Thursday, January 10th, 2013
When I was in college, in the bygone days of typewriters and corded phones, there was a rumor of a gang rape on campus. A “town” girl had gone back to a fraternity house with a boy, and several others ended up having sex with her against her will.
Or so the story went. Many on campus fumed, avoided the suspected rapists and waited for the college administration or the police to act. Months went by. Nothing happened.
We graduated and went our separate ways. I suspect that the officials involved — not to mention the young men — were relieved. But regardless of what really happened that night at the frat house, the way it went unaddressed instilled distrust in me, and perhaps in thousands of others who were on campus at the time: Would people in charge stand up for women’s safety and dignity?
Having to ask ourselves that question meant we lost some innocence about the world we were about to fully enter. And it raised the possibility that, maybe, ignoring ugly realities is right. The smart thing to do. (more…)
Tags: Delhi, Politics, rape, Shame, social media, Steubenville
Posted in Culture, Domestic violence, Politics, Shame, Social problems, women's rights | Comments Off
Wednesday, December 14th, 2011
Regarding the column by Anne Michaud, “Keep school budget talk out of the classroom” [Opinion, Dec. 8], I agree that children need to feel secure in school. Their focus needs to be on learning.
A major part of that learning should, in my opinion, be relating knowledge to reality. What good are the three Rs if we don’t see the issues that are facing us daily?
We live in a society that has a small percentage of people voting in general and school elections. This lack of response leads to lack of control over the direction our country takes and sometimes even to corruption in government.
It is imperative that our children learn to be good citizens and participate in our democracy. If this means bringing up budget concerns to students old enough to understand, then they should be mentioned. An open discussion talking about the whole process and not focusing just on layoffs, would be in order. This hopefully would bring students to begin thinking about mundane issues that our society faces on a daily basis. Opening their young minds would undoubtedly lead to a more involved electorate later on.
Steve Tuck, Huntington
(more…)
Tags: Education, Family, identity, job loss, Middle Class, parenting, Politics, Readers respond, Right-sizing, Shame, social effects, suburbs, Unemployment
Posted in Budget, Children, Economy, Education, Family, Long Island life, Middle Class, NY politics, New York, Readers respond, Right-sizing, Shame, Social problems, Unemployment, Youth, job churn | Comments Off
Tuesday, May 24th, 2011
First published in Newsday
My grandmother didn’t have much money. She was a widow who had raised five children on her husband’s paycheck from the textile mill. So when she tried to give me $1,000 not to go into the Peace Corps, it was a very big offer.
I told her that I wanted to serve and that it wasn’t about money. And I went – to Togo, West Africa, in 1983. My grandmother’s fears were about the kind of men I would meet there. She grew queasy thinking about it. I thought her worries were as old-fashioned as her collared housedresses.
The Peace Corps now stands accused of mishandling reports of more than 1,000 sexual assaults of volunteers, including 221 rapes or attempted rapes. Because these crimes are often never reported at all – especially in countries with corrupt local police – the actual numbers of Peace Corps volunteer rape victims are probably much higher.
The organization needs to get serious about this problem, or risk fueling the anxiety of grandmothers everywhere – many of whom may succeed in keeping their progeny at home. Peace Corps director Aaron Williams has appointed a victim’s advocate and is implementing better training programs. (more…)
Tags: Barack Obama, Globalization, Shame, Youth
Posted in Middle Class, Politics, President, Shame, Youth | Comments Off
Tuesday, January 18th, 2011
Originally published in Newsday
It’s obvious now that Jared Lee Loughner should have been stopped. In accounts by news organizations, his madness escalated so clearly: the classroom outburst about strapping bombs to babies, the government conspiracy talk, the eerie, miscued smiling.
But for those of us with a schizophrenic in the family, the progress can look a lot like a rebellious teenager dabbling in drugs and struggling to cross into manhood – not ideal, but in a word, normal.
People ask, why didn’t Loughner’s parents stop him? We may never know what other steps the family took – nor do we know whether the suspect is mentally ill, though he displays all the signs. But his father was alarmed enough to chase Jared into the desert – ultimately losing him – the morning of the shootings at the Safeway meet-and-greet in Tucson. To me, as the sister of a schizophrenic man, this is the quintessential family face of mental illness: chasing, and powerless. (more…)
Tags: parenting, Shame, Youth
Posted in Children, Culture, Family, Public Health, Shame, Social problems, Youth | No Comments »
