Were We Born This Way? Thoughts on the Super Bowl…
Good evening Priscilla Bennett Community. Living and working in Boston my entire life groomed me to be a Patriots fan. So much hoopla the past few days leading up to a most exciting evening of football. It’s great to be with family and friends and celebrate. And the Patriots won! Don’t tell anyone but my favorite part is always the half-time show. Gaga did a fine job. That’s my two cents. Straight forward performance and no attention grabbing antics. It was refreshing. She said hi to mom and dad and kept to the patriotic theme that that most enjoy at our yearly “sacred sporting event.” Gaga has a wonderful charity called Born This Way. She and her staff counsel her millions of followers with resources for mental well-being, encourages you to share your stories, promotes a positive school climate and overall stresses KINDNESS. It got me to thinking that if we could combine all of the excitement of the NFL and the Super Bowl, garner that interest, engage people, excite them to help, we could raise awareness and work on solutions together to abolish domestic violence and all that is associated with it. Repercussions on family life, emotional abuse, sheltering, medical needs, legal ramifications and overall thriving in wake of this terrible epidemic. The list is endless. The help is needed, the education must start early in our schools and our online communities. I know that the Super Bowl is a happy event and domestic violence is still viewed as a “hush hush” kind of event. I read different reports that one in four or one in five women are being abused, reports vary, and why? WHY is this happening in 2017? As a retired emergency room nurse, I believe that domestic violence eradication must start with early education and being part of a strong community. Like football, run by rules and a strong group of people. My dream is to handle and address domestic violence. like football. Know the rules, you can’t abuse them , and build a strong community like the football fans.Today, we do have more awareness through charities such as NCADV (National Coalition Against Domestic Violence) but there is so much more work to be done. We must stand up, say NO and support each other. Please take a look at my resources tab at the bottom of my website and if you need help, know of someone or just have questions, please just pick up the phone because we all have something to be brave for.