February 2018

Sometimes I think I have PTSD from failed change efforts. I am not kidding. I have developed symptoms from living through nearly twenty years of failed education reform efforts. When I reflect on the many change efforts I participated in, I shudder. I try to block it out. I avoid discussing it. There is an "activating" body memory (SE™ talk) for me that is associated with prescriptive change efforts. When I encounter a stimulus or trigger, like someone talking about a new protocol intended...

Robin Williams brought a lot of joy to a lot of people during his 63 years of life. But new research reports there is a dark side to his formidable legacy. It reports that, in the four months after the actor and comedian took his own life, the suicide rate in the United States was nearly 10 percent higher than it would be otherwise. That suggests more than 1,800 people were prompted by news coverage of his demise to follow his example. [For more on this story by TOM JACOBS, go to...

On Sunday, Politico reported that Ivanka Trump , the president's daughter and special adviser, and Senator Marco Rubio (R-Florida) have begun strategizing how best to advance a new paid family leave proposal. The reporting comes on the heels of President Donald Trump 's State of the Union Speech, in which he specifically called for a national paid family leave policy. At the moment, it seems unlikely the issue will get much attention this year. Congress is currently struggling with a number...

On the heels of #MeToo and a child sexual abuse documentary screening on Parliament Hill, public safety minister Ralph Goodale is infusing funds into the fight against online child sexual exploitation. Goodale announced $4,123,000 in funding over five years Wednesday, as well as $857,000 a year ongoing for the Canadian Centre for Child Protection, an organization that tries to reduce the risk of victimization among kids through programs, services and resources. Child pornography incidents...

Children who have lived through traumatic experiences and therefore display “difficult” behaviour need far better support, a charity has stated. YoungMinds is calling for a Government strategy to help these children who are “too often misunderstood by the services that should support them”. The charity’s new report, ‘ Addressing Adversity ’, argues that these kids don’t get the help they need because of this misunderstanding, yet they are the ones who often need it most. [For more on this...

Two nationally recognized speakers on Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and their impacts on children and adults will headline the Raising Resilient Oklahomans! March 7. The summit, which is open to the public, will run from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Hilton Garden Inn and Edmond Conference Center, located at Covell and U.S. Interstate 35. While their discussions will address one of the most serious health care crises facing the nation, Dr. Robert Anda and Susan Craig, Ph.D., will...

The interconnection between education and health is well established. Take, for example, smoking. Smoking continues to be the leading cause of preventable disease and death in the U.S. The highest percent of smoking is seen among persons with less than a high school or General Educational Development (GED) high school equivalency diploma , and the lowest is among persons with a bachelor's degree or higher. Trends in efforts to quit smoking also vary by educational level . Adults with a GED...

On Monday night, the Ohio state Senate did something truly unprecedented: With near-unanimous support from both Republicans and Democrats, the chamber approved Senate Resolution 5, a measure that would for the first time require bipartisan input and approval for federal congressional maps. The measure is expected to pass the state House today, and it will appear on the ballot in the May primary elections to get final approval from voters. As it stands, there are few state guidelines on...

If I were asked by a survey to describe my experience with sexual assault in college, I would pinpoint two incidents, both of which occurred at or after parties in my freshman year. In the first case, the guy went after me with sniper accuracy, magnanimously giving me a drink he’d poured upstairs. In the second case, I’m sure the guy had no idea that he was doing something wrong. I had joined a sorority, and all my social circles were as sloppy, intense, and tribal as the Greek system—the...

Fifty years ago in March, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke at the National Cathedral in Washington D.C., at what turned out to be his last Sunday sermon . He talked about the perils and promises of the three major changes he saw taking place around the world—a “triple revolution,” as he called it, consisting of automation, the emergence of nuclear weaponry, and the global fight for human rights. Regarding that first prong, he noted at the time: It’s this speech that Virginia Eubanks, an...

Jessiann Hodges grew up on Simpson Street in the 1980s when the crack epidemic hit urban neighborhoods hard. Her family was poor. Her father was in and out of prison while her mother struggled with mental illness. Hodges first tangled with the law when she was caught stealing food for her family. She was 9. By 11, she was selling pot and ecstasy. By 14, she was participating in armed robberies and was eventually sentenced to Southern Oaks Girls School in Union Grove. Hodges returned to...

A report from the Wisconsin Office of Children’s Mental Health revealed suicide rates among young people in Wisconsin have doubled from 2007-15 and continue to rise above the national average. Nationally, the 2015 rate of suicide among teens aged 15 to 19 was almost 10 per 100,000. Wisconsin’s rate was nearly 12 per 100,000. Self-harm hospitalizations for those under 18-years-old in Wisconsin have also increased since 2011 — especially among females — as have the number of students receiving...