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Lake Erie Waterkeeper
The mission of the Lake Erie Waterkeeper is to preserve and to improve the ecosystem of the Lake Erie watershed including its bays, rivers and tributaries.
www.lakeeriewaterkeeper.org
Land Trust for the Little Tennessee
The Land Trust for the Little Tennessee is dedicated to conserving the waters, forests, farms and heritage of the Upper Little Tennessee and Hiwassee River Valleys.
www.ltlt.org
League of Conservation Voters
League of Conservation Voters is a national non-profit organization that works to turn environmental values into national priorities.
www.lcv.org
Leave No Trace
The Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics teaches people how to enjoy the outdoors responsibly.
www.lnt.org
Legacy Land Conservancy
Legacy Land Conservancy protects forests, prairies, farms, wetlands and waters – today and forever.
www.legacylandconservancy.org
Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture
The Leopold Center is a research and education center on the campus of Iowa State University created to identify and reduce negative environmental and social impacts of farming and develop new ways to farm profitably while conserving natural resources.
www.leopold.iastate.edu
Lincoln Green by Design
Lincoln Green by Design’s mission is to bring together individuals, businesses, nonprofits and government agencies to promote a sustainable Lincoln and Lancaster County.
www.lincolngreenbydesign.com
Living Oceans Society
Living Oceans Society has been a leader in the effort to protect Canada’s Pacific coast since they were formed in 1998.
www.livingoceans.org
Local Food Hub
Local Food Hub is a nonprofit organization working to strengthen and secure the future of a healthy regional food supply by providing small farmers with concrete services that support their economic vitality and promote stewardship of the land.
www.localfoodhub.org
Louisiana Bucket Brigade
The mission of the Louisiana Bucket Brigade is to support communities’ use of grassroots action to create informed, sustainable neighborhoods free from industrial pollution.
www.labucketbrigade.org
Louisiana Environmental Action Network
The purpose of the Louisiana Environmental Action Network is to foster cooperation and communication between individual citizens and corporate and government organizations in an effort to assess and mend the environmental problems in Louisiana.
www.leanweb.org
Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association
The purpose of the Association is to help farmers and gardeners grow organic food, fiber and other crops; protect the environment; recycle natural resources; increase local food production; support rural communities; and illuminate for consumers the connection between healthful food and environmentally sound farming practices.
www.mofga.org
Maine Rivers
Our mission is to protect, restore and enhance the ecological health of Maine’s river systems.
www.mainerivers.org
Marcellus Earth First!
Marcellus Earth First! is a regional network of Earth First!ers united in the struggle to stop fracking–a region wide ecological terror.
www.marcellusearthfirst.org
Marine Conservation Alliance
Marine Conservation Alliance promotes science-based management and collaborative projects that promote stewardship, healthy oceans and sustainable fisheries to feed the world.
www.marineconservationalliance.org
Maui Tomorrow Foundation
Maui Tomorrow works with government decision makers and citizens to teach and promote growth management strategies, to implement sustainable development policies for Maui, and to preserve irreplaceable open space and natural areas.
www.maui-tomorrow.org
Media Matters for America
Media Matters for America is a Web-based, not-for-profit, 501(c)(3) progressive research and information center dedicated to comprehensively monitoring, analyzing, and correcting conservative misinformation in the U.S. media.
www.mediamatters.org
MedWish International
MedWish International is a not-for-profit organization committed to repurposing medical supplies and equipment discarded by the healthcare industry with the objectives of providing humanitarian aid in developing countries to save lives and reducing waste to save our environment.
www.medwish.org
Michael Fields Agricultural Institute
We are a non-profit organization with the mission to cultivate the ecological, social, economic and spiritual vitality of food and farming systems through education, research, policy and market development.
www.michaelfields.org
Michael Pollan: Today’s Link
Michael Pollan shares the link (or links) that he thinks readers will find most provocative or useful.
www.michaelpollan.com/todays-link
Michigan Association of Conservation Districts
The mission of the Michigan Association of Conservation Districts is to strengthen Michigan’s Conservation Districts through leadership, information and representation.
www.macd.org
Michigan Energy Options
Michigan Energy Options is a results driven nonprofit focused on promoting and implementing quality energy-efficiency and sustainability programming.
www.michiganenergyoptions.org
Michigan Nature Association
The purpose of the Michigan Nature Association is to acquire, protect and maintain natural areas that contain examples of Michigan endangered and threatened flora, fauna and other components of the natural environment, including habitat for fish, wildlife and plants of the state of Michigan and to carry on a program of natural history study and conservation education as permitted under the Michigan Nonprofit Corporation Act.
www.michigannature.org
Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission
The Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission (MORPC) is the regional voice and a catalyst for sustainability and economic prosperity in order to secure a competitive advantage for central Ohio.
www.morpc.org
Milwaukee Environmental Consortium
The Milwaukee Environmental Consortium fosters collaboration within Milwaukee’s environmental community through efficiencies of scale attained by the combined efforts of groups working together.
www.milwaukeeenvironmentalconsortium.org
Milwaukee Riverkeeper
Milwaukee Riverkeeper’s mission is to protect water quality and wildlife habitat in the river corridors and to advocate for sound land use in the Milwaukee, Menomonee and Kinnickinnic River Watersheds.
www.mkeriverkeeper.org
Minnesota Environmental Partnership
The Partnership’s mission is to strengthen the effectiveness of the Minnesota environmental community in protecting and enhancing the state’s natural resources.
www.mepartnership.org
Minnesota Waters
The mission of Minnesota Waters is to promote responsible stewardship of our water resources by engaging citizens, local and state policymakers and other partners in the protection and restoration of Minnesota’s lakes and rivers.
www.minnesotawaters.org
Missouri Coalition for the Environment
The Missouri Coalition for the Environment works to protect and restore the environment through education, public engagement and legal action.
www.moenviron.org
Missouri River Relief
Missouri River Relief is a grassroots, volunteer and equipment-based organization dedicated to reconnecting people to the Missouri River through hands-on river clean-ups and education events.
www.riverrelief.org
Missouri Votes Conservation
Missouri Votes Conservation is a non-partisan statewide organization that advocates for pro-environment legislation and political candidates in Missouri.
www.movotesconservation.org
Mobile Baykeeper
Mobile Baykeeper’s mission is to provide citizens a means to protect the beauty, health and heritage of the Mobile Bay watershed, Alabama’s waterways and coastal communities.
www.mobilebaykeeper.org
Mobilization for Climate Justice
The Mobilization for Climate Justice is a North America-based network of organizations and activists who have joined together to build a North American climate justice movement that emphasizes non-violent direct action and public education to mobilize for effective and just solutions to the climate crisis.
www.actforclimatejustice.org
Moms Clean Air Force
Moms Clean Air Force bring parents together to come out in strength for our kids’ right to clean air — just as our parents fought for us, forty years ago, when the Clean Air Act was first passed.
www.momscleanairforce.org
Moms Rising
Since 2006, MomsRising has been working to bring together millions of people who share a common concern about the need to build a more family-friendly America.
www.momsrising.org
Mothers Against Drilling in Our Neighborhoods
Mothers Against Drilling In Our Neighborhoods, or MADION, is a group formed by Ohio mothers whose sole mission is to preserve the health and safety of our children from the harmful effects of drilling for gas and oil in our neighborhoods.
www.mothersagainstfracking.org
Mountain Justice
Mountain Justice works to create diverse and sustainable economies in Appalachian regions traditionally dominated by the coal industry by supporting businesses, jobs and ways of living that are not environmentally or culturally destructive and are nourishing to the social and biological fabric of healthy communities.
www.mountainjustice.org
Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust
The Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust leads and inspires action to conserve and enhance the landscape from Seattle across the Cascade Mountains to Central Washington, ensuring a long-term balance between people and nature.
www.mtsgreenway.org
Multicultural Alliance for a Safe Environment
Multicultural Alliance for a Safe Environment is working to restore and protect the natural and cultural environment through respectfully promoting intercultural engagement among communities and institutions for the benefit of all life and future generations.
www.masecoalition.org
Contribute
Project goal: To create an environmentally friendly and sustainable alternative to leather, in this case using fungi.
<p>Project partner: Indonesian startup <a href="https://mycl.bio/about" target="_blank">Mycotech</a> is supported through universities, research institutions and the DBS Foundation. In 2019/2020, the company also received from funding from the SEED Initiative (Supporting Entrepreneurs for Environment and Development) and the German Environment Ministry's <a href="https://www.international-climate-initiative.com/en/details/project/financing-and-capacity-building-for-micro-and-small-climatesmart-enterprises-filling-the-gap-of-the-missing-middle-13_I+_041-328?iki_lang=en" target="_blank">International Climate Initiative</a>.</p><p>Project budget: Mycotech has received $500,000 in funding since 2017.</p><p>Humankind has been using animal skin to produce leather for thousands of years. It's a textile with a long tradition, but critics say making it causes animal suffering, consumes a lot of water and pollutes the environment with chemicals and CO2.</p>
<p>Adi Reza Nugroho wants to change that with his startup Mycotech based in Bandung, Indonesia. Nugroho comes from a family of mushroom farmers and is using fungi to make a <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/vegan">vegan</a>, leather-like alternative to the animal-based textile.</p><p>According to the company founded in 2012, the material is breathable, robust and grows using agricultural waste such as sawdust. The waste is mixed with fungi spores, which form mycelium — a fine branching mass of threadlike structures. After a few days, it can be harvested from the waste blocks, tanned and further processed.</p><p>Scientists around the world are <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/5-sustainable-alternatives-to-plastics/a-53338938" target="_blank">researching mycelium properties</a>, believing it could provide the basis for new materials. Some fashion businesses are already using "mushroom leather" to make products like shoes and bags.</p>
<p><em>A film by Nicole Ris und A.B. Rodhial Falah.</em><br/></p><p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/sustainable-fashion-eco/a-54867671?maca=en-VAM_volltext_ecowatch-28485-html-copypaste" target="_blank">DW</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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Plastic waste is bulldozed at a landfill. Needpix
The plastic recycling model was never economically viable, but oil and gas companies still touted it as a magic solution to waste, selling the American public a lie so the companies could keep pushing new plastic.
<p>"The bottle may look empty, yet it's anything but trash," claims a 1990 ad showing a plastic bottle bouncing out of a garbage truck, <a href="https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/energy-environment/2020/09/13/381750/how-big-oil-misled-the-public-into-believing-plastic-would-be-recycled/" target="_blank">Houston Public Media</a> reported. It's full of potential.… We've pioneered the country's largest, most comprehensive plastic recycling program to help plastic fill valuable uses and roles."</p><p>While the ad and countless others like it extolling the value of recycling sound environmentalist in nature, they were paid for by the plastics industry and their lobbying and trade organizations, the news report added.</p><p>Americans believed these ads and have been recycling plastic for decades, trusting the discards would be kept out of burgeoning landfills and oceans and reborn as new goods. The reality, however, is that most plastic can't and won't be recycled, reported NPR. According to the <a href="https://www.epa.gov/facts-and-figures-about-materials-waste-and-recycling/plastics-material-specific-data" target="_blank">EPA</a>, in the last 40 years, <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/recycling-plastic-reality-2615116844.html" target="_self">less than 10% of plastic has been recycled</a>.</p><p>Up until 2018, most recyclable plastic was shipped to China to deal with, reported Forbes. When the latter banned imports of 24 kinds of waste, including plastic from the U.S., more plastic ended up in U.S. landfills, the news report said. In 2017, 35,370 tons of plastic were produced and 26,820 tons of that was landfilled, the EPA estimated, reported Forbes.</p>
<p>A series of investigative reports done by <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/03/31/822597631/plastic-wars-three-takeaways-from-the-fight-over-the-future-of-plastics" target="_blank">NPR</a> and the PBS series <em>Frontline</em> this year found that the oil and gas industries — the makers of plastic — knew all along that plastic recycling would never be realistically feasible on a large scale, yet they spent tens of millions of advertising dollars each year telling the public that plastic can and should be recycled.</p><p>Internal documents from the 1970s and former executives confirmed that the industry knew all along that recycling at a large scale would never be economically viable because the process costs more than making new plastic, NPR reported.</p><p>Larry Thomas, who led the industry's lobbying group for more than a decade, broke his silence about what happened decades ago. The plastic industry never wanted recycling to work, because recycling was in direct competition with their business of selling as much oil as they possibly could, <a href="https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/energy-environment/2020/09/13/381750/how-big-oil-misled-the-public-into-believing-plastic-would-be-recycled/" target="_blank">Houston Public Media</a> reported.</p><p>"You know, they were not interested in putting any real money or effort into recycling because they wanted to sell virgin material," Thomas told the news report.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, starting in the late 1980s, the industry misled consumers into believing that recycling could be a magic panacea. Spending $50 million a year, big oil and plastic ran ads, installed collection centers and funded recycling projects and public regulation campaigns to convince the public that recycling works, <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/09/11/897692090/how-big-oil-misled-the-public-into-believing-plastic-would-be-recycled" target="_blank">NPR</a> reported.</p><p>"Selling recycling sold plastic, even if it wasn't true," another former plastic executive told NPR.</p><p>Most of these projects never came to fruition before funding was cut, or have long since ended, reported Houston Public Media.</p><p>The industry also lobbied 40 states to put recycling symbols with numbers on all plastic, even if they weren't recyclable, to bolster the public image that plastic can be a renewable resource, the news report found.</p>
<p>"It's pure manipulation of the consumer," Coy Smith, a frustrated recycler out of San Diego, told Houston Public Media. He witnessed firsthand how the symbols caused consumers to think any plastic with the symbol was recyclable.</p><p>Again, lobbying groups and the plastics industry knew all this. A 1993 industry report said that the codes created "unrealistic expectations" about how much plastic can actually be recycled and were being misused by companies as a "green marketing tool," Houston Public Media reported.</p><p>When plastic bans started to pop up in the '80s and '90s, the industry similarly promoted recycling as an alternative to the bans, NPR reported. The industry again decided to "advertise [its] way out" of cultural and policy shifts that could potentially lead to falling sales of new plastic, NPR reported.</p><p>"The feeling was the plastics industry was under fire, we got to do what it takes to take the heat off, because we want to continue to make plastic products," Thomas told NPR. "If the public thinks the recycling is working, then they're not going to be as concerned about the environment."</p>
<p>The strategy worked, and the companies promoted recycling while selling billions of dollars worth of new plastic. Meanwhile, old plastic continued to get trashed.</p><p>In response to the investigation, industry representative Steve Russell said the industry has never intentionally misled the public about recycling and is committed to ensuring all plastic is recycled, Forbes reported. Still, according to the news report, the oil industry makes $400 billion a year producing plastic and is discussing how to increase investment in plastic production given that demand for oil for cars is down.</p><p>As the truth about recycling comes out, states and environmentalists struggle to see <a href="https://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2020/03/13/fix-recycling-america/" target="_blank">if the broken system can be fixed at all</a>. While they do that, plastic production is predicted to triple by 2050, NPR reported, and, "once again, the industry is spending money on ads and public relations to promote plastics and recycling."</p>
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Few U.S. Students Repeat a Grade but That Could Change Due to COVID-19
19 September
Health + Wellness
54% of parents with school-age children expressed concern that their children could fall behind academically, according to a poll conducted over the summer of 2020. Maria Symchych-Navrotska / Getty Images
By Pamela Davis-Kean
With in-person instruction becoming the exception rather than the norm, 54% of parents with school-age children expressed concern that their children could fall behind academically, according to a poll conducted over the summer of 2020. Initial projections from the Northwest Evaluation Association, which conducts research and creates commonly used standardized tests, suggest that these fears are well-grounded, especially for children from low-income families.
<p>Based on the association's findings and my own research <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=sFKNk7EAAAAJ&hl=en" target="_blank">regarding academic achievement and socioeconomic status</a>, I believe it's likely, based on these early projections, that the widespread and rapid switch to remote schooling will have negative long-term academic consequences.</p><p>One possibility is that the share of students who end up repeating at least one grade at some point could rise due to this unprecedented disruption.</p><p>According to government data collected in 2018, only about <a href="https://datacenter.kidscount.org/data/tables/9713-children-ages-6-to-17-who-repeated-one-or-more-grades-since-starting-kindergarten" target="_blank">6% of U.S. students</a> <a href="http://smhp.psych.ucla.edu/pdfdocs/graderet.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">had to repeat a grade</a> before graduating from high school prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDI5NzkxNi9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzNzMxNzExOH0.selMyETdcP84ZFiYNqsaFZRjPHh0Zwj9HI9ySU77Yl4/img.png?width=980" id="952f7" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="99b9ddf4c6e5e0c4bcdbf9c2d9150f22" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
<p>Any potential effort to make students repeat a grade when they can't demonstrate they have learned enough to advance to the next one would build on some recent precedents.</p><p>Starting in 2001 with the <a href="https://www2.ed.gov/nclb/methods/reading/reading.html#4" target="_blank">No Child Left Behind Act</a>, reading proficiency by third grade became one of the federal mandates for schools to receive designated streams of federal funding.</p><p>This <a href="https://www.fcd-us.org/assets/2016/04/DoubleJeopardyReport.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">federal legislation, combined with research</a> indicating that children who couldn't yet read <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpubeco.2017.06.004" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">fared better when they repeated a grade</a>, brought about a wave of state-level legislation. So far, a total of <a href="https://www.ncsl.org/research/education/third-grade-reading-legislation.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">16 states have enacted laws</a> that prevent students from moving on from third grade until they are considered <a href="http://hermes.cde.state.co.us/drupal/islandora/object/co%3A26127/datastream/OBJ/view" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">proficient on standardized reading tests</a>.</p>
<p>These <a href="https://www.ncsl.org/research/education/third-grade-reading-legislation.aspx" target="_blank">state laws vary</a>. Some states, like <a href="https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2011/1008.25" target="_blank">Florida</a>, require students who aren't reading well enough to repeat third grade altogether. Others, such as <a href="https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/120B.12" target="_blank">Minnesota</a>, let children move onto fourth grade and provide them with supplemental reading assistance until they can read at what the state deems to be a third-grade level. In practice, students typically don't repeat more than one grade.</p><p>I consider it likely that the academic consequences of the extended period of remote learning that began in March 2020 will be unequal. These consequences are bound to fall more heavily on students who are growing up facing persistent <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/0893-3200.19.2.294" target="_blank">economic hardship</a>.</p><p>The practice of making children who are struggling to learn how to read repeat third grade, however well-intentioned, can be risky. For example, students who repeat a grade can feel <a href="http://hermes.cde.state.co.us/drupal/islandora/object/co%3A26127/datastream/OBJ/view" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">stigmatized and less motivated to learn</a>.</p><p>Therefore, I believe parents, educators and policymakers will all need to try to address the inevitable gaps in learning bound to arise from widespread remote learning during the pandemic.</p>
<p>
<em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/pamela-davis-kean-1142666" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Pamela Davis-Kean</a> is a </em><em>Professor of Psychology, University of Michigan.</em>
</p><p>
<em>Disclosure statement: </em><em>Pamela Davis-Kean receives funding from the National Science Foundation and the National Institute for Child Health and Development (NICHD).</em><span></span>
</p><p>
<em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://theconversation.com/few-us-students-ever-repeat-a-grade-but-that-could-change-due-to-covid-19-143883" target="_blank">The Conversation</a>.</em>
</p><p>
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Teen Depression Was Already a Problem; The Pandemic Could Be Making It Worse
17 September
Health + Wellness
A teenager reads a school English assignment at home after her school shut down because of the COVID-19 pandemic on March 22, 2020 in Brooklyn, New York. Andrew Lichtenstein / Corbis via Getty Images
The pandemic has affected everyone, but mental health experts warn that youth and teens are suffering disproportionately and that depression and suicide rates are increasing.
<p>"While young people are generally physically healthy, they are psychiatrically vulnerable." Dr. Richard Friedman wrote in a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/06/opinion/suicide-young-people.html?smid=em-share" target="_blank">New York Times</a> opinion piece in January.</p><p>The psychiatrist warned even then that there was already an "epidemic of teen depression and suicide" that was largely being overlooked and under-supported. He cited <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db352-h.pdf" target="_blank">evidence from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)</a> that, after declining for almost 20 years, the suicide rate among Americans aged 10 to 24 had jumped 56 percent between 2007 and 2017. Suicide has been, and is still, the second leading cause of death, after accidents, for that same age range, the <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db352-h.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">CDC</a> reported.</p>
<p>Shutdowns and other responses to the coronavirus pandemic since Friedman's article have exacerbated the already precarious situation of youth mental health and well-being.</p><p>A <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6932a1.htm" target="_blank">CDC survey on mental health in June</a> found symptoms of anxiety and depression "up sharply," <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/09/10/911117577/the-pandemic-has-researchers-worried-about-teen-suicide" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">NPR</a> reported. 11% of respondents said they had "seriously considered" suicide in the past 30 days; among 18 to 34-year-olds, that number more than doubled to 25%. The news report offered up uncertainty about the future and the state of the world, educational and daily routine disruptions, and isolation from peers and caring adults as potential factors.</p><p>Teenagers crave structure, Mendi Baron, founder of Ignite Treatment Centers, told <a href="https://knpr.org/knpr/2020-07/toll-teens-mental-health-experts-say-pandemic-causing-uptick-depression-suicides" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">KNPR's State of Nevada</a>. Without it, their mood and mental health suffer, she said.</p>
<p>According to the <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/daily-life-coping/stress-coping/grief-loss.html" target="_blank">CDC</a>, many have experienced increased grief and loss due to the "drastic changes to daily routines and ways of life that usually bring us comfort and a feeling of stability." How adolescents experience and process this grief is similar and different than in children and adults, the center said.</p><p>"Adolescents may experience significant changes in their sleep patterns, isolate themselves more, frequently appear irritable or frustrated, withdraw from usual activities, or engage more frequently with technology," the CDC said. "It is important for parents or caregivers to engage with their adolescents over their grief to promote healthy coping and acceptance. Parents may also need to obtain mental health services for the adolescent and family to deal with grief."</p><p>Teens are also "hardwired to be social," Baron told the KNPR's State of Nevada. Caroline Edgeworth, a high school student and co-founder of Hope Means Nevada, told KNPR that school closures had "dramatically hurt" her and her friends because of lost time together and with their sports teams.</p><p>"It was kind of my escape from home and <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/cabin-fever-coping-skills-2645677793.html" target="_self">now I'm stuck at home</a>," she said, reported KNPR.</p><p>Lisa Damour, an adolescent psychologist, agreed.</p><p>"Teenagers are in a developmental space where it is critically important that they have regular contact with their peers and are able to develop close and ongoing relationships with adults outside the home, such as their teachers, their coaches, their advisers," she told NPR. "And I worry very much about what it means for that to be disrupted by the pandemic."</p>
<p>Spending more time at home due to quarantine also increases another major factor in youth suicides: increased access to lethal weapons.</p><p>NPR reported that gun ownership in a particular state was the single strongest predictor of youth suicide rates in the state. A 2019 study found that for each 10 percent increase in household gun ownership, the suicide rate for 10- to 19-year-olds increases by more than 25 percent in that state, NPR reported.</p><p>Gun sales also doubled between March and June, the report stated, with 40% of the 10 million new guns sold during that time being to new gun owners. It's a "red flag" because firearms are used in over half of youth suicides, NPR reported.</p><p>Not having guns in the home or keeping them safely locked away is especially important with adolescents having to stay home due to the pandemic because "teens are impulsive," Damour told NPR.</p>
<p>These factors are causing some experts to push for schools to reopen, including CDC Director Dr. Robert R. Redfield, reported <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Health/schools-reopen-students-mental-health-experts-weigh/story?id=71969959" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">ABC News</a>. The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) and American Psychiatric Association (APA) generally support the CDC's push to reopen schools for the sake of children's mental and developmental health, but not where coronavirus is circulating, ABC reported.</p><p>"Whether we are sending students back for in-person school or not, we need to put emphasis on providing mental health support," child and adolescent psychiatrist Dr. Avanti Bergquist, elected school board member and distinguished fellow of AACAP, told ABC.</p><p>Parents, caregivers and teachers can keep these tips in mind to <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/childrens-mental-health-pandemic-family-support-2647353043.html?rebelltitem=5#rebelltitem5" target="_self">help kids and teens struggling during the pandemic</a>:</p><ul><li>Educate parents and teachers to recognize depression in young people and learn the warning signs of suicide, like sudden behavior changes, talking or writing about suicide, and giving away prized possessions, Friedman wrote in the New York Times.</li><li>Talk to kids. Check-in regularly. If a teen talks about hurting themselves or disappearing, ask directly, "Is that something you think you might really do or you think about doing? Or are you just letting me know that you're very upset right now?," Damour told NPR. Importantly, listen with compassion and without dismissing what they are saying.</li><li>Listen. The <a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/daily-southtown/ct-sta-vickroy-teens-mental-health-st-0826-20190823-xcp4eclb35hvjhhha7b6uiu25q-story.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Chicago Tribune</a> reported on the importance of being heard. Ask students how they are doing, and listen with an open mind. The <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/05/advice-for-parents-mental-health-children-covid-19/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">World Economic Forum</a> stressed fostering relationships and creating an open-dialogue about wellness and feelings. "The stronger the connections are, the more opportunities they'll have to address something before it becomes untenable," said Nadjeh Awadallah, director of a Chicago INSPIRE program, reported the Tribune.</li><li>Acknowledge grief and loss. The <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/daily-life-coping/stress-coping/grief-loss.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">CDC</a> suggested outlets to process and express grief such as music, art, writing, gardening and other creative activities.</li><li>Look out for anger as an indicator. "In teenagers, uniquely, depression can take the form of irritability," Damour said, reported NPR. "That depression in teenagers sometimes looks like a prickly porcupine. Everybody rubs them the wrong way. And that is easy to miss because sometimes we'll just dismiss that as being a snarky teenager."</li><li>Foster strong coping skills, also suggested the Tribune. Awadallah suggested meditation, conversation and other means of self-regulation and centering. Being reflective and able to calm yourself down is an important self-care component that everyone, including adults, should practice, Awadallah told the Tribune. For these pandemic times and beyond, there are <a href="http://mindfulnessforteens.com/guided-meditations/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">online resources</a> and <a href="https://www.teenvogue.com/gallery/meditation-apps-to-try-now" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">even phone apps</a> specifically catering to teens to boost their mindfulness and mental and emotional well-being. </li><li>Develop new rituals to replace lost ones. The CDC suggested those that live together to play board games or <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/quarantine-fatique-2645923350.html" target="_self">exercise together outdoors</a>. Those isolated can play virtual games together online.</li><li>Encourage safe outlets. Look for safe sports, work or volunteer opportunities that allow teens to have social time and contact with other caring adults, Damour told NPR.</li><li>Use <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/online-therapy-coronavirus-2646114980.html" target="_self">tele-therapy</a>. Damour noted that therapy over video chat has worked "surprisingly well" with adolescents, NPR reported.</li></ul><p>Finally, "one of the most important things to know about grief is that there isn't a quick fix," licensed therapist Jody Baumstein told <a href="https://www.strong4life.com/en/pages/behavior/articles/helping-kids-and-teens-deal-with-grief" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Children's Healthcare of Atlanta Strong4Life</a>. "The only way to truly deal with grief is to acknowledge it, feel it and work through it."</p><p><em>If you or someone you know is showing warning sides of suicide risk, reach out to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK or at </em><a href="https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>suicidepreventionlifeline.org</em></a><em>. The </em><a href="https://www.crisistextline.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Crisis Text Line</em></a><em> is available by texting TALK to 741741.</em></p>
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Former Pence Aid Endorses Biden, Says Trump Cared More About Re-election Than Stopping Coronavirus
18 September
Politics
In an ad released by Republican Voters Against Trump, former coronavirus task force member Olivia Troye roasted the president for his response. Republican Voters Against Trump / YouTube
Yet another former Trump administration staffer has come out with an endorsement for former Vice President Joe Biden, this time in response to President Donald Trump's handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
<p>In an ad released by Republican Voters Against Trump (RVAT) Thursday, a former homeland security advisor to Vice President Mike Pence, as well as his top aide on the White House coronavirus task force, accused the president of caring more about his chances of reelection than the pandemic.</p><p>"Towards the middle of February, we knew it wasn't a matter of if Covid would become a big pandemic here, it was a matter of when," the aide, Olivia Troye, said in the video, as <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/17/politics/former-pence-aide-coronvirus-task-force-slams-trump/index.html" target="_blank">CNN reported</a>. "But the President didn't want to hear that, because his biggest concern was that we were in an election year, and how was this going to affect what he considered to be his record of success?"</p>
<div id="af97a" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="998a352f5cc7ff389416d2b3276d97c9"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1306685541220524046" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">NEW AD: @OliviaTroye was @VP's lead staffer on COVID-19. She put her heart & soul into the job.
After a while she… https://t.co/Erfsf9W6cY</div> — Republican Voters Against Trump (@Republican Voters Against Trump)<a href="https://twitter.com/RVAT2020/statuses/1306685541220524046">1600373084.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>Troye also said she witnessed Trump dismiss the severity of the new disease.</p><p>"It was shocking to see the president saying that the virus was a hoax, saying that everything's OK when we know that it's not," Troye said. "The truth is, he doesn't actually care about anyone else but himself."</p><p>Troye's video comes about a week after the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/trump-coronavirus-woodward-tapes-2647565763.html" target="_self">release of tapes</a> in which Trump acknowledged to journalist Bob Woodward that he did in fact understand the severity of the virus, but downplayed the risks to the public in order to prevent panic. The disease has now sickened more than 6.6 million Americans and killed almost 200,000, according to Friday morning figures from <a href="https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html" target="_blank">Johns Hopkins University</a>.<br></p>
<p>In another shocking revelation, Troye recalled an extremely callous remark Trump had made about the new disease.</p><p>"Maybe this Covid thing's a good thing," Troye claimed the president said during a meeting. "I don't like shaking hands with people. I don't have to shake hands with these disgusting people."</p><p>Troye continued by reflecting that "those disgusting people" were the same people who supported the president and who he claimed to care about, as <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/olivia-troye-pence-advisor-endorses-biden-coronavirus-task-force/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">CBS News reported</a>.</p><p>"If the president had taken this virus seriously, or if he had actually made an effort to tell how serious it was, he would have slowed the virus spread, he would have saved lives," Troye said.</p>
<p>The White House responded by saying that Troye, who left the administration in late July, was merely lashing out at her former employers.</p><p>"I haven't read her comments in any detail, but it reads to me like one more disgruntled employee who's left the White House and now has decided to play politics during an election year," Pence told reporters, as CNN reported. "I think my staff has indicated that she made no comments like that when she was serving on our team here at the White House coronavirus task force."</p><p>White House spokesperson Judd Deere said that Troye never attended private meetings with the president and that her statements were inaccurate, as CBS News reported. And White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany <a href="https://twitter.com/PressSec/status/1306747024210001922" target="_blank">tweeted</a> a letter Troye sent to the coronavirus task force upon her departure in which she praised its members for their efforts.</p>
<div id="2a391" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="2ec3a912ad5dfd294d10417281f42254"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1306747024210001922" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Interesting departure letter from a disgruntled former detailee who typically sat in the overflow room of task forc… https://t.co/wWBvf1Vusx</div> — Kayleigh McEnany (@Kayleigh McEnany)<a href="https://twitter.com/PressSec/statuses/1306747024210001922">1600387743.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>However, POLITICO pointed out that the letter was addressed to the task force and did not mention Trump, while Troye's video criticized Trump specifically. In the ad, Troye maintained that serving on the task force was the "honor of a lifetime," but she felt her efforts were undermined by Trump's decisions.</p><p>"I put my heart and soul into this role every single day," she said in the ad, as POLITICO reported. "But at some points I would come home at night, I would look myself in the mirror and say, are you really making a difference? Because no matter how hard you work or what you do, the president is going to do something detrimental to keeping Americans safe."</p><p>Fellow task force member and top U.S. infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci said Thursday that Troye was a "good person" and "important to the team," as CBS News reported.</p>
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