Salem-News.com Youth articles Page 35

Can Families Avoid Playing Favorites?

Congratulations to Bruce Sallan for his 50th Salem-News.com article!

(AGOURA, Calif.) - Sitting in Starbuck’s the other day, waiting for my car to be serviced, I sat next to a mom who shared a “dirty little parenting secret.” Her kids, and she and her husband, have “favorites.”

She gets along better with their younger child while her husband gets along better with the older child. I believe that this is natural, ubiquitous, and something most parents are ashamed to admit.

Protecting Our Children in a World Gone Mad

As parents we have to make sure our children are aware of the choices we hope our kids will make, to balance the information they are getting from society about the choices that corporate military consumer culture hopes they make.

(BOSTON) - When I spent a year teaching 6-8 grade students in Detroit, Michigan, I had hoped that with my high ideals, I could influence the children to become thinkers, perhaps even sway them towards a Godly life.

But I found a tragic situation. American children of today are seriously brain damaged from computer games, TV, movies and pop music.

Balloon Boy: Conspiracy or PR Stunt?

Award-winning producer, director and writer Peter Hankoff has been thinking about the Balloon Boy “conspiracy”.

(LOS ANGELES) - Not too long ago, casting off a balloon and making the case for a boy gone lost might have carried a ‘Wizard of Oz’ spin. But this is now. Post 9/11 - when anything that goes wild in the air is fair game for F-16s.

First, a confession … when I initially heard about “Balloon Boy” I told a friend over lunch, “The kid was probably murdered by his parents. You’ll see.” When the balloon landed, I was happy to hear that Balloon Boy was up in the attic and not filleted in a shallow grave or folded into the trunk of a submerged subcompact.

Keizer Woman and Children Escape Apartment Fire (VIDEO)

A smoke alarm rouses a mom and her two small boys during a dangerous apartment fire.

(KEIZER, Ore.) - Keizer firefighters were called out at 11:46 p.m. Thursday over a report of a fire in an apartment complex on Plymouth Drive NE in Keizer.

Captain Brian Butler says firefighters arriving on scene at 11:50 p.m. called for a second alarm. Fire crews rolling up, "observed fire from the rear of the building on the second floor".

Amber Alert Issued for 13-Year Old Texas Girl

Police say the suspect likes to carry knives, and has bad acne. There is no suspect vehicle information at this time. Anyone with information is asked to call the Tyler Police Department.

(TYLER, Tx.) - The State of Texas issued the Amber Alert Wednesday afternoon (10-07) after the girl was reportedly abducted in Tyler. The victim and the suspect were last seen in Richardson early Monday morning (10-05).

The suspect has mental issues and the child is considered to be in serious danger.

British Baroness: Israel Committed War Crimes Against Gaza

"Both actions are against international law; they are war crimes. Many innocent civilians, many little children, have been killed by these obscenities." - British Baroness Jennifer Tonge

(SALEM, Ore.) - "The Israeli Foreign Minister, said that Israel would go wild in Gaza. They certainly did that, with the USA turning its usual blind eye. The UK and the European Union have behaved so feebly they were almost colluding in Israel’s actions."

Some people believe that if women were in charge of this world, we would have far less bloodshed. I have no trouble believing that. British Baroness Jennifer Louise Tonge's sharp words over Israeli policy this week, could be considered a shining example of sound and honest motherly thinking in the whir of an ever spinning political vacuum.

Nine Aspirin Is Not Enough

Thoughts on suicide by someone who tried, but failed. Includes song "Suicide is Painless" by Johnny Mandel, the soundtrack from MASH.

(SALEM, Ore.) - I was five when the concept of suicide first entered my mind. My friend's father slashed his wrists one night after fighting with his wife. They lived right across the street from us. I was stunned by the act.

I knew that people killed other people sometimes, but for someone to kill themselves seemed so out there, so bizarre. It ran against all I had learned and believed. As I stood across the street from my friend's house, watching as his father was loaded into the ambulance, I could not have imagined that four years later, I would attempt nearly that very same thing.

Oregon`s Poverty Rate Rises in First Year of Recession

In the survey released Tuesday, the seven other states that saw an increase in poverty from 2007 to 2008 were California, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Indiana, Michigan and Pennsylvania.

(SILVERTON, Ore.) - Oregon was one of only eight states to see its poverty rate rise during the first year of the recession, according to results of the American Community Survey (ACS) released Tuesday by the U.S Census Bureau.

The survey estimated that 13.6 percent of Oregonians -- more than 506,000 people -- lived in poverty in 2008. That rate was significantly above Oregon's 12.9 percent poverty rate in 2007, according to Joy Margheim, policy analyst with the Oregon Center for Public Policy. "We weren't winning the war on poverty before the economic downturn, much less now," Margheim said.

4-Day Old Baby Kidnapped by Man Posing as Immigration Official

A brand new infant is taken by an unidentified white female adult driving a police-type car.

(NASHVILLE, Ore.) - The State of Tennessee issued an Amber Alert Tuesday afternoon after a child was abducted in Nashville. Police say the suspect posed as an immigration worker.

A news release stated, "The suspect demanded that the child's mother turn over the child and when she refused the suspect stabbed the child's mother approximately eight times. The mother survived but the suspect was able to leave with the child."

Football: A Blood Sport No More Dangerous Than Driving

The big story recently is/was about the high school boy who dropped dead in practice and his coach was sued for involuntary manslaughter.

(MOLALLA, Ore.) - Believe it or not I am not targeting football. Basketball, hockey, soccer and water polo are all blood sports and wrestling, pro and non-pro, fits in there someplace. The name of the game in all of these “sports” is to disable your opponent whether you are on defense or attack.

Why do you think football players wear those cocoons of steel and durable plastic? Actually it was President Teddy Roosevelt who called coaches together in 1905 when 18 college players were killed. Their head gear and pads were a bad joke. I know, I used some of that stuff in the 1930’s.