The Interpreted Rock

Guest Blogger - Jennifer C. Jones Looking back, *Tom remembers the morning the nightmare began. It was 5:30 a.m. Summer vacation meant his 15-year-old son, *Jason, should be sleeping in. Instead, Tom was surprised to find him at the family computer. He was even more stunned when he saw what his son was doing. “He was looking at porn,” Tom says. Specifically, Jason was watching child pornography. “It was about as hardcore as you could get.” Jason was ashamed and embarrassed and promised his parents he would never do it again. They thought their son was “just curious” and believed him. The family had recently moved and the computer’s filtering system was down. Tom installed a new blocking program and made sure it was working. They were devastated when they discovered their son, on at least two other occasions, had hacked through the system to find porn.

By Stephen C. Schultz It was a warm summer morning in Eugene, Oregon in 1967. I was four years old, walking around the house, located on Harris Street, looking for something to do. I decided to get out my Hot Wheels tracks, you know, the orange plastic track that was held together with the purple tongue. I would connect them until I had a track that was probably fifteen feet long. I’d take one end and place it up on the fireplace hearth, roll it up so I had a loop in the middle, then run the other end to the edge of the couch. Mom was busy with a new baby, and on this particular day, I was up early enough to see dad getting ready for work. The bathroom door opened to a short hallway that could be seen from the living room, where I was playing Hot Wheels. My father took his electric razor and plugged it into the wall and began to shave. He finished shaving and brushed his teeth, then walked by, said good morning and left for work. There I was…four years old and alone. Oh, mom

By Stephen C. Schultz I find it interesting that when families, workplaces and communities discuss the dangers of alcohol , it seems that drunk driving and binge drinking get all of the attention. The abuse of alcohol has prompted some high profile stories that have circulated throughout the media lately. Alcohol is the most widely used addictive substance in the United States. It is estimated that 17.6 million people suffer from substance abuse or dependence issues related to alcohol . Half of all adults have a family member who has struggled with alcohol dependence. It should be noted that over 7 million children in the U.S. alone live in a household where one parent is an alcoholic . It was recently reported that alcohol kills more people each year than AIDS, Tuberculosis and violence. Alcohol accounts for 4% of deaths world wide according to the World Health Organization. We've all witnessed someone who has had too much to drink. It seems to be a right of pass

By Stephen C. Schultz I was fortunate to spend a couple of days with Christopher Mulligan LCSW . Chris is a therapist in Los Angeles who specializes in treating cyber addiction in teenagers. Many of his clients are teens and families who also struggle with autism spectrum issues. One of the things that he mentioned, was that many of these socially awkward and emotionally fragile kids gravitate to online gaming and even pornography. They tend to get caught up in some rigid behaviors where family relationships, school performance and peer friendships suffer. Chris began exploring residential treatment options for those students who need more therapeutic structure as they work through some very difficult issues. In some instances, the patterns of dependence aren't adequately disrupted through outpatient therapy. So, what is a parent to do when they are concerned about their son or daughter spending too much time on the computer? Often parents feel overwhelmed at the prosp

By Stephen C. Schultz Over the last 10 -15 years, there have been thousands of youth participate in various types of wilderness therapy and outdoor adventure programs. The goal is to have these teens disrupt some of the negative habits and behavior that cause trouble with their health, academics and family relationships. Often the clinical staff and individual therapists get most of the attention. I would like you to meet some of the un-sung hero's of RedCliff Ascent . These are the staff who sleep and eat and work and hike and counsel with the students 24/7 in the backcountry of Southeastern Utah. Please allow me to share a little background. Over 70% of the staff have a bachelors degree or higher. They come to us from across the nation. They pass a background check prior to hire and they all participate in random drug screens. Before they are offered a position, they participate in a week long " training " where they live outdoors, hike the backcountry and wo

By Stephen C. Schultz These are some sayings I remember hearing as a kid. They have always stuck with me. I have shared these sayings with my own kids...I hope you do the same! "Truth" is rarely complicated and seldom verbose. "Keep in mind that when you are throwing dirt...you are losing ground!" ~ Anonymous "When I asked Martha to tell me about Mary...I found out more about Martha than I did Mary!" ~ Anonymous "If your lips can keep from slips, Five things observe with care: To whom you speak; of whom you speak; And how, and when, and where." ~William Edward Norris

By Stephen C. Schultz It's Saturday night and my wife and I just came out of a movie. The theater was at the mall, so we parked in the parking garage. Cars were prowling around looking for an open space. (Obviously we weren't in the parking garage that is pictured below. But, that is one cool garage!) I get in the car, put my foot on the brake, and start it. Immediately two cars emerge on either side of my space, each wanting to pull in when I leave. Each car has a couple, probably in their early to mid twenties. My guess is, that they are arriving to see a movie as well. Both vehicles have their blinker on signaling their desire to turn into my space when I leave. As I started to back out, they each started inching forward, hoping to effectively beat the other into the space. I looked over my left shoulder and slowly started backing out to my left. The problem was, that I could no longer continue backing out. The car to my left was inching too close to the rear of my

By Stephen C. Schultz Picture if you will for a moment a cool Sunday evening in October. A steady rain has been falling all day with low billowing clouds that seem to touch the tops of the large Douglas Fir trees that make their home out by Fern Ridge Reservoir, just West or Eugene, Oregon. Our family has just returned from church and is sitting down to our Sunday dinner. At sixteen, I’m the oldest of five children. The phone rings. Mom takes the phone and proceeds to walk around the kitchen. (This was before cordless phones. The phone had one of those 25 foot cords that always seemed to be twisted up!) She is saying, “Yes Gabby. Uh huh, Gabby. You should be fine Gabby. Now take your medicine and I will talk with you tomorrow, Gabby.” This went on for close to an hour. The rest of us had finished eating and the food on mom’s plate was cold. I remember saying in a frustrated voice, “Mom, just tell her you have to go”. You see, Gabby was a lady in our neighborhood who was