By AP, U.S.A., published in the Toronto Sun and various other newspapers, March 14, 2004
SALT LAKE CITY, U.S.A. -- The woman charged with killing one of her twins by refusing a Caesarean section
was convicted of child endangerment in Pittsburgh nearly four years ago, a newspaper reported yesterday. The
2000 conviction of Melissa Rowland, 28, stemmed from a supermarket incident in which she punched her
daughter several times in the face after the toddler began eating a chocolate bar, the Pittsburgh
Tribune-Review reported. Witnesses said she screamed, "You ate the candy bar and now I can't buy my
cigarettes."
Rowland was sentenced to five years probation for simple assault, reckless endangerment and endangering the
welfare of a child. Her daughter was turned over to a child-welfare agency.
Prosecutors in Salt Lake City charged Rowland Thursday with criminal homicide and child endangerment for
refusing doctors' advice to get a C-section. Charging documents allege that Rowland was warned numerous
times that her twins would likely die if she did not get immediate medical treatment.
A boy was stillborn Jan. 13. A girl has since been adopted.
Rowland has denied prosecutors' claims that she avoided the surgery because of fears of scarring.
Lesbians who split up sue sperm donor for child financial
support
Two lesbians sue sperm donor for child financial support when the lesbians
split up.
A key court decision to grant a father custody of his daughters after the
mother flouted contact orders for four years was today welcomed by
campaigners.
Fathers 4 Justice said that the High Court ruling was a vital victory and
called for more judges to take a similar stance when faced with resistant
parents.
The comments come after Mrs Justice Bracewell transferred the residence of
two young girls to their father because the mother persistently refused him
contact, despite court orders. Read More ..
Wayne Warburton, a research fellow at Macquarie University's Children and Families Research Centre, said: "Mothers have a really powerful effect on the way their kids view the world and themselves, probably because kids spend Read More ..me with their mothers, especially in the crucial early years."
Dr Warburton asked 441 university students to fill out detailed questionnaires on the parenting styles of their mothers and fathers, and on their own patterns of thinking.
He asked them to recall 72 parenting behaviours, including "making a child feel ashamed", being unloving or rejecting, and frequently telling the child they were stupid or would fail. He also asked questions designed to uncover destructive thinking patterns in the students, such as being "clingy" out of a fear of being abandoned.
He found young adults were two-thirds as likely to develop unhelpful patterns of thinking if the toxic parenting they had experienced came from their father rather than their mother.
Read More ..
This overview paper summarizes recent research on girls who exhibit aggressive
and violent behaviours. It defines relevant terms, outlines factors which may
contribute to girls' aggression and violence, and presents ideas for preventing
these behaviours. A list of resources is also included. 2002, 13p.
A Not Very Funny Valentine
"The Vagina Monologues" are coming to a theater near you … again.
Eve Ensler's politically correct-feminist play is being dusted off on campuses
and in communities around North America for production, often at taxpayer expense.
By Wendy McElroy
January 27, 2004
Since 1998, the play has been part of a drive to convert Feb. 14 from chocolates
and Valentines to Vaginas and Violence.
OTTAWA - The number of Canadians behind bars rose in 2005-06 for the first
time in a decade, as Read More ..ults were jailed while awaiting trial or sentencing.
However, the average number of young people aged 12 to 17 in custody on any
given day continued a decline that began with adoption of the Youth Criminal
Justice Act in 2003.
