What A Fan it's Awesome Baby!

BASEBALL ANYONE???

BASEBALL ANYONE???

By: Fan Man

We are fans of all genres of sports and entertainment and our enthusiasm for the start of a new Season of sports is an exciting time... That time is NOW! Its MLB Baseball Season and what a great time it is.

Many of us have our favorite sport we follow and would never venture outside our comfort zone, but I urge you to do just that. Live a little, go outside the box. If you haven't been to a Baseball game in a while its time to revisit Americas past time... Many of us grew up playing the game on little league teams with our best friends and neighbors but some how we lost interest. Maybe it was the length of time it took to play, the limited action or you just weren't that good at it. Whatever the reason is that time of year when families are filling ball parks around the Country sharing their passion with their loved ones. We hope to see you at the ball park this Season...

INNOCENCE ROBBED

I vividly remember my first day as an Assistant State Attorney, thirty two years ago on March 17^th. I had recently graduated from law school and I believed that I had learned and seen it all. I quickly learned during my first assignment to Juvenile Division in our office that I was terribly wrong.

As an Assistant State Attorney newly assigned to the Juvenile Division, I was responsible for handling two kinds of cases, delinquencies and dependencies. Delinquent cases involve those cases in which a juvenile is charged with a crime. Dependency cases involve cases in which a child is found to have been abused, abandoned or neglected.

Our goal in dependency cases is to not only protect the child from the abuser but to also insure that the court considers what is in the best interest of the child in their placement pending a criminal trial for the accused as well as afterwards.

My first dependency case still haunts me as they all do. The social worker came down the hall to my office escorting two beautiful little girls. It was all I could do to keep from crying as I realized that they were so very young, six years old and four years old. I had already familiarized myself with the facts of their case. They had been sexually abused by their mother’s boyfriend. Their mother had abandoned them and had run with her boyfriend in an attempt to elude arrest. My maternal instincts were on full alert and my heart broke for these little girls. The older sister was holding onto her baby sister’s hand as if to communicate that she would protect her in this adult world at any cost. I looked at both of them and realized these beautiful little girls had forever been robbed of their innocence. I fought the urge to remain professional and detached. My heart would not allow it. I reached out to these two angels and hugged them trying to convince them through my comforting hugs, that not all adults hurt children.

That day my innocence was robbed as well. I will never forget these two little girls. I often think of them and pray that they are living happily with their own families now somewhere with these bad memories forgotten. I may have forgotten their names but their faces are etched in my heart and memory forever. Their case convinced me that I am and always will be dedicated to protecting children from the monsters in our society and to help with educating the public and encouraging everyone to become involved in protecting our children.

I challenge each of you to become involved with Whatafan.com’s commitment to blacking out child abuse. NO child should be robbed of their innocence. Each week I will be sharing various aspects of child abuse including tips for prevention and detection as well as a glimpse into some of the many cases that I have handled during the last thirty two years. Come join us on our journey……… Please do not hesitate to respond, or post and make suggestions for future discussions on this issue. With yourinvolvement and support anything is possible.

"BLACKOUT CHILD ABUSE"

Child Abuse, how do we begin to address this topic? Our answer is with sadness, anger, disbelief, outraged, frustration and conviction. The issue of child abuse and neglect has been the silent taboo for decades yet statistics of incidents resulting in death has soared. Media exposure has brought the problem out of the shadows of darkness and the stories disgust us all. Enough is Enough!

PAAD What A Fan Charities and Spirit Roller Pen are waging war on this epidemic robbing the innocence of our children. We have launched a program to advocate education and prevention of abused children called “BLACKOUT CHILD ABUSE.” This campaign was created as a result of frustration felt by the principles behind What A Fan. While watching the numerous child abuse stories that dominate the media at no time had there been information provided, a powerful face or company advocating on behalf of the victims or families effected, that was unacceptable…

Families across the country are facing the fear of their children becoming a statistic due to neglect or abuse. As the media continues to report on these issues we find the statistics to be extremely alarming. Even with all the attention placed on this problem, little is being done to raise the consciousness about prevention. The BLACKOUT CHILD ABUSE Campaign is dedicated to sounding the alarm and raising awareness about ways to prevent the assault on our children. We are pleased to have New England Patriots Pro Bowl Receiver Rob Gronkowski and several Professional and Olympic Athletes involved with the campaign and have agreed to wear the symbolic BLACKOUT under their eyes to call attention to the problem, encourage support, education and prevention.

Our mission is to put several recognizable faces behind this necessary cause, create a symbol of support that becomes synonymous with child abuse prevention and assist worthy organizations with desperately needed educational material and seminars to aid those effected by this devastating problem though our fund raising efforts. Your support is vital to the success of this initiative.

We are requesting individuals, corporations, restaurant chains, sports organizations, educational institutions, celebrity entertainers and athletes to all join the fight against this indiscriminate issue. Help us BLACKOUT CHILD ABUSE… Contact us and find out how.

Show your support by wearing the BLACKOUT below your eyes at your favorite event or in your place of business and encourage friends and family to join the fight.