Attorney General Bruning to Attend ceremony

Is MY Son or Daughter in a Gang???

Is It Obvious My Son or Daughter Is In A Gang???

As you can see from the picture, this is a pretty CLEAR warning sign that your son or daughter is in a gang.

It is however NOT ALWAYS that clear.

In this series of Gang Issues, you will learn EXACTLY what you need to look for. You will also learn what to do if you discover that your teen is involved in a gang.

THINGS TO LOOK FOR

• Wearing a lot of one specific color or a combination of colors, such as blue and grey, black and yellow, etc.


• Tilting hats to the side, wearing bandanna's - again the bandanna's will be in the same colors as the clothing.


• Gang graffiti on notebooks, personal belongings


• Defensiveness about how they spend their time, and who they spend it with


• Alienating themselves from family, school, church involvement


• Doing poorly in school - including skipping school
  
• Three dots :. on their body parts such as hands, in between the fingers, ankles, hairlines, also on their Face book or My Space pages


• Insisting on buying clothing or hats with crowns, pitchforks, the number 13, 18, 14,7


• Breaking the curfew law


• Fighting


• Drugs or drug paraphernalia such as pipes, smoking papers, cigars


• Signs of using drugs such as red eyes, dilated pupils


• Using Roman numerals


• Suddenly being called by a "different" name by their friends


• Coming home "beat up" and not admitting to being in a fight
• Suddenly wearing rosaries or crucifixes as a fashion statement

These things listed above are just a few of the signs that parents need to watch out for.

Most gang members range from 13 to 35 years of age. Some gang members start as young as 9 years old. It is not just boys. Girls are very active in the gangs as well. The members that are 15 to 18 appear to be the most violent. This is the period of time when new members are trying to prove themselves to the older gang members and raise their status in the group.

GANG ASSESSMENT TOOL

1. Is there graffiti in or near your neighborhood? Yes = 5 points
2. Is the graffiti crossed out? Yes = 10 points
3. Do the young people in your community wear alike clothing colors, jewelry, flash hand signs, or display other behaviors that may be gang related? Yes= 10 points
4. Are you aware if illegal drugs are available in your neighborhood? Yes = 10 points
5. Was there an increase in the number of physical confrontations within the past 12 months in your neighborhood? Yes = 5 points
6. Is there an increasing presence of weapons in your community? Yes =5 points
7. Has there been a "drive by" shooting in your community? Yes = 15 points
8. Have you had a "show by" display of weapons in your community? Yes = 10 points
9. Is the truancy rate and/or burglaries in your community increasing? Yes = 5 points
10. Have you noticed graffiti in your neighborhood? Yes = 15 points
11. Have you noticed graffiti crossed out in your neighborhood? 15 points
12. Is there a history of gangs in your community? Yes = 15 points
13. Are you seeing a presence of informal social groups with unusual names such as crew, king, disciples, queen? Yes = 15 points
14. Have you noticed large traffic of young people at one house in your neighborhood? Yes = 10 points

ADD UP YOUR SCORE:

0-20 POINTS = NO PROBLEM

25-45 POINTS = EMERGING PROBLEM

50-65 POINTS = YOU HAVE PROBLEMS

70+ POINTS = THERE ARE SERIOUS PROBLEMS

AT 50+ POINTS A NEED EXISTS TO DEVELOP A GANG PREVENTION AND INTERVENTION PROGRAM.

If you have questions or are concerned about gang activity either in your family or in your neighborhood, please do not hesitate to contact the Watchful Eye Foundation. Your calls are completely confidential. We speak English and Spanish both.

402/412-3393

The Watchful Eye Foundation is a non profit working to ensure that our community is safe for everyone to live a healthy and happy life.

Next: YOUR TEEN AND MYSPACE!!!! WHAT YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW....

Gangster for Life - typical "OG"

When he was born into this world it was the same as most - something happened along the rode of life, probably when he was about 10 years old.

He decided he wanted to be tough, cool and respected. He wanted to belong to a group that was just that - his so called "idols".....

He decided to join and become a gangster. After all, in the movies the gangsters are the ones that have all the girls, all the money, fancy cars, fancy homes etc.....he saw it as the easy way to get what he wanted in life.

By the time he was 24 years old, he was considered a typical "OG" - meaning "Original Gangster".....

Gangsters refer to themselves in this manner because along the way as they themselves get older, they continue to recruit those little 9 and 10 year old kids who look up to the older gangsters. Of course they do. What kid would not want the attention given from an older person who they think is the ultimate in cool.
So the "OG's" then as they are referred to become their mentors.

These "OG's" will then get the younger kids to go out and steal, sell drugs etc. because if the kids get busted for doing this - they just get sent to juvenile detention or put on probation. If the adults get caught they go to prison.

These "OG's" are good at what they do - there is no denying that. They get these boys who are sometimes right at puberty, entice them to drink, get them high, give them a girl to have sex with for the first time - and with all of that they then have these kids won over.
They convince the kids that they are the greatest love the kid will ever have. They will go along with them and tell them - "ya, your mom and dad dont want ya" or " man, they are too hard on you, come live with me" and etc.

Before you know it - your little boy or girl is suddenly a totally different person. They are begging for tattoo's, they dress differently, they never are where they say they are, they act very defiant and they show you zero respect.

Before you know it your little boy or girl is on the road to the ganglife going about 150 miles per hour.
What can you do as a parent? Get involved in your kids life. Don't worry about being their friend. You did not give birth to a friend. You cant be their friend. It just wont work.

When your son or daughter wants to go somewhere, ask them where they are going, who they are going with, what time will they arrive,what time will they leave and what time will they be home. If they can answer all those questions then ask one more - and what will you be doing while you are there?

If your son or daughter wants you to buy pants that are so big that two of your kids could fit in them together, tell them no. If they do not like what you help them to pick out then tell them to get a job so that they can spend their money on what they would like. If they get a job, 1. they will stay out of trouble, 2. they will see how much the things they want really cost when they start spending their own money.

Having a teenager or a pre- teenager is no different than watching over a two year old. You must watch them, love them, and pay attention to them. Listen to the type of music they are listening to. Watch the video games they are playing. Ask to see their MySpace page or Facebook. You might have a few surprises.

I have personally gotten to know some of the toughest teens who were involved in gangs. I listen to them - really listen.....the one thing that they all say is "my mom or dad is cool, they dont care".....
Parents, scroll back up to the picture - look at it really good....you need to care. It doesnt cost you a thing.

NEXT BLOG WILL TELL YOU ABOUT THE GIRLS IN THE GANGS

CHILD INTERNET PORN....

CHILD INTERNET PORN....

The prelude to actual molestation of a child

Child pornography is a crime. It is plain and simple.

Who in the world in their right mind would consider looking at a small child naked and consider it sexy? There are those people that believe that it is just a "harmless crime".....

Child porn viewers are anything but harmless. If you are looking you are obviously wishing it would become your reality. For those of you who think " oh, all he or she was doing was looking - nothing bad happened"......COULD YOU DO ME A FAVOR AND WAKE UP PLEASE?

If you are shopping - you look at various things that maybe you will or will not buy. If you are looking at CHILD PORN you are shopping.

For the spouses who have a spouse that has committed this crime - I am sorry, no matter how much you want to stand by your mate and insist to yourself and the world that this is not a crime and that your spouse should not be on any sex offender registry - YOU NEED TO STOP LYING TO YOURSELF AND THE WORLD.

LOOKING AT 5 and 6 year old little girls being forced to have their pictures taken while they are being molested - THAT IS A CRIME!!!!

If you have children and are living with a person that has been known to view child pornography, I would suggest that you take your child to be examined or at least speak to a counselor.

Child molesters and child porn viewers are in the same field. The only difference between the two is that one has watched and wishes he could and the other one just moves right in for the kill.

People ask me often, why does a person want to look at child porn? It is because they have the urge to touch a child. It is pretty plain and simple.

Does child porn really damage a person? You better believe it. An entire family is torn apart when there has been a charge of sexual abuse.....including child internet porn.

I feel sorry for the families that have been forced to be caught in the devious behaviour of a child porn viewer. My advice to you? Get some counseling and really and truly re-think your life.

People often write me and tell me that they are in support of a convicted sex offender and that the person has "found God" and has changed. That is great is what I answer back; however, while this offender is on his quest for heaven, the victim is living in sheer hell....more than likely for the rest of his or her life.

I think that it is wonderful that you are being supportive to the offender. Just keep in mind that the reason that he or she is an offender is because there was a victim.

The term pedophile refers to an adult who is sexually attracted to children, whether or not the adult acts upon that attraction by sexually abusing a child.

There is no known treatment or cure for pedophilia, however there are therapies that can reduce the incidence of pedophilic behaviors that result in child sexual abuse. Viewing Child Porn is pedophilic behavior. A person convicted of this should be charged and held accountable for this crime the same as all other sex offenders.

Viewing child pornography is common amongst child predators. Often times a predator is a very likeable person. Keep in mind they are someone that children as well as adults are drawn to by their winning personalities. This is one of their common traits.....a winning personality.

If you know or suspect someone of viewing child porn I urge you to do the right thing - contact law enforcement in your area immediately. If you do not feel comfortable in doing this, please feel free to contact the office of the Watchful Eye Foundation at 402/ 412-3393. Your call will remain confidential.

In order for our children to live as children should live which is safe and innocent from harm it is the responsibility of all of us to protect them from predators.

For further information please visit www.watchfuleyefoundation.org

To sum it all up - those individuals who have been convicted of the crime of viewing, possessing, distributing child porn should be treated in the same manner as a sex offender who commits a crime on a child. In addition these individuals should be made to comply with the same restrictions as other sex offenders, such as where they can live, work and play.

A SEX OFFENDER IS A SEX OFFENDER. THE DEFINITION OF THE CRIME COMMITTED WHETHER IT BE LEVELS 1, 2 OR 3 SHOULD NOT MATTER AS THE CRIME WAS AGAINST A CHILD.

Gang Awareness NOW 101

Gangs...they have existed for a very long time. There are various ethnic gangs whether they be Irish, Italian, Mexican, Asian, etc.
The point is folks, this is nothing new. Just like in the days of Al Capone, people especially younger people thought he was a "cool" guy. When gangs evolve, communities ALWAYS suffer....this needs to be a community effort.
The following is some of the things that will provide you with further knowledge of gangs.

FACT: DID YOU KNOW THAT CHILDREN AS YOUNG AS 8 YEARS OLD ARE GETTING INTO GANGS?

WHAT EXACTLY IS A GANG???
A gang is basically 3 or more people that hang out together on a regular basis.
They do not always have to be involved in criminal activity.
They try to set themselves apart from others with distinct clothing - (colors), or certain haircuts,hand signs etc.

DO GANGS HANG OUT IN CERTAIN AREAS???
A gang may not always claim any special section of town, however the signs that they are definetly in a neighborhood is the various graffiti taggings.
Gangs are normally territory oriented however. Each gang has its own turf and graffiti marks its boundaries. Anyone who does not belong in the area and resembles a rival gang member may become the subject of attack.
If you see graffiti that is crossed out it is because another gang is trying to claim ownership of that section of town. Chances are there will probably be some sort of a gang fight brewing.

WHERE DO THEY GET THEIR NAMES???
The name of the gang in general for the entire group is sometimes linked to a street name or a park or a larger gang in a larger community that the gang wants to model themselves after.
Tag names or individual names for each gang member vary. These names are normally strange, action type names which they will use in replacement of their birth name. These are especially used when they tag up with graffiti - they feel that they are safer to use and the cops will not be able to identify them by this new name. Normally these "nicknames" or "tag" names will match with their personality or their phyical appearance. If someone is more of a quieter type of person maybe they will go by the name of "Silence" for example.

WHO LEADS THESE GANGS???
Gangs do not have Presidents or Secretaries....The leader of each gang is choosen in an unspoken manner. The leader is generally the person that is the most dominating and shows leadership at certain times by taking control of a situation. Usually it is a well liked person who can show force when needed in any given situation.

WHY DO PEOPLE JOIN GANGS???
There are alot of reasons. Some of them include the excitement, peer pressure,attention,protection,financial benefit,family tradition,family abuse - physical or sexual. Mainly they want to feel as if they BELONG to something. What is really sad is that often times the parents just dont realize that their kids are involved in gang activity.

WHAT CAN YOU DO???
First off, do not go out and try to battle or win back your neighborhood on your own. Leave that to the cops. They have specialized officers that deal with this. Gangsters do not hesitate to involve innocent people.
Some of the things that you can do though are -
Join a community service group that tackles cleaning up the graffiti (The Watchful Eye Foundation does this)
Have your kids join an afterschool program to get them involved in the beautification of the community. This way they will claim pride in the area that they live. (The Watchful Eye has an afterschool program)
The other people you could contact would be your local city hall or United Way to ask where you could call to get involved.
The word COMMUNITY means that there is more than one person in that area. It takes a group of people to create a gang, however it takes an entire community to battle them.
Please don't be one of those persons who sits around in their recliner complaining as they watch the news or read the paper how the community is just going to hell because of the gangs. Get up and help with this problem. This is the only thing that will work - if enough people get together to take this on it will help.
I am not a politician so I will not make any promises however I will say that if you help out in your community it will change things at least 90%.

Stay tuned for more info on gangs and what you can do to help with this problem.

MySpace and Your Child

MySpace

If you have kids, more than likely, they have an account on MySpace.com.

ANYONE can create an account on this site - there is NO PROTECTION guaranteed from sexual predators or gang members.

I want to show you just HOW MUCH information your child is putting out there on the world wide web for everyone to see. Not just their friends - EVERYONE.
This is making them targets.

You may be thinking - "no, my kid has an account but he is not hooked into any gangs at all" or " my kid is too smart to put a lot of personal information out there".....

I have had parents sit and tell me just that. When I ask a parent if their child is involved in gangs the answer is normally "no". Then I ask the parent if they know if their child has a MySpace account....the answer is normally - "yes - I have seen it".....

Then I pull up their child's name under the MySpace website - - here is what happens:

• Their child's web page suddenly pops up and the background is filled with gang symbols such as crowns, F13, or Sur13 etc.....all gang "high alert" signs.
• The same page will more than likely have "gangster music"
• Scrolling down the same page it will normally have a "personal survey"
• Then I will glance over their friends comments and find out who they "hang with" (normally it is other gang members)
• On the same page I might find marijuana leaves, beer signs, meth pictures etc....

Get the point? Now just imagine the parent suddenly realizing that they really don't know their own child's life like they thought they did.

On these personal surveys that the kids fill out and post on their pages, it is meant for their friends. They are kids. They don't think about the fact that sexual predators are checking these pages out too. They don't think about the fact that maybe a sexual predator is interested in their little baby sister who they have pictured. Or the fact that their address is super easy to locate.

Just "googling" your phone number can pull up your address with a map of directions how to get to your house. Scary? Yes it is.

Our kids are not stupid. They are however naive in the facts of life when it comes down to thinking "what are the consequences".....

They are kids. That is what they have parents for - to teach them the consequences. Before it's too late.

These kids that create the MySpace pages are really talented. They can design a web page that is incredible. Self taught designers. However, as I said, you must as a parent teach them to be safe.

Many parents are not aware that their child is living a "secret life" online. I have had parents tell me, " my son is not in a gang, he is involved in the church and is a good boy"....Hey Mom and Dad - check out his MySpace page. Since when does marijuana leaves running across a webpage have anything to do with church?

A mom of a young girl told me once, " my daughter is out of control, she will not listen to me at all"....I looked up her daughters MySpace page,saw that her 13 year old daughter was being groomed by a sexual predator. The predator was a gang member over the age of 21 who groomed young girls so that they would join his gang. Her mom's "new" knowledge saved this young girl's life.

If you don't have a clue about running a computer - there are parent training programs through the Watchful Eye Foundation available. These are free programs with a free will donation accepted. Classes will start in January and are limited to 15 people per session.

Give me eight hours and I will provide you with a necessary learning tool that EVERY PARENT will need to ensure their child's safety. If your child is important to you then their safety should be number one on the list.

You might be saying "I am so tired when I get home from work" or "I have so much to do, I don't have time for this" ........IF YOU LOVE YOUR CHILD THEN YOU SHOULD CARE ENOUGH TO TAKE THIS CLASS AND LEARN HOW TO ENSURE THE SAFETY OF YOUR CHILD.

Trust me, their are things going on in your child's life that you are just not aware of. Some of it is really scary.

Don't wait until your child is in court or your child has been sexually abused.

We wont show you how to work Quick books or how to design websites. We WILL show you however how to know what your child is doing on line.

YOU DO NOT NEED TO KNOW HOW TO OPERATE A COMPUTER - all you need to know is how to turn it on.

These classes will be held in English and Spanish. Call 402/412-3393 to sign up.

Give your child the gift of safety. By providing them with your parental knowledge you will keep them safe from all harm.

OPRAHS BIG GIVE & KCAU TV

The Watchful Eye Foundation is a part of Oprah's Big Give!!!!!!!!!!!!

Help us to GROW this money

The "spirit" has come to Siouxland and Channel 9 KCAU-TV is proud to be a part of Oprah's Big Give (airing on Sunday nights at 8pm). Oprah has challenged us to take $10,000 and build upon it to help make dreams come true in Siouxland.

The Watchful Eye Foundation came from the vision of the Founder, Susie Squires, to offer the solution to the magazine that she created - Variety/Variedad. The magazine showed society the problem henceforth it was necessary to implement a plan of defense for the problems that are specifically pointed out in the magazine. Thus, the Watchful Eye Foundation was created.

With keeping the Neighborhood Watch programs and guidelines in mind, the Watchful Eye Foundation will revive certain parts of the Neighborhood Watch as well as install other programs geared toward education and safety. In addition to implementing the Neighborhood Watch program, there will be classes held in schools with trained volunteers pertaining to the Yello Dyno program.

The mission of the Watchful Eye Foundation promotes educational public awareness for the safety and protection of all children.

Another facet of the Watchful Eye Foundation is the DETOUR program. This afterschool program is geared towards getting and keeping kids out of local gangs.

The Watchful Eye Foundation also has initiatied and is maintaining a program called the "REWARDS PROGRAM". Cash rewards are offered to anonymous persons who notify the Watchful Eye Foundation with information which will lead to the arrest and conviction of the person's responsible for any GANG GRAFFITI.

Thanks to Oprah and Channel 9 KCAU-TV, there is help for these kids, but your help is desperately needed, and the need is great.

Channel 9 KCAU-TV has kicked off this event by donating $10,000 and we now we are asking you to donate to help match this amount. Click on the link below and you can donate right now.

To donate go to: http://www.watchfuleyefoundation.com/ and click on "donate"

For more info and to keep up with how much money is raised go to http://www.kcautv.com/

Is YOUR Teen out of control?

Is your teen out of control?

During past articles we have discussed problems that parents may have with their teens. One of the hardest "jobs" in the world is to be a parent - it is also one of the most under-paid yet rewarding ones that there is.

The Watchful Eye Foundation does not claim to have all of the answers - however what we do know we are willing to pass onto you what we do know so that you can raise your child to be successful in being a respectable person that you will be extremely proud of.

Raising a child to be successful and respectable does not necessarily mean raising a Harvard law school graduate. It means basically to have a child who regardless if they flip hamburgers at the local McDonald's or wash dishes at the Taquiera that child is honest and respectful as well as kind.

Alot of times something major will occur in a child's life such as running away or getting into trouble with the law and 98% of the time the parents will say - " I don't know what happened"....

This "trouble" Mom and Dad did not suddenly just "happen". Odds are that it has been like a car gaining in speed as it travels down a hill. You might not barely notice it until one day "Bam!" your teens life is full speed ahead and headed for the danger zone.

The key is to become your child's hero and jump in the drivers seat and hit the brakes. It wont be easy going back up that hill, but it can be done. If you really try and want to.

Lets start with a few questions that you can answer privately and honestly....

Is your child an angry child?
Does your child "cop an attitude" when he or she doesnt get their way?
Does your child seem secretive?
How's school? Is your child in trouble at school often?
Is your child skipping school or getting there late alot?
Grades at school - have they gone down to the point where they are failing?

Has your teen had issues with running away?

Do you know if your child is sexually active?

Saying I hate you and/or cussing and other abusive language to you or other family members?

Is your child frequently out late, without your permission?

Does your child have friends who are also making poor decisions?
Does your child associate with troublemakers or have secretive peers?
Has your child started to hang around with older teens or adults?
Is your child frequenting internet chat rooms?

Does your child have new friends and do you know who they are?
Is your child defiant?
Has your child been involved in fights and disturbances in the community or at school?

What kind of music is your child listening to? The words in the music - do they talk about sex, killing and other acts of violence?

Does your child deliberately self-injure, or cut markings into his or her skin?
Has your child withdrawn from family activities and family involvement?
Have there been abrupt changes in your child's personality and behavior?
Have your child's eating habits changed?

Does your child break curfew rules or laws?
Do you suspect your child of using drugs or alcohol?
Has your child stolen money from you?

Does your child have unexplained cash, new clothes, or material items?
Has your child destroyed property in your home?
Has there been a change in your child's clothing style?
Has your child been violent at home?

Does your child listen to music with violent, sadistic, degrading, or gangster-influenced lyrics?
Have you ever needed to call the police for help with your child?
How is your child's behavior affecting your work?
How is your child's behavior affecting your marriage, home and family?
ARE YOU SATISFIED WITH THE WAY THINGS ARE?

Take a few minutes to answer these questions - answer them honestly. This isnt a test. This is your child's life. Your ultimate responsibility. People say to me all the time that they just don't understand why their teen talks to them the way they do - saying things such as "shut up or your'e stupid" .....

It's because you let them. Put your foot down and say what you mean and MEAN what you say.

In other words stick to what you say. If your teen thinks that you will simply change your mind in a few hours or so - they will learn that you and your rules are basically pretty flexible.

One day - believe it or not, your teen will appreciate what you have taught them.

I know that often it is necessary for teens and parents both to go to counseling. In the South Sioux City, Nebraska school system for instance there is funding for counseling for those that cannot afford it.

If you are in that school district go to the office or the school counselors and ask for the Cardinal Connections assistance to pay for your childs professional counseling sessions.

This is an excellent opportunity for parents - especially those that cannot afford counseling. Also you can check out Catholic Charities or other non profits that may help with counseling fees. Please do NOT be embarrassed about asking for help. When it comes to your child pride should never get in the way of their mental or physical health.

The other program that this particular school system offers is called Love and Logic. I have heard very good reports on these classes. Check at your own school and ask what if any assistance they can help with.

If you would like to hear about other issues with teens please feel free to email me. watchfuleyefoundation1@yahoo.com.

Take care and stay safe!

Prevent your teen from running away

No Parent wants their child to end up in the streets as a runaway. It happens though - over 100,000 children run away every year often over family problems.

It seems more and more common that teenagers are running away more and more. Parents of all walks of life are asking what it is that they can do.....The answers are never easy. Teens are not the easiest people in the world to deal with - however, there are a few things that a parent can do to possibly eliminate this somewhat if not totally.

Lets start first with criticizing; as a person yourself, you don't want to go to work every day and have your boss or coworker criticize you do you? That would make it virtually impossible to go to work or even want to go to work and try and have a productive day.

So with that in mind why would you want to critcize your teen and force them to have a miserable day?

I am not talking about constructive criticism - I am talking about criticizing every little thing that they do wrong. Everyone of us makes mistakes - your child is going to make mistakes as well.

The key is how you handle the mistake.

Be honest with your teen. Just like you know when they are lying to you - they are keen enough to know when you are lying to them. Admit your mistakes so that your child will be able to see that you as the parent are taking responsibility of your mistakes. What a great lesson to teach your child.

For instance - remember when you were young and you got into trouble? Remember the feeling of not wanting your parents to find out because you were scared? Admit these feelings to your teen. Tell them about a few of the mistakes you yourself made in the past. It will amaze you how your teen will look at you in a totally different light.

Moving along - if you ground your teen to their room or take away phone priviledges etc., dont tell them one day that they are grounded and then feel bad the next day and let them off. If you gave them a week of grounding let them have a week grounding. Losing permission to go out with thier friends or talk on the phone is not going to be the end of their social life for ever - they might think so but it wont be. Stick to your rules on this.

Someday your child will have children and they will use this type of training on their children.

Now one of the biggest mistakes is when parents ignore their teens feelings. Teenagers are moody. They are no different than you when you were a teen. For instance - remember when you were trying to impress a certain guy or girl in school? Or you wanted the other kids to like you so that you could be one of the so called popular kids in school....

Your teen is no different. It may seem a little weird because you forget that they are not the same little kid who you used to have to help them pick out their clothing or remind them to look both ways when they cross the street - it may seem as if while you looked away they suddenly grew up.

As parents we often get so caught up in the adult world. The world that forces us to go to work everyday, pay bills and lose that fun child-like freedom. Live life through your child eyes.

If your child does runaway here are your options:

1. contact law enforcement immediately - you do NOT have to wait 24 hours.
2. contact the Watchful Eye Foundation

At the Watchful Eye Foundation we will assist in the following:

create flyers to post; provide you with flyers that you can use to pass out to your childs friends, hang in stores etc. We want YOU to find your child. We will also assist you with calling in your missing/runaway child to the National Center of Missing and Exploited Children. Once your information is turned into them your child's information is sent out all over the United States to persons such as law enforcement, and others.

The Watchful Eye has volunteers as well that go out and hang flyers, knock on doors, etc. In addition to that we use the same flyer and post it in an email "blast" throughout the Siouxland area to an established list of persons and businesses in the tri state area of our location.

The Watchful Eye will also let law enforcement know that the parents have come to them for additional assistance and work closely with police on any tips that might come into the Watchful Eye office.

We also will contact news media and/or refer the parents to the media. An example of this is once when we had a missing/runaway boy, the pressure that was put on the public by both the Mundo Latino newspaper and the Watchful Eye Foundation was enough to cause people to make numerous calls tipping off as to where the boy was. That is a perfect example of the collaberation of team work among the media that is required to bring many of these children back home.

If you have a child that has runaway, please contact our office. Regardless if your child is a runaway or not, he or she is still YOUR child and they are missing. We will do everything in our power to help YOU find them.

Our office number is: 402/412-3393 or you may email us at: watchfuleyefoundation1@yahoo.com

Gangs and Bullies

It should be - especially here in this country one of the safest things that our children can do....go to school everyday. It is too bad that it is one of those places that actually holds fear for some kids.

This is not in anyway blaming the school, they have the liason officers, security cameras, teachers on alert, etc.....but still something is wrong and a change needs to happen.

Did you know that when your son or daughter goes to school the pressure is on for them to get involved into a gang?

Did you know that the summer before they enter the Middle school that even though your child is able to show you their regular, normal, everyday face, - inside they are scared to death about what is going to happen in the Middle school....

Did you know that when your teen is in school, to learn things such as math and reading, that anywhere he goes in school, the bullies and gangs are there - pressuring him as to what he claims?

Did you know that your child thinks it is "safer to pretend to claim a gang than not claiming anything? This keeps him or her from being beat up or jumped by the gangs.

Do you know how scary it must be for your kid every day to go to school like this?

For the kids this is only part of their reality.......

It is NOT supposed to be this way.

Here is a small version of how one 6th graders day at school goes....

He gets up and dresses for school, carefully checking his clothing colors to make sure that he is not matching up any gang colors which he has known about since the 3rd or 4th grade.

While eating breakfast he reminds himself not to eat or drink too much so that he dont have to go into the bathroom more than once at school - alot of things happen in the bathrooms.

When he gets to his locker he makes sure to get whatever it is that he will need for the entire day out of the locker. It is much easier to carry the load of books than to risk the chance of going back to the locker and having a confrontation.

Lunchtime - he smiles to himself because he has made it through half of the day. A gangster kid is staring him down in the lunchroom (mad-doggin) and he decides to ease over to some other kids that he knows are in one of the bigger, tougher gangs.

He knows that if something goes down these kids from this bigger gang will help him out - they tell him all the time that if he ever needs something they "got his back".....most of these kids he has known his whole life. He knows that they will "protect" him if he needs it.

That is often how it starts. I know, you are thinking that how could your child even consider being involved with a gang. Maybe you are thinking that what others are calling a "gang" isnt as bad as they think.

Don't think that way please.....this is your wake up call Mom and Dad.

You are probably asking yourself what you can do. The majority of parents cringe at the very thought of someone hurting their child. That is normal. That is your job to protect your child. Here are a few things that you can do.

1. When your teen wants to go somewhere whether it be with a friend or the mall, question them. Ask them - how are you getting there, who all is going, what are you going to be doing, what time do you plan on coming home. Trust me, it is much better to ask these questions BEFORE anything crazy happens so that YOU know what is going on.



2. Ask your teen how their day was at school. If you ask your teen something like " how was school" they will probably respond back " fine" ---they are not going to fill your ears with everything just because you asked. You need to be a little tricky to get them to talk to you. Instead try this:
   
   PARENT: "how was school today"

TEEN: " fine"

PARENT: "anything exciting happen today"

TEEN: "no, same old thing"

PARENT: "really? I remember when I went to school, there was always something different going on either at school or one of my friends doing something - in fact I had this one friend who was always getting into trouble"

TEEN: "really? like how?"

Then this would be your opening to either talk about an old memory of yours from school or make one up. This is your chance to get your teen to open up. Whatever you do - dont let this chance pass by.

Another thing that you can do is to get involved with your teen a little more. Believe it or not - they still need you. If needed become that Mom or Dad that is always the one to give rides or have the other kids over to the house. This allows you the opportunity to witness first hand who their friends are as well.

Just remember, your teen has feelings too. Dont ridicule them or treat them as if their feelings dont count. If they ask if they can have friends over, let them. Tell your teen that the house rules apply to their friends as well. If you treat your child the way that you would want to be treated then they will respect you for that.

And last but not least - remember - you are not their friend. You are the parent and you are the one that sets the rules. Just remember that your child is under an enormous amount of pressure everyday at school. They are trying to survive the bullies and they are trying to keep thier grades up.

Talking to your teen is one of the best pieces of advice. The other would be to listen not only with your ears but with your heart.

Until next time,
Take care and stay safe

Hershey Company states they will cease making Pacs candy

The first words out of my mouth when I read that the Hershey Company has decided to HALT the making of their new candy PAC'S in the look a like drug packaging were ----WOW!!!!

They - this multi billion dollar company actually listened to the consumers. That is incredible!!!

It's in newspapers all over the country but you can also read it here at this link:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22827806/from/ET/

The one thing that I DO NOT agree with is that they have left what they had on the shelves in the stores that they distributed to. They say it is a limited number - what does that mean exactly - a limited number? I mean basically to a company with the magnitude of Hershey is a limited number a thousand or is it a few million?

It has taken all of us that care enough to call, send in the petitions, write letters, stop buying Hershey products, etc.....to get this changed.

I would think that regardless of the freedom that we have in our country that the food and drug administration wake up a little earlier than the marketing groups that come up with ideas such as this.

Hershey Company is acting the same as a spoiled child. By leaving what product they have on the shelf, so that they do not lose any money, they are trying to act as if they are doing all of us - the consumers a favor.

They think that since they have agreed to STOP making the product, that this should be OK with us -----

Helloooooo?????

It seems as if it is extremely hard for Hershey's to openly admit 100% that yes, they definitely made a poor decision - not just for their company but for the public - who I might add are their customers.

What would I say if I could attend a one on one meeting with the board of directors of Hershey's? In layman's terms it would be relatively simple - it would go something like this....

OK, first lets start off with my gratitude that you have actually seen that this is certainly not one of the brightest moments in marketing that you have had. Thank you so much for making the decision that you will not create this drug look a like "candy" - that is not what we were asking - we were simply asking you to change the packaging of it. Yet instead you yourselves made the decision to insert this latest marketing strategy into the grinder. Good for you.

What I would really like to see is that you go a step further and REMOVE the product from the store shelves. Give it to your employees in the break rooms. Throw it away and write it off on your taxes as a loss. Just get it off the shelves.

Here in our area there have been numerous people going into the stores that have this and requesting it be pulled from the shelves.

People buy your candy. Schools use your services as well to sell candy for you.

Go one step further guys - pull this completely from the shelves.

I am not a bored person with so much time on my hands that I cannot find other things to do. That has been insinuated by some people through their comments on ABC News blog sites. Speaking for myself, I am in fact an extremely busy person. It is when instances such as this come up that issues such as this take top priority.

I personally like everyone else grew up loving Hershey candy products. I plan on my grandchildren loving them as well - as long as there are no further blunders such as this one.

I appreciate your trying to come up with new and insightful ways of marketing however, Hershey is supposed to be something that stays in your mind like a good memory of days gone by. Things like making sure that when you went to the movies there was always going to be a little extra money so that you could buy a box of Milk Duds. Or when your Mom made chocolate chip cookies she always used Hershey Chocolate Chips. Those are the kind of memories that you want your company to have. Not something like when you made a candy look like a deadly drug.

So while I appreciate the decision that you have made to stop making the candy in this form, I would as well as many many others appreciate that decision more if you would also pull the candy that you have made off of the shelves.

Please....it's just that simple.

I continue to urge all of you to keep calling or writing to Hershey's and thank them for stopping the manufacturing of this candy but to now pull this from the shelves and be done with it.

Take care and stay safe

Susie

Contact Hershey's by phone: 1-800-468-1714 Monday – Friday 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET