KidsTerrain Topics In The News

A few weeks ago I had to prepare a short talk on finding sparks of holiness. As I pondered where those sparks may exist in the ordinary moments of life, I thought about the remarkable young people whose stories I’ve shared via this blog. It is in the resilience of children that I find these sparks…sparks that set my soul ablaze with hope for the future.

One such spark is 12-year-old Jake Olson. When Jake was one-year old he was diagnosed with retinoblastoma, a condition that caused cancerous tumors to develop in both retinas. Jake’s left eye was removed, but with chemotherapy and radiation, doctors were able to save his right eye.

The cancer returned several times, and each time Jake beat it. However, in September 2009, the cancer returned for a ninth time, and this time the prognosis was grim. Jake was to lose his right eye, too. As ESPN’s Shelley Smith* reported, when asked by his mother how he was dealing with this, Jake replied, “This is just going to be a new stage of my life.” Read more »

In 2004 after Hurricane Charlie swept through Florida, seven-year-old Zach Bonner went door to door with his little red wagon to collect water, tarps, and other supplies. He collected 27 pick-up truckloads of supplies for those in need. Moved by the generosity of others, Zach founded the Little Red Wagon Foundation in 2005 to help underprivileged children.

In 2006 and 2007, Zach threw holiday parties for kids living in hurricane FEMA trailers and filled 2,000 backpacks with food, toiletries, candy, and toys for homeless children. Inspired by a documentary about Mildred Norman, the “Peace Pilgrim,” who walked 25,000 miles during the last 28 years of her life to spread her anti-war message, Zach decided to raise awareness by walking from his house to the White House. The 1,225-mile journey would be completed in three segments. Read more »

In 2001, KidsTerrain co-founder and president Maggie Moran wrote a book for children about finding one’s magic. The Magic In Me offers a simple, yet vital lesson for our children, helping them identify the talents and abilities that represent the magic in each child.

Eight years later in his address to the school children of our nation, President Obama said, “Every single one of you has something you’re good at. Every single one of you has something to offer. And you have a responsibility to yourself to discover what that is.”

Now, putting aside all the political controversy, when you get right down to it, the message was a good one…and one I would think that every parent would, should, and ought to teach their children. Read more »

A couple of nights ago I was awakened at 3:45 a.m. by a torrential rainstorm. After the intense thunder and lightening subsided, and still unable to get back to sleep, I turned on the television and began flipping through the channels. That mindless activity halted when my ears pricked up upon hearing an unfamiliar word: bullycide. Understanding instantly what the word meant — suicide as a result of bullying — I grabbed my eyeglasses so that I could watch the news report.

Later in the day, I spent a few hours researching the Internet for bullycide stories. Actually, when you Google “bullycide stories,” the result reads “about 26,100 for bullycide stories.” Eventually, I ended up on You Tube. I still get goosebumps thinking about the plethora of videos I discovered there. I’d like to bring two of the videos to your attention. Read more »

Eleven-year-old Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover hung himself after enduring daily taunts at school about being gay. This child’s death is one of several middle-school aged child suicides linked to bullying this year. Carl, a junior at New Leadership Charter School in Springfield, MA, who did not identify as gay, would have turned 12 on April 17 — which, coincidentally, is the same day “hundreds of thousands of students will participate in the 13th annual National Day of Silence by taking some form of a vow of silence to bring attention to anti-LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) bullying and harassment at school” reports the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN).

According to GLSEN’s 2007 National School Climate Survey of more than 6,000 LGBT students, “nearly 9 out of 10 LGBT youth (86.2%) reported being verbally harassed at school in the past year because of their sexual orientation, nearly half (44.1%) reported being physically harassed and about a quarter (22.1%) reported being physically assaulted.” Read more »

Today, 1 in 150 individuals is diagnosed with autism, making it more common than pediatric cancer, diabetes, and AIDS combined. And according to the U.S. Department of Education, autism is growing at a rate of 10-17% per year.

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are pervasive development disorders that characteristically include communication and social interaction impairment, and repetitive behaviors or interests.

Autism is generally evident by age 3, affecting verbal and nonverbal communication and social interaction. Autism interferes with a child’s ability to communicate with and relate to others, and also affects how a child perceives and processes sensory information. Read more »

Just when I think I’ve seen it all, another shocking story hits the news. This time, teenage girls are defending singer Chris Brown and placing the blame for her beating on his girlfriend, pop star Rihanna.

Even with Oprah Winfrey devoting a show to dating violence, teenage girls still do not get that violence against them is simply wrong. As one ninth grader told The New York Times (March 18), “She probably made him mad for him to react like that. You know, like, bring it on?” Read more »

First there was “thinspiration”. . . and now we have “pro-ana” (pro-anorexia) and “pro-mia” (pro-bulimia)– websites dedicated to promoting the idea that eating disorders “are a good thing.”

This month, the National Eating Disorders Association’s NEDAwareness Week, the largest eating disorders outreach effort in the country, is scheduled for February 22-28. The goal is to reach millions of people with messages of prevention, hope and recovery.

In support of NEDA’s efforts, KidsTerrain is offering web site visitors a free viewing of its webinar, Teaching Body Confidence, presented by Rebecca Manley, founder of the Multiservice Eating Disorders Association, Inc. (MEDA).  The free viewing is available through March 15.

One goal of companies and organizations such as KidsTerrain and NEDA, respectively, is to counter-balance the insidious message of pro-ana groups and organizations who state they “do not promote anorexia and acknowledge that anorexia is a real medical disorder.” The point of their existence is to give anorexics “a place to turn to discuss their illness in a non-judgmental environment.” In fairness, some sites do thinly (no pun intended) promote recovery. However, others dispute the prevailing medical consensus that anorexia nervosa and bulimia are complex illnesses rather than “lifestyle choices.” Read more »

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) are terms familiar to most and are usually ascribed to children. Yet, many adults, particularly those in their late 30s and older, may suffer from one of these disorders and not even know it. ADD and ADHD were not widely studied, discussed, debated, and diagnosed until the 1990s, long after many adults were out of the school system.

For adults with ADHD, the workplace can be stressful and challenging. “If these challenges are not recognized and coping strategies not developed, people with ADHD may find themselves jumping from job to job, being terminated, and becoming increasingly frustrated and unhappy” wrote psychologist Janet Frank.

In the workplace, ADHD adults may encounter “ADHD traps” such as distractibility, impulsivity, boredom, time management and organization problems, procrastination, difficulty with long-term projects, and interpersonal difficulties.

Dr. Edward Hallowell, founder of The Hallowell Center, writes that “external structure” is key. He suggests using lists, color-coding reminders, and notes to self. Read more »

Workplace bullying refers to persistent aggressive or unreasonable actions of a person (or group of people) towards an employee (or group of employees). Bullying behavior is that which intimidates, degrades, offends, or humiliates a worker. The behavior may be inflicted verbally, nonverbally, psychologically, or physically.

The Workplace Bullying Institute* just released its Labor Day 2008 Survey “How Employers & Co-Workers Respond to Workplace Bullying.”

The WBI study surveyed two separate 400-person respondent groups. The participants visited the WBI web site and completed one or both of the surveys, asking about either their employers’ responses to bullying, or asking what co-workers did.

The question posed: At work, have you experienced any or all of the following types of repeated mistreatment: sabotage by others that prevented work from getting done, verbal abuse, threatening conduct, intimidation or humiliation?

I found the results to be astounding. Read more »