Bronwyn Harris, Author

I've wondered this for a long time - do white children go missing more than other ethnicities, or do we just care more? First of all, don't misunderstand me - it is a tragedy when a white child goes missing. I'm not arguing that fact. But it is a tragedy when ANY child goes missing. And there are a lot of other kids that aren't being featured. I've been wondering this for some time and just found some articles on it. There are some examples of black kids who have gone missing and not gotten much attention here . More statistics here . And a blog post about it here . Thanks to one of my readers who pointed out the blog " Black and Missing ." I think there are two things going on here. First of all, minority children are assumed to be living in more dangerous areas, so it's less surprising when something happens to them. Second, all children are not valued in the same way. Sure, we would all say that every child is worthwhile and has the same ...

Finally, someone gets the difference between literally and figuratively. This is one of my biggest pet peeves ever. If I can explain it to third graders, how come adults can't get it?? When people say "Britney Spears literally cried a river..." NO! That is NOT what literally means! That's why we have the lovely word "figuratively." I hear newscasters use it all the time. Finally, someone is helping me out. Even if it is a comedian. Look at (By the way, I think they're right on about these protests too. That's another story though.) The Daily Show With Jon Stewart M - Th 11p / 10c Tea Party Tyranny thedailyshow.com Daily Show Full Episodes Economic Crisis Political Humor

Wow. I've talked before about the two kids that a friend and I hang out with, or I guess you could say "mentor" in a way. I'm forgetting the pseudonyms I have them so I'll call them Jorge (the older one) and Luis (the younger). I had Jorge in my class in third grade and he has had it rough. He's the oldest of six children and was born when his mother was 14. His mom is frequently in rehab or jail, although she seems to have been out for the last couple of years. If she's clean or not is anyone's guess. Jorge helped raise Luis, at their grandmother's house (the rest of the kids live with other relatives). He's always been super over-responsible, stressed out, and had way too many adult responsibilities. About a year ago, Jorge started to crack. He was 13, which isn't fun at the best of times, he finally didn't have to look after his younger brother so much, his mom and dad were both separately getting involved in his life but then flakin...

I've heard a lot of people talk lately about how racism is dead. They haven't said that outright (maybe because I'd hit them) but they have mentioned "the bad old days" when schools were segregated (been to an inner-city school lately? The only white kids we ever had were a couple of Bosnian refugees). Or they've talked about now that we have a black president, people should stop whining about racism. Or how white people aren't any more likely to be promoted/hired than anyone else, and in fact "reverse racism" is usually the norm. Now, I'm white so I haven't personally experienced too much racism. But I've seen a lot of it firsthand, and I found these blogs interesting. Stuff White People Do has a list of things that white people can be grateful for in an average day. (By the way, I had never heard of " sundown towns " and wish that I still hadn't.) Same blog, another post about how white people teach their childre...