First Star's President And Founder Delivers Keynote Address At The Nacc 34th National Child Welfare, Juvenile, And Family Law Conference
American film, television, and media generally have a checkered history at best in portraying child abuse and neglect, Samuelson pointed out that the media landscape is changing quickly, the potential for self-advocacy among abused and neglected children may be huge.
- (1888PressRelease) September 01, 2011 - Coronado, CA - Peter Samuelson, President and Founder of First Star, the leading national advocacy group dedicated to improving life for child victims of abuse and neglect, presents the key note address, Child Abuse and Neglect in America: An Illustrated History in Film, at The National Association of Counsel for Children (NACC) 34th National Child Welfare, Juvenile and Family Law Conference.
American film, television, and media generally have a checkered history at best in portraying child abuse and neglect, ranging from the uplifting and ennobling to the prurient and exploitative. But does film follow society, or the opposite? Which the chicken and which the egg?
Samuelson pointed out that the media landscape is changing quickly, These tiny [video] cameras are being used all around the world by brave men and women documenting human rights abuses…At the First Star UCLA Bruin Guardian Academy, we gave each student a laptop and a flipcam, taught them how to use them and gifted them to every child that graduated. The potential uplift for self-advocacy may be huge: Let us encourage it wisely, but encourage it never the less: Would so many aspects of the System have remained so frustratingly broken for so long if the light of day had ever reached them?"
This summer, First Star partnered with the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) to create and launch the Bruin Guardian Summer Immersion Program. This five and a half week program served as a first, scalable step to leveling the educational playing field for foster youth, and will be replicated in DC in the summer of 2012. It is also a major first step toward the goal of establishing the UCLA Bruin Guardian Academy, a year-round, residential prep school. The Summer Program offered a supportive residential education strategically located on the UCLA campus and delivered the best chance towards a fulfilling future. The Bruin Guardian Summer Immersion Program gave the students the opportunity to rewrite shocking statistics of their cohort and become exemplary citizens. The program will expand to campuses nationwide, thus creating an entirely new avenue where Foster Youth build happy and productive lives, based upon excellent secondary education.
About First Star
First Star is a national 501(c)(3) public charity established in 1999 to strengthen the rights and improve the lives of America's abused and neglected children through education, public policy, legislative reform, and litigation. Our nonpartisan, multidisciplinary approach fosters collaborative action among organizations, advocates, practitioners and policy-makers working to benefit children.
We work towards a day when children's voices are heard and when their basic civil rights are recognized if they must pass through the child protective system. The professionals who these children interact with are well-trained, well-coordinated, and fairly compensated, and the court system that adjudicates their welfare and determines their future is open and accountable to the public for its actions and decisions.
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