Cyber-Bullied 12-Year-Old Girl's Suicide Is a Tragic Reminder

vrijdag 13 september 2013

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota
by Jacqueline Burt 9 hours ago

Heartbreaking news out of Florida: 12-year-old Rebecca Ann Sedwick committed suicide after being relentlessly bullied online by 15 girls, jumping to her death at a cement plant in her hometown of Lakeland.

As the mother of a 12-year-old girl, just imagining what this child's parents are going through makes me feel utterly ill -- her life had barely begun! But as a former 12-year-old girl, imagining what Rebecca went through makes me feel equally sick. Among the insults her bullies posted on the internet: "Go kill yourself" and "Why are you still alive?"

Just terrible. And here's the part that makes me want to spend 100% of my energy monitoring my daughter's presence online: Sedwick left a series of digital clues before her death. She messaged one friend saying "I'm jumping, I can't take it anymore," and changed her name on a messaging application to "That Dead Girl." 

If only someone had recognized the signs. Sadly, Sedwick isn't the only teen to leave such a trail in recent days ... 

Just weeks ago, on the first day of school in the town where I live (Greenwich, CT), high school sophomore Bart Palosz killed himself with his family's shotgun. In the days and weeks leading up to that tragic day, Palosz posted many suicidal thoughts on social media. Palosz, too, was bullied. 

The girls who drove Rebecca to suicide might be charged with felony cyber stalking, but of course that won't bring her back. We can only hope that other bullied kids are saved as a result of parents and friends hearing Rebecca's story.

If the words someone is using -- even online -- indicate they may be considering suicide, or if you yourself have wrestled with the idea, please reach out to a suicide hotline. There is ALWAYS someone there who wants to listen and who will take you seriously. You can call the Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255)

How do you think we can help bullied teens? 

Image via NatalieMaynor/Flickr

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Jacqueline Burt

has written for numerous magazines, newspapers, and websites. She is easily bored and often tired, so she requires constant entertainment to keep her awake. Dance, Monkey! Dance! 

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Country Musician Arrested for Disgusting Plans with 2 Young Girls Has Worst Excuse

zondag 8 september 2013

AppId is over the quota
por Kiri Blakeley hace 9 horas

Un músico del país ha sido condenado a 17 años de cárcel por organizar a tener relaciones sexuales con dos niñas, un niño de 7 años y un 9-year-old. ¿Qué jugador de banjo Abraham Spear no sabía era las niñas "la madre", quien hizo el grotesco "trato" con online--era en realidad un agente del FBI. Abraham, según informes, se reunió con la niñas "madre" en un restaurante en Dallas, esperando a ser capaz de conseguir juguetón con sus hijas. En cambio, tenía las esposas le pegó. Y no vas a creer la excusa que usó para intentar salir de problemas.

Lanza, ex miembro de la banda de pandilleros Twang, 30 años de edad había iniciado sesión en un sitio web y comenzó a comunicarse con alguien que le pareció la madre de dos niñas. Preguntó la mujer enviar las fotos de las chicas y a cambio, enviaron una foto de sí mismo en su ropa interior y se ofreció a ser el "maestro--niñas" y supongo que él no quiso decir enseñándoles cómo twang el banjo.

Luego al parecer dijo que quería "admirarlos y frotar sobre sus patas" y algunas otras sugerencias sexualmente explícitos. En lugar de encontrarlo horrible que la "mamá" de niñas estaría de acuerdo a esto, se las arregló para encontrarse con ella y los niños.

Tan pronto como llegó como el destino para el encuentro ilegal, fue arrestado.

Él presuntamente rompió en sollozos y dijo que "no en realidad iba a hacer nada." Ay chico. ¿Cuántas veces en tu vida te has esta excusa? Alguien está básicamente totalmente configurado para hacer algo inmoral o incorrecto y cuando, intenta reclamar era una broma, o una prueba, o que ellos no tenían planes para ir a través con él.

Sí, porque la policía llegó a él primera.

Lanza también al parecer admitió que tenía un "problema". Seguro que lo hace. Pero afortunadamente estas chicas no eran reales y su "problema" no se propagó a ellos. Ahora puede contemplar su "problema" en la cárcel.

¿Te sorprende su excusa?

Imagen a través del Departamento del Sheriff del Condado de Dallas

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Girls’ Chevron Shorties, Skirts & Bubble Rompers, Just $7.99—Hurry!

donderdag 5 september 2013

Girls’ Chevron Shorties, Skirts & Bubble Rompers, Just $7.99—Hurry!

Check out the Chevron Blowout Sale at Very Jane! Shop girls’ skirts, shorties and bubble rompers for just $7.99! Sizes available range from 0 to 12 years old. All items shown normally sell for $28.00–save 72%! Shipping is $3.49 for the first item and $0.99 for each additional item.

To get started, visit Very Jane and click on “Chevron BLOWOUT! Skirts, Shorties, & Bubble Rompers!” Shop now for the best selection! Once items sell out, they are gone!

Chevron Shorties, Skirt or Bubble Romper (reg $28.00) $7.99
Pay $7.99, plus $3.49 shipping
Final Price: $11.48

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Little Girl's Adorable Reaction to Skyping With Dad Is Priceless (VIDEO)

dinsdag 27 augustus 2013

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota
by Julie Ryan Evans 1 hour ago

There's cute, and then there's holy freaking adorable. This video of a toddler Skyping with her dad falls into the latter category. Her name is Yerin Park, and if Skype hasn't already contacted her to be their poster child, then they should.

She starts out with a telephone, trying to talk to her dad. She's not impressed at all, and gets bored with the whole thing after a few seconds. Then her mother puts her in front of a big screen TV with her dad on Skype, and her reaction is priceless. She giggles, squees, and runs back and forth with delight. 

The video was posted last year, but has just started to go viral. Watch and you'll see why people can't get enough of this little girl.

Even though her words are in Korean and I'm not sure exactly what she's saying, her joy is universally understandable. She sees her dad's face there and is simply overjoyed. It has to be all sorts of crazy for a toddler to see Elmo or her favorite cartoon character on the screen one moment and her dad talking to her from it the next. 

Though we grow immune to its novelty the longer it's around, it really is amazing how technology can help families keep in touch. From parents who travel to grandparents who live in other states, there are some incredible tools that can connect us. We may not get quite as excited about them as this girl, but it would be fun if we did.

Do you love this video? Do your kids use Skype or other technology with your children to keep in touch with relatives when they're away?

Image via YouTube

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Julie Ryan Evans

can be found writing from coffee houses wherever she may be. The quality of her days is largely influenced by the seat she nabs and whether a protein plate is available.

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High School Bans ‘Revealing’ Cheerleading Uniforms From Class But Makes Girls Wear Them to Games

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota

Can we talk about high school sports uniforms for a second? Specifically the uniforms for teenage girls? A community in Florida is in a tizzy at the moment after the school banned cheerleaders from wearing their uniforms to class -- because they don't meet the dress code.

Turns out it's perfectly OK for the girls to shake their hind ends in the short skirts and sleeveless tops in front of fans at a Countryside High School football game, but the school has put the kibosh on actually letting them into class.

Are you thinking what I'm thinking?

If it ain't good enough for the classroom, why are you letting the kids wear it at a school function? More to the point, why is this the outfit you are providing?

For years I worked as a reporter on the sidelines of high school sporting events. The dichotomy between the uniforms for female athletes and male athletes was striking.

Girls' outfits were always form fitting, always revealing. Boys' outfits were sometimes form fitting (generally wrestling and cross country) but not always, and very rarely did they reveal much more than one would expect to see in a classroom.

Often as I set up my camera to take photos of teams, I would notice girls -- generally girls who weren't stick thin, although not necessarily obese by any means -- uncomfortably yanking down skimpy shorts to try to cover more thigh or trying to adjust impossibly short skirts.

It always bothered me, the photographer. Now it bothers me, the mom. My daughter is currently in youth soccer, where uniforms are unisex. Over-sized shorts and ballooning t-shirts are just the name of the game.

But my memory of my own awkwardness as a teenage girl, my discomfort with my body (and eventual plunge into the world of eating disorders), makes me fear the day she may decide to take on a high school sport and be forced to put her body on display because, well, she's a girl and that's how it works for female athletes in high school.

This is my own personal battle, I'll admit, but it dovetails with the case in Pinellas County, Florida quite well, doesn't it?

Here we have a school where the girls seem to be OK with their cheerleading uniforms, proud of them even. They want to wear them to class to show their school pride -- much as teen athletes do in many schools across the country. But the uniform isn't "appropriate," at least not according to this high school's dress code.

Hello, McFly!

Parents are calling for the school to give these girls a break on the dress code, but the answer seems to be the very opposite.

It isn't the dress code that's the problem. It's the uniform.

Do we really need cheerleading uniforms that can't pass muster with a basic school dress code? Do we really need to put girls who are already dealing with the myriad issues of puberty in outfits like this?

I recognize that athletic uniforms can only be so loose -- for safety's sake -- but if a skirt is so short that it isn't allowed in the classroom, then it is probably a little too revealing. And if it's a little too revealing, why are you forcing girls to wear it? What message are you sending those girls? And what about the girls you're keeping out of sports -- girls who could probably use a safe and positive means of weight control like exercise -- because of uniforms that are made only for the stick thin?

What do you make of this situation? Should teenage girls be wearing athletic uniforms that don't meet the dress code? Would you let YOUR daughter wear a uniform that she couldn't wear to class?

Image via Dunlap23/Flickr

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