The Joseph Project

THE IMPACT OF CYBER BULLYING ON YOUTH

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EMMA GONZALES SPEECH LEAVES US SPEECHLESS.

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Companies Cut Ties With NRA

Doctors will tell you that the best way to curb the spread of cancer is to choke it's lifeline.  Whether cutting the blood supply, oxygen supply or nutrient supply, nothing causes cells to die better and more safely than simply starving them to death.

Companies are taking action now, cutting discount programs for NRA members and we applaud them.  Here is a partial list, souced from CNN:

DELTA AIR LINES
ENTERPRISE CAR RENTAL
AVIS
NATIONAL
HERTZ
NORTON
ALAMO
METLIFE
BUDGET
FIRST NATIONAL BANK
ALLIED
LIFELOCK
SIMPLISAFE
NORTH AMERICAN MOVING SERVICES

More Events Since Parkland

Las Vegas and Thousand Oaks, just to name a few, since the last update to this site.   Sadly, the more these events occur, the less we seem to pay attention to them.  If young bright high school students can't move us, or country music lovers enjoying an outdoor concern, or if, for gosh sakes, first, second and third graders can't move us, the question becomes, what can?   I believe that the answer lies not in us being moved, but in how we move.  

I believe the next key for us is not in doing more of the same thing, with more passion and more persistence - though we should - but in us strategically understanding what specifically needs to happen in order for guns in America to be very difficult to obtain and own.  

Yes, I get it, we will not ban private gun ownership.  Though I personally do not believe that it has a residual value in a modern society, it is our history and our culture.   What we need though, is for it to be a project, and an earned right by those who have shown themselves to be responsible and willing to do the work.

Sandy Hook Promise & Parkland Florida

Years now after Sandy Hook, virtually nothing has changed.  Following, what still feels like one of the most unfair, and heartbreaking events in American History, we have had deadly shootings in Texas, in Vegas and now in Florida.

What makes Marjory Stoneman Douglass just a little different is that the survivors are smart, they are passionate and they are compelling.   How can you not watch Emily Gonzalez speak and not be compelled, and efforts to claim that she is just an actor, are testament to the brilliant masterminds behind the skewing of facts on guns in America.

I am sick and tired of hearing from responsible gun owners, asking me if I think they should not have their right to own a gun. Let me tell you this:   The few men who I know who own guns are not just responsible, they are exemplary.  The issue is not that I do not believe that they should or shouldn't own guns.  The issue is that in order for them to own guns, our laws broaden the pool to people who should not own guns.  Why we think that we can analyze every human being who buys a gun and predict not just  if they are responsible today, but will they be responsible for the rest of their lives, will they never leave a gun unlocked, will they never experience anything that might change their fitness to own a gun, is beyond me.  The problem is not the responsible gun, owners, the problem is that we have a demonstrated, calculable failure to have weapons in our country and hone out those who would misuse them.

Thinking that the solution to a peaceful society is arming up more and more people who we want to hope are responsible and stay responsible, is just absurd.  That those good guys will happen to have their gun at the time and place when most needed, is just too remote, in comparison that the likelihood that a few of the tens of thousands who own guys, will not be responsible or even competent. 

Countries with low gun violence stats DO NOT HAVE MORE GUNS.  They have LESS GUNS.  Countries with high gun violence stats HAVE MORE GUNS.   It is black and white data.

And the gun lobby has a strangehold on changing laws.  DO NOT BE JADED into accepting solutions like tightening background checks or banning bump stocks.  This is intended by the gun lobby to allow those fighting for NO GUNS, to have a false sense of getting change done.  This is NOT ENOUGH CHANGE.  Those who do not believe that a civil, peaceful, modern society needs weapons on hand by civilians, need to stay strongly in favor of the maximum level of gun control.

MY position on gun possession

I am vehemently opposed to all guns on the planet, save for sport rifles to hunt animals, for military, and with restrictions, to law enforcement. 

 The second amendment was created at a time when civilization was less developed and there were not controls and technology in place to help people defend themselves against the day to day goings on around them. 

I believe that personal use of guns is outdated and should be abolished.  There are tasers, tactical lights and pepper spray available to defend oneself.  All of the arguments about how we need more guns to keep people safe ignores the reality that these newer technologies will defend against most gun confrontations.

Guns have been a part of life for so long that we have lost sight of just how dangerous an idea it is for a deadly object to be propelled by an explosive, in a hand held device.  We recognized that a Swiss Army Knife doesn't belong in a plane or a school house, but we continually support the ownership of weapons under the guise of making society "safer".

Mass shootings are now occurring weekly in America.  I've stopped logging them because I can't keep up.  We have the technology to stun, immobilize and deter an individual without causing permanent damage, but our gun culture and lobby are so deeply ingrained, that we have placed gun ownership on par with basic human rights.

Gun ownership is no more a human right, than the right to use cocaine or to carry a box of grenades.   Yet I myself, have often gotten sucked into the desire to own one, every time I hear of others being shot.  I was in New York City with a friend, waiting for a bus, and a group of police cars came towards us.  We backed away as a swarm of cops descended on the McDonalds behind us.  And my first thought was, lets get out of here as fast as we can - thinking back of other mass shootings in fast food restaurants.

Now our problem is that America is going to become numb to the problems of gun violence, and a task which seemed hard, will get harder.   My fear is that, if what happened at Sandy Hook, was not enough of a wake up call, nothing will be.  All I can do is to continue the efforts of those who have been impacted by gun violence, to support the repeal of the second amendment and the move towards a contemporary society where people have less to defend against, and a little technology to use where needed.  Instead of spending time, effort and money trying to defend ourselves from ourselves, lets spend those resources rebuilding the economy, feeding the hungry, helping the poor to train for jobs, educating and providing healthcare to all humans in our society.

the rise of gun abuse in america

Special report:  the newtown tragedy

DEALING WITH AND HELPING YOUR CHILDREN DEAL WITH WHAT HAPPENED

GUN CONTROL - THE TIME IS RIGHT NOW

NO WAY, NRA

Following the horrendous events of December 14th, 2012:  The massacre of innocent children and educators, I have published a full section on what America could do right now, to begin reshifting the tides of deadly gun violence, responsible not just for so many public events, but thousands of suicides, drug deals and domestic homicides.  Please join the Joseph Project right now in contacting your representative(s) in Washington and standing opposed to guns.  

- Guns don't kill people, but people carrying guns do.

WELcome to the JOseph project

 Copyright Mark Snyder Lexington                            Thinking about suicide? -->  Click here 

The Joseph Project is an evolving set of documents geared towards today's hot issue of BULLYING and in particular, of CYBER BULLYING and the immediate as well as the long term effects on today's youth. 

A fair number of websites, programs and even legal requirements now in some states have been developed to curb or train children away from CYBER BULLYING.  The Joseph Project differs from these, focusing on the culture, sociology and psychology behind bullying in general and cyberbullying specifically, as well as addressing some of the concerns that adults need to have about the children who are victims.  While I strongly believe that some degree of bullying and being bullied is an aspect of growing up for many children, some children have different capacities to handle it than others do.  Identifying children who are at greater risk of injury, may help parents, educators and youth workers to head off some of the long term trauma associated with these activities, as well as curbing the most serious impact, which is suicide of young people. Copyright Mark Snyder Lexington

The Joseph Project is a work in progress, so I hope that its unfinished nature will not prohibit people from using it as a resource.  I also want to emphasize that I do not believe the other works on this subject are less important.  This is yet another resource in our arsenal to fight the current problem of Cyberbullying as well as training it out of our culture, which I believe must be the long term goal. Copyright Mark Snyder Lexington

So, welcome again and please do feel free to email me if you ever have input at info@thejosephproject.org 

Over time I will better organize this site into several sections.  For the moment (as we have moved to a new home at webs), all main material will be located here BULLYING & YOUTH SUICIDE and this link is also reachable from the menus above.  Thanks for bearing with me during the move.Copyright Mark Snyder Lexington MA

If you are a teenager and you are contemplating suicide, Please click here and read for a few minutes.  I promise, I'll keep it short and I will respect your privacy.  Click on the picture of two friends, to the right.