There is perhaps an overload of information circulating the internet, television, and social media with various discussions about the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). The COVID-19 strain is a serious issue, and NCRSOL is watching developments closely for our registry, family, and ally communities. 

Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that can cause illness in humans. Human coronaviruses commonly circulate in the United States and usually cause mild illnesses like the common cold. Coronaviruses like COVID-19 are most often spread through the air by coughing or sneezing, through close personal contact (including touching and shaking hands) or through touching your nose, mouth or eyes before washing your hands.

The CDC recommends to follow these common-sense measures to protect yourself and others from spreading viruses, including COVID-19:

• Wash hands frequently with soap and water for at least 20 seconds at a time.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands.
• Avoid close contact with people who are ill.
• Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when you cough or sneeze.
• Do not reuse tissue after coughing, sneezing, or blowing your nose.
• Clean and disinfect surfaces that are frequently touched.

The CDC does not recommend that people who are healthy wear a facemask to protect themselves from respiratory viruses. Facemasks should be used by people who have been diagnosed with COVID-19 and other respiratory illnesses like flu to protect others from getting infected. 

Currently, there is no vaccine to protect against COVID-19. The best way to protect yourself from respiratory diseases like COVID-19 is to take common-sense precautions. 

Most people with illnesses due to coronavirus recover on their own. There are no specific treatments for COVID-19, but treatments to bring down fever or alleviate other symptoms may help. For people who become severely ill, hospitals can provide care. 

Older adults and people who have severe chronic medical conditions like heart, lung, or kidney disease and those with weakened immune systems seem to be at higher risk for more serious COVID-19 illness.

If you develop symptoms within 14 days after travel from an affected area or have contact with a person known to have COVID-19, you should call to discuss this with your health care provider and your local health department. Effective 3/13/2019, President Trump authorized a national emergency declaration. That declaration allows states to set up emergency operation centers “effective immediately” and asking “every hospital in the country to activate its emergency preparedness plan.” 

Those impacted by the N.C. Sex Offender Registry bi-annual and in some cases, quarterly in-person sheriffs visits have not been put on hold or suspended. The staff at NCRSOL urges all those directly impacted by the sex offender registry to continue to obey the law and appear when notified by letter to do so. It is advisable to check with the Sheriff in your county of registration for up-to-date information should COVID-19 procedures and closing suddenly escalate. Never assume because the courts are closed that the Sheriff’s office will be closed. Law enforcement is a continual 24-hour cycle. Additionally, there is no legal remedy within current state registry laws that allows for national emergencies. NCRSOL urges all registrants to remain compliant to avoid unnecessary legal problems. 

Most of all, NCRSOL urges everyone to be safe, healthy, and informed. Hopefully, soon the COVID-19 will pass so that we may get back to a sense of normalcy in our daily lives. 

I just read this saying this week:  Raising a teen is like nailing JELL-O to a tree.  Truly made me laugh out loud…I can seriously see me trying this with ooey-gooey red JELL-O…and making an utter mess of it.  Sometimes that is how I feel as a parent.  One of the most challenging aspects I face is being a parent in a family with a registered citizen.  I am the wife of a registrant.  We have a child who has become a teenager.  As if raising a teenager isn’t challenging enough on its own, add all the registry restrictions by which our family has to live.  As a younger child, we were able to shield our child from the stigma of the registry.  However, our child is now at an age where every friend, parent, teacher, coach, and neighbor have access to online information revealing our  situation.  Our child is at the age where kids are starting to ask questions. Imagine being a teenager and questioned if your parent is on the registry because they ran across something on the internet.  People tend to sensationalize everything.  People love drama. People love gossip.  People forget there are real people behind the gossip.  We are NOT those kind of people. We understand that there’s a deeper side to people’s stories – that there are deep wounds that open up every time someone recounts your family story.

My family has entered the age of teenagers and dating.  There’s no handbook on navigating this space.  Do you have a sit-down with the girlfriend’s/boyfriend’s parents and share your family situation?  Do you just remain silent?  Do you just wait it out, knowing that high school relationships are often short-lived anyway?  Do you worry that your story will spread like revenge wildfire if your teen and their significant other ever breakup?  Do you let your child date “outside” the home so that the significant other is never at your house or in your presence, in order to keep your own family safe?  How is your child supposed to handle it when their significant other asks why they never hang out at your house?  Is your teen more vulnerable to accusations simply because a family member was accused?  These are the situations we face daily and I do not have the right answers.  I am not sure if there are any “right” answers.

As a parent of a teenager, there are things I have learned along my journey.  I have learned to be honest with our child, no matter how ugly the situation is.  It has always been age-appropriate level of information we share, of course, but always the truth.  When he was young and asked questions, we always answered.  He knew he could ask.  Sometimes the answer may be that it’s not really age appropriate right now but we will tell you more as you age.  We have worked on trust since he was very young, and that has been our greatest bond as a family.  As our child has aged, he has had to learn to manage the curiosity of others.  I am not there every time someone asks a question of him, so he has to be mature beyond his years and be ready to respond.  We have practiced “scripted” responses so that in the event he is questioned, he has an answer ready that is true but allows the conversation to turn in a different direction.

I do hate it for our son – he has to live two lives.  He is not ready to share our life story with every person in his life, as trust is difficult to come by. He has already seen those, who were his best friends, turn into different people seemingly overnight.  The teen years often do that.  He has come close to sharing his story, then pulled back.  This is something he has to gauge and it is a natural part of growing up.  He struggles because he is a true friend to others, very compassionate and sincere.  It is a challenge for him to not share his story – for that makes him feel dishonest.  But, he has had to grow up faster than most kids and find a level of maturity that others don’t have.  We are so proud of him.  I need to say that again – we are SO proud that he has navigated this ugly path along with us and been an emotional support for us when we aren’t at our best.  As much as I can complain about the absolute ridiculousness of the registry, I have to give credit in one thing.  It has made our son the man he is growing into, and we are beyond blessed. He is finding his voice.  He is extremely protective of his family.  He has learned to be a true friend who others can trust, because he more than anyone understands the need for true friendships and trust.

So here’s to all the parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, friends, and neighbors of those on the registry.  It’s a tough road but it is not impossible.  We live in a much different world than when I was young.  The conversations we have with our son have to reflect that.  I always heard it was more difficult to raise daughters than sons.  I disagree.  Any kind of parenting is a challenge, especially when the legal system continues to make laws which make living as a family so challenging.  Families do things together – but the registry is so limiting towards family-oriented activities.  Yet another thing we face daily – but we do our best.  So get creative in your family.  Surround each other with love, trust, and encouragement.  And when you’re struggling, remember….there are NCRSOL members who are walking a similar path.  You’re never alone.

Let it be said – Parenting ain’t easy!

As I always remind you, you must be the change you wish to see in the world.
Be a change agent…
– Phoebe

The next scheduled MOM clinic will be held on October 18-19, 2019 at the Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte, NC. Patients are treated on a first-come, first-serve basis beginning at 6:00 am each day. Upon arrival, patients receive a health screening, x-rays and an examination by a licensed dentist. Then, the patient and dentist will discuss the recommended treatment plan. Offered dental procedures may include cleanings, fillings, teeth pulling or partial dentures for front teeth.

For more information about this and future MOM events, visit ncdental.org or call 919-234-4037. If you miss this free event, don’t worry. The next scheduled dental clinic will be March 27-28, 2o20 in High Point.

As Fox 6 reports:

For the last ten days, Kahlil has been back in Children’s Hospital with a severe illness, which included surgery Friday, March 9. Kahlil’s wish to see his father was not possible after the hospital booted him from their facility on Tuesday.

“I’m in the room with Kahlil, and next thing I know security guards and a male nurse ask me to step outside the door. Kahlil sat right there in a chair and they told me I have to leave because I’m a registered sex offender,” said Yates.

In 1998, Yates pleaded guilty to second degree sexual assault in Brown County. A criminal complaint says the then 29-year-old inappropriately touched a 15-year-old babysitter at the time.

Yates says he took a plea in the case, thinking he would serve six months in prison. Instead, a judge handed down a five-year sentence. Yates must be registered as a sex offender for life.

It’s as if the authorities are saying: this man can never change. A person convicted of a sex offense will always be a pariah, unfit for human companionship. Yates told Fox:

“I gave Wisconsin my time. I am not a re-offender. I’ve been free for 20 years. I’ve been a good father, I’ve been a good husband, here it is my son has to pay for something I did,” said Yates.

Yates is now suing the hospital to be let back inside. His attorneys call the hospital’s move “unnecessary and cruel.”

In the face of a lawsuit, the hospital relented in part, and will permit Yates to visit three times a week, for two hours, under supervision. But the visits must be approved 24 hours in advance, meaning that if the boy wakes up feverish or, God forbid, takes a turn for the worse, his dad will not be able to hurry to his side. This seems cruel and pointless. The boy loves the dad, the dad love his son, and there is no evidence of the father having had any further run-ins with the law, or sexual misdeeds.

Lifetime registration of sex offenders keeps them from being treated like humans, which in turn means their families, including their kids, aren’t afforded any humanity. And yet we are always told that such policies are necessary to protect our precious children.

Republished from Reason.com

Lenore Skenazy is founder of the book and blog Free-Range Kids, and president of the nonprofit Let Grow Foundation.