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| | Chicago Organizations Use Mentoring to Battle Violence Violence erupts daily at the end of the school day at dozens of elementary and high schools in Chicago! On Thursday of last week, Chicago police reported 15 shootings in 6 hours, which included 6 Chicago Public Schools students. On Wednesday of last week, a 7-year-old girl was shot in the head on the south side of Chicago. Additionally, last week at Crane High School, 14 students were arrested for fighting and other anti-social behaviors. | | | 30 Organizations Join to Recruit 1,000 Mentors to Reduce Violence and Improve the Lives of Chicago Youth Thirty Local Community Organizations Do What Chicago Police Can't Do: Change the Lives of Black and Latino Youth through Mentoring WHY: Violence erupts daily at the end of the school day at dozens of elementary and high schools in Chicago! On Thursday of last week, Chicago police reported 15 shootings in 6 hours, which included 6 Chicago Public Schools students. On Wednesday of last week, a 7-year-old girl was shot in the head on the south side of Chicago. Additionally, last week at Crane High School, 14 students were arrested for fighting and other anti-social behaviors. Police blamed most of this violence on the warmer weather. Most strategies and tactics used by Chicago police and the school system to quell this violence have had little impact on the youth violence that has become synonymous with the city Chicago. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that one of the best ways, and perhaps one of the only ways, to successfully and consistently eliminate the violent behavior of Chicago's youth is through mentoring. Why? Because mentoring works!!! WHO: The Black Star Project, Faith Community of Saint Sabina, Men to Boys, Inc. and 30 Chicago mentor organizations. WHAT: A press conference to announce the largest combined mentor effort in the history of Chicago and a documentary film, Men II Boys, by Janks Morton, that will inspire thousands of Chicago men and women to become mentors in their communities. The event will take place on April 9, 2010, at Saint Sabina Church, 1210 West 78th Place at 7:00 pm. This event features a film preview for participating organizations and a plan to create a citywide network of mentor programs to ensure that thousands more youth in Chicago, male and female, are connected to appropriate mentors. Our Press Conference Today: Monday, March 22, 2010, 2:00 pm
Photo opportunities available
WHERE: The Black Star Project, Suite 2B
3509 South King Drive
Chicago, Illinois 60653 Please call Comella at 773.285.9600 for more information. Special thanks to The Open Society Institute's Campaign for Black Male Achievement | | The Black Star Project is recruiting young males 13- to 18-years old for the Black Star Warrior, Scholar, Healer Mentor Program | | | The Black Star Project is recruiting 50 young males between 13- and 18-years old for our Warrior, Scholar, Healer Mentor Program. Mothers have been great raising their sons but they cannot do it alone. One of the glaring weaknesses of the Black community is the paucity of quality mentor programs to support youth, families, schools and communities. The Black Star Project has found very few in communities of need in Chicago and those that exist have almost no funding for this important work. The Warrior, Scholar, Healer Mentor Program meets four times a month; has a one mentor to 4 youth ratio; works on the issues of respecting elders; teaches youth to value education; teaches youth to honoring parents, young women and girls; teaches youth to be leaders and not followers; connects youth to positive male role models; travels to other parts of the city on field trips; brings in guest speakers; practices self-discipline; and more. Youth must live between 2200 South and 5500 South in Chicago to participate in this program. For more information about the Warrior, Scholar, Healer Mentor Program, please call Comella or Chris at 773.285.9600. The Black Star Warrior, Scholar, Healer Mentor Program will be based at 3509 South King Drive, Suite 2B in Chicago, Illinois. | | Let's Fire the Parents "Firing all the teachers may feel good - we're Americans, kicking people when they're down is what we do - but it's not really their fault. The number one predictor of a child's academic success is parental involvement." | | New Rule: Let's Not Fire the Teachers When Students Don't Learn -- Let's Fire the Parents
 by Bill Maher
Host of HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher"
March 12, 2010 New Rule: Let's not fire the teachers when students don't learn - let's fire the parents. Last week President Obama defended the firing of every single teacher in a struggling high school in a poor Rhode Island neighborhood. And the kids were outraged. They said, "Why blame our teachers?" and "Who's President Obama?" I think it was Whitney Houston who said, "I believe that children are our future - teach them well and let them lead the way." And that's the last sound piece of educational advice this country has gotten - from a crack head in the '80s.
Yes, America has found its new boogeyman to blame for our crumbling educational system. It's just too easy to blame the teachers, what with their cushy teachers' lounges, their fat-cat salaries, and their absolute authority in deciding who gets a hall pass. We all remember high school - canning the entire faculty is a nationwide revenge fantasy. Take that, Mrs. Crabtree! And guess what? We're chewing gum and no, we didn't bring enough for everybody.
But isn't it convenient that once again it turns out that the problem isn't us, and the fix is something that doesn't require us to change our behavior or spend any money. It's so simple: Fire the bad teachers, hire good ones from some undisclosed location, and hey, while we're at it let's cut taxes more. It's the kind of comprehensive educational solution that could only come from a completely ignorant people.
Firing all the teachers may feel good - we're Americans, kicking people when they're down is what we do - but it's not really their fault. Now, undeniably, there are some bad teachers out there. They don't know the material, they don't make things interesting, they have sex with the same kid every day instead of spreading the love around... But every school has crappy teachers. Yale has crappy teachers - they must, they gave us George Bush.
According to all the studies, it doesn't matter what teachers do. Although everyone appreciates foreplay. What matters is what parents do. The number one predictor of a child's academic success is parental involvement. It doesn't even matter if your kid goes to private or public school. So save the twenty grand a year and treat yourself to a nice vacation away from the little bastards.
It's also been proven that just having books in the house makes a huge difference in a child's development. If your home is adorned with nothing but Hummel dolls, DVDs, and bleeding Jesuses, congratulations, you've just given your children the gift of Duh. Sarah Palin said recently she wrote on her hand because her father used to do it. I rest my case.
When there are no books in the house, and there are no parents in the house, you know who raises the kids? That's right, the television. Kids aren't keeping up with their studies; they're keeping up with the Kardashians. We're allowing the television, as babysitter, to turn us into a nation of slutty idiots. By the way, one sign your 9-year-old may be watching too much One Tree Hill: if she has an imaginary friend with benefits. | | Our Children Are What They Eat | | South Korea restricts TV ads for junk South Korea has announced curbs on television advertising for junk food in a bid to cut obesity and promote healthy eating among children. Advertising of food high in fat, sugar and salt will be banned from all TV from 5pm to 7pm, the health ministry said, and will also be prohibited during children's programmes shown at any time.
The restrictions will apply to hamburgers, pizzas, instant noodles, chocolate and other candies and ice cream.
"The ban, to be enforced this month or in early February, applies to high-calorie, low-nutrient food, snacks and sweets," a ministry official in charge of food safety said.
Official data showed more than one-third of ads aired during children's TV programmes were for food, mostly for sweets, instant noodles and soft drinks.
Consumer groups have called for stricter measures to protect children from junk food, saying one out of five children in South Korea is overweight.
In March last year, the ministry banned the sale of junk food and drinks in schools and their neighbourhoods in a bid to tackle the growing problem of child obesity. | | FAMILY FUN NIGHT!!!
Join the Fathers Club for a Chicago Slaughter Arena Football Game! | | | Saturday, March 27, 2010
7:00 pm
at
Sears Center Arena in Hoffman Estates
Please join The Black Star Project's Fathers Club to see the Chicago Slaughter for FREE! This is a fantastic opportunity to bond with your children and to see one of the top professional sports teams in America. Fathers and women of all races, ethnicity and faith backgrounds may and should attend this event with their children.
If you would like to attend, please call Bruce Walker at The Black Star Project at 773.285.9600 to RSVP for the event and for more information.
Parking is $10.00 per car.
| Click on links below for more information about the great programs of The Black Star Project | | For more information on our other programs and how you can get involved, click on these links below or please call 773.285.9600: | | | | | | | | The Black Star Project | 3473 South King Drive, Box 464 | Chicago | IL | 60616 |  |
