveland, 42, a mother of six, is going to vote "yes" on the ballot she will return to the city clerk's office.
"I think the community needs to wake up," she said. "We need more streetlights."
Ballots are due by Sept. 14, and as the deadline draws closer, she plans to rally homeowners to turn in their ballots to approve the rate increase.
Story continues below
Special to The Press-Enterprise
Warnings are being posted on Moreno Valley streetlights saying that without a fee increase, they will be turned off.
This is the second time Moreno Valley voters have been asked to consider the rate increase.
In June 2009, the city held an election seeking approval from homeowners to increase fees from about $24 to $39 a year to pay for streetlights. But only 6,000 of 40,000 property owners returned ballots. Those who did rejected the proposed rate hike by a ratio of more than 2-to-1.
Utility rates have nearly doubled since 2006. Known as the Zone B charge, the fee funds electrical energy, maintenance and administration costs to provide residential streetlight services.
"We don't make a profit," said Councilman Richard Stewart. "It's a fee, it's not a tax. We pass the money on to Edison. If we started paying all the fees that property owners are assessed, it would cut into our police and fire protection."
In hopes of getting the word out, the city spent $40,000 to print and distribute 40,000 door hangers, 1,000 fliers and 2,500 residential street signs.
"We want people to return their ballots," said Sharon Cassel, the city's special districts division manager.The ballots must be returned no later than 6:30 p.m. Sept. 14, to Zone B Ballot, City Clerk's office, 14177 Frederick St., Moreno Valley, CA92553."Edison has a stranglehold on us," Stewart said. "Everything is a Catch-22. No matter what the option, shut off lights, take out poles, turn off some of them, there's a charge."
Turning off the streetlights temporarily would cost $360,000. After six months, the Public Utilities Commissionrequires them to be turned back on, costing another $400,000.
"I'd feel safer knowing we have streetlights," said Moreno Valley resident Gwendolyn Cross, who hasn't yet returned her ballot. "It would be utterly ridiculous to turn them off."
Starting today (July 1), every Finnish citizen now has a guaranteed legal right to a least a 1Mbps broadband connection, putting it on the same footing as other legal rights in the country such as healthcare and education.
As we reported last year, Finland was the first nation in the world to pass this type of legislation, followed by Spain in November.
The Finish government has promised guaranteed speeds of 100Mbps by 2015 for all of its citizens, and currently about 97% of Finns already have access to broadband connections."
Disenfranchised - The removal of the rights and privileges inherent in an association with a group;the taking away of the rights of a free citizen, especially the right to vote. Sometimes called disenfranchisement.
For us Tech Teads
THE FOLLOWING IS A REPRINT
December 19, 2006
An Open Letter to the Rank and File Members of the National Education Association
Dear Fellow Educators
On November 21, 2006 the Educator Roundtable launched an online petition drive to repeal the 2002 reauthorization of ESEA, the so called No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). The response to the petition has been exceptional; in less than 30 days more than 20,000 signatures have been collected, all via the Internet without media support.
Unfortunately, the national leadership of the NEA has come out against our efforts to repeal this disastrous legislation, legislation that diminishes the professionalism of teachers, cedes local control of classrooms to federal and corporate manipulation, and, most distressingly, subjects our children to an endless regimen of high-stakes tests that provide little, if any, benefit to their lives.
Aside from being an ineffective way to educate children, the new educational culture of NCLB is patently destructive. Our children, in lieu of being prepared for contributive citizenship in our democracy, or even being prepared for the world of work, are being reduced to nothing more than passers of minimum competency tests. Your teaching is being judged only on whether you can bring your lowest performing students to meet the lowest of expectations on simplistic reading and mathematics tests, at the expense of all else -- including your best and brightest. For what purpose then does public schooling exist? Do we school to help all children develop into critical, reflective, engaged participants of their communities, or do we school to try to meet the expectations of ill-informed legislators and lobbyists who clearly have no interest in your children?
Considering the dire consequences unfolding for public educators, students, their families, and the communities housing them, one would think that the NEA would be the foremost voice of opposition to NCLB. Instead of demanding that America's classrooms be free from corporate intrusion, the NEA's leadership offers a watered-down approach seeking only to mitigate a few of the law's more egregious effects.
For the past four years the NEA leadership has failed to see the proverbial forest for the trees and, in so doing, has failed the very teachers it purports to represent. Now, when concerned educators and their supporters organize themselves to oppose reauthorization of the law, we are denied out of hand by the leaders of an organization that should be our greatest ally. Sadly, we have arrived at a time when the leadership that once protected our interests is willing to dismiss them in order to protect its own.
In contrast to their policy, the members and supporters of the Educator Roundtable, now 20,000 strong, are acting in the original spirit of unionism, organizing many small voices into a meaningful wave of self-advocacy. The Educator Roundtable asks teachers and their supporters to speak openly about the impact of the No Child Left Behind Act. We encourage everyone with a stake in public educationand that is everyoneto engage in a vigorous, heartfelt debate about what we want for public education and what we want for our children and our future.
In order to allow this broad debate to carry forward towards real education reform, we seek to end the current format of ESEA. We do not want to simply and stubbornly oppose the law without proposing "any positive changes or alternatives," as the NEA leadership accuses us, but we must establish an environment where open debate is possiblean environment free of NCLBto move beyond the original ESEA to the betterment of our children rather than the destruction of public education. The key to this effort is, of course, openness, amongst ourselves, with the public, and with millions of disenfranchised educators both within and without the NEA.
While it appears that openness is not the policy of the NEA leadership at present, we hold faith that the rank and file members of the NEA are able to think for themselves, and we encourage them to read our public statements and to sign our petition. It might comfort them to know that many union members are sitting at our roundtable; several have been paying dues since the late 1960s. We hope you recognize that when leaders make mistakes, their supporters must make tough decisions, holding leadership accountable for the paths they choose.
It would be a different country if more Americans learned to do so.
The NEA has chosen to initiate a national campaign to discredit our organization, urging their members not to sign the petition. We believe that teachers, union members or not, are tired of being told what to do, when to do it, and how it is best done. If you share our belief, we urge you to join us by signing the petition calling for an end to NCLB.
This letter was submitted by the Educator Roundtable. The Educator Roundtable is an organization made up of teachers, parents, students, and educators with a shared vision for our public schools that preserves the ideals of vibrant and meaningful teaching and learning. We join the thousands of teachers who find it impossible to stay silent in the face of the destructive path of NCLB, and we will not be deterred by the leadership of an organization that ignores the voices of its own members.
Please direct all inquiries to Dr. Philip Kovacs, Director of the Educator Roundtable, at www.educatorroundtable.org .
Walk through any airport in America and the passengers know. Don't joke about bringing bombs on the plane. Enter any public school, and the students know, too. Don't talk about bringing a gun.
Schools, once thought of as the safest place for children, are no longer the impenetrable havens they once were. In an era where school shootings, beatings, rapes and campus riots have become not only reality, but for some the norm, campus safety is no joke.
Some experts say schools have become too vigilant. Others say not enough. And school officials nationwide are erring on the side of caution, taking any and all threats the only way they can seriously.
In San Bernardino, two second-grade boys at North Park Elementary School, the same school where a first-grader brought an unloaded gun to school last month, were disciplined this week for making drive-by threats despite the fact both are too young to drive.
At Victor Valley High School, a 16-year-old girl reported she was jumped by a dozen other girls this week on the way to class. (These things happen so often that most of the overworked police departments won't take a report unless someone is seriously hurt, OR, a parent really pushes the issue. And so the perpetrators simply seek out there next victim with impunity.)
A Canyon Springs High School Freshman is offered to buy pot four times in a single day.
In the Coachella Valley, a 10-year-old girl was raped in the bathroom of her elementary school, an attack that has rattled school officials and caused major changes in the campus' day-to-day operations.
In Moreno Valley, the campus assigned police officer is assaulted by two youths as he chases a know drug dealer across campus. Principal refuses to expel. No uninvolved parents are informed.
Since the tragic mass shooting at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., in 1999 that left 15 dead and 23 wounded, schools have changed the way they view campus security. Security cameras have gone up.
Visitors must sign in and out and wear badges.
Reports of terrorist threats, no matter how seemingly insignificant, are always investigated. Herb Fischer, superintendent of schools for San Bernardino County, said any and all threats to student safety will be taken seriously by school officials. Unfortuneatly, he is hugely misinformed. Placating words are said in public but that 'truth' lies miles from the truth that exists on all high school campuses. Riverside county is bad but San Bernardino is much worse .He also said schools are entering a new era of openness and striving to let parents know whenever (OR WHEREVER) dangerous or suspicious incidents occur.
"With heightened awareness of school-safety issues nationwide, I applaud them for that," Fischer said. "They are working to assure parents that our schools are being as open as possible and at the same time as cautious as possible." Still many districts go to great lengths to pretend their campus are not getting out of control.
A number of school safety summits sponsored by local legislators have been held in the past few months. The county Probation Office has developed a special gang-intervention plan and has made a commitment to work with all county schools, Fischer said.
Gary Underwood, police chief of the San Bernardino City Unified School District, said that since Columbine, the universal police doctrine for responding to a shooter on campus has changed.
In addition to surveillance cameras and controlling who has access to campus, stronger ties to school (Counselors) have been adopted in order to evaluate kids who may be troubled.
Controlling visitor access can be more difficult in Western states where schools are laid out in an open, sprawling fashion, as opposed to East Coast schools, which are typically built in one building with several levels.
Newer campuses typically have only one entry point, which is easier to police, as opposed to older schools, which may have several, Underwood said. Regardless in California, Arnold continues to cut from schools budgets. Campus security is being cut just as Violence is rising dramatically - and Arnold touches up his new make over as a "real conservative," causing untold numbers of students daily suffering and even hospital visits. Where most could have been prevented just seven or eight years ago.
All threats taken seriously ?
Two second-grade boys at North Park Elementary School in San Bernardino were disciplined this week for making threats off-campus about a drive-by shooting, district officials said.
District spokeswoman Linda Hill confirmed the students were disciplined but would not elaborate, citing student privacy laws.
"We want our parents to know the district takes any threat to students' safety seriously," Hill said. School board trustee Tony Dupre, speaking from a conference in Las Vegas, saidhe was unaware of any incidents at the elementary school but that the district must respond swiftly to threats under the Education Code, even if no weapon is seen. (Either Mr. Dupre is lieing, most likely, or has no idea what happens every day in his schools.)
"We cannot take that lightly, and the student will be ultimately recommended for suspension or possible expulsion," Dupre said.Still vehemently denying that it happens in his district. (Anytime a politician is "vehement" about anything they are lying to cover their ass.) But READ THIS :
The district can be held liable if threats are made, it takes no action, and then the student later acts on the threats. That's why administrators try to persuade the parent's of victims not to press charges and a few (a small number of) lazy cops due the same. Most police I've met are a victims advocate in these situations.
Trustee Elsa Valdez, whose 6-year-old granddaughter attends North Park, said that as a veteran educator, the incident involving the two boys disturbed her. (Why do these trustees act as if this was isolated? It happens nearly everyday in some districts.)
"We had to look into it," she said. "I was concerned about it. And if there were rumors here (lying there are) like at Beaumont, I would probably keep my granddaughter home as well. As a parent or grandparent, you can't afford to take any chances." (No trustee ever gets involved except to call the appropriate administrator to "make sure" the matter was dealt with.)
At Victor Valley High, a 16-year-old student claimed she was jumped by a dozen or so other students on her way to class. The school resource officer is investigating the attack, said sheriff's spokeswoman Shelley Williams. "The girl claimed she was jumped by other girls, and we've investigated," said Principal Elvin Momon."So far, it looks like two girls fighting and nothing more." (OH NO MR. BILL! THIS PARENTHESIS JERK IS RIGGHHTTT!)
(A similar response was given by a Moreno Valley Middle School Principal one of whose female 13 year-old students was physically attacked while walking home in a choreographed effort by two high school girls. All this was witnessed by other students and the perpetrators' mother sat in her car watching. The schools staff those who know about it have been forbidden to talk about it to parents. In fact his reply to the incident was "that girl isn't perfect either." that's right folks. SHE HAD A BROKEN NOSE! I know. I was the one who questioned him on it. I was the one who walked the victim part way home for the rest of the week. By the way the very nearby high school also refused to take action. FURTHER with all the fine officers on the MVPD some of whom are my personal friends, the one who showed talked the victim's father OUT of pressing charges.)
The community's issues sometimes end up on campus and educators don't know what they will get on a daily basis, he said. Administrators and campus security must listen to and look for signs that are out of the ordinary and be prepared to respond to almost anything.
But if someone says they'll bring a gun onto campus, all bets are off, Momon said
"We're gonna react," he said. Still, as has happened numerous times in Moreno Valley the parents WILL NOT be informed.
Doing things differently
At Palm View Elementary in Coachella, no student goes to the restroom alone. A school employee has been dispatched to monitor the bathrooms full time.
A 10-year-old girl reported that she was sexually assaulted in a bathroom during school hours within the last 10 days, said Principal Maria Grieve. The Riverside County Sheriff's Department, which is investigating the incident, have no suspects yet.
"We have totally changed the way we do things," Grieve said. The school district is providing a full-time security guard for the campus. More yard supervisors have been added, and two will stay throughout the school day.
Parents have also volunteered to monitor the office door to ensure campus visitors sign in. That's in addition to it being monitored by a school secretary.
"There's been a shift in our society and parental responsibility almost to the point of us raising their children for them," Grieve said. (This is a true statement backed by one or more US Supreme court rulings) "We have some parents who see us as a baby-sitting service. That's why more of them (children) are joining gangs. They want to belong to a family, and gangs become a substitute family."
Widespread campus violence
Violence has plagued the region's school campuses in the last six months, and it is not limited to shootings. Among the incidents was a fight at A.B. Miller High School in January in which 20 students were detained by police. Pacific High School has seen a spate of fighting since the beginning of the school year.
On Jan. 9, rumors kept roughly half of Beaumont High School's 1,500 students from coming to school after Internet-chatroom conversations indicated some students might bring firearms to school. A month later, shots were fired in a Beaumont neighborhood, causing a short lockdown at five nearby schools. Last month, Beaumont High School had its worst fight in recent history when a brawl broke out after a school assembly.
"We've become a society very afraid of violence, and it's hit close to home in this general area," said Karen Poppen, an assistant superintendent for the Beaumont Unified School District. "This is not just a school problem, it's a community problem. The question is how do we come together and how are we going to solve this?"
Last fall, the school district began working with Beaumont police, and training for district security officers has improved along with the level of security as a whole, Poppen said.
Earlier this month, interim Superintendent Nicholas Ferguson began holding community task force meetings to discuss issues like campus safety and student discipline. (GO Nick, he's rumored coming back to Moreno Valley USD for a short stint)
Such problems are new for the district, Ferguson said. "We're not accustomed to that kind of thing," he said.
Jerry Sturmer, director of educational safety and security for the Rialto Unified School District, said he has noticed more physicality between students and an increase in gang activity.
"We must react to violence," he said. " We need more resources, right now they are extremely limited.(To remake the Gubanor to look
like a real conservative.)" Sturmer is frustrated about applying for a competitive five-year $500,000 state grant that would help with campus safety needs. Only 35 grants are being offered.
He is also angry that the federal government is cutting Safe and Drug-free schools money by 21 percent next year, money that pays for school resource officer anti-drug and anti-violence programs.
"Everybody says we need safe schools," he said. "But nobody wants to pay for it." (So District Superintendents feel it necessary to lie and cover up. In the end making it harder to obtain the very financial help they needed in the first place. If we don't show parents the truth, the talking heads will continue preaching lies and distortions and we will continue to be the TAX scapegoat for every disgruntled fool in our once great country. Just as with our vainglorious governor, "Arnold," the face saving tactics of a few high level educators or more likely politicians, we are pissing away the only originally progressive popular idea our country has had since the drafting of the constitution.) - I, Praetorian.
Changing times
Ever since Columbine and 9/11, in some ways school officials have "sometimes overreacted," said Valdez, a professor of race and ethnic relations at Cal State San Bernardino.
"We've all been told all the signs were there, but no one paid attention," she said. "Are these kids going to go and carry out what they say they will? Who knows?"
Children are bombarded every day with violent images on television, movies and video games, and society is becoming desensitized to violence, Valdez said.
Times have changed.
Students in the '60s and '70s would get into trouble, fighting and drinking beer and smoking, but it was different from today, Valdez said.
"You didn't ever hear about the same type of vicious crimes like shootings and rapes," she said. "And there was never anybody getting raped in the bathroom." (The only entity that can stop and turn the tide are the wholly misinformed voter. Why do administrators fear the truth like a 19th century plague? Part of that truth is involving by hook or by crook, all parents in their child's education. Parents have the potential to be our best advocates if they know what they need to be fighting for. Parents: to be an Isreali Citizen you must do your time in the army. about two years. Why can't it be mandated that all able middle-school parents spend an entire week shadowing their child. I guarantee with a little hands-on honesty of that kind, teachers would never again be anyones scape goat) Staff Writer Mike Cruz contributed to this report. Commentary input and scathing satire contributed by yours truly (The Parenthesis Guy).
Earlier this year, actress Demi Moore and her husband, Ashton Kutcher, started the DNA (The Demi and Ashton) Foundation, which aims to eliminate child slavery worldwide. Shortly afterward, as part of the Pepsi Refresh Celebrity Challenge, she and Kevin Bacon battled to see who could get more fans to vote for them and their philanthropic causes. Moore triumphed, and as a result, the New York City-based nonprofit organization GEMS (Girls Educational and Mentoring Services) won a $250,000 grant from Pepsi. GEMS plans to use the funds to train 10 former victims to serve as outreach workers who will assist and rescue underage girls currently in the sex industry. PARADE spoke to Moore about why this issue is so important to her and what she would like Americans to know about sex trafficking.
PARADE: How did you first become interested in this topic?
MOORE: Ashton and I got involved after seeing a TV special about sex trafficking in Cambodia around two years ago. Some of the girls in it were so young, like 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 years old. We felt we couldn’t live in the world where that is allowed. As we started to delve into and educate ourselves on the issue, we were overwhelmed and horrified to discover how prevalent trafficking is. As we looked around, we saw we had a chance to contribute and make a difference. Twenty-seven million people are enslaved today around the world. We’ve tried to scale back our efforts to what connected us in the first place, which was children and sex slaves. Yet our ultimate goal is to participate in bringing an end to slavery as a whole. I don’t think any parent can watch that special and see these tiny little girls going up to men, girls who have Barbie lunch boxes. It’s just wrong, and I think it’s something we can all agree on. It needs to be stopped. It’s a matter of getting in there and getting the support to end it.
We were shocked by how large the commercial sex industry is in America. The average age that a girl enters the industry is 12 to 14. As a mother, I have to say, “Let’s put this in perspective, this is someone’s sister, someone’s daughter. It’s a little girl.” There’s a general misperception that people have about the girls in the industry, that these girls are choosing it. Enslavement is not just physical but also mental manipulation. We’re talking about people preying upon the most vulnerable among us—our children. I’ve met foreign victims who were brought in from Mexico to the United States. Ashton and I have plans to travel and connect with more. I’ve had the opportunity to meet [Cambodian activist] Somaly Mam quite a few times.
Q: What is your connection to GEMS?
A: We went to GEMS offices and met quite a few of these girls and heard their stories. One of them was 11, another was 13, one had been “guerilla” pimped by a trafficker who was traveling the country with underage girls. He was caught by the FBI. What was so moving is that in our country, except in the state of New York where the Safe Harbor Act was passed and it treats underage girls as victims of rape as opposed to teen prostitutes, the law tends to criminalize these girls. Meanwhile, the johns and pimps often get minimal penalties. A pimp can make $150,000 to $200,000 a year from one girl. How can we shift the focus from the criminalization of these girls and place a greater focus on who is creating the demand? The men who are soliciting them look at these girls as having chosen the industry even though they’re 12 or 20. The average john is a 30-year-old married man with no criminal record. We’d like to humanize the victims and also bring names and faces to the johns. I think if we had greater accountability, we’d have a chance of reducing the demand for young prostitutes.
A: Once you start to open the door, you find the organizations and the NGOs that are making a difference, and we heard about Rachel Lloyd and GEMS. It’s a survivor-led organization and the largest organization for victims that exists in the U.S. I had a chance to see what they’re trying to do, and their model is one that can be replicated in the country. Right now, they have a limited outreach. GEMS makes such a huge difference, transforming the girls they reach into positive and productive individuals who give back. Yet they struggle to have the funds to operate.
GEMS is trying to assist juveniles who are extracted from sex industry. They’re helping them getting high-school diplomas if they don’t have them and going to college. I love the fact that GEMS also trains the girls it rescues from sex trafficking to serve as outreach workers in their communities. One outreach worker can reach 100 girls. The former victims have a level of understanding in reaching out to girls who are not open and under control of pimps, and they’re able to break through that. They often go into the juvenile-justice system to find girls to help, because where do you put them, except for justice system or foster care?
Q: Are you concerned with working against sex trafficking on a domestic or on a worldwide level?
A: We have a worldwide interest in sex trafficking, but for now we want to ground it domestically. We went down with the Department of Homeland Security to the border at San Diego and met some victims who had the enormous courage to testify against their trafficker. The girls were 19 and 20, and they’d been smuggled over the border. Trafficking was a family business, and this man’s mother and brother were also involved. The trafficker told these girls he loved them and said, “If you love me, you will do this for me.”
We want to put the issue of sex trafficking at the top of people’s lists of concerns and not just part of the list. One of the things we’re trying to do is to work on changing policy in the states where trafficking is not a felony. We approached the Governor of Massachusetts and asked him why human trafficking there is not a felony under state law there. That’s also true in Hawaii, Alabama, Ohio, South Dakota, West Virginia, Wyoming, and Washington, D.C, I think.
A: People should see “Playground.” It’s a wonderful documentary about children in America who are victims of sex slavery. In general, I’d like to ask them to educate themselves about the issue. Awareness is the beginning of creating great change. Our society needs to identify slavery and call it what it is and look at it in the U.S. People should also find out, what laws and programs do you have place in your state to protect girls? Is there a task force? The issue is understaffed and underfunded.
When one person is enslaved, we’re all enslaved. We’ve been tweeting to the Senators on the foreign relations committee to ask them to support change. Sex trafficking is this dirty little secret, but I think people are now prepared to hear about it. It’s our obligation to come together and end slavery. Before I end this interview, I want to thank Pepsi. Not only did it support us with our issue, the company provided an opportunity for us in the form of the Pepsi Refresh Celebrity Challenge to go out and get the public to vote on our idea. We won a huge grant for GEMS. Pepsi is affecting change and helping us reach an incredible audience.
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Earlier this year, actress Demi Moore and her husband, Ashton Kutcher, started the DNA (The Demi and Ashton) Foundation, which aims to eliminate child slavery worldwide. Shortly afterward, as part of the Pepsi Refresh Celebrity Challenge, she and Kevin Bacon battled to see who could get more fans to vote for them and their philanthropic causes. Moore triumphed, and as a result, the New York City-based nonprofit organization GEMS (Girls Educational and Mentoring Services) won a $250,000 grant from Pepsi. GEMS plans to use the funds to train 10 former victims to serve as outreach workers who will assist and rescue underage girls currently in the sex industry. PARADE spoke to Moore about why this issue is so important to her and what she would like Americans to know about sex trafficking.
PARADE: How did you first become interested in this topic?
MOORE: Ashton and I got involved after seeing a TV special about sex trafficking in Cambodia around two years ago. Some of the girls in it were so young, like 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 years old. We felt we couldn’t live in the world where that is allowed. As we started to delve into and educate ourselves on the issue, we were overwhelmed and horrified to discover how prevalent trafficking is. As we looked around, we saw we had a chance to contribute and make a difference. Twenty-seven million people are enslaved today around the world. We’ve tried to scale back our efforts to what connected us in the first place, which was children and sex slaves. Yet our ultimate goal is to participate in bringing an end to slavery as a whole. I don’t think any parent can watch that special and see these tiny little girls going up to men, girls who have Barbie lunch boxes. It’s just wrong, and I think it’s something we can all agree on. It needs to be stopped. It’s a matter of getting in there and getting the support to end it.
We were shocked by how large the commercial sex industry is in America. The average age that a girl enters the industry is 12 to 14. As a mother, I have to say, “Let’s put this in perspective, this is someone’s sister, someone’s daughter. It’s a little girl.” There’s a general misperception that people have about the girls in the industry, that these girls are choosing it. Enslavement is not just physical but also mental manipulation. We’re talking about people preying upon the most vulnerable among us—our children. I’ve met foreign victims who were brought in from Mexico to the United States. Ashton and I have plans to travel and connect with more. I’ve had the opportunity to meet [Cambodian activist] Somaly Mam quite a few times.
Q: What is your connection to GEMS?
A: We went to GEMS offices and met quite a few of these girls and heard their stories. One of them was 11, another was 13, one had been “guerilla” pimped by a trafficker who was traveling the country with underage girls. He was caught by the FBI. What was so moving is that in our country, except in the state of New York where the Safe Harbor Act was passed and it treats underage girls as victims of rape as opposed to teen prostitutes, the law tends to criminalize these girls. Meanwhile, the johns and pimps often get minimal penalties. A pimp can make $150,000 to $200,000 a year from one girl. How can we shift the focus from the criminalization of these girls and place a greater focus on who is creating the demand? The men who are soliciting them look at these girls as having chosen the industry even though they’re 12 or 20. The average john is a 30-year-old married man with no criminal record. We’d like to humanize the victims and also bring names and faces to the johns. I think if we had greater accountability, we’d have a chance of reducing the demand for young prostitutes.
A: Once you start to open the door, you find the organizations and the NGOs that are making a difference, and we heard about Rachel Lloyd and GEMS. It’s a survivor-led organization and the largest organization for victims that exists in the U.S. I had a chance to see what they’re trying to do, and their model is one that can be replicated in the country. Right now, they have a limited outreach. GEMS makes such a huge difference, transforming the girls they reach into positive and productive individuals who give back. Yet they struggle to have the funds to operate.
GEMS is trying to assist juveniles who are extracted from sex industry. They’re helping them getting high-school diplomas if they don’t have them and going to college. I love the fact that GEMS also trains the girls it rescues from sex trafficking to serve as outreach workers in their communities. One outreach worker can reach 100 girls. The former victims have a level of understanding in reaching out to girls who are not open and under control of pimps, and they’re able to break through that. They often go into the juvenile-justice system to find girls to help, because where do you put them, except for justice system or foster care?
Q: Are you concerned with working against sex trafficking on a domestic or on a worldwide level?
A: We have a worldwide interest in sex trafficking, but for now we want to ground it domestically. We went down with the Department of Homeland Security to the border at San Diego and met some victims who had the enormous courage to testify against their trafficker. The girls were 19 and 20, and they’d been smuggled over the border. Trafficking was a family business, and this man’s mother and brother were also involved. The trafficker told these girls he loved them and said, “If you love me, you will do this for me.”
We want to put the issue of sex trafficking at the top of people’s lists of concerns and not just part of the list. One of the things we’re trying to do is to work on changing policy in the states where trafficking is not a felony. We approached the Governor of Massachusetts and asked him why human trafficking there is not a felony under state law there. That’s also true in Hawaii, Alabama, Ohio, South Dakota, West Virginia, Wyoming, and Washington, D.C, I think.
A: People should see “Playground.” It’s a wonderful documentary about children in America who are victims of sex slavery. In general, I’d like to ask them to educate themselves about the issue. Awareness is the beginning of creating great change. Our society needs to identify slavery and call it what it is and look at it in the U.S. People should also find out, what laws and programs do you have place in your state to protect girls? Is there a task force? The issue is understaffed and underfunded.
When one person is enslaved, we’re all enslaved. We’ve been tweeting to the Senators on the foreign relations committee to ask them to support change. Sex trafficking is this dirty little secret, but I think people are now prepared to hear about it. It’s our obligation to come together and end slavery. Before I end this interview, I want to thank Pepsi. Not only did it support us with our issue, the company provided an opportunity for us in the form of the Pepsi Refresh Celebrity Challenge to go out and get the public to vote on our idea. We won a huge grant for GEMS. Pepsi is affecting change and helping us reach an incredible audience.
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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 LimitsSetting 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
Nor the Fool Politicians that used so many American GIs' lives as fodder for the fight over an english noun - "Communism"
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:
