So Much More than Fish

Unfeeling comments to the contrary, most people in Howard County seem to understand how crucial it is to address the problem of teen suicide. The new initiative, “It’s OK to Ask” is being welcomed by teachers, school officials, mental health professionals, and parents. You can learn more here.

Another initiative which aims to make young people safer online in regard to cyber bullying is Graces Law 2.0, an upgrade of the original bill, put forward by Howard County resident Christine McComas. Mrs. McComas’s daughter Grace died by suicide after relentless cyber bullying from students in her school community in 2012. The current bill under consideration increases the penalties for cyber bullying.

Mrs. McComas has been keeping the community up to date on the status of the bill in Annapolis:

I'm told that the following House Judiciary members have not yet decided to support Grace's Law 2.0.
Can you call let them know of your support?

Charlotte Crutchfield (Mont.Co.): 410-841-3485
Debra Davis (Calvert Co): 410-841-3337
Jazz Lewis (PG Co.) 410-841-3691
Jesse Pippy(Frederick&Carroll) 410-841-3118

If you can politely ask Chairman Luke Clippinger to put it up for a vote, that might help too: 410-841-3488

This bill went to Annapolis last year but never made it out of committee, so, if you support this measure, pick up the phone. The Board of Education recently sent a letter to the Judiciary Committee outlining their support.

A reminder that unhealthy school hours are a significant factor in teen stress, anxiety, and depression. Parents inHoward County have joined the many communities nationwide to create a movement to Start School Later. From their website:

Insufficient sleep in teens is associated with obesity, migraines, and immune system disruption and with health risk behaviors including smoking, drinking, stimulant abuse, physical fighting, physical inactivity,

depression, and suicidal tendencies.

There are a variety of ways to take action to support teens in our community. As the poster for “It’s OK to Ask” states:

They might be your friend, your child, your student, or your child.

Comments

Teacher Gifts

Today is the last day of school before the Winter Break. It’s a good time to remember the far-reaching nature of our public school system. You may not have children. You may have sent your children to independent schools. It matters not. You will be impacted one way or another. Yesterday I read a long thread on Facebook about several waves of illness in the schools right now. There’s influenza A and norovirus, I believe. And of course there’s COVID. Apparently in some individual schools the rate of illness is high enough for school admin to notify parents. When I was little the acceptable holiday gift for a teacher was one of those lovely floral handkerchief squares. (I don’t know what it was for male teachers. They were rare in my elementary years.) These days the range of teacher gifts is wider and I have fond memories of Target gift cards which I have written about before. I think it’s safe to say that giving one’s teacher Influenza, norovirus, or COVID is not the ideal holiday...

F ³: We Are Not Entitled

A college student went missing. His family and friends were distraught. The community was encouraged to be on the lookout and spread the word. Days passed. They must have been agonizing days for those who cared about the missing student. Thoughts that foul play had been involved cannot have been far from their thoughts. Then, at last, the student was found. Alive. The news was shared with the public. So. Much. Relief. A family had been reunited with their child. Even though we know that life is complicated, I think it is okay to accept this as a happy ending and leave it at that. But the world of social media says no. For every expression of joy at the news came questions and even judgement. It became clear to me that some folks felt entitled to an explanation. They wanted the backstory. It’s as though they felt that, by enlisting the help of the public on social media, the authorities now owed them all the details. Television dramas often weave curr...

Separate and Unequal

Remember “Separate but equal”? Remember how that really meant that Black schools languished in broken-down buildings without adequate heat or toilet facilities, with cast-off, ragged learning materials, underfunded and largely ignored? The Supreme Court struck that down in 1954. The evidence was clear that separate was not equal. Plessy v Ferguson had led to - - no, endorsed - - deeply unequal schooling and opportunities. We tend to think of Brown v Board as being purely about racial integration. It was not. It was about the logical consequences of segregation. And they were not, not, not equal. The ruling in 1954 didn’t transform public education for non-whites into a land of milk and honey by any means. But it articulated some essential truths in a way that made including everyone a legal precedent which could be relied upon and built upon. It was better than what came before it but it rested upon unsteady ground. It did not necessarily change the hearts or minds ...

Village Green/Town²

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