I finished a marathon once.
It was something that took me months and months to train and prepare for. There were highs and lows, gorgeous sunny days and miserable wet nights. There was absolute euphoria and agonizing pain.
Running a marathon is an epic feat. It is a journey of body, mind and spirit. It is about pushing yourself farther than you ever thought possible…and then, even farther still. Read more…
Vancouver’s top mom bloggers have gotten together to bring you another fun chain post. This time, learn a little something you didn’t know about each of us! Check out the other ladies’ posts and explore their awesome blogs!
The Connection We Share The Thirties Grind TuTuMama
Little Miss Mama Mumfection Mama Papa Bubba
The Write Mama North Shore Mama
I recently was at a meeting of all women professionals, when something happened that has not sat right with me since.
The meeting was being led by a very powerful executive and her (male) assistant sat in on the session. He was there, I imagine, to stay on top of her messages and keep a watch of the time. When the meeting got close to its end, the assistant walked over to his boss and quietly reminded her of the time. To this she responded with (in a loud voice , waiving him away) something like:
Who are you? There are no MEN allowed in here – be gone with you! Read more…
When they moved back to Canada (after living overseas for seven years), Keeley and her husband found themselves pregnant and welcoming new opportunities in Vancouver. Mary Kay came into her life in May of 2010. Through Mary Kay, Keeley helps women to discover their inner and outer beauty. Now almost three years later she is enjoying a great career being at home with her now three year old son and five month old daughter.
My darling husband turns 40 today. Better him than me – what on earth would become of this blog!! We share our birthday, but I am MUCH younger than him – and I never let him forget it! I have a few good more years in my 30s and I am planning to enjoy every minute of them!
We got a special video message this morning all the way from Dublin. Thought I’d share it with you all!
Happy Birthday, Dave!! Love you, love you, love you! xoxo
I’m not usually a person who makes New Year’s resolutions. I feel like it is the ultimate way to set myself up for failure. Maybe it’s because I’ve always looked at New Year’s resolutions as having to be something BIG…like losing 10 pounds or making an extra $20K. Clearly, this is not the point. Historically, many cultures embraced the dawning of a new year as a time for a fresh start. So, it would seem then that the point of a New Years resolution, regardless of creed, is to reflect upon self-improvement annually. It’s a good idea, I guess (please feel my hesitation). So this year, I’ve made a little list that I am going to try to stick to: Read more…
Red Riding Hood – depiction by Gustav Dore
The Children’s Commissioner for England just released its interim report on their “Inquiry into Child Sexual Exploitation In Gangs and Groups.” In this report, they explicitly identify technology as a way in which gangs and child predators solicit and recruit young people into their fold. Not really surprising – but nevertheless important to know and consider. The report states: Read more…
Amanda Todd was a victim of a child predator and online abuse. She took her own life in October 2012.
Yesterday, Premier Christy Clark held the ERASEBullying anti-bullying summit in downtown Vancouver. A new website and reporting tool was launched, that will help both students and educators to work towards the elimination of bullying.
It is a great start, but it is not enough.
We have entered an era where Social Media has gotten too far ahead of us. These companies have grown to have billions of users…millions of whom are children. There is, surprisingly, hardly any safe-guards in place to protect minors online. The onus has been placed on parents and, frankly, parents cannot do this alone.
It takes a village — and we are living in the global village.
I am part of a movement of concerned citizens who are demanding that companies like Facebook take action to block child predators from their sites. These companies use technology to mine the data on their platforms to a molecular level…in order to sell advertising — this is how they make money. The same technologies can be used to mine their sites for explicit, inappropriate and abusive content — but there is no money in that.
Please take the time to read our letter to Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook, below. I would love to hear your ideas and comments also. This will not get better until there is some form of consumer protection in place. We need to hold these companies to the same standards that we demand from other private enterprises.
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November 14, 2012
Sheryl Sandberg
COO, Facebook, Inc.
Dear Ms. Sandberg,
We are a community of concerned citizens in British Columbia, including Amanda Todd’s mother. As you may know, Amanda was contacted and blackmailed through Facebook by an adult predator who impersonated local teens to enter her circles of friends.
We write imploring you to lead change in the social media industry by correcting the security failures that made such victimization possible.
As shocking as Amanda’s story was, there is still much cause for worry. A YouTube channel, The Daily Capper, openly celebrates and promotes the sexual exploitation of many young girls, fueling traffic to a dark web of under-age sex sites. Meanwhile, reports out of Indonesia document that predators use Facebook as a key tool enabling them to abduct under-age girls into human trafficking. Instagram, a photo-sharing program owned by Facebook, now features tens of thousands of images of children uploaded by their babysitters, available for viewing by some 8 million daily users. No security prevents the inadvertent publication of profile information such as home addresses and phone numbers, and Instagram has a map function that enables predators to find the location of many photos. Omegle is a site that invites kids as young as 13 to “Talk to Strangers” via video or text, and integrates directly with Facebook Connect. A simple YouTube search yields online instruction for contacting very young girls, and Omegle itself has a feature through which lurkers can prompt users to inter-act with each other, and to watch them anonymously.
These examples point to serious systemic design defects that place children and teens in harm’s way. Known security gaps in a proliferating host of mobile applications have converted mainstream social media sites into highly effective devices for predators and abusive bullies. And in what can only be described as the cruelest irony, YouTube now sells advertising on Amanda’s desperate video cry for help, while in a well-documented trend, her Facebook memorial page was desecrated.
Facebook has become a brand feared by parents, when it should be one they can trust.
We appeal to you as COO of Facebook, a mother, a visionary digital media leader, and member of the board of The Walt Disney Company, to lead industry-wide adoption of systemic security to block predators and abusers from accessing kids on major social media platforms, starting with Facebook itself.
This is a consumer protection issue. Facebook has over a billion users around the world, of which an estimated 20%, or 200 million, are aged 17 and under. Those users should be secure from contact with unscrupulous predators and abusers.
We are delighted to hear of your current initiative to reduce bullying and make young Facebook users safer through stronger reporting and educational resources, and we applaud your efforts. Yet while education of parents and kids is laudable, the onus for safety must not rest solely with consumers. Parents are not equipped to navigate complex technology and what their kids (or their kids’ friends) do online is often outside their control.
Indeed, the principles of consumer protection are well established, particularly for products intended for use by children. The burden of ensuring systemic product safety rests with the industry that designs, engineers, markets and distributes it.
Real safety in social media requires systemic change across the industry.
We know that everyone in the legitimate social media industry wants kids to be safe. As a society we have a duty to use all our powers to ensure young people are free from exploitation and abuse. Over the coming weeks and months our BC community will build a coordinated effort to press for industry reform and consumer protection. As one final note, we implore you to ensure that memorial pages are monitored and abusive posts immediately removed.
We would love to meet with you to discuss how Facebook can lead that change.
For Amanda,
Sandy Garossino, civic advocate, business owner, View from BC panelist, CKNW
Raffi Cavoukian C.M., O.B.C., Centre For Child Honouring
Carol Todd, mother of Amanda Todd
Kim Cunliffe, bereaved mother of teen Darin Cunliffe, whose Facebook memorial was desecrated
Kip Woodward, Chair, Vancouver Coastal Health
Dr. Marlene Moretti, Senior Research Chair, Canadian Institutes of Health Research
Saleema Noon, B.A. M.A., Sexual Health Educator
Out In Schools, Drew Dennis, Executive Director, Ross Johnstone, Director of Education
Maureen Palmer, Director CBC documentary Sext Up Kids
Melissa Carr Vancouver’s “Top Mom Blogger” http://thethirtiesgrind.com/
Bill Good, host, The Bill Good Show, CKNW, Corus Radio Network
Bridgitte Anderson, VP, Corporate & Public Affairs, Edelman Vancouver View from BC panelist CKNW
Alise Mills, Strategic Communications & Media Relations,View from BC panelist, CKNW
Jen Shaeffers, Executive Director, CKNW Orphans Fund
Jessica Gares producer, The Bill Good Show, CKNW
Michael Tippett CEO, Ayoudo, Co-founder, NowPublic
Michelle Rupp, Community-builder and Principal, Lighthouse Leadership
Peter Ladner, Author, columnist, former city councillor
Bif Naked, International Recording Artist, author, advocate
Grimes, Claire Boucher, International Recording Artist
Shane Koyczan Canadian poet, anti-bullying author and advocate
Linda Solomon, CEO, Observer Media Group, Publisher, The Vancouver Observer
Mark Busse, Partner/Managing Director, Industrial Brand, Vancouver organizer; Creative Mornings
Meeru Dhalwala, Partner, Vij’s & Rangoli, author, healthy living advocate
Photo courtesy of the Premier’s website.
Just over a week ago, I had the privilege of being part of a group of mom bloggers who were given the opportunity to sit down with Premier Christy Clark. I believe this is the second “round-table” session of this kind, which was organized by her Director of Outreach, Pamela Martin.
Right off the bat, the premier explained why she wants to have “women meetings.” She spoke about how day in and day out she meets with (predominantly) men. She spoke of how there aren’t that many women in politics (a sad fact) and that she believes, although our end goals are often the same, women approach things differently then men. She stated that she sees value in engaging with women, particularly mothers, who have a vested interest in the political issues in B.C., particularly those that affect their families. Read more…
My brother is developmentally challenged. Growing up, and now, he’s always just been my brother. Yes, of course, I recognize that he has certain limitations. He doesn’t do things as quickly as most of us and sometimes he needs extra help and guidance with every day tasks. But the proficiency he lacks in some areas, are made up for in spades in others.
He is one of the most thoughtful, kind and brave individuals I know. He realizes his limitations, but never uses them as an excuse to not try or believe he can’t do something. When he is unsure, he asks for help — something many of us, for pride’s sake, don’t do. That is self-awareness. That is bravery. That is intelligence.
So it really pisses me off when people use the word “retard” in a derogatory way. Read more…
