episode 13
16:02
Have you ever known someone who despite the overwhelming odds against them, has overcome incredible trauma to lead a healthy, happy life? Every once in a while I meet someone like this and I am always in awe. So what's the best recipe for helping your child be resilient in the midst of whatever they face? Research says, it's you!
In this episode I want to introduce you to a tiny sampling of the army fighting to protect our kids. I met them at the Coalition to End Sexual Exploitation's 2019 Global Summit in Washington D.C. These are moms and dads, survivors and advocates, students and teachers. Some have the opportunity to work full-time for this cause, while others can only give a few hours here and there. In many ways they are just like you and me, doing what they can to make the world a better place for raising today's kids.
shownotes
Last week (June 12-15, 2019) I had the opportunity to travel to Washington D.C. to participate in the Coalition to End Sexual Exploitation’s 2019 Global Summit. It was several days of education, awareness, and networking with people who are trying to make a difference in the world our kids are growing up in. I could share some of the awful statistics, or the disturbing stories of people I met. But that’s not what I want to focus on today. I want to introduce you to some incredible people who are part of the army who are trying to make the world a better place for our kids.
I asked only eleven of them (out of hundreds!) what they feel motivated to do to apply what they learned at the summit, and here are their answers:
My first guest, Dr. Donald Hilton is a physician and neurosurgeon from San Antonio, Texas, who is very familiar with the harmful neurological effects of pornography.
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Dr. Hilton
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Dolina Smith is a retired grandma from Toronto, Canada. After she answers my initial question, I asked her to tell the story of how she became an advocate for ending sexual exploitation.
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Dolina Smith
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Next is Doug Osmond who is the Director of Nonprofit Development for Fight the New Drug. In case you haven’t heard from other episodes, Fight the New Drug is a non-religious and non-legislative organization that raises awareness about the harmful effects of pornography using only science, facts, and personal accounts.
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Doug Osmond
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Melissa McKay is a stay-at-home-mom who recently woke up to the harms of pornography in social media, and has become so educated about it that she is now educating congress so I asked her to also mention the campaign she created called FixAppRatings.
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Melissa McKay
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Ryan Werner was involved in this sphere for many years and just when he thought he was going to get a break from it, his position at the Malouf Foundation shifted to land him right back in.
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Ryan Werner
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Jake Neeley is also with the Malouf Foundation and is newer to this movement. I’m so inspired by his commitment to jump right in and take the initiative to create additional unity.
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Jake Neeley
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Dr. Brook Bello is an author and founder of More Too Life. She was the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from the president of the United States and was named a Google Next Gen Policy Leader for her advocacy work against human trafficking.
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Dr. Brook Bello
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Jay Taylor believes in healthy masculinity and teaches other men about it through the organization A Call to Men, out of New York.
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Jay Taylor
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Mia Taguchi is a college student in Las Vegas, Nevada and the Assistant Program Coordinator for the Collegiate Association of the Research of Principles.
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Mia Taguchi
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Roxanne is a concerned mom from Orlando, Florida armed with a determination to do something.
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Roxanne Eadie
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My last guest is Ryan Smit from South Africa with an organization called Cause for Justice, and is part of starting the Center Against Sexual Exploitation, South Africa which will be a hub for the anti-exploitation movement in South Africa. As part of that, they started a parent talk called The Unspoken Epidemic of Children and Pornography.
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Ryan Smit
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I just want to say another huge thank you to all my guests today. I gave each of them about ten seconds of advance notice before I started recording them. So each of their thoughts are a completely spontaneous record of what they felt inspired to do. I hope you also feel inspired, as I do, to continue being an intentional parent. Raising my kids might be the hardest thing I’ve done, but it’s also the most rewarding.
If you want to learn more about the summit go to endsexualexploitation.org. If you feel compelled to understand more about these issues, and what you can do to lift your kids above them, check out the other episodes of Raising Today’s Kids on any podcast app, or on my website, raisingtodayskids.com.
And please share this or any episode with someone who might need it.
You can also help the messages of my guests and I reach those who need it by writing a review on Apple Podcasts or any other podcast app. Reviews go a long way in making this podcast accessible.
Thanks for listening, and have an awesome day!
Brittany