Category: Modern Parenting,

Walmart ‘surprised’ old store Is a migrant shelter. Records hinted at the possibility.

On By peanutgallerynhIn American Injustice System,, Domestic Affairs,, Modern Parenting,, Money, Class, and Poverty,, Race,Leave a comment

Walmart said it was “surprised and deeply disturbed” to learn that one of its former Texas stores was being used to house migrant children who had been separated from their parents. “We sold the building in 2016 to a developer and had no knowledge then of its intended use today,” the giant retailer said in a Twitter post last week.

…As part of the sales agreement, Walmart made a long list of what the building could not be used for — mostly to thwart rivals and prevent adult or alcohol-related businesses from moving into the space.

The developer could not convert the property into a grocery store or a discount department store that might compete with Walmart. Also banned: a billiards parlor, slot machines and video stores selling NC-17 films.

There also could be no nude or “bathing suit-clad” models or dancers in the former store, according to real estate documents.

The deed did offer some potential uses, exceptions to the restrictions that included an “emergency care center, urgent or non-urgent medical service provider, or flea market.”

…But real estate records pointed to the potential use. A Walmart executive signed a document that indicated the buyer was purchasing the property with a $4.5 million loan from a nonprofit that runs migrant children shelters.

Walmart ‘surprised’ old store Is a migrant shelter. Records hinted at the possibility.

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Inside the Former Walmart That is Now a Shelter for Almost 1,500 Migrant Children

On By peanutgallerynhIn Domestic Affairs,, Modern Parenting,, Race,Leave a comment

At least 13 deficiency citations have been filed against the shelter at the former Walmart in Brownsville, which seemingly overnight became a symbol of the housing scramble after a Democratic lawmaker, Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon, showed up unannounced to take a tour but was turned away by police escort. Mr. Merkley’s attempt to gain entry this month, captured on Facebook Live by a member of his staff, put national attention on the shelter, which is run by a nonprofit group that contracts with a federal agency.

…The shelter, called Casa Padre, is a world all its own, much of it invisible to outsiders. The few windows are covered in black mesh; in the parking lot, yellow-painted wooden barricades read, “Keep Out.”

…The industry for sheltering young migrants had run into trouble here even before the latest boom. Hundreds of shelter workers in the Rio Grande Valley were laid off at the end of March, after several sites run on contract to the federal government by a private organization, International Educational Services, suddenly shut down. The organization, known as I.E.S., lost its federal financing and shuttered its shelters and other facilities, for reasons that federal officials have yet to publicly explain.

Inside the Former Walmart That is Now a Shelter for Almost 1,500 Migrant Children – The New York Times

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Migrants, young and old, are not always related. Border Patrol says fear of child trafficking forces separations

On By peanutgallerynhIn Domestic Affairs,, Modern Parenting,, Race,Leave a comment

Since October, more than 700 migrant children have been taken from adults claiming to be their parents, including more than 100 children under age 4. U.S. officials said they were trying to protect children who may be victims of trafficking or exploitation, but migrant advocates argue it’s the latest attempt by the Trump administration to stop migrant families from seeking asylum.

A “zero tolerance” border enforcement policy that took effect last week and was announced Monday by Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions may result in families who illegally cross the border being separated after their arrest, with parents going to adult detention facilities and youths going to juvenile shelters.

…It’s difficult for migrants to assert parental rights. Many cross the border with their children’s birth certificates tucked in pockets or plastic bags. Agents often call local consulates to check families’ documents. But the documents can be faked, agents said. Even if consular staff verify them, agents may still challenge migrants’ claims to their children.

…Sometimes the adults are relatives — an aunt, grandparent or step-parent, she said.

…Maria Ramirez said the Border Patrol questioned her about her children, ages 17, 15 and 5. Agents didn’t believe she was their mother, even after she produced Honduran birth certificates, Ramirez said.

“They said they were fake,” she said. “They gave me the impression I would be deported and told me I had to sign the papers.”

Ramirez, 37, saw other parents at the processing center who were told the same thing. Unlike her, they had signed the paperwork and were deported.

Ramirez refused to sign deportation papers, insisting her children’s birth certificates were real. She and her 5-year-old son were held separately from her older daughters for five days, but were ultimately reunited.

Migrants, young and old, are not always related. Border Patrol says fear of child trafficking forces separations

Sigh..,

Report: Rural Poverty In America Is ‘An Emergency’

On By peanutgallerynhIn Domestic Affairs,, Modern Parenting,, Money, Class, and Poverty,Leave a comment

There are three childhood disruptors that account for why the U.S. ranking is relatively low, says Miles, “One was our infant mortality rate, which is by global standards, pretty high. The second was the teen pregnancy rate, which, although it’s getting better in the United States, it’s still, again, globally quite high,” Miles says.

“And then the third was the number of children that are actually victims of homicide in the United States.”

…According to estimates by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, nearly a quarter of children growing up in rural America were poor in 2016, compared to slightly more than 20 percent in urban areas.

…Perhaps not surprisingly, the report found the highest concentrations of child poverty, overall, in the Mississippi Delta, Appalachia and on Native American reservations.

…Danilo Trisi, one of those authors, says the drop in child poverty was due in large part to the federal safety net programs, like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP, formerly known as food stamps, and the earned income tax credit help low-income families make ends meet.

Report: Rural Poverty In America Is ‘An Emergency’ : NPR

Sigh…

In The Same Day Oklahoma Governor First Angers LGBTQ And Guns Rights Activists

On By peanutgallerynhIn Local Interest,, Media and Culture,, Modern Parenting,, Religion,Leave a comment

In a rare blow to the National Rifle Association, Fallin vetoed a bill that would have loosened gun laws in the conservative state. Had it passed, SB 1212 would have allowed gun owners to carry a firearm — either open or concealed, loaded or unloaded — without a state license or permit. About a dozen states have passed similar so-called “constitutional carry” laws.

In a second move late Friday night, she signed into law the so-called adoption bill that allows private child-placement agencies to deny the placement of a child in foster care or adoption if that placement would “violate the agency’s written religious or moral convictions or policies.”

In A One-Two Punch, Oklahoma Governor Angers LGBTQ and Guns Rights Activists : The Two-Way : NPR

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With Teen Mental Health Deteriorating Over Five Years, There’s A Likely Culprit

On By peanutgallerynhIn Media and Culture,, Modern Parenting,Leave a comment

Not only did smartphone use and depression increase in tandem, but time spent online was linked to mental health issues across two different data sets. We found that teens who spent five or more hours a day online were 71 percent more likely than those who spent less than an hour a day to have at least one suicide risk factor (depression, thinking about suicide, making a suicide plan or attempting suicide). Overall, suicide risk factors rose significantly after two or more hours a day of time online.

Of course, it’s possible that instead of time online causing depression, depression causes more time online.

… Interacting with people face to face is one of the deepest wellsprings of human happiness; without it, our moods start to suffer and depression often follows. Feeling socially isolated is also one of the major risk factors for suicide. We found that teens who spent more time than average online and less time than average with friends in person were the most likely to be depressed. Since 2012, that’s what has occurred en masse: Teens have spent less time on activities known to benefit mental health (in-person social interaction) and more time on activities that may harm it (time online).

With Teen Mental Health Deteriorating Over Five Years, There’s A Likely Culprit | IFLScience

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Secrets of Social Capital

On By peanutgallerynhIn Media and Culture,, Modern Parenting,Leave a comment

The lack of social status is what makes an untouchable appear repulsive. This is why the single most effective peer intervention for eliminating bullying is for children to befriend those who are targets. But out of fear that associating with an untouchable could result in their own fall down the social ladder, children manufacture reasons to dislike low-status children, and justify their refusal to spend social capital to help them.

…Going against someone at the top of the status hierarchy is risky. In those situations, although people may want to speak out, stand up, or fight back, they are often counseled not to. It rarely seems like a good idea.

…Natalie didn’t know anyone. This time, however, another student, seeing that she looked lost, befriended her.

…All it took was one person. With one friend, she was no longer untouchable. She could make other friends––and she did.

…So after she changed schools, whenever she saw someone eating lunch alone, she would invite them to join her friends at their table. She knew that by saying “sit with us,” she protected other children from becoming untouchable.

Meet the Teen Who Discovered the Secret of Social Capital | Psychology Today

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Out of options, rural communities turn to charters to keep schooling local 

On By peanutgallerynhIn Education,, Modern Parenting,, Money, Class, and Poverty,, Schools,Leave a comment

Nationally, about 44 percent of all charters are professionally managed by either a non-profit Charter Management Organization (CMO) or a for-profit Educational Management Organization (EMO), according to data from 2014-15. Just 19 percent of rural charters are operated by CMOs or EMOs, however, with 81 percent run independently, often by local community groups, based on data from 2009-10. 

In rural places affected by public school consolidation, the argument for keeping a community school through chartering often extends beyond academics. A school can provide a small town with economic benefits, employing residents and consequently helping out local businesses, notes Mara Tieken, an associate professor of education at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine. 

Less tangibly, Professor Tieken and others say, a school can be a powerful force for building relationships between members of the community and giving a town an identity.

…Part of working toward rural sustainability at River Grove and other charters involves nurturing a deeper connection between students and their hometowns through place-based education and involvement with the local community. At River Grove, this means lots of outdoor time and hands-on science lessons to reflect the natural setting of Marine on St. Croix. 

The Sugar Valley Rural Charter School, a community-run school in Loganton, Pa., employs a similar strategy to bolster students’ appreciation of the local farming culture. The charter school, founded by a group of parents in 2000 after the closure of Loganton’s longtime K-12 public school, also teaches the region’s agricultural history to its 485 students. 

…To encourage relationships between students and members of the community, the school has neighbors volunteer to give lessons in areas of expertise such as gardening, baking, and art.

…Back in the days of the traditional public school, she recalls, high school sports were a popular attraction for locals. She’s hopeful that building a new gymnasium and expanding the charter school’s athletic offerings will help rally neighbors around something to root for. 

Out of options, rural communities turn to charters to keep schooling local – CSMonitor.com

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Trump, ending DACA, says Congress can save ‘Dreamers.’ Here’s why that’s likely to fail 

On By peanutgallerynhIn Modern Parenting,, Race,, The Americas,Leave a comment

U.S. President Donald Trump has ended a program shielding young undocumented immigrants known as “Dreamers” from deportation, passing the buck to Congress. But dysfunction within the Republican caucus and immigration policy clashes across the aisle are throwing legislative alternatives into doubt.

Trump, ending DACA, says Congress can save ‘Dreamers.’ Here’s why that’s likely to fail – World – CBC News

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