This zero tolerance policy must end immediately

Image shows protester holding a sign reading "stop the inhumanity of separating families"
Keeping families together ought to be a simple concept supported by people across the political spectrum. Unfortunately, we have an administration and its propaganda network that has demonized immigrants to such a degree that many people in this country do not view them as human beings deserving of rights. (image courtesy of USAToday)

By now, you’re likely aware that the current occupant of the White House is deeply racist, holding disgusting anti-Hispanic opinions and has no qualms referring to migrants as “animals” or publicly likening them to roaches.

By now you’ve heard of Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ “zero tolerance” policy that treats all migrants from Central and South America as criminals.

You’ve probably heard of the thousands of migrant children, separated from their families, forced to live in detainment camps (not “summer camps” you conservative shitstain).

You likely saw images of the cages inside a Texas warehouse nicknamed ‘Ursula’ , some of which house up to 20 children (no, not this miscaptioned photo).

You probably heard about the converted Walmart in Brownsville, Texas nicknamed ‘Casa Padre’, where upwards of 1,500 migrant children are housed (but we don’t need to worry much bc out of that number only a few dozen children have been ripped from their parents arms, the rest is comprised of teenage migrants who entered the U.S. alone, so it’s all good that *anyone*– let alone children–is housed in a detainment center)

You may have heard the desperate pleas and sobbing from children (some crying so hard that they have difficulty breathing, not that one of the border agents seems to give a rat’s ass) in the recent audio obtained by ProPublica.

You may have heard that there is considerable outrage over the zero tolerance policy, with criticism coming from all 5 living First Ladies (yes, even Melania Trump, not that Cheeto Hitler cares what his wife has to say) and even internationally.

You may have heard all of that and find yourself angered beyond all measure.  Perhaps, like George Takei, you think of the racist U.S. policy that led to internment camps for Japanese-Americans during World War 2.

Maybe you are looking at the zero tolerance policy the same way the American Academy of Pediatrics does, as child abuse.

Perhaps you are sitting there, feeling a burning desire to do SOMETHING to help resolve this crisis, but you have no idea what to do and you’re feeling utterly helpless.  I know that feeling. Trust me, bc I’ve been there.  I am there. But there are things we can do:

Continue reading “This zero tolerance policy must end immediately”

This zero tolerance policy must end immediately
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Unconscionable behavior from a police officer (trigger warning)

The daughter of a former Berthoud, Colorado police officer recently spoke out for the first time about the abuse she suffered at the hands of her father. In an interview with Fox affiliate KDVR, the victim-Savannah Yachik-says she was abused by her father. Not once. Not twice. According to Savannah Yachik, her father abused her for 12 years. 12. Fucking. Years. To make matters worse, she tried reporting her father to authorities several times.  Not only did nothing happen to him, but when he found out that “someone called again” (because his police buddies told him when someone called to report him), he punished Savannah Yachik by, you guessed it-beating her. My blood is boiling right now. This is unconscionable behavior for anyone, but he’s her father! Of all the places children should feel safe and secure, it should be at home. Of all the people a child should feel safe and secure around, it should be their parents. Children should be protected by their parents, not abused.

Parents are not the only ones that should be protecting children. From a young age, children are taught that if they need help, to call the police. They’re taught that police officers are trustworthy individuals who serve and protect the community. Not only did Jeremy Yachik not live up to those ideals, neither did the Berthoud Police Department. Rather than aiding the person who needed protection-Savannah Yachik-they protected her abuser. In her interview with KDVR, she said there were times she just wanted to die. And still, her father was never arrested. Other times, she would go to school with black eyes, telling school officials that she got them while playing with her brother. And still, Jeremy Yachik was never arrested. In the interview, Savannah says her father threatened to kill her several times. And still, he was never arrested.

It took Jeremy Yachik being captured on video beating his daughter (because she ate carrots-I shit you not) for something to be done. The video was enough to get Yachik fired from the police force, but if you think he was punished, think again. He was sentenced to 30 days in a jail work-release program, 3 years of probation, and 80 hours of community service. Oh yeah, that’s punishment. Headdesk. Facepalm. Gee, is it because he’s a cop that he never spent time in jail? That can’t be it, because the criminal justice system doesn’t favor cops. Not at all. Yes, that’s sarcasm, because justice is not blind. It’s biased.

Here’s the video if anyone wants to watch it. I have to warn you, it’s disturbing.

Unconscionable behavior from a police officer (trigger warning)

'Do unto others as you would have them do unto you' -The Adrian Peterson version

Everyone knows the old maxim of ‘do unto others as you would have them do unto you’, no? It’s a shorthand guide to human behavior.  I don’t want someone to shoot me, so I won’t shoot anyone (never mind that I don’t own, and have no intention of ever owning, a gun).  I don’t want someone to run me over with a car, so I won’t run over anyone with a car.  I don’t want someone to spit in my food at a restaurant, so I don’t spit in other peoples’ food.  Apparently a Minnesota Vikings running back never got the memo to follow that rule-he was recently indicted on charges of negligent injury of a child:

According to law-enforcement sources, Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson beat his 4-year-old son with a tree branch as a form of punishment this summer, an incident that allegedly resulted in multiple injuries to the child. According to reports, Peterson has been indicted in Montgomery County, Texas for injury to a child.

The “whooping” – as Peterson put it when interviewed by police – occurred in Spring, Texas, in May. Peterson’s son had pushed another one of Peterson’s children off of a motorbike video game. As punishment, Peterson grabbed a tree branch – which he consistently referred to as a “switch” – removed the leaves and struck the child repeatedly.

I deplore the use of violence to solve problems. It doesn’t actually solve the root problem in most cases, and often perpetuates more violence.  In addition, corporal punishment is a means of behavioral adjustment with questionable efficacy.  Furthermore, it instills fear of a parent in a child and is often taken to extremes.  Such was the case with Adrian Peterson:

The beating allegedly resulted in numerous injuries to the child, including cuts and bruises to the child’s back, buttocks, ankles, legs and scrotum, along with defensive wounds to the child’s hands. Peterson then texted the boy’s mother, saying that one wound in particular would make her “mad at me about his leg. I got kinda good wit the tail end of the switch.”

Peterson also allegedly said via text message to the child’s mother that he “felt bad after the fact when I notice the switch was wrapping around hitting I (sic) thigh” and also acknowledged the injury to the child’s scrotum in a text message, saying, “Got him in nuts once I noticed. But I felt so bad, n I’m all tearing that butt up when needed! I start putting them in timeout. N save the whooping for needed memories!”

In further text messages, Peterson allegedly said, “Never do I go overboard! But all my kids will know, hey daddy has the biggie heart but don’t play no games when it comes to acting right.”

In what world is that not going overboard?   Is it only extreme if you put your kid in the hospital?

I have another issue with corporal punishment:  it denies the agency and humanity of children by treating them as property.  If you get pissed off at another adult, you don’t have the right to grab a stick off a tree and beat them. You don’t have the right to take your belt off and beat someone if they talk back to you.  Yet for some reason, this is seen as A-OK to do with children, as if they don’t have rights. As if they’re the property of their parents to be treated in the fashion they choose.  I’m sure most parents have their childrens’ best interests at heart, but that doesn’t change the fact that such violence against children would not be acceptable-it would, in fact, be a crime-if committed against an adult. Why isn’t corporal punishment considered assault and battery?  I’m not arguing that children should have every right an adult has, but when it comes to issues of bodily integrity and autonomy, corporal punishment is a clear violation.  Denying children the right to their bodily integrity is a violation of their human rights and should not be tolerated.  Yet it is.  Widely.  Perhaps universally.  That doesn’t make it right.  Neither do arguments from tradition.

Adults aren’t allowed to beat their friends or spouses.  Why do parents get this special right when it comes to their children?  Children are harmed, sometimes even killed by corporal punishment, yet so many people cling to the idea that it is somehow a necessary tool for parenting when it ought to be abolished.  Children are some of the most vulnerable members of society and we ought to be protecting their rights, not violating them.

'Do unto others as you would have them do unto you' -The Adrian Peterson version

‘Do unto others as you would have them do unto you’ -The Adrian Peterson version

Everyone knows the old maxim of ‘do unto others as you would have them do unto you’, no? It’s a shorthand guide to human behavior.  I don’t want someone to shoot me, so I won’t shoot anyone (never mind that I don’t own, and have no intention of ever owning, a gun).  I don’t want someone to run me over with a car, so I won’t run over anyone with a car.  I don’t want someone to spit in my food at a restaurant, so I don’t spit in other peoples’ food.  Apparently a Minnesota Vikings running back never got the memo to follow that rule-he was recently indicted on charges of negligent injury of a child:

According to law-enforcement sources, Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson beat his 4-year-old son with a tree branch as a form of punishment this summer, an incident that allegedly resulted in multiple injuries to the child. According to reports, Peterson has been indicted in Montgomery County, Texas for injury to a child.

The “whooping” – as Peterson put it when interviewed by police – occurred in Spring, Texas, in May. Peterson’s son had pushed another one of Peterson’s children off of a motorbike video game. As punishment, Peterson grabbed a tree branch – which he consistently referred to as a “switch” – removed the leaves and struck the child repeatedly.

I deplore the use of violence to solve problems. It doesn’t actually solve the root problem in most cases, and often perpetuates more violence.  In addition, corporal punishment is a means of behavioral adjustment with questionable efficacy.  Furthermore, it instills fear of a parent in a child and is often taken to extremes.  Such was the case with Adrian Peterson:

The beating allegedly resulted in numerous injuries to the child, including cuts and bruises to the child’s back, buttocks, ankles, legs and scrotum, along with defensive wounds to the child’s hands. Peterson then texted the boy’s mother, saying that one wound in particular would make her “mad at me about his leg. I got kinda good wit the tail end of the switch.”

Peterson also allegedly said via text message to the child’s mother that he “felt bad after the fact when I notice the switch was wrapping around hitting I (sic) thigh” and also acknowledged the injury to the child’s scrotum in a text message, saying, “Got him in nuts once I noticed. But I felt so bad, n I’m all tearing that butt up when needed! I start putting them in timeout. N save the whooping for needed memories!”

In further text messages, Peterson allegedly said, “Never do I go overboard! But all my kids will know, hey daddy has the biggie heart but don’t play no games when it comes to acting right.”

In what world is that not going overboard?   Is it only extreme if you put your kid in the hospital?

I have another issue with corporal punishment:  it denies the agency and humanity of children by treating them as property.  If you get pissed off at another adult, you don’t have the right to grab a stick off a tree and beat them. You don’t have the right to take your belt off and beat someone if they talk back to you.  Yet for some reason, this is seen as A-OK to do with children, as if they don’t have rights. As if they’re the property of their parents to be treated in the fashion they choose.  I’m sure most parents have their childrens’ best interests at heart, but that doesn’t change the fact that such violence against children would not be acceptable-it would, in fact, be a crime-if committed against an adult. Why isn’t corporal punishment considered assault and battery?  I’m not arguing that children should have every right an adult has, but when it comes to issues of bodily integrity and autonomy, corporal punishment is a clear violation.  Denying children the right to their bodily integrity is a violation of their human rights and should not be tolerated.  Yet it is.  Widely.  Perhaps universally.  That doesn’t make it right.  Neither do arguments from tradition.

Adults aren’t allowed to beat their friends or spouses.  Why do parents get this special right when it comes to their children?  Children are harmed, sometimes even killed by corporal punishment, yet so many people cling to the idea that it is somehow a necessary tool for parenting when it ought to be abolished.  Children are some of the most vulnerable members of society and we ought to be protecting their rights, not violating them.

‘Do unto others as you would have them do unto you’ -The Adrian Peterson version