Free Creative Expression Based Grief Resources for Kids
Free grief resources created with grief community experts and artists.
March 2019
Claire’s Story: She won’t be like her mother. Part 28
By K. Hecht, P. Berman, and A. Ho sa ck The trial had started. Larry had been so fretful the night before that he almost fell asleep at the beginning when the attorneys were whispering something stupid to the judge. Is Branister still on my side or is he making some deal for his own benefit? Larry couldn’t imagine Branister could ever really care about what happened to him. His parents had beaten him to a pulp. His teachers had ignored his bruises and his lack of a lunch and just yelled at...
How Exposure to Gun Violence Can Impact Young People [wnycstudios.org]
Since last week, two Parkland students who survived the mass shooting just over one year ago died of apparent suicide. And this week, the father of one of the young victims of the Sandy Hook attack also died by suicide. Many factors are at play in any suicide, and it can be hard to draw direct lines between something like the Parkland attacks and the suicides of survivors. But one thing is certain: witnessing gun violence — either once on a mass scale or through continued exposure — has an...
2019 County Health Rankings Key Findings Report [countyhealthrankings.org]
By ranking the health of nearly every county in the nation, County Health Rankings & Roadmaps (CHR&R) illustrates how where we live affects how well and how long we live. CHR&R also shows what each of us can do to create healthier places to live, learn, work, and play – for everyone. This year highlights an important element that shapes how well and how long we live: secure, affordable housing. Summary of Key Findings Across the U.S., more than 1 in 10 households (11%) spend more...
How Trauma And Homelessness Are Linked [keranews.org]
When Ashley Franks got pregnant with her son, her grandfather kicked her out of the house. She didn’t know where to go. So she lived out of her car throughout the pregnancy. “Daily life [when living in the car] is trying to find a place to take a shower, make sure that your hygiene is kept up, make sure that your vehicle is running properly, because that’s all you have,” Franks says. Years before, Franks experienced the kind of loss every parent dreads, twice: A daughter drowned, and then...
Allegations of Harassment and Abuse of Gay and Transgender Migrants in Immigrant Detention [colorlines.com]
An immigrant facility in New Mexico is under fire for what advocates call “rampant sexual harassment, discrimination and abuse” of gay and transgender migrants, NBC News reports. The American Civil Liberties Union ( ACLU ) drafted a letter to immigration authorities and Immigration and Customs Enforcement ’s ( ICE ) Otero County Processing Center in Chaparral stating that migrants who complained of mistreatment were often threatened with solitary confinement. The letter also alleges that gay...
Teen boys rated their female classmates based on looks. The girls fought back. [washingtonpost.com]
Yasmin Behbehani had just walked into her third-period health class when her friend asked her if she had seen the list. “There’s a list of the girls’ names,” her friend Nicky Schmidt, a fellow senior at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School in Maryland, said. “And we’re ranked.” Behbehani didn’t want to see the list, or know whether she was on it. She had spent the past four years recovering from an eating disorder, working hard to avoid comparing herself with others, she said. But by her...
Q&A: California’s first-ever surgeon general on her plans to tackle toxic stress in children [edsource.org]
Gov. Gavin Newsom made it clear throughout his campaign that improving the health and welfare of California’s children and young families would be among his signature issues. To underscore his commitment in the days after he took office, Newsom named Dr. Nadine Burke Harris, a pediatrician who specializes in the impacts of trauma and toxic stress on the health of children, as the state’s first-ever surgeon general. The 44-year-old Burke Harris was born in Canada and lived in Jamaica when she...
Do Suspensions Affect Student Outcomes? [mathematica-mpr.com]
Almost seven years ago, the School District of Philadelphia revised its student discipline policy, instructing schools not to suspend students for certain types of nonviolent behavior such as failing to follow classroom rules or making obscene gestures. To examine what happened after the policy changed, Mathematica’s Johanna Lacoe teamed up with Matthew Steinberg, an education researcher at the University of Pennsylvania. What they found provides the strongest evidence to date that when...
The Relentless School Nurse: What Happened at School Today - Listen to Tessa McIlraith's Podcast to Find Out!
Tessa McIllraith wanted to amplify the voice of school nursing, so she took a risk and sent a hilarious message to a nurse podcaster about what happened on a given Tuesday in her school health office. Christine, the Nurse Practitioner who hosts Antidotes - Stories in Medicine Podcast was so intrigued by Tessa's message, she invited her on the show. Take time to listen to this entertaining and honest account that Tessa shared in one of the best podcasts I have heard about school nursing.
The Beauty of a Broken Heart
My little ceramic heart, glued back together, yet missing a piece I never found after that violent outburst, represents the beauty of my healing journey. Broken, then mended. Scarred, yet beautiful.
The Healing Place Podcast - Jaz Ampaw-Far: Everyday Hero
What an absolute joy it was to chat "across the pond" with the beautiful, hilarious, and inspirational Jaz Ampaw-Farr. From her TEDx talk to her international motivational presentations, she is empowering others along their healing journeys. Thank you, Jaz for helping leave this world a better place - from your Tampax donation in the school bathroom to your work in prisons to your ability to make us laugh - your enthusiasm is contagious.
Here’s Why It’s So Hard To Change Your Mindset
In our professional lives we constantly talk about mindset. Positive mindset, worth mindset, goal-oriented mindset, focused mindset. This list is long. We all have mantras, affirmations, activities and favorite quotations we use to shift our state of mind. Of course, a positive mindset is a good thing. But ever wonder why we struggle with mindset in the first place? Why is it a constant battle for you to stay efficient, focused and effective? Safety First What if our primary mindset started...
Are We Making Headlines or Headway? [www.msmagazine.com]
I was thrilled when Ms. Magazine published my article about #MeToo. Here’s an excerpt: Try this: Think of your deepest, darkest secret. The one you can’t imagine telling anyone. We all have at least one. Imagine that if you tell this secret, something terrible is going to happen. People you love deeply, upon hearing your secret, will leave you. That is why we survivors [of childhood sexual abuse] fear telling our stories.There’s a long list of other reasons. They’re all steeped in fear, too.
‘Investing in Community’ With Charles Hugh Smith [medium.com]
P laying for Team Human today, the economy’s equivalent of an outsider artist, Of Two Minds blogger and author of Money and Work Unchained, Charles Hugh Smith. Charles will be talking to us about the market, universal basic income, and distributed prosperity. You can learn more about Charles at his website and blog, Of Two Minds . [For more on this story by Douglas Rushkoff, go to https://medium.com/s/teamhuman/investing-in-community-with-charles-hugh-smith-448ec19fde22 ]