The Danger Our Kids Face: #justiceforhenry

March 7th, 2011

Update: Katie Granju will discuss Henry’s case on CNN Tuesday night at 7 pm EST on “Issues with Jane Velez-Mitchell.”

Yesterday morning, I sat stunned, looking at the angelic faces of the third graders in my Sunday school class. I kept thinking of another boy, who shared our faith, enjoyed the love of close family and friends, and yet ended up dead at the age of 18, victim of the number two cause of accidental death in America.

Do you know what it is?

Think.

katiehenry

You’re not alone if you don’t realize that drug abuse, particularly prescription drug abuse, has reached what some experts call “epidemic proportions.”

The problem is, parents don’t talk about it. In our tell-all, Reality-TV world, a child’s drug addiction is one of the few things that is considered shameful. And as a result, awareness of the problem is low, and families suffer in isolation.

But one mother, in the midst of her horrible pain over not only losing her son Henry, but dealing with a very questionable police investigation into his beating and involvement with a drug and prostitution ring, is changing all that.

Katie Allison Granju is a gifted writer. Many of you know her as the author of “Attachment Parenting: Instinctive Care for Your Baby and Young Child,” as a contributor to Salon, as a Babble.com blogger, or from her blog Mamapundit.

She’s now taking her powerful communications skills and huge reach into the Mom blogger community to both raise public awareness of the prescription drug epidemic and to force a re-examination of the investigation into her son’s death in Knoxville, TN.

Please go to her blog and read the story of Henry Granju. You will be shocked and saddened and outraged. Tweet about it using the hashtag #JusticeForHenry. Call or email Nancy Grace and ask her to investigate.

And above all, talk to your kids about drug abuse. A little bit of experimentation with pot is NOT OKAY.

Watch this incredible video, Henry’s story. Show it to your kids. Ask your school, your church, your synogogue, to show it to the youth. It will save lives.

And after you’ve done all that, please remember to leave a comment here and let me know your thoughts.

Thank you and godspeed to Henry’s family.

— Lynn