Youth Advocacy
Youth Advocacy
Year 3, Week 11 (201 total reports)
06.03.2023-12.03.2024
REVIEW and ANNOUNCEMENTS
Advocating for young people in the face of a party ensnared in patterns of the mythomania (pathological lying) of it’s unhinged leader.
Special Adolescent Care Link of the Week
A school replaced detention with meditation. The results are stunning.
https://www.upworthy.com/this-school-replaced-detention-with-meditation-the-results-are-stunning-rp4
If we can remind ourselves that the role of discipline is to give people who are maturing the inner ability to direct (I.e. regulate) their own behavior, then it makes absolute sense to substitute mindless and punishment-focused detention with introspective meditation. With detention, the focus of the detained person is increased anger at the external coercive individual or system that is attempting to regulate behavior. With meditation, the focus of the detained person will be on calming and regulating the emotions that cause most of the unwanted behavior often displayed. The role of s rational person attempting to shape behavior is not to punish and create more anger, but to co-regulate, even share, the emotion until it is reduced and neutralized. Before attempting to correct behavior, ask, “What is my long term goal here?” We cannot regulate others if we, ourselves, are dysregulated. Calm yourself first.
Best Links of The Week
12.04.2024
5 books that shaped 21st-century philosophy
https://bigthink.com/thinking/5-brilliant-books-that-shaped-21st-century-philosophy/
It never hurts—especially when democratic ideals are under threat—to revisit the primary intellectuals that helped shaped the philosophies leading to most of the advances in the 21st century. Review this list of books, if you haven’t had some in your library and highlighted their breadth and scope, this is the time.
11.04.2024
The U.S. prison population is rapidly graying. Prisons aren't built for what's coming
https://www.npr.org/2024/03/11/1234655082/prison-elderly-aging-geriatric-population-care
As the US rapidly became the “Incarceration Nation” following the onset of the drug war, it never thought ahead about holding and improving the record-breaking number of lives it was detaining. Now, as the population ages, the US is once again caught short as that demographic ages. The physical, emotional, and relational needs of older inmates are vastly different from a young adult population and prisons are, again, ill-equipped to respond. The wake up call of detaining people as the primary solution for behavioral correction should have come a long time ago, it didn’t. Now we have a new set of issues to which we must attend. How will a nation that preaches human rights to the rest of the world respond to the human rights abuses inherent in its own system?
10.04.2024
Trump Finds Another Line to Cross
https://apple.news/A4gK3gupIRBSJK-nqADKFAA
Obviously, from his recent Georgia speeches where he once again attacked E. Jean Carroll, financial punishment is not enough to stop this man from his mythomania (habitual lying) and bullying. You would think that making fun of someone’s disability would cross a line, but Trump’s done it before and he will continue to do it. What amazes me are the kind of people that find that behavior admirable or funny or—in any manner—worthy of a presidential candidate. It is sad to see the Far Right succumbing to the same tactics even in their own State of the Union where the primary story that the speaker presents was based upon a lie. Trump has indeed changed the Republican Party. He’s made truth tertiary to getting what you want. Senator Britt lied about the timeline, she lied about individually meeting with the woman who was trafficked, she lied about having permission to share the story, and she lied about who was president when the trafficking occurred.
09.04.2024
Brooks and Capehart on Biden’s State of the Union and what’s next in the 2024 race
Brooks and Capehart on PBS remains my favorite weekly commentary (Friday evenings). Rather than constantly watching the “news” on other channels that are supported by one special interest or another and really seem to be a litany of opinions rather than actual news, I prefer to watch an unbiased one-hour report that is funded by the public, not special interests. David Brooks is a conservative and Jonathon Capeheart presents the viewpoint of liberals and together—moderated by excellent journalists—they present two sides of the week’s major news events that rarely includes sensationalism. Their response to Biden’s SOTU (State of the Union) speech follows in the vein of the best, journalistic principles. For a balanced review of what was said during Biden’s annual review of the nation, it is worth taking the time to review this transcript or to watch it on YouTube where the commentary is posted weekly by PBS.
08.03.2024
International Women's Day is a celebration and call to action. Beware the flowers and candy
International Women’s Day (IWD), grew out of the Labor Movement, beginning in 1908 when 15,000 women marched through New York City demanding shorter working hours, better pay, and the right to vote. Those rights are still under threat along with the right of a woman to have control over her own body. Male, White Nationalists, from the GOP party and some White Christian Nationalist women like Alabama Senator, Katie Britt are pushing an agenda that would make decisions for women, not just in the US, but their bully pulpit extends around the world. It is no accident that Britt made her SOTU response from an empty kitchen using theatrics and even lies to try and make her point about why the GOP’s nominee should be allowed a second chance to destroy democracy and install a White Christian Nationalist agenda.
07.03.2024
Five Teachings of the Dalai Lama I Try to Live By
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/03/dalai-lama-wisdom-good-life-happiness/677653/
Arthur Brooks is one of my favorite writers and his life-examining articles in The Atlantic are always worth reviewing. The five teachings of the Dalai Lama that he shares are not only eye-opening, but innovative in how they are identified. In whatever leadership capacity you find yourself (parent, grandparent, teacher, business leader) this article is worth ten minutes of your time.
06.03.2024
‘It felt like something sacred’ Meduza’s Russian readers who attended Navalny’s funeral describe their experiences — Meduza
https://meduza.io/en/feature/2024/03/05/it-felt-like-something-sacred
The statements of these people who risked their freedom to attend Alexandr Navalny’s funeral is heart-rendering. As Trump invited a Dictator to his golden parody of a bastille in Florida, it behooves us to remember the cost of having an unchecked authoritarian lead a country.
This Week’s Links
12.04.2024
5 books that shaped 21st-century philosophy
https://bigthink.com/thinking/5-brilliant-books-that-shaped-21st-century-philosophy/
Journalist who fact-checked Britt on what stood out to him from senator’s GOP response to SOTU
Child therapist urges parents to ‘get curious’ about their kid’s meltdowns and reveals the five things likely causing their big emotions
11.04.2024
The U.S. prison population is rapidly graying. Prisons aren't built for what's coming
https://www.npr.org/2024/03/11/1234655082/prison-elderly-aging-geriatric-population-care
The Supreme Court Rekindled the January 6 Crisis
https://newrepublic.com/article/179700/supreme-court-trump-ballot-democracy
Greg Abbott Gets Scathing Rebuke From Largest Texas Newspaper: 'Disturbing'
https://www.newsweek.com/houston-chronicle-rebukes-greg-abbott-1877654
Conservatives seize counselor shortage to press school chaplains
https://www.axios.com/2024/03/11/chaplains-in-schools-movement-florida-texas
GOP’s Katie Britt in damage-control mode following post-SOTU mess
How Relational Trauma Survivors Acclimate
Chasten Buttigieg calls out Oklahoma superintendent, Libs of TikTok for dangerous school environment
https://www.advocate.com/news/chasten-buttigieg-nex-benedict
10.04.2024
Trump Finds Another Line to Cross
https://apple.news/A4gK3gupIRBSJK-nqADKFAA
09.04.2024
Brooks and Capehart on Biden’s State of the Union and what’s next in the 2024 race
Measles outbreak threatens US status of ‘eliminating’ virus
https://www.newsnationnow.com/the-hill/measles-outbreak-threatens-us-status-of-eliminating-virus/
The Most Unusual State of the Union in Living Memory
https://apple.news/AQaBHBapxSzqyoD6sK9k4oQ
Swing state voter: Rather have Biden with 81 years than Trump with 91 counts
The media’s coverage of Biden’s age needs a rethink
https://www.vox.com/politics/2024/3/8/24091628/biden-state-of-the-union-age
Immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than U.S.-born Americans, studies find
Doctors Say Trump Is Displaying Clear Signs of Cognitive Issues
https://futurism.com/neoscope/doctors-trump-cognitive-issues
08.03.2024
International Women's Day is a celebration and call to action. Beware the flowers and candy
Key moments from Biden's 2024 State of the Union address you may have missed
https://www.npr.org/2024/03/08/1236788387/state-of-the-union-highlights-biden-congress
Republicans underestimated Joe Biden
The Next Big Idea Club’s May 2024 Must-Read Books
https://nextbigideaclub.com/magazine/next-big-idea-clubs-may-2024-must-read-books/48288/
From Africa to Alabama: Stories of survivors of the last slave ship
DeSantis, Book Bans, and Shameful Legacy
https://progressive.org/magazine/desantis-book-bans-and-shameful-legacy/
07.03.2024
Five Teachings of the Dalai Lama I Try to Live By
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/03/dalai-lama-wisdom-good-life-happiness/677653/
PREQUEL: An American Fight Against Fascism by Rachel Maddow
The Republicans Who Sold Their Souls to Vladimir Putin
https://newrepublic.com/article/179393/republican-vladimir-putin-2024-shift
Opinion: The threat to American hegemony is real
https://kyivindependent.com/opinion-the-threat-to-american-hegemony-is-real/
PragerU is a conservative video giant. Here's why it's trying to get into schools
https://www.npr.org/2024/03/07/1234491074/prageru-schools-videos-growth
The Gray Rock Method Can Liberate You From a Narcissist
7 Genius Phrases To Use Instead Of Automatically Giving Advice
https://www.yourtango.com/self/genius-phrases-use-instead-automatically-giving-advice
06.03.2024
‘It felt like something sacred’ Meduza’s Russian readers who attended Navalny’s funeral describe their experiences — Meduza
https://meduza.io/en/feature/2024/03/05/it-felt-like-something-sacred
20 Futuristic Technologies About To Change the World
https://wealthofgeeks.com/futuristic-technologies/
BBC Verify: How to spot AI fakes in the US election
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-us-canada-68472248
Watch this Texas Democrat epically shut down anti-LGBTQ+ Christian nationalists with the bible
https://www.pride.com/politics/james-talarico-calls-out-christian-nationalists
A Moment of Deep Sorrow on the U.S.-Mexican Border | Nieman Reports
https://niemanreports.org/articles/a-moment-of-deep-sorrow-on-the-u-s-mexican-border/
Why Is Gratitude So Good for You?
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/flourish-and-thrive/202403/why-is-gratitude-so-good-for-you