Adolescence is now more challenging than ever. Bullying and suicide are on the rise - an increase that has been linked to social media and smartphone use. John Halligan, international bullying prevention speaker, and Emily B. Dickson, professional middle school counselor, are all too familiar with these widespread concerns. John lost his thirteen-year-old son, Ryan, to suicide in 2003. Ryan was one of the first victims of cyberbullying as social media began to emerge as an opportunity for peers to bully from a distance behind a computer screen. John shares with the reader the heartbreaking story of Ryan's short life, including lessons about suicide prevention, forgiveness, the role of bystanders, and the opportunity to apologize. Emily assists John in delivering clinically sound and practical advice based on her fifteen years of professional experience working with middle school students in this age of social media. Ryan's Story: Loved Beyond Belief will leave you with an inspirational message that will motivate you to make a change in your life. The book was primarily written for middle school and high school students.

This is a frank, compassionate book written to those who contemplate suicide as a way out of their situations. The author issues an invitation to life, helping people accept the imperfections of their lives, and opening eyes to the possibilities of love.

Are you struggling with decisions regarding social media and smartphone access for your child? The middle school and teen years are now more challenging than ever. Bullying and suicide are on the rise - an increase that has been linked to social media and smartphone use. John Halligan, international bullying prevention speaker, and Emily B. Dickson, professional middle school counselor, are all too familiar with these widespread concerns among parents of tweens and teens.John lost his thirteen-year-old son, Ryan, to suicide in 2003. Ryan was one of the first victims of cyberbullying as social media began to emerge as an opportunity for peers to bully from a distance and behind a computer screen. John wishes he had prepared his sweet, sensitive son to be less vulnerable. He shares with the reader the heartbreaking story of Ryan's short life, including his lessons learned and precautions parents can take regarding technology.Although the occurrence of Ryan's social media experience was in a relatively nascent time frame of social media, the advice and lessons provided in this book are bridged and made relevant to today's world. Emily assists John in delivering clinically sound and practical advice based not just on her professional experience, but also on her own challenges as a parent of two children heading soon into the middle school years.This book will be an invaluable guidepost for parents who wantto...- Be better prepared in dealing with bullying and cyberbullying of their child.- Become more informed in making decisions regarding access to social media.- Know how to respond if their child is struggling with mental health and or thoughts of suicide.

In the vein of the bestselling Nothing General About It and Always Young and Restless, a revelatory account of the pioneering Emmy Award-winning, beloved daytime drama— featuring the words of stars including Helen Gallagher, Malcolm Groome, Ron Hale, Ilene Kristen, Michael Levin, Ana Alicia, Roscoe Born, Catherine Hicks, Geoff Pierson, Andrew Robinson, and Gordon Thompson, along with writers, producers, directors and family members—plus never-before-seen photos and plot synopses. From the opening scene of its first episode, in which Mary Ryan walks jauntily down a New York City street to her family’s neighborhood bar, it was clear that Ryan’s Hope would be unlike every daytime soap that had come before. Indeed, from 1975 to 1989, the Emmy award-winning ABC TV serial drew viewers into the world of Maeve and Johnny Ryan, their children, friends, and extended family. This page-turning chronicle gathers memories and exclusive interviews to reveal the show’s fascinating origin story—and explore why it’s missed to this day. Ryan’s Hope was set in a real city, within recognizable communities. The working-class, Irish-Catholic, immigrant Ryans were the core of a show that credibly tackled such topics as infidelity, addiction, religious faith, and women’s rights. There was melodrama, to be sure, but also heart, depth, grit—provided by co-creators and head writers Claire Labine and Paul Avila Mayer. Labine and Mayer were also the executive producers in the early years, which gave them full control over their creation, from character backstories to lighting and costume. But there were also some missteps along the way, from the constant recasting of fan-favorite characters to ABC’s ill-judged attempts to infuse the homey, family-oriented show with intrigue and adventure. Featuring the words of stars including Helen Gallagher, Malcolm Groome, Ron Hale, Ilene Kristen, Michael Levin, Ana Alicia, Roscoe Born, Catherine Hicks, Geoff Pierson, Andrew Robinson, and Gordon Thomson, along with writers, producers, production crew, and family members—plus never-before-seen photos and plot synopses—soap opera fans will find this insider account as captivating as the beloved show itself.

EBONY is the flagship magazine of Johnson Publishing. Founded in 1945 by John H. Johnson, it still maintains the highest global circulation of any African American-focused magazine.

Short-listed for the 2000 Arthur Ellis Award for Best Non-Fiction Norman "Red" Ryan was a notorious bank robber, safecracker, and killer. He escaped from Kingston Penitentiary twice - first by force, and then years later by gulling the credulous into believing that he was "reformed." The dupes of Ryan’s second emancipation included the prison’s Roman Catholic chaplain, several nationally prominent citizens, the country’s largest newspaper, and, ultimately, R.B. Bennett, the prime minister of Canada, who made the mistake of arranging a "political parole" for Ryan. Six people - three of them innocent victims - died as a result of Red Ryan’s freedom. Dubbed "the Jesse James of Canada" and "Canada’s most notorious criminal," Ryan had compiled a record of nineteen convictions for crimes of theft and violence, and had been in nine shooting affrays with police and citizens. He was a "lifer" in an era when "life" meant just that. Yet he got out of Kingston after just eleven and a half years and returned to Toronto, the city of his birth, amid fanfare befitting a national hero. His death in a liquor store robbery in Sarnia on May 23, 1936, just ten months after his release, was a huge jolt to Canada, and especially Toronto. How could such an obvious threat to society be paroled from prison as a paragon of reform? This question is central to The Big Red Fox. The answer lies not with Ryan himself - not even the cunning and deceitful Red Ryan could have hoodwinked his way out of a life sentence - but with those who helped him, and who benefited from his release.

"In The Defoliation of America, Amy M. Hay profiles the attitudes, understandings, and motivations of grassroots activists who rose to fight the use of phenoxy herbicides (commonly known as the Agent Orange chemicals) in various aspects of American life during the post-WWII era. First introduced in 1946, these chemicals mimic hormones in broadleaf plants, causing them to, essentially, grow to death while grass, grains, and other monocots remain unaffected. By the 1950s, millions of pounds of chemicals were produced annually for use in brush control, weed eradication, other agricultural applications, and forest management. The herbicides allowed suburban lawns to take root and become iconic symbols of success in American life. The production and application of phenoxy defoliants continued to skyrocket in subsequent years, encouraged by market forces and unimpeded by regulatory oversight. By the late 1950s, however, pockets of skepticism and resistance had begun to appear. The trend picked up steam after 1962, when Rachel Carson's Silent Spring directed mainstream attention to the harm modern chemicals were causing in the natural world. But it wasn't until the Vietnam War, when nearly 40 million gallons of Agent Orange and related herbicides were sprayed to clear the canopy and destroy crops in Southeast Asia, that the long-term damage associated with this group of chemicals began to attract widespread attention and alarm. Using a wide array of sources and an interdisciplinary approach, The Defoliation of America is organized in three parts. Part 1 (1945-70) examines the development, use, and responses to the new chemicals used to control weeds and remove jungle growth. As the herbicides became militarized, critics increasingly expressed concerns about defoliation in protests over US imperialism in Southeast Asia. Part 2 (1965-85) profiles three different women who, influenced by Rachel Carson, challenged the uses of the herbicides in the American West, affecting US chemical policy and regulations in the process. Part 3 (1970-95) revisits the impact and legacies of defoliant use after the Vietnam War. From countercultural containment and Nixon's declaration of the "War on Drugs" to the toxic effects on American and Vietnamese veterans, civilians, and their children, it became increasingly obvious that American herbicides damaged far more than forest canopies. With sensitivity to the role gender played in these various protests, Hay's study of the scientists, health and environmental activists, and veterans who fought US chemical regulatory policies and practices reveals the mechanisms, obligations, and constraints of state and scientific authority in midcentury America. Hay also shows how these disparate and mostly forgotten citizen groups challenged the political consensus and were able to shift government and industry narratives of chemical safety"--