Ontario youth call for end to violence
Canadian Press, Toronto Star and various other newspapers, Nov. 15, 2004
Dozens of young people from across Ontario are calling for an end to youth violence with a study released today that finds abuse to be widespread and on the rise.
The report, organized by Ontario's Office of Child and Family Service Advocacy and the group Voices for Children, was based on the stories of 80 young people who spoke about their experiences with school bullying, domestic assault, street violence and attacks within institutions.
Its 21-year-old author, Stephanie Ma, said society treats youth as second-class citizens and denies them opportunities to contribute to their communities.
"Read More ..ten than not, authorities and adults feel the need to talk at us, rather than with us," said Ma, who was placed into the care of Toronto's Children's Aid Society at age 12.
"It feels hopeless because no matter where we are, whether it is in school or when we are looking for housing, we are negatively typecast."
Ma said young people have few places to turn when they are physically and emotionally attacked in schools, foster homes, group homes and detention centres.
The report made seven recommendations, including a call for tighter screening on those who work with youth, the involvement of young people in all levels of decision-making and lowering the voting age to 16.
Judy Finlay, chief advocate of the Office of Child and Family Service Advocacy, said society must do Read More .. than just examine the root causes of violence, but acknowledge it is widespread, talk openly about it and engage kids in the remedies.
She said violence against youth deserves to have the same wide acknowledgement of issues once below the radar such as drunk driving, sexual abuse and domestic assault.
"We as a province need to acknowledge the level and the depth of violence," said Finlay.
"As adults, we have to begin believing young people and taking their voice at face value and engaging them and doing something fairly dramatic about it."
Finlay said she would like to see government, institutions and schools include young people on committees and boards when they discuss issues concerning violence.
The paper is the result of round-table discussions that brought together 80 young people, aged 13 to 24, from regions across Ontario including Kenora, London, Manitoulin Island, Ottawa, Thunder Bay and Toronto.
Psychiatric disorder may have led boy to fatally shoot father
Rick James Lohstroh, a doctor at UTMB, was fatally shot this summer, apparently by his 10-year-old son.
ABC13 Eyewitness News, Houston, Texas, U.S.A.
Dec. 29, 2004
The 10-year-old Katy boy accused of murdering his father this summer is now the face of an unofficial psychiatric disorder that may have lead to his father's death.
Some psychiatrists call it Parental Alienation Syndrome and they say that's why the son killed Doctor Rick Lohstroh last summer. The syndrome is basically caused by a bitter parent who poisons a child against the other parent, usually in cases of divorce.
American Psychological Association
Dating Violence Statistics in the United States
Nearly one in 10 girls and one in 20 boys say they have been raped or experienced some other form of abusive violence on a date, according to a study released Sunday at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association.
Teen depression on the increase
More and More teens are becoming depressed. The numbers of young people suffering from depression in the last 10 years has risen worryingly, an expert says.
BBC, UK, August 3, 2004
Government statistics suggest one in eight adolescents now has depression.
Unless doctors recognise the problem, Read More ..uld slip through the net, says Professor Tim Kendall of the National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health.
Guidelines on treating childhood depression will be published next year. Professor Kendall says a lot Read More ..eds to be done to treat the illness.
Woman convicted of killing 3 kids after custody battle
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, USA, August 26, 2008
HELSINKI, Finland - A court in Finland has convicted a woman of murdering her three young children and has given her a life sentence.
The Espoo District Court says Thai-born Yu-Hsiu Fu was found guilty of strangling her 8-year-old twin daughters and 1-year-old son in her home.
She tried to kill herself afterward.
The verdict on Tuesday says the 41-year-old woman was found to be of sound mind at the time of the murders.
Court papers show the murders were preceded by a bitter custody battle with her Finnish husband who was living separately from her at the time of the murders.
A life sentence in Finland mean convicts usually serve at least 11 years in prison.
New Brunswick woman ruled responsible in burning of baby's body
ST. STEPHEN, N.B. - A New Brunswick judge says a woman who burned and dismembered her newborn son is criminally responsible for her actions.
Becky Sue Morrow earlier pleaded guilty to offering an indignity to a dead body and disposing of a newborn with the intent of concealing a delivery.
Judge David Walker ruled Friday that the 27-year-old woman may have been suffering from a mental disorder when she delivered the baby but that that was not the case when the baby's body was burned and its remains hidden.
It is not known if the baby was alive at the time of birth.
At a hearing last month, the court heard contrasting reports from the two psychiatrists. One said Ms. Morrow was in a "disassociated" mental state when the crime occurred. The other said she clearly planned her actions and understood the consequences.