Strollerderby : verbal abuse

Mean Teachers Beget Slutty Kids

Madeline Holler — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 16:37:00 GMT

This might explain the whole Catholic schoolgirl thing. According to a recent study, there is a direct link between teacher verbal abuse and early onset of sexual intercourse.

Mother of God, those sharp-tongued Sisters of Mercy are causing more than bruised knuckles!

Canadian researchers were looking for a link between peer rejection and teacher verbal abuse when they came up with these findings. They tracked 312 grade-school kids, assessing them from Kindergarten through fourth grade for teacher verbal abuse, peer rejection and antisocial behavior. Then in the seventh grade, the same subjects were assessed for self-esteem and sexual activity.

What they found was, especially among girls, a direct link between the teacher verbal abuse and early onset of sexual intercourse. The verbal abuse is indirectly linked to delinquent behavior.

The article doesn’t say what the verbal abuse was exactly, nor did it say how frequently it was unleashed on those kids whose lives would be quite different in a matter of a few years. Were these kids repeatedly degraded in front of their peers or would a single incident drive them to promiscuity in middle school?

What do you think? Does your second-grader have a mean teacher? Did reading this just explain the first 20 years of your life?

Alec Baldwin Apologizes, Blames "Parental Alienation" for Outburst

Alisyn — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 13:01:00 GMT

Alec Baldwin apologized via his website on Friday for his now infamous voice mail message to his 11-year old-daughter, Ireland, insisting that their relationship is "normal," and blaming ex-wife Kim Basinger for his public humiliation.

"I'm sorry, as everyone who knows me is aware, for losing my temper with my child... I have been driven to the edge by parental alienation for many years now. You have to go through this to understand. (Although I hope you never do.) I am sorry for what happened... I have endured a great deal over the last several years in my custody litigation. Everyone who knows me privately knows that certain people will go to any lengths to embarrass me and to disrupt my relationship with my daughter."

Alec's lawyer asked the L.A. Superior Court to investigate the source of the leaked message on Friday, and told People "the tape had to have come from [Kim Basinger]... the only parent with custody, possession and control of the minor child's telephone voice mail message... Neither we or the court had a copy, so where else could it have come from? This is a direct violation of a court's order to keep items sealed, [and] ultimately damaging to the child."

Alec went on to say that in a high profile custody case like his, "opponents attempt to take a picture of you on your worst day and insist that this is who you are as a person... Although I have been told by numerous people not to worry too much, as all parents lose their patience with their kids, I am most saddened that this was released to the media because of what it does to a child."

So there you have it. It's not really an apology, as much as it is a "fuck you" to his ex-wife, for exposing him as the verbally abusive man she has always claimed he is. There is little room to doubt that it was indeed Kim who leaked the tape, and it would not be the first time she has defied a court order to do what she deemed necessary to protect her daughter. While I don't necessarily agree with her actions, I must say that if I truly thought my child was in danger of being abused, I'd do whatever I could to keep her out of a potentially dangerous situation, too.

And no, this incident is not necessarily indicative of the kind of man, or father, that Alec Baldwin is. And yes, all parents are entitled to be royally pissed off at their kids from time to time. But if this tape hadn't been made public, and Alec wasn't forced to publicly acknowledge his meltdown, how much further might it have gone? Must we wait until verbal abuse escalates to physical abuse before taking it seriously? This guy is blaming his ex, his kid, his feeling of alienation... but taking none of the blame for this tirade for himself. He seems more concerned about the tape being leaked, "because of what it does to the child", than he does about the disgusting words on the tape itself.

At the very least, I hope this incident forces Mr. Baldwin to take a good, hard look at himself, and take at least some responsibility for his own outrageous behavior. And I hope he gets the help he needs to become the father he claims his ex-wife refuses to let him be - because everyone deserves a second chance. But when a child is concerned, I think it's only fair to insist that that second chance be earned, not given.

Alec Baldwin's Raging, Abuse-Filled Message to Daughter May Cost Him His Parental Rights

Alisyn — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 00:01:00 GMT

Kim Basinger has been fighting for sole custody of her and Alec Baldwin's daughter, Ireland, for some time now. Over the years, the threesome has been in and out of court more than Alec's weight has flucuated - and that's a lot. As it stands now, Kim has primary physical custody of Ireland, with Alec retaining visitation rights.

And now we know why.

Because as this seething, vicious message left on Ireland's voice mail indicates, Alec has some serious and deep-seeded anger issues, and should not be allowed anywhere near his child without supervision. When Ireland failed to answer her phone for her scheduled phone call with Daddy Dearest on April 11, 2007, he unleashed a torrent of rage on her:

Once again, I have made an ass of myself trying to get to a phone to call you at a specific time... When the time comes for me to make the phone call, I stop whatever I'm doing, and I go and I make that phone call... and you don't even have the goddamn phone turned on! I'm tired of playing this game with you. I'm leaving this message for you to tell you that you have insulted me for the last time. You have insulted me. You don't have the brains or the decency as a human being... I don't give a damn that you're 12-years-old or 11-years-old, or that you're a child... or that your mother is a thoughtless pain in the ass who doesn't care about what you do as far as I'm concerned... I'm gonna let you know just how angry I am... I'm gonna get on a plane, and I'm gonna come out there for the day, and I'm gonna straighten your ass out when I see you... I'm gonna really make sure you get it, about what a rotten little pig you really are. You are a rude, thoughtless little pig.

Ireland is eleven years old. This is Alec Baldwin raging at his eleven year old child. Stunning, isn't it?

This is verbal abuse, plain and simple, and if i was Kim Basinger, I would have done the exact same thing she did: she took the message to an L.A. Superior Court, and asked that the judge suspend Alec's visitation rights with his daughter, which the judge did (temporarily). A hearing is set for May 4 to determine whether or not Alec's visitation and contact rights with Ireland will be permanently suspended. No word on who leaked the message to the press, but I think we can assume it was Kim, don't you?

(You can listen to the entire message here, but I warn you, it's horrible.)

[Via TMZ]

UPDATE: Alec's spokesperson released the following statement to the TV show "EXTRA": "In the best interest of the child, Alec will do what the mother is pathologically incapable of doing ... keeping his mouth shut and obeying the court order. The mother and her lawyer leaked this sealed material in violation of a court order. Although Alec acknowledges that he should have used different language in parenting his child, everyone who knows him privately knows what he has been put through for the past six years."