[There is a little swearing, so this may not be suitable for work.]

Via Adam Mordecai at Upworthy:

Shane Koyczan, who just gave an amazing TED talk about bullying that you need to see, once spent some time in the hospital with an amazing nine-year-old kid dying of cancer. This is his amazing story.

At 1:47, we learn about a really weird girl. At 2:13, he shares a heartbreaking confession. At 2:40, he talks about why he wants to teach the kid to swear. At 3:53, he gets deeper than I want to be. At 4:40, he lays why a nine-year-old kid is more profound than any philosopher. And at 5:45, he just goes ahead and rips my heart out.

A homeless woman in Connecticut has been sentenced to prison for using a fake address to enroll her son in a public school outside of her former district. Tonya McDowell, who is black, listed her babysitter’s address so her son could attend a school in Norwalk, instead of Bridgeport, where she used to live. Now living out of a van, McDowell occasionally has stayed at a homeless shelter in Norwalk. She was accused of stealing over $15,000 in "free" educational services for her son. Coupled with other charges for selling illegal drugs, she was given a 12-year sentence in prison, suspended after she serves five years. Her attorney, Darnell Crosland, said: "You shouldn’t be arrested for stealing a free education. It’s just wrong."

[Via DemocracyNow!]

As the United Nations marks Thursday as International Day of the Girl Child, the world body's focus this year has been on ending child marriages.

In Afghanistan, the practice is illegal under the law but still common. In one case, an Afghan woman in Kabul was forced into a marriage at the age of 11.

Al Jazeera's Jennifer Glasse speaks to a woman in Kabul who was forced into marriage at age of 11.

DOWNLOADS: (17)

PLAYS: (49)

Embed

A police officer tased a 12-year-old girl inside a Victoria's Secret Wednesday afternoon at South County Center.

Police say the officer went to Victoria's Secret looking for the teenager's mom, who had warrants for her arrest. But it was the teen who got tased.

"This one goes in my chest. It was stuck in there so she had to keep on pulling trying to pull it out," said Dejamon Baker, as she pointed to a small wound on her chest, and a matching wound on her stomach.

A police spokesman said that the dangerous 12-year old was " physically getting involved and would not back away," as officers were arresting the girls mother on outstanding warrants for "unresolved traffic tickets."

The girl's mother said that she plans to file a complaint against the policeman who tazed her daughter.

[Via]

This is your Moment of Clarity #154: A child trafficking ring in China was broken up this week resulting in the arrest of 800 people and the rescue of 180 children. Just how much evil is there in the world?

Keep fighting,
~Lee

[LeeCamp.net]