What does  ‘Children Speaking Up’  have to do with Financial Parenting? A lot!

You will find out that a child’s ability to speak up could be priceless. You will find out that your child’s ability to speak his mind and feelings could mean all the difference in his ability to be alive.

How does your child behave during family troubled times?  Does your child speak up? Do you care if he/she does or not?  You should and you must!

All the attention in local and national scenes are on the toll the downturn of the economy has on business and financial goals. The current housing crisis talks only of the loss of houses and other economic losses.  Not enough attention is given to the emotional and mental toll brought on homes, families and relationships with children.  Many children may appear normal but statistics show that many normal appearing kids were  actually silently crying for help and attention for many reasons. Many observations were made by research groups which showed that when cries for help and attention were ignored for a  long time, children especially teen sought release of their pent up helplessness in devastating forms.  One of these forms that teen took in the past and continue to take as shown by statistics was suicide - some of which were planned while others were not.  There is one suicide committed every 39 seconds.  By the time the adults ask the question -  WHY?  it is often too late to return lives lost due to silent cries that went unheard.

That is why a high impact action team under leadership of Ken MacArthur, the best selling author of the book titled “Impact”  decided to help:

a) inject greater awareness to this issue on teen suicide,

b) facilitate education in this area and

c) help direct resources to parents or groups in need of help and support  in combating this teen issue. This team is spreading the need to share solutions for this silent epidemic by forging on three prong approach.   On the awareness front our team wants to share to all parents that one of the big causes of teen suicide is Isolation.  This isolation is both a sign and a cause of problem leading to teen suicide. Thus we would advocate strongly that if there is one basic solution to bear in mind on this issue, it is to constantly ingrain in kids the need to always  SPEAK OUT in times of trouble - To NEVER HIDE under any trouble.  Our team believes in this strongly that we called our initiative

“Speak Up And Save Lives”

We strongly advocate in parenting that first and foremost ALL KIDS MUST SPEAK UP AT ANY TIME and ALL THE TIME when feeling in trouble.  There are distinct signs to look out for to know if children are struggling internally. More thoughts are offered at: www.SpeakUpSaveLives.org and details are found at: http://www.aacap.org/cs/root/facts_for_families/teen_suicide.  There are many groups ready to listen in school, in churches and in the community. All that kids need  to be assured of is :  “To Simply  SPEAK UP!”.  But before children are able to do that in times of trouble, practice is necessary in everyday life.  Parents need to encourage this as a healthy normal behavior so that when they truly need to talk to someone, they would be able to do so without any difficulty. It could mean the difference between one life saved or lost.

The Impact Action Team has embarked to impact online and offline communities with education, collaboration and support through fund raising efforts. We invite all of you to join us.

Who Cares? The Impact Action Team Does! This is CARING beyond dollars and cents. It is caring in the center of hearts and sense.

We believe you care as deeply as we do. Please join us at:  www.SpeakUpSaveLives.org

Marina F. Dean /  MarieTheDean