Millions of people stared at the TV in horror as a Florida girl stood helpless against a group of bullies who damaged her hearing and caused other severe injuries as they held her hostage and forced her to endure 5 severe beatings and taped themselves beating her. They were hoping to post their abhorrent behavior on YouTube and MySpace. The victim's crime? Ostensibly posting "trash talk" on MySpace.
In my wildest imagination I can't reconcile a world in which such behavior is acceptable let alone worthy of advertising?
Parents of teens we need to be vigilent! While our children are taller and older looking, they're still vulnerable and physically haven't fully grown the neurological connection to FULLY understand behavior/consequence.
To the greatest extent practicable, we have a duty to know what our children are doing online. We MUST DEMAND to know their passwords to all accounts whether or not we plan to peruse their accounts. LISTEN to their conversations. TALK to them. KNOW where they are.
Hopefully, throughout the course of their childhoods, we've regularly discussed behaviors that are and are NOT acceptable in our families. PERIOD.
Tune in to their moods. Are they suddenly not associating with the same people? Why? LISTEN, don't talk. Check in with guidance counselors if you have a concern. Teachers and other school personnel can usually give you important information.
ALL of the girls in this situation were harmed. The victim will likely be tormented by this event for the rest of her life. Hopefully, after the girls perpetrating the beatings fathom what they've done they will be too. Not to the extent that it ruins their lives but to the extent that they will apologize to their victim and teach their children to behave entirely differently.
These girls all need a lot of help and a lot of love.
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- If you have not yet signed up not to receive junk mail through GreenDimes or a similar organization, there are ways in which you can reuse some parts of the paper that plagues your mail box and eats trees with a vengence. Pages with blank sides can be cut and stacked for jotting notes. Envelopes used to mail the junk can be used for list writing or saved as note paper. If you're crafty, the colorful pieces can be torn and decoupaged onto "things". These are ways you can use the junk until you remember to join GreenDimes.com :)
- Save the little bits of soap that you might otherwise discard. When you've collected a sufficient amount, soften overnight in a bowl of water. Put mixture in a blender with more water and use as soap refills. WE DON'T NEED ANTI-BACTERIAL SOAP! These soaps contribute to the development of super bugs!
- Add a cup of white vinegar to the rinse cycle of your laundry load instead of fabric softener.
- Use plain baking soda to freshen carpets. A drop or two of natural oils in a large container and WELL mixed eliminates the need for commercially produced carpet fresheners that are filled with chemicals.
- Use foam food trays to make Shrinky Dinks. Preheat to 350 (toaster oven if you don't have a lot to make), cut shapes and place on shiny side of foil, cook until shape curls and flattens again
- White sinks and baking soda! I made the huge mistake of choosing a white Corian style sink when we built our house. It is very suseptible to staining. I used to use Soft Scrub with Bleach but not any more! Simple baking soda and some elbow grease work just fine most of the time! NO CHEMICALS!
- (SAVE MONEY AND LOTS OF IT! Use vinegar and baking soda and salt for most of your cleaning needs. Adding vinegar to your laundry will soften clothes. Spray vinegar in the shower when you're finished showering-it helps keep lime and soap scum from building up. When it's time to clean use baking soda and vinegar for a gorgeous bathtub shine!):
- No need for furniture polish! Use a lightly dampened microfiber cloth instead. NO chemicals (well, maybe a little chlorine), no propellents, no metal can to have to throw away. OR do like I do and just don't clean.
- Keep shipping envelopes for another use. You can dress them up a bit by cutting out a fun or beautiful picture from a magazine and taping it on the envelope to cover the old address information. Use recycled paper index cards to write the address and return address.
- "Room Fresheners" for the most part are really "Room Chemicals Adders". The handy sprays are also propellant air polluters. Plug-ins use energy and are also chemical distributors. Try using natural essential oils or candles made with natural essential oils instead.
- Again, if you own a disposable mop, don't buy cleaner refills. Use vinegar-it's great for wood floors too.
- Pay your bills online whenever possible. You save the transportation energy and you can keep the enclosed envelope for your future use.
- If you own a disposable pad mop, use a towel or washcloth instead of the disposable pad.
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