talk of suicide

Jeff Weise resembles many of the children in Child Protection I know.

A mother that hated him, Psychotropic medications, repeated examples of self-loathing, talk of suicide and homicide.

Working with neglected and abused children has shown me a part of human development that I could not have otherwise become familiar with.

Normal children overcome feelings of self-hate and inadequacy with the help of parents, teachers, and other adults in their lives.

Abused children can’t trust the adults in their lives. Their own abuse has come from the trusted adults in their lives. These children often resent or hate authority figures as a result of the suffering adults have visited upon them.

Feelings of self-hate and inadequacy consume many of the children I work with as a guardian ad-Litem.

Children removed from their homes have been traumatized by their circumstances. Starved, beaten, and tortured children do not overcome trauma, self-hate, anxiety, and inadequacy without timely intervention and adequate mental health therapy.

Almost all abused children believe they have brought on their own abuse.

Abused children think it was something they did that made daddy do those terrible things. Raped women experience similar feelings—if I had taken another route, or I had been more observant, the terrible thing might not have happened.

My little friends talk to me about “being normal” until they reach a point of hopelessness and despair that leaves them cold to me—and cold to the rest of the people in their lives.

week after redlake

The media is still filled with coverage Jeff Weiss and the Red Lake tragedy. The pattern repeats itself; tragedy, outrage, and wonder about how it happened and what should be done about it.

A special national Swat team of psychologists has been flown into Red Lake to deal with grieving students.

In a few weeks the TV and Newspaper coverage will die down and we will go on to the next tragedy and repeat the process.

It pains me that there are no serious discussions about the mental health issues that create these violent tragedies or the steps that could be taken to help seriously troubled children cope with their problems.

As a long time guardian ad-Litem I see the sadness, depression, and mental health issues that seriously affect so many children. Our culture does not recognize or help these kids.

I have two GAL children who have been with me for over six years (Alex and Nancy). I profile their lives in my book INVISIBLE CHILDREN.

Had my young friends received mental health counseling when they were young, they might have been able to lead normal lives. Instead, they are full of self-loathing and dangerous behaviors, prescribed Class II stimulant drugs (like Prozac), and they have both tried suicide. In these respects, they are just like Jeff Weiss.

Crime and Justice

Today I met with Tom Johnson—he runs the Council on Crime and Justice in Minneapolis.

We both have roots to Floodwood MN where my Finnish grandparents let me stay with them on the farm each summer when I was a boy (instead of getting in trouble with my pals in the inner city.)

One of the things Tom and I spoke of was the sense of warmth and community that existed growing up in a rural community.

Powerful feelings divide us within our communities today and impact the way we vote to treat our neighbors (education, transportation, social safety nets.)

I find it painful that Councilman Don Samuels is kept busy holding vigils for murdered young men (almost every week) on the North side.

It hurts me that so few people care that Roosevelt high school graduated 28% of its students last year, or know that 44% of African American men living in Hennepin County were arrested in 2001.

How disconnected can we become?

What do you feel when a baby is found dead in a dumpster, a young person deliberately murders innocent people, or some other insane tragedy fills the headlines?

Do you feel a sense of loss and sadness for the suffering of the parties involved?

Or are you filled with judgment and a need to blame someone and a desire for punishment?