#FF Friday's Fabulous Finds: Touching Touchdown, A Lawyer Making a Difference & A Kickstart for a Movie About Bullying

Thought for the Day: I'm glad it's Friday. This week has been a good week. I was able to go for my 1st swim since surgery & it felt good to be getting back to a more active life. I have some great finds for you this week: a touching story of real sportsmanship, a lawyer making a difference in the lives of immigrants, & a kickstart program for a movie about bullying. I hope you will also tune in to ask questions & hear me speak about bullying on Blind Matters Radio tomorrow at 3 PM. Have a great weekend!

1) A run like no other: Triumphant touchdown transcends competition By JON MARK BEILUE

(Thanks to Mark Hundley from Facebook for sharing this story.)

2) This 20-Something Lawyer Is Putting Herself Out Of Business And Wants You To Help by my friend Denise Restauri, Contributor Forbes.com

3) CORBIN BLEU, from HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL and DANCING WITH THE STARS is working to produce this movie http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-day-i-died

Thursday's Psychology Trivia Q & A: How Often Is a Child Bullied On Playgrounds in the USA?

Thought for Today: I have been under the weather for quite a while and dealing with what could be an Olympic luge run on my driveway and an ice rink on the parking area for my clients! The warm weather is helping, but until today, it has been icing over every night! At any rate, since it is already almost 4 PM EST, I decided to repost a Trivia article from last November. Here it is: Thought for the Day: Since I am going to be speaking Blind Matters Radio on Saturday, 11/9/2013 at 3 PM on bullying & how to prevent it among blind & visually impaired individuals, I have been doing some research on the statistics. The epidemic proportions of bullying among our children is mind boggling.  According to the National Education Association, National Association of School Psychologists PowerPoint on bullying, Time and Ladies Home Journal, 160,000 kids miss school every day to avoid being bullied. However, this statistic is 20 years old & the numbers are probably much higher. A more recent study reports that every 7 minutes a child is bullied on a playground. There is adult intervention 4 % of the time, peer intervention, 11 % of the time and no intervention 85% of the time. 
        Clearly despite all the talk about prevention, adults are not doing a very good job of protecting our children from bullying. I hope you will share your thoughts, concerns, & ideas, here or on the radio program to help solve this very serious problem in our country.

Wake Up Wednesday: Could You & I Be Bullies?

Thought for the Day: Since I will be speaking on the Blind Matters Radio program this Saturday on bullying, I have been giving the subject a lot of thought. In my mind, bullying & prejudice go hand in hand. I was brought up in a home where prejudice was seen as intolerable. I tend to be very liberal & accepting of differences; however, I, like all human beings, tend to gravitate towards like minded people & spend more time with those who agree with me. It is hard not to feel disdain towards those that I see as "bullies." Is that not prejudice? Although I do everything in my power not to harm others, I wonder could anyone become a bully, even me? Is a zero tolerance policy that expels a child for bullying from a school not a form of bullying? Does our society, pass the buck by moving bullies from school to school, class to class or having the bully home schooled actually perpetuate the problem?

The answers to ending bullying are more complex than just a zero tolerance policy. Psychological research has found that many bullies in our schools have or are being bullied at home. Sending them home, expelling them from school may only exacerbate the problem. Are you & I bullying the bullies by not providing comprehensive therapeutic interventions that would get to the bottom of why a child is bullying his peers & help them change their behavior?

I hope you will tune in on Saturday & ask questions. I will propose some of my ideas about how to solve the epidemic of bullying. As always, I'd love to hear your thoughts on this complex & troubling issue.

Motivational Monday on Tuesday: The Things Kids Say from A Child Is Missing

Thought for the Day: I like to have flexibility & leave room for spontaneity in life & my blog. I know today is Tuesday & not Monday, but since my knee operation, I have been a bit slower than usual. I was going to write a psychology trivia question until I opened an e-mail from one of the nonprofit organizations featured in & benefiting from my book, A Child Is Missing. Many people are aware of their work in helping to find missing children, but you may not be aware of their anti-bullying & educational programs which try to prevent abductions.  I will be speaking this Saturday at 3 PM EST on bullying prevention on Blind Matters Radio so the bullying epidemic is on my mind. Hopefully, stories like these will motivate you to get involved & do something to help prevent bullying. If all you do is pass the stories along to your friends & family, that will help raise awareness. Do whatever you can. Please share projects & ideas you have that are making a difference in your community as well. I'd love to hear them!

Here is the segment from their newsletter that I felt compelled to share fro A Child Is Missing's Newsletter:

The Things KIDs Say... Photo by George Olsen During the past 10 years A Child Is Missing’s Child Safety Education and Anti-Bullying Program has reached over 60,000 children. Our goal is to make sure they gain a sense on how to stay safe and how to deal with bullying throughout any situation. Although we are the instructors, there are times we learn from the stories they share which helps us curve how we teach each class: One young girl shared that a young boy in her class kept making negative comments about her. She later told on him and he replied that the next time she did something like that he would light her on fire. We learned to discuss more on a key point of "Seeking Help"  immediately and how important it is as a form of standing up for your self. At that same camp, one subject was “The Safety Zone” which emphasizes how important personal space it is . A young girl raised her hand and asked, “What about the man next door?”  At the end of the session I advised the camp counselor to contact the Mom and let her know there was a situation she should know about. This brought to light that we needed to emphasize that not only are strangers dangerous but to be aware of everyone. At another camp, at the end of one our bullying classes, a young boy stood up and expressed , “I was going to commit suicide. But, now I know that I am not alone and I can go and speak with my parents about how I feel!”  All of the kids applauded! The teachers while on the way back to Fort Lauderdale called from their car, telling the story in tears.They knew they saved a life. Local law enforcement assists with the funding of these programs held at the Parks/Recreation facilities in Broward, Miami/Dade, Palm Beach, Sarasota, Delray Beach and some other locations.  Law enforcement cares and hopefully this will encourage others to do the same!

Sunday's Comics: Best Toddler Costume of the Year!

Thought for the Day: I have not been posting as frequently as I recover from knee surgery. I promise that I will catch up & be up to speed soon! Yesterday, I actually was able to ride the stationary bike for 3 minutes! As I reported last Monday, I could not pedal all the way around even once! Above are some funny Halloween photos (from MorgueFiles.com) that I found for your enjoyment.  I also could not resist sharing a video that over 18,000,000 people have viewed of by far the year's best Halloween costume. Have a great weekend! If you have any great photos of kids or adults costumes, please share them. I plan to go on a photographing trip to Wilton CT before they take down some amazing costumed soft sculptures around town.

Saturday's Songs For the Soul: The Luckiest Guy from The Magnetic Fields

Thought for the Day: It is a beautiful fall day & I feel like sharing a very funny song with you today. Laughter always feeds our souls. It helps us through good & bad times. Psychological studies have shown that laughter can even lengthen our lives. I heard "The Luckiest Guy on the Lower East Side" on WFUV radio (one of NYC's greatest radio stations, which also streams online & is well worth listening to even if you do not live in the NYC area) a week or two ago. It may be the funniest song I've heard in a long time. It gives hope to all those not so "beautiful" people in the world. It was recorded by the group The Magnetic Fields. Steven Merritt New Your based lead singer is also the principal songwriter of the group. The animated video byurbaninks on YouTube was for a class assignment instructed by Gail Anderson. The assignment permitted the use of b/w color, Adobe fonts and a song. The photo is from an amazing program that was in NYC about a year ago where they placed pianos on the streets of New York & passersby would simply sit down & play. it is part of a world wide program, Play Me I'm Yours. I hope you enjoy the music!

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom: Emily Dickenson on Living With Loss

"You will not see me, so you must have faith. I wait for the time when we can soar together again, both aware of each other. Until then, live your life to its fullest and when you need me, just whisper my name in your heart... I will be there." Emily Dickenson

Thought for the Day: Last week two days after my surgery, I learned of the passing of a dear friend, Carolyn Raizes Davis, who I have known since I was around 8 years old. I regret that I could not go to Houston to be there for her family & friends. Today, I received a copy of a beautiful eulogy given by two of her daughters. They ended the eulogy with this quote from Emily Dickenson which Carolyn read every day after losing her & my dear friend, Amelia Samet Kornfeld, whom I have written about in my book & on this blog. I share it in honor of lifelong friends & hope it brings you strength to live your lives to the fullest even when you mourn loved ones you can only hold in your heart.