Transitioning Times

Originally published in 1996, with a second edition printed in 2003, Uncle Willy’s Tickles, by Marcie Aboff teaches children about their personal boundaries, or body sovereignty, a term used by professionals in the field of child safety.  Recognized by the American Psychological Association as a “wonderful way to address the important issue of a child’s right to own his own body and say no,” this book is one of five books chosen by the Care for Kids curriculum – an early childhood sexuality and abuse prevention program designed for kids from PreK through second grade.  Taking a different approach from other books that address sexual touching, this book features Kyle who is tickled by a beloved uncle named Willy.  Uncle Willy is a wonderful uncle who lets Kyle sit behind the wheel of his pickup truck and pretend to drive.  He takes Kyle ice cream sundaes and can do all sorts of magic tricks that make Kyle and his whole family laughs and has fun.  Kyle eviden...

Calling violence against women a "woman’s problem" is part of the problem. It is misleading and in some cases dishonest.  It gives men an excuse to not pay attention to the situation. Another thing that makes this a problem is because "women's issues" are personal for men as well. Men need to confront each other about the violence that men cause against women. Most of the time men are the primary perpetrators, which if it was only a "woman's issue," why would men be the ones that cause the problems? One of the biggest problems is that if men never join the fight against men's violence against women, then there is no possible chance that the violence will dramatically drop. Every single problem that affects any woman, daughter, girlfriend or even mother, is the men's problem too. Why aren’t people talking about the social factors that contribute to violence against women? Why aren’t men’s attitudes and behaviors toward women the focus of ...

Growing up, I always had a wonderful childhood.  My parents never fought, never hit us or did anything of that nature. Once I got into Middle School, I started to realize that not everyone was that lucky. I’ll never forget when a woman from Transitions came into my classroom and explained to us what had happened to her related to domestic violence and why she now does what she does working with Transitions. Domestic Violence (DV) and Sexual Assault (SA) are major things that happen in our world today and something that can be reduced or possibly stopped if there were more education and treatments for it. I am a student at McCann School of Business and Technology currently doing my externship with Transitions of PA. After being here, I have a better understanding of what DV and SA are and how to help the people who are going through it. During my time here I have gotten to sit in on 1-1 counseling sessions which have really been eye opening experiences for me. I never thought that ...