Repost: Keeping our children safe in the face of violence

I've contributed to the Orlando Sentinel's Moms at Work blog since 2010. The blog is changing content management systems and my old posts will no longer be available to the public, so I'm reposting them here, in the order that they were originally posted.





March 13, 2013






All children deserve to be safe, and well-fed and cared for by the people who love them.

Can we all agree on that?

Jonylah Watkins, whose story is posted above, was fed and cared for -- but she wasn't safe. She died this past weekend after she was shot as her father changed her diaper. She was hit by five bullets. Her father, who was injured in the shooting, had no chance to fight back and/or protect himself or his child in that moment. Jonylah was just six months old. To make matters worse, the incident that took her life wasn't the first time her physical environment had been shattered by gunshots; CNN reported that Jonylah's mother sustained a bullet wound to the leg while she was pregnant with the girl.

Stories like this make me feel so sad. Not just for Jonylah's family -- although I can't imagine the grief they feel right now -- but also for her community and the country in which I live. This should never happen. No parent should have to bury a child because of violence or matter-of-factly accept that violence is probable or possible for children who aren't old enough to drive or sign legal contracts. Not in Jonylah's neighborhood, not in anybody else's. Whose fault is it that the girl is dead? That's hard to say.

Repost: Do you know which toys are unsafe?

I've contributed to the Orlando Sentinel's Moms at Work blog since 2010. The blog is changing content management systems and my old posts will no longer be available to the public, so I'm reposting them here, in the order that they were originally posted.


Nov. 21, 2012

Black Friday, one of the nation's biggest shopping days, is just hours away, and some of the millions of people who will hit stores will definitely be headed to toy aisles to buy items for kids.

But do they know which toys are safest?

If they don't know but want to know, somebody's already done that work for them. The U.S. Public Interest Research Group, a safety advocacy organization, has put out Trouble in Toyland, its annual report about the safety of toys.

The good news is that U.S. PIRG found fewer problematic toys than ever.

However, at least one Morphobot toy had more metal than allowed by federal regulations and a Dora the Explorer backpack contained a high level of phthalates, substances added to plastics that have been linked with breast cancer and other conditions.

This year's report was focused on toys that could cause hearing loss or choke children, according to ABC News.

Read the report for yourself and keep it in mind if you head out on Black Friday. Happy shopping!