HELP STOP PAS ALERT

[MYSONSDAD]

To Our Supporters,

 

We are asking you all to write or email the President of the Mary Kay Ash Foundation, Michael Lunceford, to ask that PBS withdraw their support of Breaking the Silence: Children's Stories. Evidence has been uncovered that one of the parents portrayed as a victim of the courts in this documentary was actually charged and convicted of eight counts of child abuse. More details are below along with contact information for Mr. Lunceford.

 

Michael Lunceford, President

 

Mary Kay Ash Charitable Foundation

P.O. Box 799044

Dallas, Texas 75379-9044

 

Tel: (877) 652-2737

Direct email: [email protected]

General email  [email protected]

 

 

The Facts:

 

1.                  Breaking the Silence is full of misinformation and lies regarding the status of parental alienation and Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS). Denial of PAS does harm to the millions of children who are affected by alienation and the parents who are also targets of this abuse. The American Psychological Association has stated many times that they have not discredited PAS and at this time do not hold a position on it either way. PAS has been accepted as legitimate in the psychological community. The Mary Kay Ash Foundation has acknowledged the distorted truth in the so called documentary yet they continue to advertise the production on their web site.

2.                  Breaking the Silence portrays men as abusive disproportionately to women. The National Clearinghouse of Child Abuse and Prevention published a study in 2005 from information obtained from the US Department of Health and Human Services which stated that 58% of all abuse is perpetrated by mothers. In the documentary all of the "abusers" were men, which is a gross misrepresentation of the statistics.

3.                  This program portrays convicted child abusers as heroes and victims of the court. One of the mothers showcased in the program was charged and convicted of 8 counts of child abuse in 1998. The girl's babysitter characterized the mother as violently abusive towards the child, an alcoholic, and said that the mother has been physically abusive towards her as well. The daughter testified at the time that she was afraid of her mother. Glenn Sacks was able to obtain details of these convictions including court room testimony from the babysitter. This information is available online at http://www.glennsacks.com/pbs/loeliger.php.

4.                  This documentary makes the inference that male child abusers frequently win custody of their children in court by using PAS as a defense against abuse accusations. When accusations of abuse are raised the courts, police departments, and social services all investigate the charges thoroughly. There may be rare cases where accusations of abuse are not handled appropriately by authorities, however to say that this happen in the majority of abuse cases is not only inaccurate it is an insult to the professionals who deal with these situations on a daily basis. Those involved in investigating child abuse are well trained to recognize true abuse from false accusations. To say that they are this incompetent is an attack on the credibility of these professionals who devote their careers to helping abused children.

5.                  Dr. Rick Lohstroh was shot and killed by his ten year old son in August 2004. His son was severely alienated at the time. Dr. Lohstroh's parents now have temporary custody of both of their grandsons. One is in their custody; the other is still awaiting trial in a Houston juvenile detention facility. The permanent custody hearing will be heard this month. Dr. Lohstroh's mother, Joanne Greene, has been a Mary Kay saleslady for many years and her husband is a retired minister. Severe PAS has been recognized by the courts in their case. By supporting this documentary Mary Kay is turning their back on one of their own people who lost her son to PAS.

 

 

The Mary Kay Ash Foundation did not have any say in the contents of this documentary; however their continued support of this program is very disturbing. We are asking that the Mary Kay Ash Foundation withdraw the ad for this documentary from their website, and make a public statement regarding their official position on the controversy this film they have funded has raised. We are also asking the Mary Kay Ash Foundation to review their grant policy and make appropriate changes in an effort to avoid funding this type of campaign in the future.

 

Help Stop PAS continues to receive copies of your emails and letters protesting the support of this program by PBS, the Mary Kay Ash Foundation, and Connecticut Public Television. Denial of PAS is devastating to those children and parents who have and are continuing to deal with this emotionally and mentally abusive issue. If ever there was a form of domestic violence that needs to be brought to light it is the plight of children and parents who are torn apart by alienation.

 

Thank you for your continued support.

 

Regards,

 

Barbara "Judy" Sweet, Administrative Director

Help Stop PAS

A 501 (c)(3) Non-Profit Organization

//www.helpstoppas.org

3118 FM 528 Ste. 234

Webster, TX. 77598

409-789-7482

[email protected]

 

 


"Children learn what they live"