26 Ways to help children

Many people have been horrified and saddened by the news of the beating death of Lydia Shatz and the discipline methods that her parents had been following. I've heard from many people who want to do more to fight this sort of abusive teaching and want to know what they can do to help.

Here's 26 ways to make the world better for children.

Speak out against child abuse. Too often, we stay quiet when people talk about abusive discipline methods. We don't want to start a fight, we want to respect parents' rights or we are just afraid of angering others. There is a difference between respecting another method of discipline and condoning abuse, though. Whipping an infant with a tree branch should not be a parent's "right" that anybody has to respect. Our silence is generally interpreted as approval. Let the world know that you do not support beating children into submission.

Support organizations like UNICEF.

Be a Big Brother or Big Sister to a child in your community. Families in Cottonwood, Jackson, Redwood, Lincoln and Lyon Counties can join the Big Buddies program and spend regular time with children who need some neat people in their lives.

Put a banner against "To Train Up a Child" on your web site. You can get the code for one banner and find out more about how to help here.

Educate yourself. In the case of the Pearls, people frequently say the books advocate "spanking" or that "they're not that bad." Read links and direct quotes here so you can answer these ridiculous statements.

If your library carries books by the Pearls, ask them to remove them and tell them why. (Fortunately, the Plum Creek Library System serving the Mankato region has no copies of the two main child abuse books the Pearls publish, "To Train Up a Child" or "No Greater Joy," though they do have a copy of another book by the Pearls.)

If you see these book at used book stores or thrift stores, buy them and destroy them.

Likewise, at sites like Amazon and Barnes and Noble, give the books and CDs low reviews and mark other negative reviews as helpful so they move up to the top. Write these sites and ask them to stop carrying products by the Pearls. This is not a censorship issue. These books are manuals for child abuse and have led to children's deaths.

Be a mentor for new parents. Offer to come give a new mother a break so she can take a nap or get out for a bit. Lend out slings, give breastfeeding tips and talk about what worked for you when your babies were little. Support parents' rights to make their own decisions and follow their own hearts, while modeling loving parenting.

Volunteer or donate to crisis nurseries.

Become a foster parent. If you can't be a foster parent, do what you can to support foster kids in other ways.

Intervene on behalf of children and parents in public.

Read books that help you be a better parent.

Volunteer at battered women's shelters like Mankato's CADA House and donate toys and children's books.

Give gifts of AP books that help parents and children. Good choices include The Baby Book for new or expectant parents and Kids Are Worth It! for parents of older children.

Become a Guardian Ad Litem for children in the courts.

Adopt a child. In Minnesota, there are currently about 650 children waiting to be adopted. Internationally, there is an astronomical need. It is estimated that over 15 million children have been orphaned worldwide by AIDS alone.

Report suspected child abuse. In Blue Earth County, call 507-304-4319.

Volunteer as a teacher's aide or tutor.

Use GoodSearch as your search engine and GoodShop as your shopping portal and every search or purchase will go towards the charity of your choice. Among the thousands of listed charities that support children on GoodSearch are MN organizations like Missing Children Minnesota, national ones like the American Foundation for Children With AIDS and local ones like the Mankato YWCA, local schools or the ECHO food shelf.

Be a safe home in your neighborhood for children to gather and play.

Speak out on behalf of children in your church, at the PTA, in letters to the editor and elsewhere in the community.

Donate your old car to Cars 4 Charities and designate an organization like Prevent Child Abuse Minnesota as the beneficiary.

Hold a fundraising event for a local children's organization. This can be as simple as helping the kids run a lemonade stand or holding a rummage sale for charity to organizing a city-wide event.

Write your representatives and encourage them to support legislation that helps children.

Love your children and make your own home a safe, happy place.

These are just a few ways to help children. Feel free to add other suggestions in the comments.

The Wakanheza Project teaches how to support parents in public

Another child's death linked to Pearls and "To Train Up a Child"

Michael Pearl writes that he is laughing at his critics after child's death

Child's death leads Christians to speak out against Michael and Debi Pearl