Danny's Law

     There are tragedies we have suffered as human beings. So that on the anniversaries of these events we try to spread the words "we will not forget". Those sentiments should not just be reserved for the big catastrophic happenings but should include a single death of an average person, even worse a death by suicide.

Why should one death matter?

    It matters when like a disease it causes hundreds or thousands of needless deaths due to a societal problem that is repeated every day at schools across our country and probably across the world. It matters because we as parents ourselves have empathy for those who have lost their child, the brothers, sisters, family members, neighbors, and friends.

Danny's Story

   Danny Fitzpatrick was a normal 13 yr.old boy who loved sports, had a mother, father, and 3 sisters who loved him. He had dogs, went to school, and did all the things 13 yr.olds boys should experience except for one thing. He was bullied. He felt belittled, humiliated, and hated. He asked for help from teachers and principle Rosemarie McGoldrick at Holy Angels Catholic Academy. Danny wrote a letter detailing his feelings and the events that led up to his finally hanging himself in the attic of his families home. He was found by one of his sisters.

 Victim Blaming, is that the School Policy?

     In his letter, Danny said that only one of the teachers took any action but whatever she did it didn't last. The school did later talk to the parents of the kids who bullied him and suspended them, but we all know to kids like that it was a vacation, a reward.
     The other action the school took was to question Danny about his home life.They wanted to know if the parents drank if they had food and clothes in the house. When they didn't get the answers they liked they called the ACS Administration of Children's Services to investigate the family. Because of course Danny's problems couldn't have been caused by the bullying it had to be problems in the home. 
     The parents underwent drug testing which turned up nothing and the principal said the bullying was just a phase and would pass but it would be Danny who passed. He passed on the rest of his life, his future because he felt hopeless and couldn't live with the hurt anymore.

Bullying Legislation

     Forty-nine states have passed bullying legislation and it varies with each state. Danny lived in New York his family and state Rep. Daniel Donovan, Jr are trying to pass "Danny's Law". In New York, the existing legislation only applies to public schools. The family is hoping to change it to include private and religious schools too and to include consequences such as the parents of bullies being liable to pay for hospital and/or funeral expenses and the bullies to be held accountable.




The First Lady's Initiative

     Melania Trump's Initiative is anti-bullying and cyberbullying which is a good and worthy cause. The problem is that it's hard for her to be taken seriously when she rarely speaks and has a husband who bullies on a regular basis. Some may say that he is just defending himself but when he name calls, makes a cartoon with a CNN reporter getting run over by a train, makes a gif with Clinton being hit in the head by a golf ball, and advocates violence at some of his rallies against protesters, that is more offense than defense. It's hard to tell others to stop bullying when it's happening in your own home and family. Why do we bring up Trump? It's because of "Danny's Law".

Danny's Law

     I am not a journalist nor am I a lawyer and trying to untangle bureaucracy is not my forte. However, in researching Danny's Law, I found that this bill is in the first stage of the legislative process. It was introduced into Congress on Oct. 24, 2017. It will typically be considered by committee next which is the committee of Education and the Workforce before it is possibly sent on to the House or Senate as a whole to be eventually signed into law by the President. Unless I am mistaken what will be passed is an Anti-Bullying Roundtable who will research bullying and then give a final report to the President. Sources are predicting this bill has a less than 20% chance of passing.

How You Can Help

     Like and follow this Facebook page. Danny's mom Maureen has founded an anti-bullying non-profit 501(c)3 foundation. To donate go to Danny's Angel Network Nurturing Youth, Inc.

      TheNational Suicide Prevention Hotline is 1-800-273-8255
Sources for this article were Congress.gov , New York Post , NCSL , Daily News New York.
#endthesilence #Dannyslaw #bullying

The Best and Worst in Sugar

     Sugar is made of three things, Glucose, Galactose, and Fructose. Animals need those three things but humans don't. Foods contain any combination of those three elements.

     Sucrose is made from a combination of glucose and fructose. You find that in table sugar, beet sugar, and cane sugar.

     Lactose often called milk sugar is made of glucose and galactose. Dairy products contain this type.

     Glucose is the molecule that provides energy for life. All cells burn glucose to create energy. Our bodies need it so badly that if we don't consume enough our bodies are able to make it.

     Fructose provides sweetness and things like agave, maple syrup, honey, and high fructose corn syrup are caloric sweeteners. They are made from glucose and fructose. Fructose is the part that we crave for the sweet taste. The bad news is that fructose is addictive, and the important thing to consider is that our bodies don't need it at all.

     The effects of eating or drinking too much fructose are that it causes cell damage and death. The liver reacts to fructose exactly like it would if you drank alcohol.

     The addiction to sugars like this is very real but like with any other bad habit it can be kicked.

 

   

Progressive Muscle Relaxation for Stress and Anxiety

     This is a slight variation of the progressive muscle relaxation technique which was invented by Dr. Edmund Jacobson in 1930.

     A doctor I was seeing taught me this exercise for my anxiety, and it worked! Simply put, you contract groups of muscles and when you relax them you say the word relax. One day I was sitting in a gridlock of traffic, late for work, and feeling very stressed and overwhelmed, barely able to sit still. I said the word relax, not at all thinking about the exercise and I was surprised when my body immediately responded. I had unconsciously trained my body to respond to myself saying the word, "relax".

     It doesn't matter what part of the body you start with or even what order you do this in so feel free to experiment with what works or makes sense for you.

     Lay down comfortably in a quiet low light place with little distractions. Start with your hands by making tight fists and squeezing them as hard as you can. Don't injure yourself but you should apply so much tension that your hands may even start to shake. Hold this for 5 to 7 seconds. The very instant you release them you will first say the word relax then immediately tense the next part, maybe your shoulders or feet.

     The body parts you relax and tense could include:

• hands
• feet
• shoulders
• hips
• neck
• mouth
• forehead 
• thighs, etc.

     You should for the first couple weeks do this exercise twice a day, then just once a day. When you feel your body is perfectly responding to the conditioning you can drop it to a maintenance level of 2 or 3 times a week.
     Whenever you feel tension or anxiety just repeat the word "Relax" and you will feel relaxed. Give it a try!

Body Mass Index (BMI) Calculator

This website has some great health calculators. Check it out at Body Mass Index (BMI) Calculator and learn more about the state of your body!

Exercise and Breast Cancer Risk

Vigorous exercise can cut the risk of breast cancer in normal weight women. Non-vigorous exercise has no effect on breast cancer, and vigorous exercise on overweight women has no effect.

Vigorous exercise would be activities such as scrubbing floors, jogging, running, dancing, and biking.

Non-vigorous exercise and vigorous exercise on obese women still have their worth for a number of other health reasons, so don't stop doing them. They just not proven to help with breast cancer risk.

Easy Indicator Of Early Death Found

A study that involved nine different countries in Europe discovered that simple waist size was a "powerful indicator" of early death. Every two inches around the waist raised the risk of early death by 13% to 17%. We've all heard that the extra weight around the middle is an indicator, however this study being so large gives a much more accurate result. They studied 360,000 people who were an average of 51 years old for about ten years. During that time 14,723 died. The interesting thing about this study was the conclusion that although the body mass index was still a good indicator, it doesn't seem to matter whether the person is normal weight or not. As long as the waist measurement or the waist to hip ration was large the risk was also large. For instance, men whose waists were more than 47 inches doubled their risk of early death compared to men whose waists were under 31 inches. For women, it doubled with a waist measurement of over 39 inches compared to those with measurements of under 25 inches. Every two inches over increased the risk for men by 17% and women by 13%. It could be that the fat around the waist is different from the fat that elsewhere in the body. Whatever the reason it's not going to take lab tests to figure out what your risk of early death is. It all comes back to simple diet and exercise to live a longer and healthier life.