Speaking Out

Gershon Ben Keren

Sun 27th Dec 2015

When a terrorist act is committed, such as an active shooter incident, or a bombing, the spotlight immediately turns on those communities from which it is supposed that the terrorist comes, and time and time again the complaint is made that no one from that community is speaking out against terrorism; from which it is then inferred that the members of the community secretly support such acts. At the moment we in the west are living in a world, where all thoughts are focused on Islamic Jihadist terrorism, and the Muslim communities, and Muslims we live next to. I grew...Click To Read More

Active Shooters

Gershon Ben Keren

Sun 20th Dec 2015

There is a difference between risk and consequence, however many people ignore this when it comes to personal safety. An “Active Shooter” situation/scenario is a high consequence one (you stand a good chance of being shot) but a low risk one i.e. you are unlikely to be involved in one – whatever your imagination and the media may tell you. A mugging is a relatively high risk, but low consequence crime i.e. you are more likely to be targeted, but the consequence is low: you lose your wallet/purse. Unfortunately, it is the dramatic, high consequence incidents that grab our attention,...Click To Read More

Cyberbullying Adults And Children

Gershon Ben Keren

Mon 14th Dec 2015

A few months ago I was interviewed by the Boston Globe about the rise of cyberbullying with children and teenagers. As is often the case with such interviews 90% of what is said and communicated is cut – this is not the fault of the journalist, just the way that news is reported on. In this blog article, I want to look at cyberbullying, and the ways in which children and teenagers, become caught up in it, often not really understanding the role they play in it.  One of the big differences between cyberbullying and regular bullying, is the way that...Click To Read More

Dog Attacks

Gershon Ben Keren

Sun 6th Dec 2015

I was recently contacted by someone in the UK, asking me to write a piece on dog attacks. Firstly, I will caveat this article by saying this isn’t a specialist area of mine, however I will share some of the things those who are expert in the field have taught and shared with me. I will also try and address some of the issues around dealing with aggressive individuals who use their animals as “weapons” – something that the person requesting the blog article mentioned. Firstly, as an animal lover I am in utter contempt of those individuals who train dogs...Click To Read More