Current Kids At Risk News | INVISIBLE CHILDREN

Jun152005

Torture vs. Child Abuse

All Posts from Kids at Risk Action, Child Abuse and DeathsBy Mike Tikkanen June 15, 2005

Children in American child protection systems are only removed from their homes if their lives are in imminent harm. The average length of child sex abuse in America is four years.

Abused children and torture victims suffer from the same kinds of trauma. They exhibit many of the same kinds of problems. They need the same kinds of long term mental health therapies to allow them to rebuild their traumatized mental states, learn coping skills, and how to function in our communities.

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Jun92005

Mental Health Issues

All Posts from Kids at Risk Action, Mental Health + Over MedicationBy Mike Tikkanen June 9, 2005

“One-quarter of all Americans met the criteria for having a mental illness within the past year, and fully a quarter of those had a “serious” disorder that significantly disrupted their day-to-day lives, according to the largest and most detailed survey of the nation’s mental health…The numbers suggest that the United States is poised to rank Number One for mental illness globally.

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Jun52005

Intelligent Design

All Posts from Kids at Risk Action, CASA, GAL and Child ProtectionBy Mike Tikkanen June 5, 2005

Pliny the elder, 2500 years ago, “what you do to your children, they will do to your society”

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May302005

Post Memorial Day blog

All Posts from Kids at Risk Action, CASA, GAL and Child ProtectionBy Mike Tikkanen May 30, 2005

I do not wish to minimize the seriousness of post traumatic stress syndrome in solders.

I only wish to point out the seriousness of post traumatic stress syndrome in children.

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May242005

Abused Children and Crime

All Posts from Kids at Risk Action, Juvenile + Criminal JusticeBy Mike Tikkanen May 24, 2005

Unlearning Child Abuse (or go to prison)

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May182005

Tasers and School Children

All Posts from Kids at Risk Action, Day Care and EducationBy Mike Tikkanen May 18, 2005

There is no safety net for many of the poor neglected and abused children they care for. There is no child psychiatrist for a sexually abused seven-year old, or for the starved and tortured six-year old. Go to school. Get well. Take these pills. We just don’t have a budget for the services you need.

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May122005

Unhappy Schools

All Posts from Kids at Risk Action, Child Abuse and DeathsBy Mike Tikkanen May 12, 2005

Investing in early childhood programs and mental health services could actually save us money, and certainly make our streets safer, and our communities more pleasant to live in.

It’s not so much about money– Minnesota’s 2001 GDP (gross domestic product) ranks greater than Austria, Saudi Arabia, Poland, Hong Kong, Denmark, and a hundred other nations.

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May32005

What we do to our children

All Posts from Kids at Risk Action, CASA, GAL and Child ProtectionBy Mike Tikkanen May 3, 2005

At the very least, tell your legislator you are tired of full prisons, dangerous streets, and failing schools. Tell them that you support mental health services for children.

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Apr262005

A Normal Kid

All Posts from Kids at Risk Action, Child Abuse and DeathsBy Mike Tikkanen April 26, 2005

A school administered mental health assessment would have discovered Jeff Weiss. He could have received the help he needed to lead a full and productive life. This child was not born crazy; he was made crazy by the adults in his life. No one helped him. He deserved better.

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Apr222005

Back on the Drugs

All Posts from Kids at Risk Action, Child Abuse and DeathsBy Mike Tikkanen April 22, 2005

Teachers and administrators are being blamed for the high rate of dropouts and low student achievement. I would make the argument that the number of drug using and mentally ill children in our schools today interferes dramatically with the business of education. Don’t blame the teachers or school administrators. What’s wrong is poor public policy.

A discussion around early childhood programs, mental health services, and the use of psychotropic medications is overdue.

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