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Promoting Peace
We were invited to be at the United Nations again today.
Today is the International Day of Peace!
Shouldn't EVERY DAY Be?
May PEACE Prevail on Earth!
Language and Name-Calling
Sticks & Stone ARE Words.
Two intelligent people can learn from each other in peace. Many of us in our world can learn from how these two turned destruction communication and name-calling into more productive education, through listening & learning by opening their hearts and minds.
YOUTH SUICIDES RISE (UP 18%, in JUST ONE YEAR)
The suicide rate climbed 18 percent from 2003 to 2004 for Americans under age 20 ...
Most suicides occurred in older teens, according to the data - the most current to date from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ...
Suicides were the only cause of death that increased for children through age 19 from 2003-04, ...
Some mental health experts believe suicide prevention programs and effective use of treatment including drugs and therapy contributed to the decline in suicides that occurred in the 1990s.
Funding cuts for school-based suicide prevention programs might have contributed to the apparent rise noted in the new CDC report, said Emory University psychologist Nadine Kaslow ...
Psychologist David Shern, president of Mental Health America, called the new data 'a disturbing reversal of progress' ...
The suicide data are in a report on vital statistics published in February's Pediatrics [2007] ..."
The quotes above are taken from the writing of Lindsey Tanner (the Associated Press) published in the S.I. Advance on Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2007.
When we found this out we put this Video together with some
stuff we found on the web and edited it all together with music:
stuff we found on the web and edited it all together with music:
We HOPE it gives us all something to think More about and maybe even helps a bit
toward more youth suicide Awareness and teen suicides Prevention.
(The song is "I'm Just a Kid" by Simple Plan, if you like the music please go buy the CD or go to iTunes & download it, -support musical artists always.)
A Culture of Prejudice Killing Our Youth
"For a minute I need to talk to you about something that's really serious and really sad ... An openly gay 15-year-old boy, named Larry, who was an eighth grader in Oxnard, California, was murdered by a fellow eighth grader named Brandon ... Days before he was murdered Larry asked his killer to be his Valentine ...
A boy has been killed and a number of lives have been ruined. And somewhere along the line, the killer, Brandon, got the message that it's so threatening and so awful and so horrific that Larry would want to be his Valentine -- that killing Larry seemed to be the right thing to do.
And when the message out there is so horrible; -- that to be gay, you can get killed for it, -- we need to change the message. Larry was not a second-class citizen. I am not a second-class citizen. It is OK if you're gay ... I know there are entire groups of people who face discrimination every single day and we're a long way from treating each other equally. All of it is unacceptable. All of it.
But I would like you to start paying attention to how often being gay is a punchline of a monologue or how often gay jokes are in a movie. And that kind of message, -- laughing at someone cause they're gay is just the beginning. It starts with laughing at someone, then it's verbal abuse, then it's physical abuse and then it's this kid, Brandon, killing a kid like Larry.
We must change our country, and we can do it. We can do it with our behavior. We can do with our messages that we send our children. We can do it with our vote ... There is a lot of talk about change. I think one thing we should change is hate. Check on who you're voting for, and does that person really truly believe that we are all equal under the law? And if you are not sure, --change your vote, -- we deserve better. My heart goes out to everybody involved in this horrible, horrible incident, ... all the families, ... even you know, Brandon's life is changed because he did this. "
A boy has been killed and a number of lives have been ruined. And somewhere along the line, the killer, Brandon, got the message that it's so threatening and so awful and so horrific that Larry would want to be his Valentine -- that killing Larry seemed to be the right thing to do.
And when the message out there is so horrible; -- that to be gay, you can get killed for it, -- we need to change the message. Larry was not a second-class citizen. I am not a second-class citizen. It is OK if you're gay ... I know there are entire groups of people who face discrimination every single day and we're a long way from treating each other equally. All of it is unacceptable. All of it.
But I would like you to start paying attention to how often being gay is a punchline of a monologue or how often gay jokes are in a movie. And that kind of message, -- laughing at someone cause they're gay is just the beginning. It starts with laughing at someone, then it's verbal abuse, then it's physical abuse and then it's this kid, Brandon, killing a kid like Larry.
We must change our country, and we can do it. We can do it with our behavior. We can do with our messages that we send our children. We can do it with our vote ... There is a lot of talk about change. I think one thing we should change is hate. Check on who you're voting for, and does that person really truly believe that we are all equal under the law? And if you are not sure, --change your vote, -- we deserve better. My heart goes out to everybody involved in this horrible, horrible incident, ... all the families, ... even you know, Brandon's life is changed because he did this. "
On Jan. 21, 2008, gender non-conforming teenager Adolphus Simmons, just 18 years old, was shot at the Bradford Apartments complex in South Carolina by a 15-year-old boy.
On Feb. 12, 2008, openly gay teenager Lawrence King, only 15 years old, was shot to death in a California classroom by a 14-year-old boy.
On Feb. 22, 2008, transgender teen Simmie Williams Jr., at only just age 17, was shot dead on a Boulevard in Florida after witnesses allegedly heard an argument that included anti-gay slurs.
Denise King, the mom of Simmie Williams, 17, visits his gravesite
at Sunset Memorial Gardens in Fort Lauderdale.
Williams was an openly gay teen who was shot
in what police are investigating as a possible hate crime.
His brother, Tavaris, 14, went with his mom to the cemetery.
(Sun-Sentinel / Mike Stocker)
On Feb. 12, 2008, openly gay teenager Lawrence King, only 15 years old, was shot to death in a California classroom by a 14-year-old boy.
On Feb. 22, 2008, transgender teen Simmie Williams Jr., at only just age 17, was shot dead on a Boulevard in Florida after witnesses allegedly heard an argument that included anti-gay slurs.
Denise King, the mom of Simmie Williams, 17, visits his gravesite
at Sunset Memorial Gardens in Fort Lauderdale.
Williams was an openly gay teen who was shot
in what police are investigating as a possible hate crime.
His brother, Tavaris, 14, went with his mom to the cemetery.
(Sun-Sentinel / Mike Stocker)
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