By Amy Silverman Cynthia Clark Harvey climbs the stairs to the second floor of her north Phoenix home, pausing in a small bedroom. It’s the kind of room empty-nesters tend to keep, and this one is packed with artifacts from her daughters’ childhoods. Briana’s Beanie Babies hang on the wall in an organizer with her […]
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Losing Erica: Cynthia Clark Harvey Doesn't Want Anyone Else's Child to Die in a Wilderness-Therapy Program
Dutch teen who sought solo sailing trip disappears
Laura Dekker, the 14-year-old Dutch girl whose bid to sail solo around the world was blocked by a court, has gone missing, leaving behind her boat, police said Sunday. Dekker appears to have left her father's home on her own, Utrecht police spokesman Bernhard Jens told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. Her boat, […]
Abuse of Youth in Residential Placements: A Call to Action
The growth of the troubled teen industry, including wilderness camps, therapeutic boarding schools, and boot camps, has given rise to allegations of inhumane treatment of youth, and exploitation of families who are desperately seeking help for their teenagers. This topic, previously the subject of two hearings in Congress and two special reports by the GAO, […]
Australia could lower voting age
Australia could give 16- and 17-year-olds the right to vote under far-reaching proposals being considered by the government. At present voters must be 18 to cast a ballot, but ministers are contemplating a plan to give younger teenagers a say in Australian elections. The suggestion is contained in an official discussion paper on electoral reform […]
ACLU says youth tortured at state prison
A 17-year-old boy suffering from mental illnesses was so traumatized by his deplorable treatment in the Montana State Prison that he twice attempted to kill himself by biting through the skin on his wrist to puncture a vein, a lawsuit filed Wednesday by the American Civil Liberties Union of Montana alleges. The lawsuit filed in […]
Abuse/Neglect of Children is the Root of All of the World's Problems
Author: Laurie A. Couture The story of the Plaistow NH father who bruised, bit and broke the bones of his three newborn triplets while the mother stood by passively praying, not calling the police, is just horrifying beyond all belief- The torture these baby boys and baby girl have endured is shocking to the conscience; […]
How to stop age discrimination (in school and elsewhere)
by Kirby See there! A man born and we pronounce him fit for peace. There's a load lifted from his shoulders with the discovery of his disease. We'll take the child from him put it to the test teach it to be a wise man how to fool the rest. -Ian Anderson When talking to […]
Daycare secretly drugs kids to help them sleep
Parents of an infant say she often seemed groggy after attending a church day care where some workers are accused of giving children an over-the-counter dietary supplement at nap time, their attorney said Wednesday. Attorney Alan Statman represents the parents, Joseph and Andrea Coleman, in a lawsuit the suburban Cincinnati couple filed against Covenant Apostolic […]
Good luck trying to succeed as a kid in America
If the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s most recent report had been an international comparison of test scores, the media would have gone berserk. Negativity certainly erupts when ODEC releases the results of their Programme for International Student Assessment test, since it generally shows U.S. students performing poorly compared with their peers in other […]
Official Hopes Prison Crisis May Spur Change
After a state task force delivered a withering indictment of New York’s juvenile prisons, the head of the agency responsible for the prisons reacted by going on a publicity blitz — not to challenge the findings, but to promote them. Gladys Carrión has the support of child-welfare advocates but draws criticism from unions representing workers […]
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