Drowning is not the violent, splashing, call for help that most people expect. And parents: children playing in the water make noise. When they get quiet, you get to them and find out why.

In ten percent of child drownings, an adult will actually watch them drown and have no idea what is happening.

By Mario Vittone

The new captain jumped from the cockpit, fully dressed, and sprinted through the water. A former lifeguard, he kept his eyes on his victim as he headed straight for the owners who were swimming between their anchored sportfisher and the beach. “I think he thinks you’re drowning,” the husband said to his wife. They had been splashing each other and she had screamed but now they were just standing, neck-deep on the sand bar. “We’re fine, what is he doing?” she asked, a little annoyed. “We’re fine!” the husband yelled, waving him off, but his captain kept swimming hard. “Move!” he barked as he sprinted between the stunned owners. Directly behind them, not ten feet away, their nine-year-old daughter was drowning. Safely above the surface in the arms of the captain, she burst into tears, “Daddy!” Continue reading → Continue reading

"Emphasize that since catcalling itself is the opposite of polite, there’s no need to smile, laugh, or engage in conversation with the harasser."

Catcalling and other forms of sexual harassment start much earlier than many people think: a recent study found that 1 in 10 girls have been catcalled before their 11th birthday and a recent study has found that 1 in 6 girls in elementary and secondary school have experienced sexual harassment. And while some people say that girls should just ignore catcalling, Dr. Andrea Bastiani Archibald, the Girl Scouts’ Developmental Psychologist, explains that it has detrimental effects on girls, often making them feel unsafe and ashamed of their bodies in public. Continue reading → Continue reading

The driver who alerted police to the 16-year-old girl's plight did not understand the hand signal popularized on TikTok but he could tell that she was in distress and needed help.

The rescue of a kidnapped 16-year-old girl in Kentucky last week is raising awareness about the importance of staying vigilant for signs of distress and taking action if you see them. While the story went viral after the teen's use of a hand signal that was popularized on TikTok was originally credited as alerting the driver who called the authorities, it turns out that he hadn't understood the gesture but he could tell that the girl needed help. “I didn’t recognize a gesture,” 50-year-old David Isaacs, the driver who called 911 explained in an interview this week. “She was mouthing ‘help me.’ She said ‘help me, help me’ twice. I think she even lip-synced ‘call 911.'... It looked like she had been crying." Continue reading → Continue reading