Manns Medium

  FULL DISCLOSURE:   The opinion spoken here is mine and mine alone.   It is the culmination of over 40years in the field of Psychology/Sociology and over 60 years of existing on this earth, closely observing and analyzing the actions of the millions I have been surrounded by. While I welcome any and all comments and respect any and all positions even those in conflict with my own, make no mistake and let’s not get it twisted. If you believe differently than I “EXCELLENT!”, exercise your right and keep believing for between the differences of belief, lies the real truth.   Just know, that I will also continue to believe what I have been exposed to and experienced by, know that nobody possesses the power to convince or force my change.   We all should know by now that the forming of a child is much more than just genetics and DNA.   It is much larger than eye color, hair color, skin color, and inherited genes.   It’s a mix of the feelings, emotions, h...

  The Idea that because something bad has or is happening to me, gives me the right to take any action that I deem appropriate even if it results the most unnatural act of all, the taking of another human being’s life.   Ethan Crumbley entered his Oxford High School armed with a pistol and the knowledge that it was okay to shoot it up because his family had been totally disrespected by those immigrant parents who did not care about learning and is the primary cause to his family’s financial struggles. He wanted to change his mind and was hoping that someone would talk him out of it or stop him from completing his task, but no one stood up for him, no one saw him, no one heard him, and no one listened to him.   The desire to win the admiration of his parents won out that day and ends now with a 15-year-old teen being charged as an adult on 24 counts of murder and terrorism. He sits in his jail cell, under suicide watch and with a public defender at his side, while ...

Find me anyone who disagrees with this title and allow me to have a conversation with them, before long you will see clear and convincing evidence that this is more than just pure speculation, it is fact.  It will begin, as all things normally do, as a frank debate and civil discussion but soon it will elevate to personal attacks and in some cases violence because one of those speaking will run out of defenses for their indefensible behavior and resort to that tried and true method of dismissing, ignoring and cowardly act which is violence.  Begin to notice people, that those who turn to personal attacks do so because reasonable retorts to opposition of ideas are no longer available to them. To watch children play proves that they do not care what color that other child is as long as they play nice.  They do not care about color as long as the other child treats them with respect and as a friend.  They do not care unless they have reason to care and that reason ...

This thought occurred to me as I was looking at answering yes to all of my youngest daughter’s recent requests.  I surmised that since she has already gone through things that no child should ever have to endure at such a young age, that saying yes would make her feel and know that she was loved and appreciated.  It wasn’t until she kept asking for one thing after another that it dawned on me that maybe what I was doing was not actually for her but only to make myself feel better.  I dawned upon me that I was actually doing her more harm than good by saying yes to everything. I began to truly think about that concept of giving in makes them give up and the more I thought about it the more it began to make sense and possibly explain why kids today have little or no respect for anything or anyone.  The primary reason is the lack of a good example set by their parents, guardians or caretakers but a large factor appears to be our desire to try and make things better...

Talk to any Child Protective Service employee and they will without a doubt proclaim that they are the true protector of America’s children.  They are allowed to proceed into your home based on a single unanimous phone call, snatch your children from the only home that they have ever known, rip up the only security blanket a growing child has and tear apart a family because they are the experts in child development and even though many cases are unfounded or the evidence found would not honestly convict a fly, they remain vigilant in their pursuit of their rights versus all others.  The courts refuse to administer equal justice simply based on the position and title of those representing these agencies and any defense against their sometimes wild and outlandish accusations is the defense you must provide for yourself because those provided by the courts are merely pawns and normally have little to no backbone when it comes to proper and accurate presentation of your side of t...

Sometimes the best lessons are those things we learn from the past because history teaches us that human nature rarely changes, but the major difference between good history and bad history is not the person or people written about it’s the results of their actions.  Case in point:  The pilgrims ran from England and the result is them being credited with establishing a new nation later called America.  The slaves ran from their masters and the result is freedom and a much better opportunity at a better life.  These are examples of lessons from the past about running away from a problem that ultimately resulted in much better things for the runner and all those that came afterwards.  An example of bad history is when a young child run away from home to seek a better life which normally results in finding that the better life does not exist and results in  lonesomeness ,  isolation  and often times more trouble than staying home.  An...

Can someone please tell me when the job of school counselor went from teach our children how to settle disputes without violence and morphed into their only job being changing a student’s class schedule, handing out those class schedules and locker combinations?  Maybe it’s just me and this was always the case.  If so then please forgive my interruption but if it’s not then it is high time we looked at reversing that policy and put them back to the purpose of which that position was formed. I thought that a school counselor’s job was to teach our children how to resolve disputes without violence even if that student home life and surroundings are filled with it.  I thought they were allowed to pull each student into their offices, find out what the real problem was and then find avenues to fix that issue so that student could proceed with getting a good quality education and not be allowed to fall through the cracks of a system normally comprised of people with grown...

Reading good news these days, seems so very few and far between but every once in a while you hear about a story that does more pulling on your heart strings than most and makes you wish to share this saga of good will.  This is the feeling behind the article titled “ Target Employee's Act of Kindness Has Shoppers Everywhere Singing His Praises ” posted by Inside Edition on Monday January 18, 2016.  The only thing that made me shake my head was the words used by the manager of this particular Target Store in describing he may not have ever really known. The article details the story of a Ms. Sarah Owen Bigler who witnessed this miracle and her education both about herself, the cashier and most importantly her daughter.  The article reports that; “ A cashier at an Indianapolis Target store is making headlines for the respectful way he handled an elderly customer who was paying with coins and for the profound effect his kindness had on the shoppers who saw it.  In...

Stumbled upon this article titled “ Boy, 8, faces murder charge in beating death of Alabama toddler as child's mother partied at nightclub: authorities ” written by Nicole Hensley for the New York Daily News and was mystified to find that more than just the mother of the victim and the 8 year old boy was charged.  Would have thought that the mother of the 8 year old would also be charged with nothing less than neglect and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. The article reports; Katerra Lewis, 26, has been charged with manslaughter in the death of her young daughter. The girl’s mother, Katerra Lewis, left Kelci Devine Lewis alone with five children overnight as she partied with a friend at a night club on Oct. 11. The 26-year-old found her only child unresponsive at a Birmingham home the following morning. The murder charge was announced against the boy Tuesday, AL.com reported, making him the youngest such suspect in Jefferson County in recent memory.  A 6-year-ol...

Found this article on Cop Block dot com titled “ Louisiana Police Shoot 6-Yo Boy In Head Multiple Times Killing Him ” written yesterday and needless to say, I will not stay quiet on this one.  It is reported that “ The shooting on Martin Luther King Drive in Marksville happened at the end of a pursuit and involved multiple city marshals from Ward 2, Louisiana State Police spokesman Trooper Daniel “Scott” Moreau said. Louisiana police kill 6-year-old boy in passenger seat of fleeing car. 6-year-old dead in wake of shooting in Marksville involving city marshals.  It happened about 9:30 p.m. Nov. 3 on Martin Luther King Drive.  Preliminary indications are that city marshals from Avoyelles Parish Ward 2 “discharged their duty weapons at a vehicle at the conclusion of a pursuit,” says a statement released by state police.  The child was a passenger in the vehicle. The driver is in critical condition, the statement says.  Personnel from the investigative arm of state...

First please allow me to say that I was one of the most argent detractors from those people that I referred to as “eggheads” when they first came out with this thing about “parental involvement” being necessary to help children develop better.  I was one of the ones who claimed that it was just a few “know-it- all ” who was attempting to shift the blame from educators and teachers doing their jobs.  After seeing evidence of this just a few days ago and thinking back to all the times this happened that I did not capture makes me wish now to ask all those for their forgiveness because I was wrong. It took a matter of ten minutes to turn my failing daughter in math, spelling and reading into someone who now cannot only do the math assigned but has advanced to geometry.  She now craves reading and was recently excited about reading the dictionary.  This from a child whom we were told just a few weeks ago was reading at a lower level than others her age.  Ten mi...

As it is often the case, we spend more time trying to find others to blame for something that went wrong instead of trying first to find out where we, as individuals, went wrong.  While filing lawsuits may correct the behavior in some, it only fuels the many and makes us even more determine to not first look to ourselves for an answer but depend even more on the answers to come from others.  While the below article is a sad time for all of us that breath air it is also a lesson on how we can begin to correct this problem if we could only see deeper into that image that stares back at us in a mirror. The article is titled “ Parents sue Florida school district over bullied son's suicide ” written by Tiffany Walden for the Orlando Sentinel.  It is a story about a complete failure on all parts which resulted in a young life being extinguished but it is also a story about a young life making a serious choice and while we mourn this young life we should also celebrate his ...

Parents always say that the reason they are working 2 jobs and struggling so very hard and even are willing to chase that all mighty dollar more diligently is to give their children a much better life than they had.  You hear that, it sounds good and so you embrace and own that phrase to excuse the truth behind why you work so hard.  You know, s well as all who know you, that this has nothing to do with your kids, it’s all about you being in a position to have all that you desire without having to be responsible for doing the only job you were created to do.  You may have accomplished major things and landed that prestigious job that make you feel like a giant but none of that compares to the job you choose to take on of raising children.  To allow anything or anyone else to do this vital job means that the most important thing in your life was shifted off on someone else so that you could feel less guilty of concentrating on yourself.  History has taught and c...

Often we dream about what others will say about us when we are gone and what, if any, affect have we had on the world while we were here.  Many attempt to get their names in lights or on the tongues of many others who remain while there are some whose idea of making a difference is meddling in the affairs of others.  But what seems to be missed by so many who claim to be paying attention is the greatest lesson you can teach and the only real legacy you will leave is the education you have passed on to your children. An example of this is an article titled “ Beloit Police arrest two 12 year olds in Family Video robbery ” posted by Mark Mayhew for our local station WREX.  In it he reports that “ Beloit Police arrested two 12-year-old boys in a Sunday night robbery at the Family Video store on Henry Avenue.  The original report stated two black males displayed a handgun and left with cash.  Beloit Police were able to identify the boys and arrested the first on...

There is often no more clearer of an example of good intentions turning out to be worse than intended or expected than this article.  The sad part is the true result will probably never be felt by those who made the decision nor seemed to be accounted for by those who did. I speak of this article titled “ Judge releases 3 kids locked up for failing to meet with dad ” out of Pontiac, Michigan for the Associated Press and for the life of me cannot see how this could have even been considered as a good idea in the first place.  From this article I come away thinking that intelligent thought was not a part of those involved area of thinking.  The article reports that “a judge on Friday released three siblings who have spent two weeks in juvenile detention for refusing to meet with their estranged father.  Oakland County Judge Lisa Gorcyca said she's sending the children to a summer camp, at the request of the father.”  Because of this lack of understanding of w...

No one likes to see a young life snuffed out before it even has a chance to grow but many times bad things happens for a good reason and provides us with an opportunity to correct the direction in which we are headed if we would only heed that chance and get the hint. I speak about the recent unnecessary deaths that have occurred in the past few days like the ones I list below;  For our local news 23 WIFR | Rockford, Illinois the title of the article is “ Baby Struck by Vehicle, Driver Leaves the Scene ” and it reports that “Police are searching for the driver who they say hit a 22 month old baby with a car and took off, leaving the child in serious condition.  It happened just before 7:30 pm on Ashland Avenue, which is right next to Andrews Park on Rockford's west side. Investigators were on the scene with an accident reconstructionist and say they are still trying to figure out what happened. Officers say they are now searching for a black Chevy Avalanche with a grey ...

Was a little disturbed by this article written by Harriet McLeod for Reuters titled “Police hunt man who killed nine in historic South Carolina black church” not really because of the information found within but basically by the enormity of how often this is happening within our communities.  While trying to figure out what seemingly strong force is guiding these people to violate even God’s will, I had to look past the normal excuses given when something like this happen and look much deeper.  What I found was even more disturbing than my initial reaction to this story. In the story it is reported that “Police in Charleston, South Carolina, were searching on Thursday for a white gunman who killed nine people in a historic African-American church including the pastor, a black state senator, in an attack the U.S. Department of Justice called a hate crime.  The FBI identified the shooter as Dylan Roof of Columbia, South Carolina. An uncle of Roof's said he recognized ...

When someone mentions autism, many of us have to shrug our shoulders as we are really not sure what they are talking about.  Our immediate focus of the definition is someone who displays the symptoms senior surviving mammals would have called “mentally retarded” but what if I told you that autism is nothing more than the daily actions and activities of every single person on this earth and in this universe but more profound. If you pay close attention to any child displaying any activity that society deems as autistic, you will find that it is the very same activity that those not diagnosis with this condition displays.   For my son, he re-focuses but rubbing his fingers together directly in front of his eyes combined with the short run or jog back and forth.  While this may not be the activity displayed by many of us, consider this.  It is well known that in order for some of us to concentrate on the task at hand, we must doddle especially when on the phon...

So many of us live our lives with a desire to do so with compassion and sensitivity.  There is nothing wrong with that except for when it comes to making decisions or choices in your life.  We carefully plan our decisions or choices in order not to be seen as selfish, arrogant or rude toward another human being.  We carefully step in order never to offend another and in doing so, we wonder why much of our life is spent wondering why things do not work out well for us.  Our first thought is to blame God for the direction our lives may be headed and if that doesn’t work we tend to then blame anyone and everyone else because we cannot figure out how a caring, loving person, such as ourselves, could end up in so much mess.  The problem is, we fail to consider that the reason our lives are in so much of a mess is we fail to honor that simple phrase given to us by Jesus Christ himself when he says that before you attempt to help your brother remove the splinter from ...

After reading an article titled “ 15-year-old girl dies after suffering gunshot wound ” written by Audrey Moon for WREX-TV.com, I like many was wondering where were the parents.  I like many was thinking what parent would allow their 15 year old to break curfew, hang out with a 19 year old especially any time after 10 pm.  Then I was slapped by a reality, a reality that said my hypocrisy was clearly showing and that before I attempted to pass judgment on another person, I must first make sure that I was clear of this failure as well.  I found myself silently begging the parents for their forgiveness and asking my God to forgive me for attempting to declare how others should live according to my will and not his.  I then began to read some of the comments left by others about the subject and felt compelled to pen this article to say to them.  Let thee who are without sin cast the first stone. Normally I would include some or all of the article so that those ...