Kitchener woman allegedly abandoned infant in stroller outside
"A passerby, who attempted to stop the female, was threatened," police said.
National Post, by Chris Doucette, Dec 29, 2021
A woman is accused of dumping a baby girl in the cold outside of a Kitchener home two days after Christmas.
Waterloo Regional Police say officers responded to multiple calls regarding a woman abandoning an infant in a stroller at the side of the road by a residence in the area of Dixon and Eckert Sts. shortly after 11 a.m. Monday.
“The female then attempted to flee the area,” police said in a news release.
The temperature would have been about 1C at the time.
“Through the investigation, police also learned that a passerby, who attempted to stop the female, was threatened,” police said. “Several other individuals assisted police in locating the female.”
A 32-year-old Kitchener woman was arrested and charged with child abandonment, uttering death threats and breach of a probation order.
She is scheduled to appear in court on Feb. 7, 2022.
Shame system hinders men from seeking proper mental health aid
Calgary Journal - By Charlotte Holmes, July 19, 2021
It was a simple questionnaire Chad Guenter filled in while seeing his doctor that finally led to his diagnosis of depression.
Guenter, a firefighter with the city of Canmore, had been struggling for years with personal battles, after his brother was diagnosed with bi-polar disorder as a teenager and other family issues.
He didn’t know why he was feeling the way he was, so he just didn’t address them, until they overtook him.
After being diagnosed with depression, Guenter started taking medication and found healing by connecting with nature.
Homewood Health estimates each year one million men in Canada will suffer from major depression. Statistics Canada has found the suicide rates of men are roughly three times higher than women, in their respective age group.
The issue is such a concern that the Centre for Suicide Prevention has come out saying “men are in crisis.”
Guenter says through his work he has started to know too many people who were taking their lives or attempting to.
Dan McKinnon, a registered psychologist who helped found and bring the Canadian Centre for Men and Families (CCMF) to Alberta says one possibility behind the higher suicide rates among men is their reluctance to seek help.
“Men are brought up often to be agents in their life. To act and adapt and go from there.”
The aim of the centre, which provides research and services and advocacy for men’s issues, is to help individuals with varying needs, from those needing camaraderie to those in full financial strain who have no housing.
McKinnon says stereotypes such as ‘men should be strong,’ or ‘a man shouldn’t cry’ are part of what he calls the “shame system.”
“Those cultural stereotypes of masculinity and North American culture lead to men showing up in a certain way and that way leads to more stress and the stress that men encounter in their lives also feeds into certain mental health conditions for some.”
Guenter saw this with his own father and grandfather, who were more conditioned to show less emotion — something that rubbed off on his own generation.
“As a man, you might appear vulnerable or weak or looked at as someone who might not be able to handle life if they show emotion or break down or just be vulnerable in general about their mental health — or they might be looked at as ‘not a man,’” he said.
Child abuse, youth suicide rates rose significantly during pandemic: report
The National Post, Denette Wilford, September 1, 2021
The rates of child abuse and youth suicide attempts soared over the course of the last 17 months, according to a new report published Wednesday.
The health of kids across Canada has declined as they endure – and continue to endure – deteriorating mental health, food insecurity, child abuse, system racism, bullying, discrimination, and poverty, says Children First Canada. School closures and lockdowns played a huge role, as kids spent less time outdoors. Specifically, children in Ontario have experienced the greatest decline in outdoor play and time spent outside. The non-profit declared that children are in crisis, especially as more than six million children across Canada remain unvaccinated as they return to school this month, with no plans in place to protect them.
“Children made enormous sacrifices throughout the pandemic to protect their elders and keep our country safe, but as a society we have failed them,” said Sara Austin, founder and CEO of Children First Canada, in a news release. “Their rights to an education, survival and development have been largely ignored, and the cost of social and political inaction is too high.”
Suicide remains a leading cause of death for young people between the ages of 10 and 19, according to Statistic Canada. In fact, several children’s hospitals saw significant spikes in admissions for suicide attempts during the pandemic.
Headline in print newspaper
Disgusting Act
Headline in website edition
London, Ont. mom gave nude images of daughters, their friends to secret boyfriend
TORONTO SUN, By Jane Sim, July 16, 2021
52-year-old was sentenced to four years in prison for voyeurism and five other child pornography counts
London, ON - Clandestine photos and videos of her daughters and friends, taken while they changed clothes in a bathroom, were made to satisfy the sexual urges of her secret boyfriend.
She kept up the steady diet of images and text messages for almost a decade, while keeping up appearances as a wife, a mother, a Sunday school teacher and a school volunteer.
"I can't say how sorry I am. I don't expect forgiveness but I hope in time they will,' the 52-year-old London woman said tearfully to Ontario Court Justice Allan Maclure before he sentenced her to four years in prison for voyeurism and five other child pornography counts.
"I have prayed for and will continue to pray for healing for all of the victims, because, with God, all things are possible and he can heal them. I'm so sorry,' she said.
That was a bit rich for the judge. Before agreeing to a joint sentencing submission, Maclure took the woman to the judicial woodshed, calling what she did "depraved,' "exploitive,' "offensive,' "perverted' and "utterly disgusting.'
And what she said about a higher power healing everyone came off "as both offensive and trite.'
"For you to so easily say God will heal them is to trivialize what's occurred to these children and their families and perhaps to trivialize your own responsibility, " Maclure said.
The judge's sharp comments came after hearing what the woman did with her daughters and playmates during a 10-year extramarital affair, plus the emotional victim impact statements from parents who once called her a friend.
A court-ordered publication ban is in place to protect the identities of the victims.
Assistant Crown attorney Andrea Mason told Maclure the London police found images of two sisters, one of whom was seven years old, and some of two other sisters from another family, on the man's electronic devices.
Police traced images to the sisters' mother, arrested her and searched her home. She admitted to the affair and to taking nude photos of her daughters and their friends to send to her boyfriend. The photos police found were taken between 2014 and 2020 showing her daughters in the bathtub, and all the girls dressing or undressing.
Mom gave nude images of daughters, their friends to secret boyfriend
Clandestine photos and videos of her daughters and friends, taken while they changed clothes in a bathroom, were made to satisfy the sexual urges of her secret boyfriend.
Proceeds from her book to fund school programs
The London Free Press, by Jane Sims, July 15, 2021
EDITOR’S NOTE: This story contains details that may disturb readers.
Clandestine photos and videos of her daughters and friends, taken while they changed clothes in a bathroom, were made to satisfy the sexual urges of her secret boyfriend.
She kept up the steady diet of images and text messages for almost a decade, while keeping up appearances as a wife, a mother, a Sunday school teacher and a school volunteer.
“I can’t say how sorry I am. I don’t expect forgiveness but I hope in time they will," the 52-year-old London woman said tearfully to Ontario Court Justice Allan Maclure before he sentenced her to four years in prison for voyeurism and five other child pornography counts.
“I have prayed for and will continue to pray for healing for all of the victims, because, with God, all things are possible and he can heal them. I’m so sorry," she said.
That was a bit rich for the judge. Before agreeing to a joint sentencing submission, Maclure took the woman to the judicial woodshed, calling what she did “depraved," “exploitive," “offensive," “perverted" and “utterly disgusting."
And what she said about a higher power healing everyone came off “as both offensive and trite."
“For you to so easily say God will heal them is to trivialize what’s occurred to these children and their families and perhaps to trivialize your own responsibility," Maclure said.
The judge’s sharp comments came after hearing what the woman did with her daughters and playmates during a 10-year extramarital affair, plus the emotional victim impact statements from parents who once called her a friend.
Most Mass Shooters ‘Dad-Deprived Males’: Author Warren Farrell
The Epoch Times, April 22, 2021, BY ZACHARY STIEBER AND JAN JEKIELEK
Key commonalities for most mass shooters in the United States are that they are male and that they lack a father figure in their lives, author Warren Farrell says.
“There’s common denominators among mass shooters, the most obvious is that they’re male—98 percent are male. A second common denominator is that they’re almost all dad-deprived males,” Farrell told The Epoch Times’ “American Thought Leaders.”
People who carry out mass shootings at schools in particular tend to be boys who are suicidal, depressed, and dad-deprived.
In one example, a recent school shooter in Indianapolis did not have a father because in his early teens, his dad committed suicide. In another case, Stephen Paddock, who killed 58 in a mass shooting in Las Vegas, experienced his father imprisoned and went lengthy periods of time without seeing him. Adam Lanza, who authorities say opened fire in Newtown, Connecticut in 2012, also did not often see his father, who was divorced from his mother.
“What we think of when we think of mass shootings is the people who are hurt. We don’t realize that all of these people are hurt by boys who are hurt, who are deprived of their dads, who are feeling neglected and depressed,” said Farrell, the chair of the Coalition to Create a White House Council on Boys and Men.
Former Western Connecticut State University student Adam Lanza Former Western Connecticut State University student Adam Lanza, who authorities said opened fire inside the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., in 2012. (Western Connecticut State University, File/AP Photo) In his research for his most recent book, “The Boy Crisis,” Farrell identified signs of boys being hurt, developing a list of 63 signs. He hopes the list, which he described as a “male depression-suicide inventory,” is used to question young people. “Because if you have these experiences, these are red flags that the guidance counselors and psychologists in school should be paying attention to,” he said. “So for example, one of the questions that is on the inventory is, ‘do you feel that no one loves you? And no one needs you. And there’s no hope of that changing.’ So a boy who doesn’t feel loved? And who doesn’t feel needed? And feel that there’s no hope of that changing? That’s a huge red flag,” he said.
White House Gender Policy Council - 2021
A Gender Policy Council That's Sexist ... and Racist?
Opinion - Warren Farrell, Best Seller Author, Feb 15, 2021
Every new president vows to heal the very divide his party and opponents have spent the last year and billions of dollars magnifying. Invariably, the plea translates into "unify by agreeing with me."
One of President Joe Biden's first policies appeared to bridge the gender divide by creating a White House Gender Policy Council. As someone who served on the Board of the National Organization for Women in New York City, I have seen enormous progress in women's issues, and a need for more.
Simultaneously, for a half century, millions of parents of boys and I have witnessed an ever-growing boy crisis. We see it hurting not only boys, but the fathers they may become, and our daughters who seek future young men worthy of their love.
By creating a council for "gender policy" rather than a council for "women," Biden seemed to be heeding the warning embodied in Betty Friedan's The Second Stage: The liberation of women will plateau if attention to men's issues does not follow.
The Gender Policy Council's mission is to help only women and girls. Boys are left out. Fathers are left out. Men are left out. Even transgender people and gays are left out-if they are male.
Politically, this is understandable: Men dominate corporate and political power structures. That's a valid half of the gender picture. Here is the missing half: The U.S. currently has seven federal offices of women's health, and none on men's health.
The neglect of men's health has contributed to the decreasing life expectancy of males for the past three years. Boys and men die sooner of nine out of the 10 leading causes of death. Obesity is a bigger problem among boys. Boys are twice as likely to die from opioid overdose, and to be street homeless or living in their parents' basement. They are more likely to be addicted to video games, pornography and alcohol. More alarming, boys commit suicide at four times the rate of girls.
