Strollerderby

Browse by Tags

• There Oughta Be A Law (Really?)

  The state of Oklahoma is set to pass a law that would protect pregnant women against murder charges if they kill to protect their unborn child(ren). Laws like this sound like a good idea, till you figure out what they're really doing. Read More... Posted Apr 03 2009, 03:30 PM by Kate Tuttle with | with 5 comment(s) Filed under: pregnancy, infant, newborn, baby, pregnant, self-defense, domestic violence, fetus, violence against women, anti-choice

• MySpace Safe For Teens, Study Says

  There's hardly a day goes by without someone freaking out about the safety of MySpace. Predators. Deviants. Congressman. They're just waiting to chat with your kid. A new study shows those fears might be misplaced. Except for the congressmen, of course. In an unpublished study first reported by the Miami Herald, researchers found that 90 percent of teenagers who use MySpace are actually smart. They don't include their full names in their personal profiles. In a study sample of roughly 1,400 teenagers, about 40 percent don't even make their sites "public" for legislative viewing pleasure. "We just hope that this trend continues," said Sameer Hinduja, a criminology professor at Florida Atlantic University. He conducted the study with Justin Patchin of the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. They say it's being reviewed by an academic journal. Of course, the study unveiled troubling issues as well. About 5 percent of teens posted pictures of themselves in swimsuits or underwear. (About 15 percent posted suggestive photos of their "friends." How kind.) David Finkelhor, director of The University of New Hampshire's Crimes Against Children Research Center, told the Herald he has not seen the MySpace study (few have; it's under review by an "academic journal") but welcomed ways to prevent children from getting victimized online. "Somebody can just go onto MySpace and they see a lot of raunchy stuff and they say `What is the world coming to? Youth today are lost.' That's not a systematic review of what kids are doing on there," he said. While adults freak out about the safety of their children, most teenagers, it seems, are doing just fine. Says 17-year-old MySpace user Arielle Eisenberg: "Really weird people, like, try to request to be my friend and I don't want to deal with that." Posted Jan 04 2007, 03:00 PM by Mike Adamick (Cry It Out!) with | with no comments Filed under: news, teenagers, behavior, self-defense, internet

• "I'm Gonna Eat Your Eyes!!!" - Teaching Our Daughters To Defend Themselves

  Being the mother of two young girls, I often find myself thinking about ways in which I can help them discover their inner bad ass. You know, get them in touch with their fighting instincts - or at least, their self-preservation instincts.  Having spent the last few weeks watching "Freaks and Geeks" with my husband after the kids are in bed, I've been having painful flashbacks of the girls who used to push me around in junior high.  Mean, bored, nasty girls.  And how I let them push me around, because I was afraid to stand up to them.  No inner bad ass whatsoever. I want my girls to be able to stand up for themselves better than I could. Actually, truth be told, my 19-month-old has met her inner bad ass once or twice.  Not six months ago she took an unsuspecting young thing in the sandbox down by the afro puffs.  Her offense?  Possession of Annie's Bunny Crackers.  Having a big sister who is prone to picking on her, Violet has been tough stuff since she could sit up.  But the 4 year old is far too like her old Ma when it comes to standing up for herself.  Hazel's go-to defense is to run away crying.  I think both girls may have a thing or two to learn from Violent Acres.  Violent Acres' dad is an ex-marine, who taught her the basics of fighting a good fight: *Always respond to threats with complete confidence. ("If he doesn't chicken out right then and there, he enters the fight with a slight feeling of unease.") *Fighting Dirty is Fighting Smart ("There is no shiny trophy waiting for you at the end of this fight, so everything goes.") *Talk Some Shit ("I'm going to eat your eyes!!!") *When You Lose, Claim It Didn't Hurt ("No one wants to fuck with the crazy kid who feels no pain.") I know right?  Yikes.  But just the thing I'll think of, if and when one of my babies comes home from school, carrying the weight of a bully on her shoulders.   Stab and twist, girls.  Stab and twist. Posted Dec 31 2006, 12:06 PM by Alisyn with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: self-defense, inner bad ass, raising girls, violent acres