Welcome to Awareness, the show that took you beyond the headlines!

I want to say thanks to all who came on this show to share their insight and to help us raise our awareness. Christine O'Donnell, Dr. David Perrodin,  Crista Miller, Alicia Kozakiewicz, Dottie Laster, Dianne Grossman, Nancy Willard, and Danielle Matthew.

Thank you for sharing your time with me and thanks to my family for allowing me to share this information with you, without them this would not have been possible, until we meet again, stay aware, be aware, and farewell!

 

Download episodes at podbean.com search Awareness Podcast

Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCm4baawm3g2v3U-FUlnKsEQ

Sexual Offenders: Perversion Files | Boy Scouts

It is said that it takes a village to raise a child. The essence of the meaning is that our kids learn from their environment and the more environments they are exposed to, the better equipped they will be to handle them once they are adults. To achieve this, we put our trust in institutions, institutions like our community schools, religious organizations, and youth organizations.

Here on Awareness, we have learned about sexual offenders, we know that their deviancy has no limits, we know that they pose as model citizens, cloaking themselves in kindness. Imagine for a moment, tough as it may be, what the perfect environment to abuse children would look like to a sexual offender. A secluded place, like a camp or the woods, a place where life skills can be taught to build trust, away from parents overnight. Knowing what we know now, it sounds like a scary place to put our kids, doesn't it, well it exists, not in our nightmares, it exists nestled within a historic institution, one known for its oath.

On today's episode, we will examine one of the largest cases in history, of documented sexual abuse that went unreported. We are going to look at how one of the world's most respected and trusted youth organizations became a beacon for pedophiles, We are going to look at how they documented the sexual abuse of its scouts, and why it was never reported to authorities, let alone parents…if this episode doesn't make you furious, not sure what will…

 

Podcast Social Media

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AwarenessPod/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AwarenessPod

Website: https://www.awarenesspodcast.com

Email: [email protected]

 

Episode Sources:

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2012/10/boy-scouts-perversion-files-public-database-details-decades-of-alleged-sexual-abuse-cover-up.html

https://archive.org/stream/470928-0077/470928-0077_djvu.txt

https://www.scribd.com/document/109557957/The-Boy-Scouts-of-America-Perversion-files-sorted-by-name

https://abusedinscouting.com/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIktfZrMrm4QIVl7XACh34KAgZEAAYASAAEgLJI_D_BwE

https://www.crewjanci.com/files/0112.pdf

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRdeiRL0RIU

 https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/boy-scouts-movement-begins

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Boy-Scouts

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmluPT_rp2o

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPRvdWhEJvI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fw1I1RWH-wY

https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/256093/1972-bsa-policy.pdf 

https://www.npr.org/2012/10/18/163171536/lawyers-release-boy-scouts-perversion-files

https://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-scouts-molest-story-htmlstory.html

https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/256094/bsas-1979-perversion-file-on-turley.pdf

http://timelines.latimes.com/richard-turley/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-1GO1WcsEE

https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/256098/1975-turley-police-reports.pdf

https://www.childusa.org/sol

https://www.classaction.com/news/child-victims-act-2018/

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/why-the-boy-scouts-are-lobbying-against-children_b_5936181ae4b0c670a3ce67d2

https://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/lovett-boy-scouts-fighting-n-y-s-child-victims-act-article-1.3203068

https://www.rainn.org/statutes-limitations

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odGrsn-baSM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOEezTC5rF4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pp2xpcANCwE

https://www.andersonadvocates.com/Documents/posts/Janet%20Warren%20testimony.pdf

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2gAIoyWsBY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhi_C8v5I_Y

 

Thanks:

Thanks to Shane Yoder and his team at puttheminasong.com for the theme song, and thanks to my family for allowing me to do my part to help raise awareness.

Intro Music:

Running Rooftops-Jarkko Hietanen

 

Closing Music:

Nano-Jarkko Hietanen

Suicide Challenge: Blue Whale | Momo

The dangers our kids face nowadays are similar in many ways to the ones we faced while growing up.  But the internet and social media have introduced new kinds of dangers, many of which, you are now aware of. Here on awareness, we have addressed the issue of suicide from the bullying perspective, but now it's time we change our lens and view it from the social media challenge perspective. 

As adults there are few things that scare us more than the unknown, certainty provides a semblance of safety. When you couple the unknowns of the internet with the lack of understanding of how social media influences our kids, what you get is hyperbole of such proportions, that it becomes an urban legend. 

What you get are a series of stories/ anecdotes, that over time, propagate through society and morphing as they make their way through servers on continents around the world, cementing a place in social lore. 

On today's episode, we are going to unravel the truths and myths about the blue whale and Momo challenges and why this is a symptom of something that is permeating through our society. Should you be concerned?

 

Podcast Social Media

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AwarenessPod/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AwarenessPod

Website: https://www.awarenesspodcast.com

Email: [email protected]

Episode Sources:

http://www.snopes.com/blue-whale-game-suicides-russia/

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/blue-whale-game-suicides-russia/

https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-46505722 

https://www.novayagazeta.ru/articles/2016/05/16/68604-gruppy-smerti-18 

https://meduza.io/feature/2016/05/17/pyat-glavnyh-voprosov-k-materialu-novoy-gazety-o-podrostkovyh-suitsidah

https://qz.com/776683/online-parenting-parents-in-russia-are-blaming-the-internet-for-spiking-the-rate-of-children-suicide/

https://news4sanantonio.com/news/local/family-says-teens-suicide-result-of-internet-challenge

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4709894/Blue-Whale-suicide-game-ringleader-jailed-Russia.html

https://www.snopes.com/news/2019/02/26/momo-challenge-suicide-game/

https://web.archive.org/web/20180821003815/http://www.batimes.com.ar/news/argentina/police-suspect-12-year-old-girls-suicide-linked-to-whatsapp-terror-game-momo.phtml

https://www.buzzfeed.com/jp/ryosukekamba/momo

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/03/06/national/social-issues/japanese-artist-behind-ghastly-creature-viral-momo-challenge-baffled-disturbing-hoax/#.XIxzVxNKjUI

https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/momo-challenge

https://inews.co.uk/opinion/momo-challenge-game-deaths-suicide-moral-panic/

https://gulfnews.com/uae/momo-and-blue-whale-internet-games-are-urban-myths-say-experts-1.62513404

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZr1gAKlVww&t=921s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10xSviY0I54&t=8s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=122&v=eZiV49EDcg0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=5&v=c5QNaDG_5lY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=280&v=0jLuF0OQZ-g&bpctr=1552698441

Thanks:

Thanks to Shane Yoder and his team at puttheminasong.com for the theme song, and thanks to my family for allowing me to do my part to help raise awareness.

Intro Music:

Altered Space - Nuform

Closing Music:

And All Is Embers (Ambient) - Adam Fielding

Sexual Offenders: Acquaintance | Nice Guy

I want to begin today's episode with an apology, I have done you a great disservice. So please accept my sincere apology. I am sorry.

If you have noticed the podcast feed lately, on March 22nd 2018 I released episode 13 called "Predators", I have renamed that episode to "Sexual Offenders: Facing Reality". On today's episode you will understand why I was compelled to change the name of episode 13 and the reason for the apology. In order for awareness to be effective, we can not continue identifying sexual offenders under the obscure guise of labels like "Monster" or "Predator".

We use these labels to conjure up feelings of fear and anxiety. It is our expectation that those labels will wake us to awareness we expect that these labels will raise our level of vigilance, but the opposite can be true. Sexual Offenders cloak themselves in gestures of kindness, and affection, they display altruistic behaviors to lull us into complacency. This is all part of the grooming process and it is intended to widen the chasm between our perception of monsters and predators and reality. This is why I changed the name of episode 13 and why I believe an apology is warranted. 

On today's episode, you will be introduced to the worst kind of sexual offender, the kind that is a master of manipulation, the kind that attracts kids and adults alike,  the kind that works their way into leadership positions, positions of authority, positions with access to our kids.

Podcast Social Media

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AwarenessPod/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AwarenessPod

Website: https://www.awarenesspodcast.com

Email: [email protected]

 

Jim Clemente Hosted Podcasts:

https://www.realcrimeprofile.com 

https://wondery.com/shows/best-case-worst-case/

 

7 reasons why you should never force your kid to hug anyone article:

https://thebodyisnotanapology.com/magazine/your-child-should-never-be-forced-to-hug-anyone-yes-including-a-relative-here-are-7-reasons-why-2/

 

Thanks:

Thanks to Shane Yoder and his team at puttheminasong.com for the theme song, and thanks to my family for allowing me to do my part to help raise awareness.

 

Intro Music:

Fake Views-Vate

Closing Music:

Hearts on wire-Mike McGuill

Bullying: Empowerment with Danielle Matthew

If you are finding the show for the first time, this is final episode, at least for now, on the bullying series. When I conceptualized this series I wanted to bring you bullying from different angles. It was my goal to show you bullying from a school administrators perspective we did that on episode 3 with Dr. Perrodin, I wanted to expose how devastating it could be and how it can really happen to anyone. Mallory's story is a powerful one and it gives you a good overall view of the problem and how in just a short amount of time, it can drain the life and spirit out of our kids. It was important for me to show you how involved Dianne was in trying to address this issue, and how she underestimated the affect of bullying, and how deep the spiritual wounds can be. I can relate to Dianne's perspective, her mindset as she was going through it, to be honest, it is very likely that I would have followed the same path, as I am sure most of you  would have as well.  Mallory's story was highlighted on episodes 14 and 15. 

I also shared with you my story, I felt it was important to show you how easy it is to get caught up in the power struggle with the schools, how in some cases the schools are out of touch. As much as I didn't want to hear it, Dr. Perrodin's analysis was tough but fair. He assisted us in understanding how to navigate a tough conversation using my story as a real world example. You heard my story on episodes 16 and 17. 

And then I shared with you my discussion with Nancy Willard, who's perspective on bullying, really changed the way I look at this phenomenon. When you frame bullying situations and wrap it in the context of social dominance, it makes sense how when bring the bully and bullied together to resolve the issue, more often than not, doesn't work. It didn't work in Mallory's case. It is extremely important that we look at bullying from different angles, different perspectives, we need to understand it at it's core. Nancy's view give us more insight and understanding. My discussion with Nancy Willard was on episode 18. 

On today's episode, we are joined by Danielle Matthew a bullying expert and author of the book  "The Empowered Child". It was really important for me to provide solutions so that we can be proactive rather than reactive because once the effects of bullying take hold, it is very difficult to escape it's grasp. Those of you going through this with you kids know, it can feel like we are powerless to help our kids but don't fret, today is about hope, about realizing that help is out there, it's about realizing that you are alone, that  you can get help. Danielle will provide some practical advice that you can start using today. I have been practicing her advise and have been having success, not just with bullying (which, I am happy to say, is non existent) but allowing me to have a deeper connection with my girls.

Podcast Social Media

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AwarenessPod/

Facebook Bullying Group: https://tinyurl.com/y8osxqto

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AwarenessPod

Website: https://www.awarenesspodcast.com

Email: [email protected]

 

Find Danielle Matthew’s information here: https://www.awarenesspodcast.com/guests/

 

Thanks:

Thanks to Shane Yoder and his team at puttheminasong.com for the theme song, and thanks to my family for allowing me to do my part to help raise awareness.

 

Intro Music:

Wiederkehr des Seins-Philipp Weigl

 

Closing Music:

Changing Colors-Mark Preston

Bullying: A New Perspective with Nancy Willard

Welcome to Awareness, a show that reveals the story beyond the headlines, it has been a quick 3 weeks for me and I am very happy to say that I am coming to you from the new awareness studio, and I am truly grateful for your patience. 

So Let's jump right in, today we are going to reframe our perspective on bullying. We are going to change the way we look at this crisis. It's time we change our lens and look at bullying in context of social norms, up until now you have heard how devastating the effects bullying can be on our kids. Mallory Grossman and the Grossman's story is an example of how cruel bullying can be, you have also heard about my  encounter with bullying and the schools reaction. But now it's time we shift our focus to understanding this phenomenon. 

You will hear a point of view that is much different than anything you have heard on the mainstream media. It took me a while to find this point of view, and I am happy I am able to share this with you. 

Today we are joined by Nancy Willard, author of the books

Cyberbullying and Cyberthreats: Responding to the Challenge of Online Social Cruelty, Threats, and Distress

Cyber-Safe Kids, Cyber-Savvy Teens, Helping Young People Use the Internet Safely and Responsibly

Cyber Savvy: Embracing Digital Safety and Civility

These books were published in 2007 and 2011 respectively. Nancy's book on Cyberbullying was the first book published on cyberbullying. With Nancy's help, the goal for today is to help you understand why it's not only the "weak" kids that get targeted but also the strong and popular ones. Also, you will gain a different level of understanding about bullying behaviors and a possible explanation for their expression.

For me, Nancy's information created a context and an deeper understanding  about bullying that has helped me, help my daughters.

 

Psychology Today article: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/sex-drugs-and-boredom/201006/culture-evolution-and-dominance

 

Podcast Social Media

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AwarenessPod/

Facebook Bullying Group: https://tinyurl.com/y8osxqto

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AwarenessPod

Website: https://www.awarenesspodcast.com

Email: [email protected]

 

Find Nancy Willard’s information here: https://www.awarenesspodcast.com/guests/

 

Thanks:

Thanks to Shane Yoder and his team at puttheminasong.com for the theme song, and thanks to my family for allowing me to do my part to help raise awareness.

 

Intro Music:

Highlander-Sasha Merkulov

Closing Music:

Pain-Attic Trax

Bullying: A School Encounter | Part 2 The Analysis with Dr. David Perrodin

If you are here for the first time, this is part 2 of a 2 part story so please go back and listen to part 1, episode 16, otherwise you might be lost. I want to start of today's episode by saying thanks to those who posted their comments on the Facebook bullying discussion group as well as those who have reached out to me telling me about how they perceived my interaction with the school counselor. There were a few people that took the counselors side, some that took my side, and some that teetered back and forth. I considered many different ways to share that episode with you but ultimately decided that I wanted to try to deliver the episode as straight forward as possible, without interjecting much emotion. I wanted to deliver just the facts of what happened. Based on the feedback so far, I believe the episode had it's intended effect. I really do appreciate all of the feedback! 

The last episode was very emotional for me, I seriously considered whether or not to release it to you. After a few months of debating, I decided to ask Dr. Perrodin if he would take the raw audio and analyze it. I knew his over 20 years experience in this arena would help me frame how the discussion went. After he said yes, I knew I had to share this insight, that was the moment I decided to share this with you. When I sent the audio to Dr. Perrodin, he didn't have any knowledge of the events leading up to the conversation, he just had the audio of the conversation. So his analysis is solely based on the conversation. 

Dr. David Perrodin has 12 years experience as a Director of Student Services. He left the profession to focus exclusively on researching school safety and high-stakes decision-making  at the University of Wisconsin – Madison.  As an expert in safety preparedness and response, Dr. Perrodin has presented on public television, in school districts, and at school safety conferences. He is a school safety litigation expert witness with The Expert Institute. He has meticulously reviewed thousands of pages of depositions and policy documents to inform legal counsel and courts on matters of student safety and he brings that expertise to you today.

Podcast Social Media

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AwarenessPod/

Facebook Bullying Group: https://tinyurl.com/y8osxqto

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AwarenessPod

Website: https://www.awarenesspodcast.com

Email: [email protected]

 

Thanks:

Thanks to Shane Yoder and his team at puttheminasong.com for the theme song, and thanks to my family for allowing me to do my part to help raise awareness.

 

Intro Music:

Final Approach-Adam Fielding

 

Closing Music:

Run Home-Align in Time

Bullying: A School Encounter | Part 1

If you are finding the podcast for the first time, this is the 4th episode on the bullying series, so check out the other 3 each of them are titled beginning with the word “Bullying”. Bullying has been one of the issues on my mind since March of 2017 when I spoke to Maurine Molack, her son 16 year old David completed suicide on January 4th 2016 after months of bullying and cyberbullying, and was the event that propelled me to create this podcast. It was the moment I realized that all the information I found researching these stories needed to be shared with you, because true awareness requires a community. Since then I have spoken to Diane Grossman, who's 12 year old daughter Mallory committed suicide last year and you heard their story on the 2 episodes before this one. These two conversations deeply impacted me and I am determined to apply and share any learnings from those 2 tragedies that I can. I am determined to allow their hindsight to guide my way and hopefully yours as well. There is so much to learn from these 2 families, we can apply those learnings to honor their children and the countless others who have experienced the same type of attacks. 

On April 1st 2017, Dr. David Perrodin sent a direct message on Twitter via the Typical Daddy Podcast handle, (Typical Daddy is a podcast I was a cohost on), in that message he praised an episode we did with author Nancy Jo Sales, ( that episode was released as a bonus on this feed). 

Since then, we have struck up a friendship and we have collaborated on various projects. I have been on his show, and his expertise has been featured on a few episodes on this show. As I was writing the first episode of the bullying series (episode 3) in honor of  National Bullying Prevention Month in October of 2017 , I thought it would be a good idea to have his expertise on that episode. On short notice, he agreed to come on the show to share insight from a school administrator's perspective. We recorded that episode the night of Sept 20th 2017 and little did I know, that just a few months later, I would have to lean on his advice.

 

Podcast Social Media

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AwarenessPod/

Facebook Bullying Group: https://tinyurl.com/y8osxqto

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AwarenessPod

Website: https://www.awarenesspodcast.com

Email: [email protected]

 

Thanks:

Thanks to Shane Yoder and his team at puttheminasong.com for the theme song, and thanks to my family for allowing me to do my part to help raise awareness.

 

Intro Music:

Future Morning (bonus track)-Curl

Closing Music:

Princess-future_former

Bullying: Mallory Grossman | Part 2 of 2 with Dianne Grossman

As parents, we spend our lives moment by moment trying to protect our kids from harm. Every moment life offers, we try to anticipate the danger our kids might face. Our generation was raised on tough love, believes in sticks and stones, we were told to fight back, toughen up, defend ourselves. That was a different time, a different era, those rules don't apply now, the game has changed, technology has changed the game, we haven't changed and we need to. We are pretty good at shielding our kids from physical harm, but what about the emotional and spiritual harm, little consideration was given to that when we were growing up, the disconnect from bullying while at home gave us crucial moments with our friends and family. Those moments nurtured us to resilience,  gave us a fighting chance. They lifted our spirits enough to face another day.  Technology has infiltrated those moments, they are all but non-existent, the effects of bullying are now with our kids 24/7. No time to recharge, no time to heal…

On today’s episode we are joined by Dianne Grossman. Dianne's contact information can be found on https://www.awarenesspodcast.com/guests/.

Podcast Social Media

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AwarenessPod/

Facebook Bullying Group: https://tinyurl.com/y8osxqto

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AwarenessPod

Website: https://www.awarenesspodcast.com

Email: [email protected]

 

Thanks:

Thanks to Dianne and the Grossman family for trusting me with their story. I am truly grateful!

Thanks to Shane Yoder and his team at puttheminasong.com for the theme song, and thanks to my family for allowing me to do my part to help raise awareness.

 

Intro Music:

The Prodding-Ehren Starks

 

Closing Music:

Maribo-Mystic Crock

Bullying: Mallory Grossman | Part 1 

The bullying series begins with the 2 part story of Mallory Rose Grossman, a 12-year-old who's spirit was crushed by the burden of bullying and ended her life by suicide on June 14th, 2017. On today's episode, we will examine the acts of bullying Mallory experienced as well as the aftermath, we will also look into what mechanisms were in place to help Mallory and her parents through these acts of hate. By the end of this episode, you will likely reach the conclusion that I did while researching this story, and that is, that I shouldn't be doing an episode about Mallory Grossman.

 

Podcast Social Media

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AwarenessPod/

Facebook Bullying Group: https://tinyurl.com/y8osxqto

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AwarenessPod

Website: https://www.awarenesspodcast.com

Email: [email protected] 

 

Thanks:

Thanks to Shane Yoder and his team at puttheminasong.com for the theme song, and thanks to my family for allowing me to do my part to help raise awareness.

 

Intro Music:

Everything Is Wide Open - Adam Fielding

 

Closing Music:

When All Is Said And Done - Adam Fielding