America has slowly evolved from “In God we trust” to the “me generation” demanding rights without a sense of responsibility to neighbors or community. The loss of community involvement has contributed to the growth of criminal gangs. When families break down, children can become angry. They can find comfort and support through gangs, sex and drugs.
The FBI reports the peak age for burglary is 16 and violence, age 18. Without correction, children fill the void with a false sense of power. Without responsible adults, a teen can steal or assault another child without guilt.
Police, schools and community leaders are struggling to cope, but children need adults to speak up and support each other.
As a crime prevention coordinator, I was facilitating a meeting of neighbors. After discussing ways to stop burglars, a neighbor asked what to do about two boys, 7 and 9 who were bullying her children. Other neighbors added the boys stole from a garage, broke several flowerpots and smashed a mailbox. A man said he had told the mother, “Get your boys under control” and she slammed her door. The group decided they could not let two young boys disrupt their lives but they needed a positive approach. Two tactful neighbors agreed to talk to the mother and offer help. The mother not only listened by burst into tears and said her husband had left. Neighbors decided to help and several men became mentors and families included the boys in their activities. Today they are successful students, one in high school and the other in college.
There are 28,000 gangs in the US and nine youths die every day from violence. Neighborhood support is critical for struggling families. Isolation creates an environment for crime, vandalism and domestic violence as citizens seek refuge behind locked doors. Americans are paying a high price.
We are at a crossroads. Citizens can restore the social fabric of communities.
Ten ways YOU can help stop gangs and destructive behaviors:
1. Help children learn how to become centered by taking your family to church. Children become strong and resilient by learning how to handle their emotions. Self-esteem is a “do it yourself,” project of looking within and changing ourselves. A strong conscience protects us, provides guidance and self-control.
2. Create a network of love and support with a peaceful home life and connecting to positive family members, neighbors and a church family.
3. Teach children the buddy system and street smarts. Encourage them to listen to their self-protective instincts and trust their intuition to avoid danger.
4. Include children in your home safety program: how to secure your home, how to answer the door and phone, what to do when home alone or in an emergency.
5. Create a safe neighborhood by working with neighbors. Join a neighborhood group or start one.
6. Establish a block parent program and designate a safe house on the block.
7. Conduct a neighborhood safety survey: Do you have overgrown shrubs, adequate lighting, open drainage, speeding cars, abandoned houses, drug dealers or gangs? Work with neighbors to solve problems.
8. Report criminal activities or designate neighborhood leaders willing to report to police.
9. Encourage city leaders to appoint a volunteer committee to promote community involvement and youth safety projects. Increase communication with local support agencies. Invite responsible teens to participate in teen courts and neighborhood groups.
10. Ask existing groups (churches, civic groups) to help organize after-school activities, start neighborhood newsletters, sponsor block parties and help clean up neighborhoods. Groups can reach out and help citizens get connected so gangs will not attract youth.
Responsible adults, take charge! We can create safe communities when children see positive role models and learn acceptable behavior.
Americans can reduce fear and restore trust by creating neighborhood support. We will stop gangs when adults work together for safe, healthy communities for everyone, especially for our children.
Stephanie L. Mann, Crime and Violence Prevention Consultant
For more information see, The Adopt-A-Block Guidebook, on www.safekidsnow.com
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Thursday, December 29, 2011
2012: How Safe is Your Community?
Did you know... the safest families live in neighborhoods where people know each other, communicate and build trust relationships with families and children. Family and neighborhood support keep your child safe from bullies, drugs, gangs and violence. People who know each other care and will help protect your child.
Check out these questions and rate your family involvement...
1. Do you know all your neighbors? (10 families around you)
2. Do you know and talk to the youth in your neighborhood?
3. When you see youngsters misbehaving, do you speak up, and correct them and/or notify their parents?
4. Do you accept complaints about your children?
5. Do you watch your neighbors’ home when they are away?
6. Do your neighbors watch your home when you are away?
7. If you hear or see something suspicious, do you contact neighbors or call the police?
8. Do you and your neighbors work together to solve neighborhood issues? (bullies, vandals, lighting, traffic, noise, etc)
9. Do you have a designated neighborhood leader?
10. Do you belong to a neighborhood group or association?
10. Do you have your neighbor's contact information (phone, email).
11. Is your family actively involved in your community? (civic, youth, charity, religious groups)? (Social isolation can escalate violent behavior.)
12. Do you know your elected officials and local police?
13. Do you know what to do in an emergency?
14. Do you know as much about your neighborhood as national issues? You have the power to change your neighborhood!
Rate yourself:
Are you part of the problem? Your neighborhood needs you and your ideas. Get involved!
Set a goal for 2012 to work with neighbors to keep families and children safe.
For more information on what you can do. Check out:
www.safekidsnow.com or contact us at: safeneighborhoods@gmail.com
Tell us what you are doing to help your community on www.facebook.com/stephanie.mann
Check out these questions and rate your family involvement...
1. Do you know all your neighbors? (10 families around you)
2. Do you know and talk to the youth in your neighborhood?
3. When you see youngsters misbehaving, do you speak up, and correct them and/or notify their parents?
4. Do you accept complaints about your children?
5. Do you watch your neighbors’ home when they are away?
6. Do your neighbors watch your home when you are away?
7. If you hear or see something suspicious, do you contact neighbors or call the police?
8. Do you and your neighbors work together to solve neighborhood issues? (bullies, vandals, lighting, traffic, noise, etc)
9. Do you have a designated neighborhood leader?
10. Do you belong to a neighborhood group or association?
10. Do you have your neighbor's contact information (phone, email).
11. Is your family actively involved in your community? (civic, youth, charity, religious groups)? (Social isolation can escalate violent behavior.)
12. Do you know your elected officials and local police?
13. Do you know what to do in an emergency?
14. Do you know as much about your neighborhood as national issues? You have the power to change your neighborhood!
Rate yourself:
Are you part of the problem? Your neighborhood needs you and your ideas. Get involved!
Set a goal for 2012 to work with neighbors to keep families and children safe.
For more information on what you can do. Check out:
www.safekidsnow.com or contact us at: safeneighborhoods@gmail.com
Tell us what you are doing to help your community on www.facebook.com/stephanie.mann
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
WOMEN! 9 CRITICAL TIPS that could save your life!
1. If you are attacked...The elbow is the strongest point on your body. If you are close enough to use it, do!
2. If a robber asks for your wallet and/or purse, DO NOT HAND IT TO HIM. Toss it away from you....Chances are that he is more interested in your wallet and/or purse than you, and he will go for the wallet/purse. RUN LIKE MAD IN THE OTHER DIRECTION!
3. If you are ever thrown into the trunk of a car, kick out the back tail lights and stick your arm out the hole and start waving like crazy.. The driver won't see you, but everybody else will.
4. Women have a tendency to get into their cars after shopping, eating, working, etc., and just sit (doing their checkbook, or making a list, etc. DON'T DO THIS!) The predator will be watching you, and this is the perfect opportunity for him to get in on the passenger side, put a gun to your head, and tell you where to go.
AS SOON AS YOU GET INTO YOUR CAR, LOCK THE DOORS AND LEAVE.. If someone is in the car with a gun to your head DO NOT DRIVE OFF, Repeat: DO NOT DRIVE OFF!
Instead gun the engine and speed into anything, wrecking the car. Your Air Bag will save you. If the person is in the back seat
they will get the worst of it. As soon as the car crashes bail out and run. It is better than having them find your body in a remote location.
5. A few notes about getting into your car in a parking lot, or parking garage:
A.) Be aware: look around you, look into your car, at the passenger side floor , and in the back seat.
B.) If you are parked next to a big van, enter your car from the passenger door. Most serial killers attack their victims
by pulling them into their vans while the women are attempting to get into their cars.
C.) Look at the car parked on the driver's side of your vehicle,
and the passenger side.. If a male is sitting alone in the seat nearest your car, you may want to walk back into the mall, or work, and get a guard/policeman to walk you back out.
IT IS ALWAYS BETTER TO BE SAFE THAN SORRY. (And better paranoid than dead.)
6. ALWAYS take the elevator instead of the stairs. Stairwells are horrible places to be alone and the perfect crime spot. This is especially true at NIGHT!)
7. If the predator has a gun and you are not under his control,
ALWAYS RUN! The predator will only hit you (a running target)
4 in 100 times; and even then, it most likely WILL NOT be a vital organ. RUN, Preferably in a zig -zag pattern!
8. As women, we are always trying to be sympathetic: STOP It may get you raped, or killed. Ted Bundy, the serial killer, was a good-looking, well educated man, who ALWAYS played on the sympathies of unsuspecting women. He walked with a cane, or a limp, and often asked 'for help' into his vehicle or with his vehicle, which is when he abducted his next victim.
9. Another Safety Point: Someone just told me that her friend heard a crying baby on her porch the night before last, and she called the police because it was late and she thought it was weird.. The police told her Whatever you do, DO NOT open the door..' The lady then said that it sounded like the baby had crawled near a window, and she was worried that it would crawl to the street and get run over. The policeman said, 'We already have a unit on the way, whatever you do, DO NOT open the door.'
He told her that they think a serial killer has a baby's cry recorded and uses it to coax women out of their homes thinking that someone dropped off a baby.. He said they have not verified it, but have had several calls by women saying that they hear baby's cries outside their doors when they're home alone at night.
10. Water scam! If you wake up in the middle of the night to hear all your taps outside running or what you think is a burst pipe, DO NOT GO OUT TO INVESTIGATE! These people turn on all your outside taps full blast so that you will go out to investigate and then attack.
Stay alert, keep safe, and look out for your neighbors!
Written by Police Officer Tae Kwon for your safety!
2. If a robber asks for your wallet and/or purse, DO NOT HAND IT TO HIM. Toss it away from you....Chances are that he is more interested in your wallet and/or purse than you, and he will go for the wallet/purse. RUN LIKE MAD IN THE OTHER DIRECTION!
3. If you are ever thrown into the trunk of a car, kick out the back tail lights and stick your arm out the hole and start waving like crazy.. The driver won't see you, but everybody else will.
4. Women have a tendency to get into their cars after shopping, eating, working, etc., and just sit (doing their checkbook, or making a list, etc. DON'T DO THIS!) The predator will be watching you, and this is the perfect opportunity for him to get in on the passenger side, put a gun to your head, and tell you where to go.
AS SOON AS YOU GET INTO YOUR CAR, LOCK THE DOORS AND LEAVE.. If someone is in the car with a gun to your head DO NOT DRIVE OFF, Repeat: DO NOT DRIVE OFF!
Instead gun the engine and speed into anything, wrecking the car. Your Air Bag will save you. If the person is in the back seat
they will get the worst of it. As soon as the car crashes bail out and run. It is better than having them find your body in a remote location.
5. A few notes about getting into your car in a parking lot, or parking garage:
A.) Be aware: look around you, look into your car, at the passenger side floor , and in the back seat.
B.) If you are parked next to a big van, enter your car from the passenger door. Most serial killers attack their victims
by pulling them into their vans while the women are attempting to get into their cars.
C.) Look at the car parked on the driver's side of your vehicle,
and the passenger side.. If a male is sitting alone in the seat nearest your car, you may want to walk back into the mall, or work, and get a guard/policeman to walk you back out.
IT IS ALWAYS BETTER TO BE SAFE THAN SORRY. (And better paranoid than dead.)
6. ALWAYS take the elevator instead of the stairs. Stairwells are horrible places to be alone and the perfect crime spot. This is especially true at NIGHT!)
7. If the predator has a gun and you are not under his control,
ALWAYS RUN! The predator will only hit you (a running target)
4 in 100 times; and even then, it most likely WILL NOT be a vital organ. RUN, Preferably in a zig -zag pattern!
8. As women, we are always trying to be sympathetic: STOP It may get you raped, or killed. Ted Bundy, the serial killer, was a good-looking, well educated man, who ALWAYS played on the sympathies of unsuspecting women. He walked with a cane, or a limp, and often asked 'for help' into his vehicle or with his vehicle, which is when he abducted his next victim.
9. Another Safety Point: Someone just told me that her friend heard a crying baby on her porch the night before last, and she called the police because it was late and she thought it was weird.. The police told her Whatever you do, DO NOT open the door..' The lady then said that it sounded like the baby had crawled near a window, and she was worried that it would crawl to the street and get run over. The policeman said, 'We already have a unit on the way, whatever you do, DO NOT open the door.'
He told her that they think a serial killer has a baby's cry recorded and uses it to coax women out of their homes thinking that someone dropped off a baby.. He said they have not verified it, but have had several calls by women saying that they hear baby's cries outside their doors when they're home alone at night.
10. Water scam! If you wake up in the middle of the night to hear all your taps outside running or what you think is a burst pipe, DO NOT GO OUT TO INVESTIGATE! These people turn on all your outside taps full blast so that you will go out to investigate and then attack.
Stay alert, keep safe, and look out for your neighbors!
Written by Police Officer Tae Kwon for your safety!
Friday, October 28, 2011
Wake Up America...We must protect children!
Penn State University faces a national scandal! In 2002, an assistant football coach witnessed a sexual assault of a child, told administrators and no one reported it to police. Seven more assaults have now been reported.
Americans have heard horror stories about sexual assaults by priests, sex traffickers and the growing porn industry. The tragic truth is, children are sexually assaulted at home and in their neighborhoods every day. These children grow up and become parents. Often, the cycle of abuse continues. Americans are paying a high price for their silence.
When children feel powerless, violated and/or unloved, they act out in self-destructive ways. They may turn to drugs, sex, food, cutting, bullying, become an easy victim or join a gang to feel powerful! Around 80 percent of prison inmates were abused as children.
SPEAK UP TO PROTECT CHILDREN!
During the past year, 3 out of 5 children were exposed to violence at home or in their neighborhoods. It is up to citizens to stop this epidemic. If YOU don’t speak up, you are guilty of allowing abuse to continue.
10 things you can do to help stop child abuse.
1. Watch toddlers at play. A child tries to dominate by shoving playmates and crying for a toy. This is normal, childish behavior. Adults must correct children so they mature properly and learn to respect others. Don’t ignore aggressive behavior! Little bullies can become abusers.
2. STAY ALERT! Don’t let anyone hit, slap or verbally abuse a child. Children need protection, attention and encouragement. Adults are role models. Discipline children by taking way privileges but don’t back down or you will teach a child how to manipulate YOU.
3. Peace starts at home! Make a family rule… we treat each other with respect. Bully/victim behavior is learned at home. (25 percent of women and 10 percent of men are in abusive relationship) Verbal, sexual or physical abuse teaches children to be victims and/or bullies.
4. Don’t be your child’s best friend! Undisciplined children become angry when they don’t have the skills to develop positive friends. They may bully or become targets of abuse because they don’t know what else to do. This could lead them toward self-destructive behaviors.
5. Discuss family problems together and allow everyone to have a voice. Children mature and grow strong when they are heard and help solve conflicts, peacefully.
6. Discipline, rules, love, attention and support give children self-confidence. If bullied, they know they are NOT the problem. Self-worth gives children the inner power to stand up to bullies, walk away and report bad behavior.
7. Self-discipline keeps children safe. For example: If I pick a fight with you and you fight back, I am in control. If I pick a fight with you and you walk away, you are in control. Children can develop courage and character by speaking up and standing up to bullies.
8. Does your school have an “anti-bully” policy? Do neighbors work together to stop bullies on the block? Don’t ignore bullies! They can form gangs and make your neighborhood less safe. Don’t tolerate any destructive behavior.
9. BE AN ADVOCATE and get involved! CNN Special, “Bullying: It stops here!” stated, “Social Combat: the new norm for youth.” We must all speak up and work with neighbors to stop bad behavior.
10. Start a movement to help create a safer environment in your school or in your neighborhood. Ask friends to join you. If you want to know what to do and how to do it, check out safekidsnow.com
Speak up to protect children and our future.
Stephanie L. Mann, Crime and Violence Prevention Consultant
Author, 4 national prevention books.
Americans have heard horror stories about sexual assaults by priests, sex traffickers and the growing porn industry. The tragic truth is, children are sexually assaulted at home and in their neighborhoods every day. These children grow up and become parents. Often, the cycle of abuse continues. Americans are paying a high price for their silence.
When children feel powerless, violated and/or unloved, they act out in self-destructive ways. They may turn to drugs, sex, food, cutting, bullying, become an easy victim or join a gang to feel powerful! Around 80 percent of prison inmates were abused as children.
SPEAK UP TO PROTECT CHILDREN!
During the past year, 3 out of 5 children were exposed to violence at home or in their neighborhoods. It is up to citizens to stop this epidemic. If YOU don’t speak up, you are guilty of allowing abuse to continue.
10 things you can do to help stop child abuse.
1. Watch toddlers at play. A child tries to dominate by shoving playmates and crying for a toy. This is normal, childish behavior. Adults must correct children so they mature properly and learn to respect others. Don’t ignore aggressive behavior! Little bullies can become abusers.
2. STAY ALERT! Don’t let anyone hit, slap or verbally abuse a child. Children need protection, attention and encouragement. Adults are role models. Discipline children by taking way privileges but don’t back down or you will teach a child how to manipulate YOU.
3. Peace starts at home! Make a family rule… we treat each other with respect. Bully/victim behavior is learned at home. (25 percent of women and 10 percent of men are in abusive relationship) Verbal, sexual or physical abuse teaches children to be victims and/or bullies.
4. Don’t be your child’s best friend! Undisciplined children become angry when they don’t have the skills to develop positive friends. They may bully or become targets of abuse because they don’t know what else to do. This could lead them toward self-destructive behaviors.
5. Discuss family problems together and allow everyone to have a voice. Children mature and grow strong when they are heard and help solve conflicts, peacefully.
6. Discipline, rules, love, attention and support give children self-confidence. If bullied, they know they are NOT the problem. Self-worth gives children the inner power to stand up to bullies, walk away and report bad behavior.
7. Self-discipline keeps children safe. For example: If I pick a fight with you and you fight back, I am in control. If I pick a fight with you and you walk away, you are in control. Children can develop courage and character by speaking up and standing up to bullies.
8. Does your school have an “anti-bully” policy? Do neighbors work together to stop bullies on the block? Don’t ignore bullies! They can form gangs and make your neighborhood less safe. Don’t tolerate any destructive behavior.
9. BE AN ADVOCATE and get involved! CNN Special, “Bullying: It stops here!” stated, “Social Combat: the new norm for youth.” We must all speak up and work with neighbors to stop bad behavior.
10. Start a movement to help create a safer environment in your school or in your neighborhood. Ask friends to join you. If you want to know what to do and how to do it, check out safekidsnow.com
Speak up to protect children and our future.
Stephanie L. Mann, Crime and Violence Prevention Consultant
Author, 4 national prevention books.
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
14 WAYS TO AVOID VIOLENCE!
DISCUSS WITH CHILDREN...
1. Keep your hands to yourself. Settle disagreements with words, not fists or weapons. (Parents…model non-violent behavior at home.)
2. If a bully provokes you, stay strong. Remember: If you react, he is in control. If you stay cool and calm, you are in control. Walk away!
3. If disputes escalate, seek help! Don’t form an audience. Encourage others to stop tolerating bad behavior.
4. Be alert! Find safe routes for walking to and from school, avoid hot spots (bully or drug house, group hang outs).
5. Know all your neighbors. (Parents: Ask trusted neighbors to be a safe house, if you are away and your child needs help.)
6. Trust your instincts! If they feel threatened or sense danger, get away fast. Run to a group of people, a lighted area or in a store for help.
7. Report any threats, destruction of property or suspicious activities to an adult, police officer or a school authority.
8. NEVER go with someone you don’t know and trust, even if he/she sounds like a nice person. If forced, fight back and run.
9. Don’t use alcohol or drugs. They reduce your self-awareness and make you an easy target for sexual assault and abuse.
10. If someone tries to be mean to you speak up with confidence and walk away. Report if the bad behavior persists. (Parent: Role-play with children what you want them to do.)
11. Hang out with friends who show support for each other. Avoid “friends” who bully, criticize, use put downs and make you feel bad.
12. Get involved in school and community activities (yearbook, chorus, plays, arts, church) to strengthen your network of supportive friend. (Parents: Children need a variety of friends to see and evaluate healthy relationships.)
13. Be a role model for others to follow. Volunteer at school or in the community. Learn to be a leader and encourage friends to join you.
14. Create a network of positive friends, family, neighbors and a religious family to help strengthen your character and ability to get along. A strong conscience (self-awareness) will keep you safe from harm.
For more information and resources: www.safekidsnow.com
1. Keep your hands to yourself. Settle disagreements with words, not fists or weapons. (Parents…model non-violent behavior at home.)
2. If a bully provokes you, stay strong. Remember: If you react, he is in control. If you stay cool and calm, you are in control. Walk away!
3. If disputes escalate, seek help! Don’t form an audience. Encourage others to stop tolerating bad behavior.
4. Be alert! Find safe routes for walking to and from school, avoid hot spots (bully or drug house, group hang outs).
5. Know all your neighbors. (Parents: Ask trusted neighbors to be a safe house, if you are away and your child needs help.)
6. Trust your instincts! If they feel threatened or sense danger, get away fast. Run to a group of people, a lighted area or in a store for help.
7. Report any threats, destruction of property or suspicious activities to an adult, police officer or a school authority.
8. NEVER go with someone you don’t know and trust, even if he/she sounds like a nice person. If forced, fight back and run.
9. Don’t use alcohol or drugs. They reduce your self-awareness and make you an easy target for sexual assault and abuse.
10. If someone tries to be mean to you speak up with confidence and walk away. Report if the bad behavior persists. (Parent: Role-play with children what you want them to do.)
11. Hang out with friends who show support for each other. Avoid “friends” who bully, criticize, use put downs and make you feel bad.
12. Get involved in school and community activities (yearbook, chorus, plays, arts, church) to strengthen your network of supportive friend. (Parents: Children need a variety of friends to see and evaluate healthy relationships.)
13. Be a role model for others to follow. Volunteer at school or in the community. Learn to be a leader and encourage friends to join you.
14. Create a network of positive friends, family, neighbors and a religious family to help strengthen your character and ability to get along. A strong conscience (self-awareness) will keep you safe from harm.
For more information and resources: www.safekidsnow.com
Monday, September 26, 2011
Root Cause for Violent Behavior!
Hardly a day passes without youth violence making news. From bullying at school to gang activity in the streets, the problem is pervasive. Most recently, rival teenage gangs traded deadly gunfire in the streets of Macon, Georgia, and the mayor there has vowed to find solutions. Macon is not unique.
We believe the best time to counter violent behavior among the young is before it starts. If we expose children from birth onward to positive, nurturing, nonviolent treatment, and to exemplary adult role models, we can safely predict that they won’t evolve into bullies or gang members. The consensus of child development science concurs with our position in this regard. Merely funneling young lawbreakers into the juvenile system doesn’t get at the root of the problem.
Please carefully consider the following recommendations:
• Add parenting education to the standard high school curriculum with a passing grade as a prerequisite for graduation.
• Make parenting education mandatory for parents who are aid recipients.
• Promote legal reforms that will extend to children the same protections against assault and battery that apply to adults.
Share copies of our publication, "Plain Talk about Spanking" with child-related and healthcare-related organizations and agencies, including schools, hospitals, pediatric clinics, libraries, etc. It can be accessed online at www.nospank.net/ and we furnish FREE download or hard copies upon request.
The benefits that will result from our joint efforts to reform harmful child-rearing customs and habits, and replace them with positive alternatives, will become apparent in due course. As Nelson Mandela observed, "There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children."
Video with Jordan Riak, "Plain Talk about Spanking!" at: http://www.youtube.com/user/NeighWatchPioneer
Jordan Riak, Exec. Dir., Parents and Teachers Against Violence in Education (PTAVE); P.O. Box 1033, Alamo, CA 94507; Tel: 925-831-1661; On the Web at www.nospank.net
We believe the best time to counter violent behavior among the young is before it starts. If we expose children from birth onward to positive, nurturing, nonviolent treatment, and to exemplary adult role models, we can safely predict that they won’t evolve into bullies or gang members. The consensus of child development science concurs with our position in this regard. Merely funneling young lawbreakers into the juvenile system doesn’t get at the root of the problem.
Please carefully consider the following recommendations:
• Add parenting education to the standard high school curriculum with a passing grade as a prerequisite for graduation.
• Make parenting education mandatory for parents who are aid recipients.
• Promote legal reforms that will extend to children the same protections against assault and battery that apply to adults.
Share copies of our publication, "Plain Talk about Spanking" with child-related and healthcare-related organizations and agencies, including schools, hospitals, pediatric clinics, libraries, etc. It can be accessed online at www.nospank.net/ and we furnish FREE download or hard copies upon request.
The benefits that will result from our joint efforts to reform harmful child-rearing customs and habits, and replace them with positive alternatives, will become apparent in due course. As Nelson Mandela observed, "There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children."
Video with Jordan Riak, "Plain Talk about Spanking!" at: http://www.youtube.com/user/NeighWatchPioneer
Jordan Riak, Exec. Dir., Parents and Teachers Against Violence in Education (PTAVE); P.O. Box 1033, Alamo, CA 94507; Tel: 925-831-1661; On the Web at www.nospank.net
Monday, September 19, 2011
PLAN AHEAD...for a disaster! (flood, earthquake, hurricane, tornado, fire, etc.)
1. PLAN AHEAD! Know neighbors, their useful skills and equipment. Everyone can help!
2. Work with a neighbor to map your neighborhood. Draw your street (on a poster) with house numbers and list residents, children, elderly and disabled.
3. Use symbols, add location of gas meters and propane tanks to your map. (65% of house fires a caused by gas leaks.) Learn how and when to turn off meters. (Call local provider)
4. Know how to turn off water to the house.
5. Stock up on dry food, canned goods and water to last 5 days.
6. Discuss with family your disaster plan, safety info, location of supplies, meeting place and outside area contact in case local communication fails.
7. Store under your bed, sturdy shoes, gloves, flashlight, battery operated radio, first aid kit, a HELP/OK sign and a to do check list.
8. Create a team of neighbors to check on elderly, disabled and children. Check gas meters, propane tanks and shut off gas, if necessary. Check on homes to offer help.
9. Be prepared to give first aid. (Classes available in your area?) Contact your council member or area rep to find out what your community is doing to prepare for a disaster and get involved. Your community needs YOU.
2. Work with a neighbor to map your neighborhood. Draw your street (on a poster) with house numbers and list residents, children, elderly and disabled.
3. Use symbols, add location of gas meters and propane tanks to your map. (65% of house fires a caused by gas leaks.) Learn how and when to turn off meters. (Call local provider)
4. Know how to turn off water to the house.
5. Stock up on dry food, canned goods and water to last 5 days.
6. Discuss with family your disaster plan, safety info, location of supplies, meeting place and outside area contact in case local communication fails.
7. Store under your bed, sturdy shoes, gloves, flashlight, battery operated radio, first aid kit, a HELP/OK sign and a to do check list.
8. Create a team of neighbors to check on elderly, disabled and children. Check gas meters, propane tanks and shut off gas, if necessary. Check on homes to offer help.
9. Be prepared to give first aid. (Classes available in your area?) Contact your council member or area rep to find out what your community is doing to prepare for a disaster and get involved. Your community needs YOU.
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