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THE CAT CHRONICLE
-----------------
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE *
* August 25, 1995 *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Children's Animated Television (CAT) is a 501-C-3 non-profit
organization that produces educational videos for children and
teens on contemporary social issues such as AIDS, diversity,
violence and GLB teen self esteem. CAT also provides as a public
service a BBS, a weekly full color newsletter and a Web site for
the family of the future: http://www1.usa1.com/~furball/
* Please note a full color printed version of this newsletter is
available upon request ($2 per week), as well as on the Web.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
CAT People:
~~~~~~~~~~
The CAT person of the week is Randy Kottwitz, human rights activist
and organizer in Merrimack of the "Vigil for the Victims of Gay Teen
Suicide & Gay Teen Violence." Recently, Claude DiDomenica and Bessie
Hadley, the founders of CAT visited Merrimack, New Hampshire and met
with Randy and Ken Coleman. Ken is one of the 2 out of 5 Merrimack
School Board members opposed to the anti-GLB policy. Randy has shown
great courage and has given up everything to fight the intolerance
and protect the rights of GLB children. A proverbial hat's off to
Randy for his dedication to human rights and freedom of information!
Parent's Corner...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Parent's tip of the week:
Back to school means back to sports: Do's and Don'ts
DO'S:
----
School sports include football, soccer, bowling, swimming, and others
as well. Here's some tips to help children participate in sports as a
healthy, positive learning experience. Please keep in mind that some
of the reasons kids play sports is to have fun, feel worthy,
competent and successful.
* Teach your child that success in sports is more than just
winning. Help them feel successful when they are improving or
mastering a skill, giving maximum effort, and striving to win. As
a parent, you can help your athlete learn to accept
disappointment. Help them understand that a loss is not a
personal failure or blow to self worth.
* Help your athletes set realistic, achievable, yet challenging
goals. Offer to work with them to achieve these goals. A child
will feel a sense of accomplishment when their level of skill
improves.
* Reward and encourage skill improvement, good plays, and good
behavior in your child. Remember to praise effort, not just
performance, to motivate a child. Reward kids verbally or with a
physical response like a smile or thumbs up sign. Try to avoid
money or other material rewards for good performance.
* Remember that mistakes are part of learning a sport, and young
athletes will make plenty of them. When your child makes a
mistake, remember to encourage them. Suggest ways to correct the
error in a positive way. Avoid criticizing and punishing for
mistakes. Criticism teaches athletes to be afraid to fail. This
can make them worry that they will not perform well. They will
learn to dread the possible disapproval of their parents, their
coach, and teammates. Being negative can HURT rather than
improve performance.
* Show your children that you love and accept them, regardless of
the outcome of the game or how they performed.
DON'TS:
------
* Be careful not to live out your own dreams through your children.
It is perfectly natural to identify with your children, and to
want them to be successful. If you see your child's performance
in sports as a reflection of your own self-worth, you might be
setting unrealistically high goals for the child. This will only
put pressure on them to perform, which can place undue stress on
your child.
* Watch your own behavior at games and practices. Remember,
parents are role models for their children. If you want your son
or daughter to show good sportsmanship and self-control, you need
to show it yourself. When you see a poor call or bad play,
remember to control your temper, anger and emotions.
* Leave the coaching to the coach. It will only confuse the kids
when they get instructions from more than one person.
The positive attributes developed through sports can be strengthened
by a parent's wise management and support of their child. Years from
now, it won't matter whether an athlete could field a line drive or
make a left handed lay-up at age twelve. Self-esteem, attitudes
toward achievement, and understanding the success of maximum effort
are really what's most important. Parents can help instill these
positive attributes in their children through sports, to make them
winners today... and tomorrow...
Jeff Sam
Volunteer Child Safety & Parents Coordinator,
Co-Sysop of Dr Furball's BBS and CAT's Co-Webmeister
Internet Address: jsam@usa1.com
Please visit Jeff's Sam's Parenting and Child Safety Web page:
http://www1.usa1.com/~furball/jeffsam/jeffsam.html/
CRISIS IN MERRIMACK:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The human rights advocates and freedom fighters in New Hampshire
needed a little break. Stay tuned for weekly updates...
"The Outrage Page" on the World Wide Web has been updated, including
a separate page on ways to combat the ignorance, shortsightedness and
prejudice towards gay, lesbian and bisexual children voted into
policy by Merrimack's School Board. Point your Web browser to:
"The Outrage Page"
http://www1.usa1.com/~furball/glb/outrage.html
"Here's what you can do to help..."
http://www1.usa1.com/~furball/glb/action.html
Last week, we published in the CAT Chronicle "The Outrage Page" for
those of you without Web access.
This week:
"Here's what you can do to help..."
Fight Back!!!
-------------
As people, we should all be concerned when the human rights and
freedom of expression of any group is threatened...
"The Outrage Page" is dedicated to the decent people of Merrimack who
have been made into pawns by certain unscrupulous individuals...
All over our country, fanatical groups threaten everyone's freedom.
Many have singled out gay, lesbian and bisexual (GLB) people as
"easy targets." They can hide their hatred and intolerance behind
_their_ interpretation of the Bible. Good religious and non-religious
people have seen right through this shallow cover story of
"preventing schools from usurping parents' right to raise their
children as they see fit." GLB children have rights as well. Most
school boards have attempted compromise by not "promoting" any
particular sexual preference. When compromise is no longer good
enough for a particular group, cause or ideology, we should all
immediately become alarmed. Look at how the abortion debate has
polarized our nation. Teaching sex education, birth control and
personal responsibility should be the way to go... But to many people
it's an "all or nothing" or "black and white world." The word
compromise doesn't seem to be in the vocabulary for many of us...
To begin, let us first help our friends in Merrimack. We should also
help with the other struggles going on in our nations schools. Send
letters to the editor of your local and regional newspapers if your
school board is being pressured in the name of "family values" to
limit the rights of GLB people. If your school board wanted to ban
books or instruction on African or Native Americans, of course there
would be an immediate uproar. They would NEVER try that... There is
NO difference between that and banning a book by a GLB author. GLB
people are a minority group like any other. We must no longer accept
that GLB people are "second class" citizens, subject to the horrible
treatment of being scapegoats for the agenda of fanatics. They would
probably counter that the GLB rights folks have their own agenda.
Yep... They are correct! Most decent people only want a level playing
field. They only want a decent and factual education regardless
whether or not an author, teacher or student is GLB. Let's end this
nonsense!!!
Ways to help our brothers and sisters in Merrimack:
* Spread the word about this outrage!!!
* If you have a Web page, PLEASE put a link direct to
"The Outrage Page"
http://www1.usa1.com/~furball/glb/outrage.html/
* Call/fax/write the people involved in this struggle
* Write letters to the editor of the major New Hampshire and
New England newspapers
* Help organize or participate in a peaceful demonstration
* If you are a lawyer, offer your pro-bono services to assist in
any forthcoming legal challenges
* Carefully scrutinize ALL political candidates to ensure they
are for the rights of all citizens
You can also help by supporting CAT with a donation. It costs CAT
money to maintain and update our Web site, etc.
Merrimack contact information:
"Good guys"
-----------
Ken Coleman, Merrimack School Board
(603) 883-3254
fax (603) 881-4877
Randy Kottwitz, Human Rights Activist
Organizer in Merrimack: Vigil for the Victims of Gay Teen
Suicide & Gay Teen Violence
(603) 883 8786
fax (603) 880 6153
"Bad guys"
----------
Chris Ager, School Board Chair
Merrimack School Department
36 McElwain St.
Merrimack NH 03054
(603) 424-6200
fax (603) 424-6229
Send letters to the editor of newspapers who have covered the story
BOSTON GLOBE
Box 2378
Boston, MA 02107
fax 617-929-2098
letter@globe.com
THE UNION LEADER
Box 9555
Manchester, NH 03108
THE TELEGRAPH
Box 1008
Nashua, NH 03061
THE VILLAGE CRIER
579 D.W. Highway
Merrimack, NH 03054
We will be shortly adding more people and organizations to express
your concerns to... CAT will also expand "The Outrage Page" to
national coverage if we receive support and interest to do so...
Remember to fight back!!! (peacefully, of course...)
Please remember, if you are a GLB child:
* Most American's are against the hatred and bigotry in Merrimack
and elsewhere. All people have to be educated and informed of
this threat to EVERYONE'S FREEDOM...
* Even if your parents or school do not understand you as a GLB
person, many people support you. It is proving very difficult to
undo thousands of years of human prejudice...
* Take care of yourself. You do not have to take drugs or drink
alcohol to hide from your feelings. Please do not feel "It's
hopeless anyway, so why should I bother caring about myself???"
You can have a happy, long, healthy and productive life like
anybody else.
* Learn all you can about HIV/AIDS. GLB teen suicide and HIV
infection are major problems. You do not have to become another
statistic. Many of us want to help... Besides that, we need your
help!!! <G>
GLB Youth Advisor:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CAT's current video project is on GLB teen self esteem. Our goal
is to help put a stop to the unacceptably high rate of GLB teen
depression and suicide. We also believe there is a direct correlation
between low self esteem and unsafe sex practices. To this aim, as a
public service we present to you the GLB Youth Advisor...
Back to school in Merrimack.
First lesson: Intolerance and hate...
A new wave of attacks on the rights of gay youth sweeps the nation
this summer. I question any school board or regency using its power
to make a negative impact on any group of individuals. We continue to
monitor the situation in Merrimack, New Hampshire as the school year
looms ahead. The chairman of the school board in Merrimack took it
upon himself to declare homosexuality "wrong" and forced a vote to
ban all mention of the word within the school system. While some
people feel that topics involving sexuality is best handled by
parents and not the school system, this measure instituted by a 3/5
majority of the Merrimack school board takes it one step further. Any
type of counseling, including suicide prevention and AIDS awareness,
is considered taboo if it relates to homosexuality. Imagine a teacher
or administrator losing their job because they prevented a GLB youth
from committing suicide...
I understand the concept of shifting the burden of responsibility to
the parents when it comes to sexual issues. However, what happens
when parents fail at this task, especially if the child is gay or
lesbian? In most cases we are speaking about teenagers. The ones who
need the greatest support will be denied any help on the sole basis
of their sexual identity. If this does not represent a gross
violation of civil rights, then certainly nothing else does...
Let's look at the issue within a different light. What kind of
lessons are we teaching the rest of the youth in this country when a
school board declares an entire group of its own students as
non-existent and unimportant? The Chairman of the Merrimack School
Board and the Christian Coalition responsible for engineering this
"breakthrough" for the family clearly demonstrates the lack of
understanding of what it means to grow up GLB in America. The message
sent to the student population of Merrimack and other school systems
is a message of hate that supports violence and intolerance to GLB
youth.
How can our society progress intellectually when school
administrators are mandating intolerance within the classroom?
A cynic might conclude that most schools are unable to teach literacy
in the classroom, let alone intellectual growth. Unfortunately,
Merrimack is not alone in this latest wave of anti-gay sentiment
across the country. In fact, I suspect that Merrimack merely
represents a testing ground for future assaults on GLB youth
nationwide by various "family values" groups. I hope any parents
reading this will question their own thoughts on the subject and ask
themselves if these are the values they wish to teach their
children...
Mike Reddin
Volunteer GLB Youth Advisor
for Children's Animated Television
Internet Address: wxman@pcix.com
Mike has an area on our Web site dedicated to GLB youth:
http://www1.usa1.com/~furball/glb/glb.html/
Encouraging Words...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Date: Thu, 24 Aug 95 18:37:34 0500
From: Al <bertk001@maroon.tc.umn.edu>
Organization: U of Minnesota
To: Claude DiDomenica <didom@usa1.com>
Subject: Merrimack School Board
Thanks for keeping us all up to date on the underhanded, unchristian
actions of the Christian Coalition in NH. They have set an agenda to
either get people to their way of thinking or ignore or exterminate
them.
I have not read where they have done one Christian act but all of
their acts revolve around control, power and domination. They
misquote from the Scriptures and totally leave out the ever recurring
theme of both the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures of showing love and
hospitality to all of humanity.
In fact other books of the Old Testament and early church fathers all
say that the sin of Sodom is the sin of inhospitality. Even the New
Testament "quotes" Jesus as saying the sin of Sodom is inhospitality
(Luke 10:10-12). Isn't it ironic that today's sodomites are the
religious right and the Christian Coalition?
As a clergyman I had to restudy the Hebrew and Greek after our son
told us he is gay. We never did study the references used to condemn
homosexuality in class when I was in seminary. The reason the Hebrew
and Greek aren't used today is that they DO NOT condemn
homosexuality.
So the religious bigots think they have a corner on the market. As
more and more people hear about the devilish dealings of the
religious wrong in NH they will be forced to face reality because of
the Christian Coalition. When Minnesota became the 8th state to
include sexual orientation, some of the state legislators said it was
the hatred expressed by the religious right that showed them the
discrimination against the gay community.
Keep up the great work.
Al Bertke
Retired Minister
Minneapolis, MN
bertk001@maroon.tc.umn.edu
***Thanks Al for the courage to step forward and be heard!!!***
Date: Fri, 25 Aug 95 15:13:03 0500
From: Al <bertk001@maroon.tc.umn.edu>
Organization: U of Minnesota
To: Claude DiDomenica <didom@usa1.com>
Subject: publish comments
Claude,
I've been writing James Dobson, Focus on the Family, and Chuck
Colson, prison ministries, since 1990. Dobson has New Testament
"experts", Old Testament "experts" and others write back telling me
I'm wrong. I told Chuck Colson unless he became Christian in his
prison ministry and included gays I couldn't support an unchristian
program he operated. Haven't heard from him since.
I started writing the Christian Coalition. In fact when they asked me
to join I asked them what version of the Bible they used because the
King James Version didn't condemn homosexuality and that James I was
gay. Their political agenda won't stand up to honest scholarship.
(Neither will Newt's and the new Republicans.) Yes, you may publish
my comments both on the Web and in your newsletter.
I was forced out of the ministry of the Lutheran Church-Missouri
Synod in 1985 over truth and honesty. They didn't want any part of
it. So in '90 when I turned 55 I started collecting early retirement.
So I am a retired clergyman. Currently I work as a secretary at the
University of Minnesota, Radiation Oncology. My 25 years doing
secretarial work in the church prepared me for it.
When our son told us in March 1990 that he is gay, it really shook my
wife and I. I thought homosexuality was a choice and a poor one. My
wife, showing our son her college notes from a religion class,
thought it was the worst sin. She called a former clergyman whom we
heard was gay and she had dated-way back when. He sent us 7 books and
a position paper he wrote. We went to PFLAG and talked to every gay
and lesbian who would talk to me. When our son told us he is gay I
knew it wasn't a choice, but I didn't know the answer. Two weeks
later I told him I think I owe him an apology. His response was
"Good, now you can march in the Gay Pride Parade." I've marched every
year since then.
You can give my email address if you want.
I tell people that Jesus condemned the "religious" people of his day
and today's religious right are yesterdays Pharisees. Good to see
that we're on the same wavelength.
Be talking to you soon.
Al Bertke
Retired Minister
Minneapolis, MN
bertk001@maroon.tc.umn.edu
NOTE: The opinions expressed above are not necessarily those of
Children's Animated Television, Inc.
The CAT Credo...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Children's Animated Television (CAT) believes in a positive future
for all children...
CAT's philosophy is to help solve today's complex social problems
through honest and open dialogue, education, information and
compromise...
CAT will produce video programs for pre-teens and teens to stimulate
their minds, harness their creativity and imaginations to cultivate
long-lasting answers to problems in their world...
As a public service, CAT will also provide educational information
using all available technology including a computer bulletin board,
World Wide Web site and other electronic media. CAT will supply this
knowledge for children, parents and educators to enable our society
to develop ideas and solutions for a better tomorrow...
Claude DiDomenica & Bessie Hadley
Founders of Children's Animated Television
July 15, 1995
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E-Mail to didom@usa1.com Subject: Subscribe CAT Chronicle
CAT is a 501-C-3 non-profit organization and all donations
are tax-deductible as allowed by law.
Contact Information:
Bessie Hadley
Executive Director
Children's Animated Television, Inc.
1492 Highland Ave, Suite 3
Needham, MA 02192 USA
Voice: 617-449-9699 FAX: 617-449-2238
Dr Furball's BBS: 617-455-8415 node 1 617-433-0026 node 2
Internet: hadley@usa1.com
Claude DiDomenica
President of CAT and Sysop of Dr Furball's BBS
Internet: didom@usa1.com
CAT's WEB Home Page!!! http://www1.usa1.com/~furball/
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Copyright 1995 Children's Animated Television, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
This newsletter may be freely distributed as long as it remains
intact and this notice is not removed. Please do not post on USENET,
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