Portfolio
New York Times
Watching the Pandemic Steal Intimate Moments From Teenagers
I’m afraid of holding a tight line of protection and having it snap under the weight of my almost-adult kid’s frustration.
Washington Post
Why I’m helping my teen, even though conventional wisdom says I should step back
Collecting his things, folding his clothes, making his lunch feels attentive and healing, like placing stitches over the torn and rough spots.
CNN
Teachers and students shouldn’t be Covid-19 experiments in the fall
In an ideal world, opening schools is what everyone wants, sure. But this isn't an ideal world and it certainly won't be in a few weeks' time.
Pacific Standard
ARE ACTIVE SHOOTER DRILLS HARMING MORE THAN THEY’RE HELPING?
Some teachers have reported being shot with pellet guns and experiencing ongoing trauma after the drills, yet the effectiveness of the training is unproven.
AARP - The Girlfriend
My Teen And His Partner Broke Up
Why am I also grieving?
Motherwell
Here’s to hope, and hugging my grown son this year
I wonder if this is the year I’ll get to invite my son inside. I think of the vaccine.. It’s the only thing that gives me hope.
Business Insider
The gruesome spectacle of the GOP’s bad-faith holiday tantrum
As we careen toward the holidays and a record number of COVID-19 cases and fatalities, the GOP's opposition to health mandates is increasingly dangerous.
Business Insider
I’ve been trying to teach my kids about collective responsibility during the pandemic.
Many of our leaders have been terrible role models and our fellow Americans have been flouting the rules. This makes it harder to teach collective responsibility to kids.
Dame Magazine
How teachers and students became collateral damage
School shooting after school shooting thrust teachers and students into America’s gun rights debate. Now, they’re pawns in a deadly pandemic.
Business Insider
It’s time to start handing out fines to people who refuse to wear masks
A fine for not wearing masks must be considered as a viable option.
Washington Post
Parenting a struggling teenager is devastatingly lonely. It doesn’t have to be.
Talk Poverty
Fining Poor People for Walking Won’t Stop Pedestrian Fatalities
Ticketing pedestrians is the height of car-centricity and classism.
CityLab
Why Cities, Not Individuals, Should Clear Snow From Sidewalks
Most U.S. cities leave the responsibility of sidewalk snow removal to homeowners, landlords, and businesses. The result: endangered pedestrians.
The Independent
I campaigned hard for Elizabeth Warren. Don’t tell me to ‘just get over’ my grief now she’s dropped out the race
I have cried and cried. And I have no regrets, because what we did mattered. Only those of us who did the work get to set the timeline for how long we stay sad.
The Independent
No, Elizabeth Warren’s college debt plan isn’t ‘a slap in the face’ to people like me who wouldn’t personally benefit
The idea that I should oppose Democratic moves toward free college is mean-spirited and self-centered.
Rolling Stone
Kent State, Jackson State Survivors Talk Student Activism
Talk Poverty
For D.C. Parents, School Chaperoning Is Pay to Play
Pacific Standard
HOW MEN’S RIGHTS GROUPS USE THE RHETORIC OF ‘EQUALITY’ TO PUNISH WOMEN
True justice is served by fixing institutions and policies—not by making policy equally harmful to all genders.
Pacific Standard
WHAT VIRAL REUNIFICATION VIDEOS REVEAL ABOUT THE TRAUMA OF SEPARATED IMMIGRANT CHILDREN
The consequences of family separation will likely be lifelong. What we are seeing now is only the beginning.
The Independent
My kids are coming of age during the Trump presidency. I’ve started using his speeches for lessons on propaganda
When my oldest was six, we watched Obama's speeches together and spoke about democracy and civil rights with a sense of hope. Now everything has changed
Dame
This is how flags become a symbols of hate
A faction of Americans have co-opted and weaponized “patriotism” to lord bigotry over immigrants—especially those this administration has separated from their families.
ESPN
How Ultimate Frisbee helped me connect with my teen
Kathi Valeii shied away from team sports until she saw her son playing Ultimate Frisbee. She was drawn to the game's camaraderie, but never expected it would bring her closer to her family.
Pacific Standard
Driver’s ed is becoming harder for poor kids to afford
Shondaland
What We’re Still Not Saying When We Talk About Postpartum Depression
Teresa Wong's graphic memoir, "Dear Scarlet: The Story of My Postpartum Depression," examines the stigma at the intersection of parenthood and mental illness
Dame Magazine
Birth Needs a #MeToo Reckoning
Dame Magazine
How to talk to your kids about climate change
We have to prepare this next generation for a world with more natural disasters and threats to their health and safety—and we don’t even know where to begin.
The Freelancer
What can you do when your editor ghosts you?
Delivered your story and received radio silence in return? You have options.
Dame Magazine
Can we fight crime with public shaming?
Humiliation-based punishments are designed as deterrents, but sentences that embarrass the most vulnerable among us are cruel and represent the worst of American policies.
The Independent
The main change since Parkland? Traumatising active shooter drills in American schools — supported by the NRA
She returned to her classroom and heard gunshots being fired down the hall. Shaking, she fumbled for her keys, worried she wouldn't make it in time. Is this what we want our kids to experience every year?
Today's Parent
Am I giving my kids enough hugs?
How one mom learned to connect with her teens when she couldn't rack up enough hugs.
Talk Poverty
Your ultrasound isn’t a car. Why are you told to shop like it is?
Telling people to “shop around” for health care like it’s a used car ignores how difficult it is to find information about costs, especially when under pressure.
The Freelancer
#MediaTransparency and Why Freelancers Should Share Their Rates
Freelancers explain why they shared their 2018 writing accomplishments as well as their rates at the end of last year.
Huffington Post
My Kid’s School Bus Was Attacked. His Reaction Surprised Me.
Our kids have been conditioned to think anything less than a real shooting is no big deal.
The Outline
Michigan’s Water Crisis is Rapidly Extending Beyond Flint
Miss Michigan used her pageant airtime to speak up for Flint, as well as several other water crises in the state.
The Outline
These are the political organizations firing up young voters
They’ve supported candidates like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, but can others count on youth registration and engagement this mid-term election cycle?
New York Times
The School Conference Blues
Vice / Tonic
People Who Want Home Births Have to Jump Through All Kinds of Hoops
While giving birth at home is legal in all 50 states, midwifery regulations in some states limit families’ access to skilled birth attendants.
ParentMap
Dear Dog Owners: Quit Letting Your Dogs Run Loose
To leash or not to leash? There's only one answer to that question
ParentMap
A Key Message for Parents From the ‘Stranger Things’ S3 Finale
Hopper’s final words to Eleven capture the wisdom of raising teens
The Outline
Plenty of people are pro-abortion
It is a necessary health care procedure that saves lives.
ParentMap
Why It’s Not Okay to Call Your Kid an A$$hole
The unfunny consequences of ‘humorous’ statements that denigrate children.
Shondaland
In Some States, You Can Still Be Criminally Prosecuted for Ending Your Own Pregnancy
And Jill Adams is determined to change that.
The Outline
LGBTQ students suffer when schools leave gender out of sex education
Sex ed is bad across America, but LGBTQ youth are made more vulnerable by schools that ignore gender identity.
Rolling Stone
Driving High: The Search for a Pot Breathalyzer
Upworthy
These gun owners support stricter gun control
Dame
Conversion Therapy has Evolved. Or has it?
GOOD
Ultimate Frisbee Faces A Growing Gender Battle
Upworthy
This group of friends made an amazing cross-country relay to reunite a mom with her kids.
Upworthy
Her kids are throwing a fit about guns. A mom’s message for all adults is a must-read.
Ravishly
How to Talk to Kids About Abortion
Upworthy
This mom had little money for prom, but she still made her kids feel like a million bucks.
Tonic
Owning Your Fear of Flying Could Help You Conquer It
AlterNet
Republicans Are the Real Lunchroom Bullies
AlterNet
Pistols in Preschools: As Michigan Debates Looser Gun Laws, Educators are on Edge
DAME Magazine
Why are MRA Groups Pushing “Shared Parenting” Bills
AlterNet
The Christian Right Wants to “Partner” with Public Schools.
DAME Magazine
The White House is Doxxing America
The Development Set
Doctors: Stop Lying to Pregnant Patients
Tonic
One Bad Medical Experience Can Scar You For Life
Broadly
Maria Bamford’ s mom on being the butt of her daughter’s jokes
Parent.co
The Beginning of the End
The Establishment
How Men’s Rights Activists Hijacked the Circumcision Debate
SheKnows
The Scary Truth About School Lunch That Has Nothing to do With the Food
Everyday Feminism
3 Ways Feminists Uphold Oppression When They Exclude Parents
The Establishment
Men’s Rights Activism: A Malevolent World Of Make-Believe
Second Wave Media
Reporting methods mask the high lead levels of children in Kalamazoo’s core city neighborhoods
Ravishly
Why we need to include abortion in sex ed
Healthline
Why Are Baby Boomers More Prone to Hep C?
Healthline
3 Mothers Share How They Dealt with Their Children’s Severe Pain
Mutha Magazine
THIS IS HOW IT STARTS: Kathi Valeii On Getting to School
Mutha Magazine
SUMMER’S END: Kathi Valeii On Back-To-School
Second Wave Media
Kalamazoo’s first Tiny Home: a three-decade long dream in the making
The Stir
I wish I could laugh off the Creepy Clown threat at my kid’s school – but I can’t
Second Wave Media
The debate about Native mascots gets heated in Paw Paw
Second Wave Media
Infant mortality disparities in Kalamazoo – a diagnosed sickness and a hopeful treatment
Techwalla
The Great Phone Switch: A Cautionary Tale About Teens and Smartphones
The Stir
The Worst Mommy Shamers Are the Ones Who Don’t Have Kids Themselves