Here’s A New One For You

(Beth’s note, February, 2013:  Hi friends. It just occurred to me I should probably let anyone who reads this below post from November know: I am doing great!  I feel very much myself  and continue to be grateful everyday for the many, many people who helped me in a rough patch and continue to support me as I do what I need to do to stay healthy. I feel awesome and life is good.  And please, anyone reading this who thinks you might have some mental health problem or other– reach out, get help. Everyone has their thing. Don’t suffer for no reason! Thanks…Beth)

So, where to begin with this one?

The purpose of this blog has been, since the start, to do two things, really: give me a place to process what I learn about things that interest me and pass the information on to any readers who stop by for a read.

Well, the last six months or so, the thing that I’ve been most seeking to learn about and most trying to process has been my own brain.

The deal is this, friends – like millions  of people all over the world I have a chronic mental illness stemming from a chemical imbalance.  Since the spring, this illness and I have been locked in a bit of a knock-down, drag out. And up until a few months ago, I was not winning.

In fact, I was getting my ass kicked.

I won’t get into the specifics here, because they’re personal (and  boring, actually….)  Long and short of it, I have an anxiety disorder which a shrink and a therapist have diagnosed as OCD.

This is your brain on OCD…

Now, for me, it’s not OCD like we’ve come to know with hand washing or counting rituals or spending hours making sure everything in your cabinet is straightened.  My version is manifest all in my head and it latches on to a variety of targets.

It’s not a new thing, really, for me, either. It  just hit me with a vengeance this time around. There have been some days where the whole “getting out of bed in the morning” thing wasn’t so easy. There have been days where irrational and obsessive fears have colored every minute and left me constantly freaked out. There’s been confusion and desperation. And the illness has effected my work, my relationships, my physical health.

It has, in a nutshell, sucked.

But, thanks to the support of loved ones and the essential  help of professionals and medication (“Mm, zoloft! Tastes like chicken!” ),   I feel on the mend.

I know there will be a more mental skirmishes ahead, more than I’d like (because I’d like zero more) but I feel armed now, able to defend myself, and assisted in this defense.

My own avengers: family support, therapy, and medication. SMASH.

And, also,  I feel like I can start blogging about other issues in the world again and not just my own stuff.  And I wanted to start by offering a few things this whole deal taught me so far, things which may be applied to the big picture:

1.  We need to assure no one who needs mental health care is denied it because of money. 
I don’t want to get into the politics of health care reform and who should rightfully pay for what, and taxes and all that. I just want to say, human beings shouldn’t suffer when help is available because they can’t afford to pay for that help.  Mental illness can be treated and managed and in some cases cured. In my case, professional help and medication have made an enormous difference.

But left alone,  mental illness can take a frigging wrecking ball to a person’s life. It can cause pain and suffering and be debilitating.. That there are people no different from me or you who are suffering because they are unable to access mental health care because of money strikes me as colossally unacceptable.

There are the practical rationales for society making sure its people get mental health care: work productivity, the expense of mentally ill people in the justice system or the expense of the fallout from people who are unable to take care of their kids. But there is a moral imperative here, too.  I think Nick Kristof put it well when he said, to paraphrase,  civilized societies don’t let people who are sick just suffer (and even die).

We gotta figure this out.  There are probably fifty different ways to do it. But we need to figure it out. It’s uncivilized to deny people access to care they need because of inability to pay.

2. Get Help If You Need It

Sidney Freedman

I’ve had issues with anxiety most of my adult life. But I never seriously considered therapy. I did this time around because I knew I couldn’t manage it anymore and I also couldn’t stand it anymore. Maybe I was older and wiser, too,  less concerned about stigma.

Or maybe I’d just hit rock bottom and wanted to grab any ladder I could find to get me out. I don’t know. Probably a combination of all the above.

I just know I’m glad I went.

And so my pass-along here is: if you’re feeling like something’s not right, whether it’s anxiety, depression, whatever it is -  talk to your doctor, talk to a counselor -  talk to several counselors til you find one that fits. FIND HELP.

If you don’t have insurance, check into it anyhow and see if you can find someone who will help you.   If you’re okay but a loved one is suffering, talk to a professional who can help you manage the situation. If you feel like you can’t get help for yourself, find someone to advocate for you. Talk to someone who you trust and get help.

Getting mental health care doesn’t mean you’re weird or crazy! It means you’re sane and taking control of your life.  Seek help if you need it.

3. If you have a mental health issue, you’re SO not alone…

I haven’t talked to a ton of people about my situation. But every person I’ve talked to has told me very quickly in the conversation that they also know people who are doing the therapy thing, taking medication, or dealing with some kind of mental health issue.

In other words, YOU ARE NOT ALONE if you’re in this boat.  You will see me, for instance, playing shuffleboard there on the Lido Deck (Love Boat shoutout for my sister lol).

Millions of people have mental health issues.  I’m not special in my anxiety/OCD. In fact, I think my pro help finds me pretty mundane. I have yet to impress them at all with my brand of the disease.  I’m totally dull.

And you will be dull, too! Whatever you may be dealing with – the professionals have seen it before.  And there are regular everyday people out there who know what you’re dealing with ’cause they’re dealing with it, too.   You may think no one’s going to get your “stuff”.  But you’re not weird or abnormal or part of some tiny odd club. It’s a very prevalent thing.  You’re not alone.

A few info  links:

National Alliance on Mental Illness

OCD Foundation

A few tips on finding a counselor

A new take on PTSD and veterans

So that’s about it, I guess….

….And I want to dedicate this entry to my family: my mom, dad, sister, brother, and in-laws who have 100% had my back through this rough patch.  I don’t know what else to say but I love you guys.

As always, thanks for reading,

Beth

We: A Poem On Voting

We have opinions on everything here.

And our general consensus is opinions are good, in fact, they are important. Opinions lead to ideas and improvements and a better society.

Opinions are, after all, an expression of concern, that things are better another way or better the way they are. They mean we care how things turn out. And caring is good. Thinking about how things turn out is good.

We believe we need opinions. And we believe it’s good , in fact, maybe even a responsibility, to voice these opinions.

And we do. Sometimes with words, sometimes with actions, sometimes in private, sometimes in public. We voice them quietly sometimes. Sometimes, we voice them loudly.

We argue with each other a lot about these opinions

…because we are a diverse and large group. And diverse large groups don’t always see everything the same way. Diversity of experience, of culture.

It’s human nature. It’s being human.

Sometimes, too many times, when we argue, it’s not in the most mature or productive of ways. We get too mean, too personal, too hyped-up on indignation or a desire to be right. We manipulate facts or make things up sometimes. We excuse our own bad behavior by saying “We all do it.”

We cross lines. We disrespect each other.

We lose sight of what we’re trying to do or who we’re trying to be.

We come back, though, to this one thing we all agree on: that we, since we’re humans, should decide our own fate.

We agree humans aren’t designed, by their Creator or their biology or however each of us sees it, to be ruled over or dictated to.

We believe in representation, in our opinions being the basis of the laws that we all agree to live by . We agree there are some things everyone gets because everyone deserves them- life, liberty, a chance to pursue happiness, and basic fundamental freedoms  -

And everything else? Well, we agree to a process where opinions are heard and hashed out and may the best opinion win.

And if it doesn’t, we respect the law and try again next time.

We come back to the social contract, the rule of law, the respect for the process, the respect for the reality of democracy and a democractic society:  it’s never perfect and it’s never done.

We come back after all the mudslinging and the negativity. We come back after all the pushing of values and the spinning of statements. The complaining and the “if one more guy calls me about a candidate I’m gonna….” .

And we get ourselves to schools and churches and community centers and we see our neighbors and we see strangers.

And we become “We” again.

And there We mingle with the spirits of the They that came before:

They the civil rights activists beaten and murdered.

They the suffragettes thrown in jail and ostracized.

They the soldiers killed in battle far from anything resembling home.

They who all fought the same oppressive voice, the one that said “I want to silence you.”

They who said  every time with heroic effort: “Helllllll, no.”

And so we go to these places and we get to be We, a people who decide for themselves. A people who don’t descend into chaos when political opinions change.

We get democracy, imperfect and incomplete. We get to pursue that “more perfect union”.

We get to be free.

We get to go and do that thing which, more than anything else, makes us who We are.

We get to vote.

Back To School!

That time of year again, eh? BACK TO SCHOOL! The last few years I’ve enjoyed the back-to-school photos my Facebook friends post as they send their (rapidly growing!) kids off to school. I can’t believe a new round is already starting!  What happened to summer?

But here we are! New routine, new teachers, new stuff to buy – a busy, chaotic and even expensive time.

I was thinking how this is such a easy tie-in to 2012 Year of Kids here on One Page For… Education is so important for a kid if he or she is going to flourish. It’s the difference between – sometimes – the life you want and the life you’re stuck with, dependence or independence, being easily duped or exploited and being savvy and able to make good choices and stand up for yourself.

Education doesn’t obviously just come from school. But in this computer, information, communication, global community world, school is so essential.

I know it’s an election year and people are voicing all different kind of education based platitudes and policy suggestions. To me, the most important four questions I ask when I look at people offering solutions are

A) Is their number one goal improving education for all kids or something more narrow or all together else?

B) Are they looking for a complex solution to the complex problem of reforming education - or are they trying a “one size fits all” avenue for either assigning blame or coming up with a fix?

C) Are they basing their answers on stuff that’s been verified to work or that can at least be tested out?

D) Are they open to suggestions from other people (given those other people pass muster on A,B, and C above)?

That’s what I think of, anyhow.

But I was thinking Back To School Time might also be a good time to take a second and list some people who are helping kids get an education that would otherwise be out of reach.  To that end, here’s the list:

Boys & Girls Clubs of America -   afterschool programs, life skills, and leadership training

Mission Safe -  My brother works here! Helping kids in Charlestown and Mission Hill Boston.

Little Brothers of The Good Shepherd School – educating the extremely poor in Haiti

CamFed  - getting girls to school in Africa

Barakat - Educating  in Afghanistan, India and Pakistan

Operation Military Kids - Helping address the special needs of American kids who have a parent deployed or back from deployment

Drop as you see fit.

Good luck with the new school year everyone!!!

Beth

Try

So I’m going to think of a type or group of people –

….and I’m not just saying this, I am really going to try this- Im going to think of a group of people

…a group I tend to pre-judge a little, assume I know how they will think, act, react, feel, or what they will say…

…a group about whom I tend to believe a little too much the stereotypes when someone says “Well, you know how THEY are…”

…a group I might stereotype on my own, because I have a bad experience once with someone from that group…

…  a group I tend to look at as different from me, and as a little off-putting because of that

…a group where I say “Well, I wouldn’t be mean to one but …”

And I’m going to try a little every day TO STOP THINKING LIKE THAT.

Maybe you will, too.

And maybe if I do and you do then other people will around us, too, and communities will be places where we look at people who have differences– and we know all the ways people can be different: religions, sexual orientations, politics, races, nations of birth, languages,  skin color, income or whatever else— and stop  seeing them as threats– and we know all the ways we can see others as threats— to our way of life, our freedom, our safety, our children, and all this other stuff. 

It won’t be considered with just another shrug to talk about how someone else is disgusting or inferior or less human…just for being different. It won’t be socially okay to harass someone, or use social media to anonymously tear her or him down. It won’t be okay to blame some other group for your problems. It won’t be considered good clean fun to  vent all the ugliness and stereotypes as if this isn’t real people we’re talking about.

Instead,  it will all be considered abnormal. And it will be considered sad.  And it will become very rare.

I think it starts with me, trying. 

Or at least, that’s all I can think of to do today.

“Watch your thoughts, they become words.  Watch your words, they become actions..”  -  attributed to Gandhi and others

“Tonight we are all Sikhs,” someone said.    And every night,  let’s remember we’re all human.

Olympics: Four Teens, Four Victories

Yesterday, the world watched while a teenaged girl make Olympic history as the first African American all-around gymnastics champ.  I didn’t watch the event. But I know Gabby Douglas did the USA proud. I know she will become an instant inspiration to girls of all hues by being the best at what she does and will be a great example of hard work and dedication.

And in honor of that I will forgo my usual stuff about how much easier it is for first-world nations to win medals than developing countries, how TV has made gymnastics way too melodramatic and central to their telecasts , how I think girls so young being trained that hard and having life revolve around  getting an Olympic medal  is a little wackadoo, and I will just say WELL DONE…

Because anyone who puts in that work deserves congratulations and respect.

And when it comes to a country like ours, where race has been a limiting factor in so many arenas, a first in a sport which didn’t seem to have a place for African American women is important.  Of course, African American women have astounded audiences for generations with their Olympic success– Wilma Rudolph, FloJo, Jackie Joyner Kersee, The Williams Sisters.  But it is cool to see an African American woman make it to the top in a new arena.

–because it says something about progress, about inclusiveness, and it makes that whole thing about “Anyone can do it if she works hard enough”  seems a little more true.

It’s a great moment for Gabby and her team.

And by her team, I mean our whole country.

But as we give Gabby D a round of cheers for her fierceness and her first-ness and her fitness and her kickbuttness,  I also want to point out another teenage girl who made waves this week.

Her name is Wojdan Shaherkani. She is sixteen.

If you have heard of her, it isn’t because she is in one of the sports NBC decided to make popular, nor because she fits some media standard of cute or spunky or binki-rocker or sweetheart .  Wojdan does judo and she does it in the 172 lb weight class.

You also haven’t heard of her because she’s good at her sport. She’s only been doing it two years and she lost her bout today in 82 seconds by the Judo equivalent of knockout.

And  you definitely haven’t heard of her because she is a superstar in her country. Up until a few days ago, Wojdan’s own country wasn’t sure if they’d even let her compete.  And she only got in because the IOC invited her not because she went through the country’s system.

Because no such system exists for women in Saudi Arabia.

Which brings us to why Wojdan Shaherkani is awesome.

Wojdan Shaherkani is the first female ever – ever – to compete for the nation of Saudi Arabia in the Olympic games.   Until today, I had no idea she was so young.

And today, another teen girl,  Noor Hussain Al-Maliki broke boundaries in seconds, too. She was the first female ever to compete for Qatar, also a nation where girls aren’t equal to boys and aren’t encourage to play sports.

Al-Maliki is a runner, but liker her Saudi pioneering counterpart, her competition ended with a quick defeat. Just out of the blocks in the 200 M – where she was taking a wild card space allotted to underrepresented nations- Al-Maliki was felled by a hamstring pull and had to be helped off the track.

Her words afterwards are inspirational and give us insight into what some girls are up against:

“”I can’t say that I ever dreamed of going to the Olympics when I was growing up,” she said. “Because that was just not possible, it was not something you thought about….

“My dream started when they actually told me I would be competing. It was the best thing I could imagine, to be going to the Olympics. I was not sure it was real, but it was….I understand the responsibility of this, how important it is to say you are representing your country. It will be my proudest moment and I hope it will show other girls what you can achieve with sport and what it adds to your life. I am not one of the world’s best athletes, but I want to show that being athletic is a good thing that should be encouraged.” (Yahoosports)

And then there was 400m runner Maziah Mahusin of Brunei, a young runner also the first woman to represent her nation. She did a little better, setting a new record for her country in her event. And she, too, spoke of her pride and the impact of her run: “”I have received a lot of text messages. They want to be like me, they want to compete at the Olympics some day. It’s such an honour for me.”

I don’t know how hard it was for Wojdan or Al-Maliki  or Mahusin to train, to get into the games, to get where they are.  Maybe it wasn’t hard at all. And I have no idea their feelings about their country, the national rules, or their religion.  (I know Wojdan herself didn’t want to fight without a headcovering and almost withdrew.)  I am not going to guess.

All I know is,  in less three competitions- two of them lasting less than two minutes -  three teenaged girls made themselves, their sports, their countries and their gender a little more free.

And so, despite the outcomes,  the day was a  quite a victory  for Wojdan and Al-Maliki  and Mahusin and their team.

And by their team, I mean the world.

MOVING THE TARGET

Tonight, inside the confines of my mind, I had my last argument about gun control.

I was pretty good, I have to admit, really on top of my game, arguing, as I try to do, for moderation and a big picture view, conceding fair points and fears by the other side. I would give myself a solid B.

But then, as always, my opponent  walked away, mind unchanged, and smiling, confident in the knowledge no gun control tightening of any kind is forthcoming in this country for the forseeable future–even if I  imaginary-argued it til I was blue in the face.

And on that point, I agreed with my imaginary opponent.

And that is why today’s internal debate was the last. Because I am not going to be able to get gun laws changed in this country.  There are 300 million guns in this country and millions of people believe their own gun is the only thing that can save them from the 299 million other ones.

And perhaps even if I could help change a law, that law might not have much impact, as  has been argued, on psychos shooting up movie theaters, or  warehouses, churches, malls,  office buildings, classrooms, parking lots, Amish country, beauty shops, apartment buildings, and hospitals.

Or maybe it would. I don’t know.

What I know is right now, I cannot do anything to get gun control legislation tightened. And I cannot stop spree killings from happening again. I wish I could.

But I can do something to prevent more needless deaths by gun violence. And if I am serious about this issue and not just trying to win a debate, real or imaginary, I had better go ahead and do that.

OBVIOUSLY,  people don’t just die in gun violence by mass murder. They also die in single shootings in our major cities every day. There have been 200 in Chicago this year alone.  Chicago, a 45 minute drive from my sister’s house.

All over this country people are trying to get kids to make choices that don’t get them killed. They are trying to get them to stay in school, stay out of illegal activity and not use violence to solve problems.  They are trying to break cycle of violence. And they are facing an uphill battle.  (In part because of the prevelance of guns caused by unfettered selling of them…but again, I’m done with that debate…)

I believe intervention in individuals lives can make a difference and keep kids alive. I believe that everyday, there are adults who get in young people’s lives and stop them from doing things that would prove deadly.

I also know these adults are often underfunded. They are often unknown. They are often on their own because too many people with education, access, money, time, and power are not helping them the way we should be.

We hear it all the time: people write off  gun violence in the city as “that’s just how it is” as “someone else’s problem”  as ‘blame the gun lobby.”    Do we do the same? Do I? Do you? And then do we complain about how other people aren’t doing what they could to stop people getting shot and killed?

Friends mourning a victim of gun violence in Chicago

People who hate gun violence  should do (and applause if you already do)  something concrete  to curb it. Share time and talent or cash.  We may not know exactly what to do. But, luckily,  there are people out there who can let us know.

Here are some organizations to consider helping:

 MISSION SAFE.  …is a place that helps kids  in the Bunker Hill Projects of Charlestown and in Mission Hill in Roxbury.  Check them out.

A few months ago, I read about actress Sonja Sohn’s outreach group in Baltimore, Wired For Life.  It uses The Wire as a jumping off point for young adults to examine their own lives and turn them around.

CeaseFire works in Chicago and other places to mediate gang violence and prevent shootings. Check their movie The Interrupters.

Don’t forget about The Boys & Girls Clubs and Big Sisters/Big Brothers Of America.

Just a short sampling. There are hundreds of others in a city near you…(Let me know if you have a favorite and I’ll post it…)

I don’t know what I’m going to do next, myself.

But, it’s got to be something better than abstractly debating points in my head, even points I believe to be  true.

If you want the laws to change,  I think you’re plumb out of luck.

But if you want to reduce gun violence ….well, get to doing it.

Guns don’t save people.  People  save people.

Or to put it better, working together, even in a climate of violence and fear , maybe we can save ourselves.

Drop as you see fit.

Thanks for reading,

Beth

Tiger Moms, Soccer Trophies, Princesses and Alternately, Stuff That Really Matters

So, in the year of blogging about children’s issues (allegedly…it’s been a while!),  I’ve been noticing the issues that get a lot of spotlight and the ones that don’t. Usually my reaction is “Why are people spending so much time on X when Y is so much more important to solve?”  Or I’ve th0ught “Why are people complaining so overkill about X when they should be grateful they don’t have to deal with Y?”

And by hype I mean things like controversial cover images, blogosphere buzz, countless re-posts and responses, coverage by other outlets of the initial story, and comment board tsunamis.

This for instance…

This all in turn begs the next question: what has created the skewed direction of media hype  when it comes to children’s’ issues?

We all kind of know the reason for this.  Most big media is driven by the search for profit.   For better or worse. And so most media locatess where the most money is and they target the hell out of that audience.  And  the result of that is we get a lot of stories with giant hype which are meant to connect with that coveted group.

Who is that demographic  group?  Mainly middle class to affluent people, educated, often white, often suburban or living in nice parts of a city,  in the range of 25-49 years old…. and mostly not facing serious problems with their kids. They are people like me, actually … except I don’t have kids.

So the issues that get the hype are the ones who this group likes.  What do they like?

They like stories they can relate to, stories about people like them and problems they face. Which is normal. But self-reflection can unfortunately become self-absorption. And it also leads to over-saturation of stories about the same group all the time, and the expense of other things. An article recently decried a stressed wealthy working momwriter being written off  as a cliche. Well, when article after article is about the same demographic group, people in that group do become cliches!

This demographic group also likes stories which are infotaining.   Again, most of us are like this  (lol) We don’t like tough issues. Tough issues require solutions often involve personal agency and tough up-hill slogs from the public. They also require digesting data, reading depressing stories and pondering complex gray areas.

Instead, what this key demographic likes is sensationalized pieces on non-lethal,  polarizing topics which allow them to do things like post comments voicing opinions that give them a “moral-high-ground high” and then move on.

And so this is why the stories that dominate the media in the last year  have been about things like:

• Celebrity moms who breastfeed their pre-schoolers or “attachment parent”
• Chinese Tiger Moms who push their kids too hard in piano and schoolwork and French moms whose kids are super polite
• How Mr. Rogers encouragement and kids’ getting too many awards for participation is making a whole generation feel “entitled.”
• How a huge, damaging problem facing girls is that corporate America wants them to like princesses and pink.

Now, I’m not saying there aren’t things in all of these above points that deserve some mention. Maybe extended breastfeeding is good or bad and it’s worth figuring out.  Certainly I thought some of the Tiger Mom’s methods would damage her kids’ psyches.  I agree a lot of kids are going into the world taught by their parents to push to the front of the line as if they’re more important than the next kid. And I am not for corporations dictating to girls who and what they can be.

BUT…

What I see in these issues is an immense, almost breathtaking, amount of time and energy and money and words and pictures devoted  by professionals, amateurs, and people-on-the-street to issues which:

…in some cases involve very small numbers of kids and/or

….a relatively privileged  group (again, target audience) and…

….in most cases  boil down to subjective parenting choices, and…

…are not life and death or even close and…

…. do not in any way shape or form acknowledge that kids – right here in America, on a daily basis -  are going without the very basics that sustain life…

Or, put another way,  one of my friends – a mom of three – said in response to some post or other about parents who are too much into their kids’ school lives– and I paraphrase – “Yeah, well, what about the parents who just don’t care?”

And that’s it in a nutshell. We are becoming obsessed with these articles about attached moms and helicopter parents– in part, again,  because we enjoy complaining about them and their spoiled kids and it requires nothing more of us – ….while on the other hand, we fail to really talk about these other just plain horrific problems.

This is  real:

• Sixteen million American kids were estimated to be “food insecure” in 2010

• 1.6 million American children are homeless  (2011)

• More than 400,000 American kids are in foster care  (2009)

• 300,000 American  kids are sexually abused each year

• “The number of children and teens in America killed by guns in 2006 would fill more than 127 public school classrooms of 25 students each. “

• 50% of American kids have some kind of mental health problems

And yes, there are news items about these things from time to time. But do they get the hype and the buzz and the response and the frequency of coverage?  Or are we too busy talking about Tiger Mom throwing away her kids toys or how old Blossom’s kids will be before they get out of her bed?

People who write about kids today are sending the message that the major problems our children face are basically having too much stuff and too much care from adults.  I argue the truth is exactly the opposite – SEE ABOVE STATISTICS — and that’s what we should be talking about.

I also disagree  with the implied corollary: these articles imply that the major problem we should be talking about when it comes to what parents face is their being too busy – by choice – because they work – by choice – and put their kids in every activity known to man – by  choice – and feel pressured to be like the other parents – by choice.

Instead I would argue the major problem we need to be discussion  today is that parents lack choices. They don’t have a choice but for both parents to work. They don’t have a choice but to rely on help from others if they don’t have jobs.  They lack options for their kids to do enriching things or even be properly educated – either because of finances or where they live or both.  Maybe some made an initial bad choice to have a kid they couldn’t afford. But now what? And on and on. These are the real issues.

Needles to say, I feel for the pressures ALL parents are under. But not all pressure is equal, or rather, the pressure we are awarding top position on the national discussion pyramid is misplaced.

And I am not saying anything new. Any article about “The Mommy Wars” for instance, will always point out that “of course, these things are problems only for women with enough income to make these choices…”

Yet, somehow, these articles still dominate the landscape.

I guess all I’m trying to say is this:

People who have education, access, savvy, the ability to write and research (some for a living),  the time to leave comments, and other such advantages should focus more on the big problems kids face.  

Journalism  about kids and families  should serve a higher purpose than helping affluent people sort through their lifestyle choices or nitpick someone else’s.  It maybe fun to contemplate  “organic food or not organic food”  “youth soccer that keeps score or youth soccer that doesn’t'”,  “Disney princesses yay or nay?”  — and so forth,  we need to dial down the infatuation with these topics.

We’ve got better things to do with our power and more important things to do for our kids.

Lexi’s 2012 trophy. 1st Place.