Answer From CafeMom

Unfortunately, when asked why they aren't allowing any mention of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act, this was the response that was received:

CafeMom Team on May. 29, 2007 at 4:34 PM
The posts and these users were deleted because they were trolling, plain and simple. Their primary goal was not to get out awareness about this petition, but to harass other members, cross-post and re-post things and essentially damage the quality of this site.

Whatever they really wanted, it was totally obscured by the fact that they went about things in completely the wrong manner. Users who come here with destructive and malicious intent will be deleted without any warning or notification and all attempts will be made to block them from returning. We have zero tolerance for troublemakers.

- The CafeMom Team"

So, wanting to raise awareness about a law that urgently needs to be funded so that it can be put into effect makes one a troublemaker and a troll. Wow! This coming from a gathering place for moms, too.

You would think that they would support an effort to bring awareness to this need and to want to help. Instead they call names, refuse to reconsider their position, and immediately delete the information and the person who posted it!

Not only were the moms who posted this information not intent on causing chaos and destruction, they really just felt that this was an action that other moms might be interested in learning more about!

So, the clamp down on information sharing continues at CafeMom, and it doesn't look like it will be letting up anytime soon. I'm just amazed at the steadfast disinterest in allowing mention of this act and the lack of willingness to review their policy.

A Good Question

I have posted a couple of articles about the mom site that has been deleting posts about the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act and the campaign to encourage people to write to their representatives to demand that immediate funding be put in place to make it operational as outlined in the petition that is located here.

A mom friend of mine asked me a question recently after reading one of the articles, and I'm really glad that she took the time to ask. Her question was: wouldn't it just be more effective to make one post and continue to bump it to the top than to make multiple posts that are all exactly the same?

It is a good question because I didn't clarify that this isn't a standard forum in the familiar sense of a "forum". Here is the answer that I gave to her:

The difference with the posts that are being deleted is a matter of set up. The set up of that site and what makes it different than a forum is that it really isn't a forum in the familiar sense. It is made up of "groups". When one joins, they can join various different groups based on particular interests. There are book club groups, groups for fans of different TV shows, nursing mothers groups, groups for different religious affiliations, and so on. It isn't just set up as a normal forum.

The posts that are being deleted are posted as "journals". These are set up as individual blogs. On the home page of each member, there is an option to post a journal. Once a member posts a journal, it shows up in a list of other journal posts. Any member can leave comments on a journal post, too. So, these aren't able to be bumped to the top like a forum post could. In essence, their posts are all individual blogs, and very different than forum posts.

The site is still remaining silent on this issue and there is currently a huge effort to get the word out to the financial sponsors of this site. People who have blogs are posting about this and MySpace bulletins have been posted, too. Many moms have been writing letters to their local media outlets, such as radio stations and newspapers, and news programs.

Thanks for asking about this! I didn't even think to clarify the difference in set up between the site doing this and a standard forum, so I am glad that you asked!
~~~~~
Hopefully this clears up any confusion that I created when I didn't clarify the difference between the site in question and a standard forum.

Take care,
Cindi

CafeMom refuses to allow information to STOP child predators to be published!

CafeMom.com, a popular website for mothers, has been deleting every journal that members have posted to support the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act (AWCPSA). These ladies are simply trying to get the word out about what people can do to push this Act into practice. The AWCPSA has already been approved and is merely awaiting funds to operate.

The journals posted by these ladies were merely intended to gain awareness. There was nothing in any journal that was against CafeMom’s TOS, but administrators deleted them, nonetheless. Other members of CafeMom have been permitted to post links to petitions and websites as they please, with no interruption from the administration, but at the first mention of the AWCPSA, the account and journal entry are deleted. Obviously, CafeMom has issues with this Act in particular. Does CafeMom not care about stopping sex offenders and child abusers? This would seem to be the case.


The ladies in support of the AWCPSA, whose accounts were all deleted from CafeMom, joined together in an effort to educate people as to how they can help put this Act into practice. You can visit http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/948814946 to see what these ladies are doing to raise awareness. It’s not important to sign the petition there, as it was written only to prove a point. What is important is that you print and sign the letter and mail it to your senator!


You can contact CafeMom to speak out against this atrocity at feedback@cafemom.com. Let them know that this is NOT acceptable. If you already have a CafeMom account post a journal in support of the AWCPSA along with a link to the pledge. Speak out against CafeMom’s horrendous and uncaring actions! Let's all work together to protect our children, today!

Protect the Child Petition - send your letters now!

Click here for the Petition

The colors of this world are many and beautiful.

From the sweet pastels of pink and blue that remind us of layettes and freshly scrubbed baby cheeks to the deep jeweled tones of autumn foliage found at feet of the fondest memories, it is the color that we remember. It is the color that reminds us of what was, what is, and what should be.

Therefore, out of concern for the safety and welfare of us all, this petition has been drafted in order to demand that we put the power of color to use and demand that all stop signs from this day forward be RED.

A powerful and symbolic color, most of us already associate RED with stop- just as we associate the color green with go. The time to make a difference is NOW. It is imperative that we take the time to form a united front and demand that everyone knows when to STOP. It is time that we make a united stand and be heard as one voice when we demand that all stop signs should be RED.

By now, you should be asking yourself why you just spent the last few moments reading a petition about making stop signs red. After all, stop signs are already red. What would be the point in signing a petition that makes demands for the creation of something that already exists?

That's the point. There isn't one.

Sometimes, we get all caught up in the need to make a difference- the need to bring about a change; that we don't take the necessary time in order to find out whether or not that change is already there just waiting to make a difference on its own. We don't take the time to find out what it is that is necessary to make that change beneficial to us all.

Stop signs are already RED.

The Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 (HR 4472) is already signed by our President and is only waiting the necessary funding to have it fully operational. Please take a moment to read through the basic fact sheet found here or realize its full potential by reading through the entire act HERE.

Once you have recognized what a major impact this Act will have on this terrible war against our children, we ask that you come back here and add your name to this petition as a pledge to do what is necessary in order to start protecting our children NOW by writing to your representatives and demanding that they act swiftly to fully fund ALL mandates of The Adam Walsh Child Safety and Protection Act.

A letter template and information on how to contact your representatives can be found by clicking on the "See Full Petition" link above or by scrolling to the bottom of this page.

Please, pledge to have your voice heard NOW and take that necessary step to truly protect our children.

Copy and paste the following letter into your favorite word processing program or email client:


Dear Senator:

As your constituent, I am writing this letter to urge you and your colleagues to act swiftly to fully fund the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act. The provisions of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act must be funded now so that law enforcement can protect children and communities from the scourge of convicted sex offenders:

I urge you to fully fund all of the mandates within the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act. I am particularly concerned about the following:

1. To implement an effective and comprehensive national registry database and website of sex offenders.
2. To build capacity in the federal law enforcement system to enable law enforcement to track and capture noncompliant sex offenders and bring them to justice.
3. To implement a national DNA database so that law enforcement can accurately and promptly verify DNA evidence.

Citizens must have access to accurate and timely information regarding convicted sex offenders living in their community. The 50 states and the federal government must be afforded adequate resources to build and maintain an effective national sex offender database. A national sex offender database is a critical safeguard to protect America's children and with each passing day that the provisions of this law are not funded, the danger to children is heightened. When information about the identity and whereabouts of convicted sex offenders is not accessible, accurate and verifiable, our communities are at grave risk.

I strongly urge you to act now to fund the mandates passed in the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act so that our children are kept safe from these dangerous predators and law enforcement has the necessary investigative resources.

Thank you for your attention to this urgent request.

Sincerely,


Your senators' mailing and email addresses can be found by visiting Congress.org.

Mom Site Shuts Down Petition to Help Children, Popular Site Doesn't Want to Help with Sex Offenders

Popular Mom Site Removes Posts To Help Fund The Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act

You have seen their ads littered every on MySpace. You may have seen their ads on some of your favorite children sites. Their advertising campaign has made them the most popular site for moms to connect, share ideas, stories, and simply commiserate with each other over the pitfalls of parenting that you simply cannot find elsewhere. CaféMom: A place for moms.

It would seem the most likely place to put up information regarding the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act(HR 4472), which was signed into law by President George Bush that requires harsher punishment for child predators, among other things, right?

Wrong.

Several mothers on this site banded together to send out a message to their fellow moms, that while this bill has been signed into law, it lacks the necessary funding to implement it. They put up posts that ask for mothers to get proactive and send out letters to their Congressmen and Senators to help push for funding. They included links so that those who were unaware as to how to contact their Congressmen and Senators would be able to do so. They included links so that the individual reader could read what exactly the AWCPSA entails. Everything was done for the benefit of children. Not just their children, but your children, and the children that they play with.

It was a concerted effort, one that was done so that the maximum amount of mothers would be able to read these journal posts, due to the fact that most posts at CafeMom become buried under mounds of posts that shortly follow it. It takes mere seconds for a post to completely disappear from the top of the pile, and these mothers were aware of this, so they took action against it.

To these mothers' chagrin, and to the detriment of the AWCPSA, the powers that be at CafeMom chose to delete these posts. They did so without any explanation. Upon further review of their Terms of Service (TOS), it was decided that these posts did not violate anything agreed to by the mothers whom posted; CafeMom has chosen to continue the silent and deletion treatment in regards to the AWCPSA, despite and in spite of what bringing awareness to this cause could mean to the children of the USA.

The safety of our children is paramount. It should come before ideologies, opinions, and TOS policies. Encouraging mothers to be proactive, and giving them a means to do so should not be punished by post and account deletions. Asking that people help our leaders in government demand funding be appropriated for a bill that was created and approved by not only the House, but also by the Senate and the President of the United States should not be a punishable offense, especially on a site that claims to be for moms.

What mother does not want the government to do all that it can to ensure the safety of her child? What parent, for that matter?

If you feel what CafeMom did was wrong, then please, copy and paste this letter into your blogs and bulletins so that more people, not just parents, can be aware as to what goes on at CafeMom, and where their priorities lie when it comes to your children and the children that will become our future.

Also, please go to this site: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/948814946 to read up on what exactly was posted and pledge to print out a letter to sign and mail to your Congressman and demand that the AWCPSA be funded immediately.

Not being allowed to say something about this is no better than not saying anything about it at all.

A great site that has some wonderful mothers intent on making a difference and getting this information heard is: MommyMatter.com

Stand up and make your opinion known. Let YOUR voice be heard!