When someone uses their celebrity to help address one of my pet issues, it makes me feel good. That they use their pull and tap into their fanbase to raise awareness about the issue, such as bullying, it gives me hope that something positive will come out of it.
The Victim’s Fault?
Bullying is a hot topic these days. As a nation, we’re grappling with how best to stop bullying and yet more cases are jumping into the public eye. Recently the case of Jamey Rodemeyer has been making headlines, because bullying drove this fourteen-year-old boy to take his own life.
Pledge of Allegiance = Bullying?
When I saw the article title at first I thought I had misread it. I looked again. Nope. It said what I read the first time. Lawyer wants to ban Pledge of Allegiance in schools; claims it’s bullying.
Stop the Insanity – Part II
This is a continuation of Stop the Insanity – Part I so if you haven’t read it yet, you might want to click the link #justsayin. Back to the insanity of banning Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut and Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler.
Stop the Insanity – Part I
The world is an insane place. That is the only explanation I can come up with. Back in September 2010, a man by the name of Wesley Scroggins stirred up the people of Republic, MO by asking that Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut, and Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler be banned from the schools.
Cecil FTW
One of my goals is to share real world experiences along with thoughts and articles about the issues which crop up in my writing. And to do that, my plan was to contact people and ask them to share some of their experiences…
A Year Detention – Seriously?
The Children’s Court president judge said the only option for the offences committed was a year of detention. I’m a little underwhelmed by the decision, if in fact detention is the same thing in Australia as it is here. Here’s the thing… a 16-year-old boy decided to “impersonate” a bully…
Interview with Rose Gardner
I’m very excited… for two reasons. First, my friend and fellow author, Denise Grover Swank, has released her debut novel, Twenty-Eight and a Half Wishes — (whispers go ahead, click the link and buy copy… I know you want to. I’ll wait right here for you to get back…)
Takeimi’s Legacy
A couple of weeks ago Takeimi Rao was looking forward to starting high school, or at least that’s what I’d expect from a straight A student. But last week, during a slumber party all her dreams of what she was going to do with her life came to an end.
A Disgusting Show Of Politics
When I saw someone called BookBurninParty start following writers on Twitter, my head nearly exploded. I mean, seriously, who outside of librarians and teachers, love books more than writers? Why would some idiot talk about burning books to writers????
Alcohol and Death: Something to think about
This is a picture of Samuel Hayes. He died last week, probably because he had too much to drink. He was sixteen-years-old, only a couple years older than me. I didn’t know Samuel. We don’t live in the same town, but his story hit me hard. He looks like a nice guy, and sixteen is too young to die.