colinian

Josh, Evolving ~ Chapters 5 and 6 of a Novel by Cole Parker. What happens when two lonely boys meet in a shopping mall food court? Jay's Worst Week Ever ~ A Short Story by Colin Kelly. A series of events gives Jay a reputation that he didn't deserve. Will he be able to recover? From our archive: Stories and poems that we think you'll enjoy reading again — or for the first time. Reorientation ~ a Novel by Colin Kelly. Jason announces to his family that he's gay. His sisters and his father tell him that it doesn't make any difference, they love him regardless of whether he's gay or straight or whatever. But what about his mother? Can she come to accept that her son is gay? Click here to read the hundreds of serial novels, short stories, flash fiction, and poems on the Codey's World site.

Tristan did what many would like to do. Colin

If you haven't read this story yet, go read it. THEN, and ONLY THEN, read the spoiler. Colin

Josh, Evolving ~ Chapters 3 and 4 of a Novel by Cole Parker. What happens when two lonely boys meet in a shopping mall food court? Saulius ~ A Short Story by Pedro. Saulius' arrival is a source of excitement in a quiet English village. It wasn't what he intended. From our archive: Stories and poems that we think you'll enjoy reading again — or for the first time. It Can’t Gie Better Than Thes ~ a Short Story by Grant Bentley. Do you believe in love at first sight? Miles and Rhys didn't. Click here to read the hundreds of serial novels, short stories, flash fiction, and poems on the Codey's World site.

Josh, Evolving ~ Chapters 1 and 2 of a Novel by Cole Parker. What happens when two lonely boys meet in a shopping mall food court? A Hole in My Ceiling ~ A Short Story by Colin Kelly. When you're target shooting you need to be balanced. Is the same thing true about a friendship? The King's Race ~ a Short Story by Cole Parker. Anton wants to run the race of his life, wanting to be special for a certain someone. From our archive: Stories and poems that we think you'll enjoy reading again — or for the first time. Never Say Never ~ a Short Story by Grant Bentley. Sometimes life doesn't go according to plan, and like Kent, we need to learn to never say never. Click here to read the hundreds of serial novels, short stories, flash fiction, and poems on the Codey's World site.

One of my favorite songs, and I like his singing. Colin

Best Summer Ever ~ Chapter 11 and the Epilogue of a Novel by Cole Parker. Aaron is always ready to fight. Perhaps a summer spent in a less stressful atmosphere will allow him to relax. Perhaps. JJ for Short III ~ Part 3 of a Three Part Novella by Grant Bentley. Life at university has a few ups and downs, and then the best up possible. Inspiration ~ a Short Story by Cole Parker. A boy has a nightmarish problem. From our archive: Stories and poems that we think you'll enjoy reading again — or for the first time. Dare to Dream ~ a Short Story by Graeme. Sometimes it's good to be rescued from something mundane, no matter how important it might be. Click here to read the hundreds of serial novels, short stories, flash fiction, and poems on the Codey's World site.

He's going to complain that the hands are too small. Colin

OMG!! ??

When California banned Gay Conversion Therapy the religious right took it to the California Supreme Court and that court agreed with the lower courts that had thrown out their case. Let's hope some equivalent is achieved in the UK. Colin

Instead of nibbles, or kibbles, since they are poachers the lions are eating pibbles. Yummy lion food! Colin

I've always hated to see kids get hurt, or even worse get sick and know they'll never recover, or get killed, or commit suicide. I paid attention to things that happened to kids in the Bay Area. That's why I know about Gunn High School. I have a cousin who's about four years older than me, and she went to Gunn. We talked about the number of suicides there, and she said she thought it was because it was such a competitive school. Everything was a competition, but mostly grades and succeeding. She's a member of the San Francisco police department now. I went to Las Lomas High School in Walnut Creek and graduated in 2007. I think it's a much smaller school than either Gunn or Paly. When I was at Las Lomas we had about 1,500 students. That's why our football team sucked. At least that was the generally accepted point of view. What I described about the GSA is based on my own experience at LL. I'm not surprised that they had the same sort of things happen at Gunn and Paly. LL didn't have suicides. We had kids die because they were reckless. Body surfing in the canal behind the campus when it was swollen and running fast from the rain. Skateboarding on the top level of the Broadway Plaza parking structure and riding the edge of the wall and going over. Lots of stupid, reckless things. I didn't do any of them. PFLAG, Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, is the largest LGBTQ support organization. My folks went to a few of their meetings, and so did Doug and I. They have the kinds of topics that you and I both described. It was a good group, probably better for adults than teens, but also good for parents who are having difficulty when they have a son or daughter who announces that they are gay. The GSA at LL let kids who were gay or conflicted find peers who they could talk to. And since GSA is the Gay Straight Alliance a lot of the kids who came to the GSA meetings were straight. Some came because they had siblings or friends who were gay. Some came because of the homemade chocolate chip cookies. There was a teacher who was the school's representative for the club; all clubs at LL had a faculty or staff person as the school's representative. Even the Chess club. I don't know if that's the case elsewhere. Colin

Thanks, Chris. The new link works. The guy isn't slightly to the right of Atilla the Hun. He's so far the the right Atilla the Hun doesn't have a chance to catch up to him! Colin

When I was a freshman in high school (the 2003-2004 school year) we got word that some parents demanded that they have the right to review all material to be handed out or presented at the GSA Club meetings because they were sure they were trying to turn kids gay. I wasn't a member of the GSA Club nor were any of my friends. But the idea that some group of religious nut parents wanted the right to do what they demanded really pissed us off. We found out that one boy had attended one of the GSA Club meetings with the purpose of providing a rationale for that parent group and their demands. Word began to spread around campus and my friends and I decided we'd go to the next GSA Club meeting to support them. We found out that the number of kids who attended their meetings was usually about 30. There were over 150 kids at the next meeting. The speaker was a Walnut Creek policewoman who talked about bullying and ways to stop it and why the so-called "don't-snitch" rule wasn't a rule and what it was doing was enabling bullies. She also talked about teen suicide — there were a lot of suicides by students at Gunn High School in Palo Alto at that time and it seemed every week it was in the news (The CalTrain commuter rail tracks run along the back side of the Gunn High campus, and kids from Gunn were stepping in front of trains). She handed out a list of resources for kids who were thinking suicide was their only option. She also said that some significant percentage of teen suicides were by kids who were gay. That was the only "gay" part of her talk. Anyway, the GSA Club more than doubled their regular meeting attendance and had to move to a larger room. They had interesting speakers and topics, and of course there was no "gay indoctrination" the way the parents had claimed. The school and the school district turned down the demands of those parents. Doug and I continued to go to the GSA Club meetings mainly because of the interesting topics but also because one of the student officers brought in homemade chocolate chip cookies to the meetings. Those cookies were really good! Colin

Best Summer Ever ~ Chapters 9 and 10 of a Novel by Cole Parker. Aaron is always ready to fight. Perhaps a summer spent in a less stressful atmosphere will allow him to relax. Perhaps. JJ for Short II ~ Part 2 of a Three Part Novella by Grant Bentley. Apparently you can find your soulmate at a service station. Yes you can. Tales of Three Worlds ~ Fragment 7 of a Novel by ColumbusGuy. A science fiction story told in a series of interrelated fragments. Fourth of July ~ a Flash Fiction Story by Colin Kelly. A few interesting facts about the Fourth of July that you might not know. From our archive: Stories and poems that we think you'll enjoy reading again — or for the first time. Encumberment ~ A Short Story by Andy Deats. Sacrifice isn't always what it seems. When Jack and Don go through a rough patch in their relationship, what are they willing to sacrifice to make each other happy? — Mature or distressing themes regarding suicide. This story deals with issues that are, unfortunately, true to life for some teens. In keeping with our policy of not running from real life issues, we are hosting Encumberment with this advisory. Click here to read the hundreds of serial novels, short stories, flash fiction, and poems on the Codey's World site.

Chris, there's a problem with your link. It takes me to a Google search page for HPV vaccinations for kids. (A great program and all kids should get the HPV vaccination.) Unfortunately, using your link there's no article reporting about GSA actions at a Pennsylvania high school. Colin

I'm left with an image of God as an Uber driver, pulling over then, as someone tries to get in the back seat, pulls out at his speed leaving them lying in the gutter. Colin

One way is to stop reading The Best Summer Ever and when the epilogue is finally posted go back and read it in one go. Personally, I'm enjoying the story a lot. I like Aaron's angst and his dislike for Dylan. I'll bet that things are going to happen between those two! Colin

Best Summer Ever ~ Chapters 7 and 8 of a Novel by Cole Parker. Aaron is always ready to fight. Perhaps a summer spent in a less stressful atmosphere will allow him to relax. Perhaps. JJ for Short I ~ Part 1 of a Three Part Novella by Grant Bentley. Can one simple act of kindness change your life? Tennis, Anyone? ~ a Short Story by Cole Parker. Two boys from different backgrounds, a hot day, and a tough match. From our archive: Stories and poems that we think you'll enjoy reading again — or for the first time. A Surprise Blind Date ~ A Short Story by RJ Dustin, James, and Adam are about to meet Dustin's blind date, over burgers. Click here to read the hundreds of serial novels, short stories, flash fiction, and poems on the Codey's World site.

Educating kids about bullying and reporting it to school staff when it's seen is critical and must start in elementary school and be covered every grade to reinforce anti-bullying with "report any bullying you see." Once kids unlearn the so-called "no snitch rule" (invented by bullies long, long ago) bullying has been found to be dramatically reduced. Add the kind of enforcement Cole describes and bullying can be eliminated as a common occurrence. Colin

One thing that works is video cameras in the hallways and grounds that can be used to demonstrate that the bullying took place. If there are claims of racism because the bully was a minority then hiding the perpetrator's face in the video and releasing it usually works to stop the protests. In fact, even just saying that the perpetrator is on video is enough to stop the protests. Colin

Best Summer Ever ~ Chapters 5 and 6 of a Novel by Cole Parker. Aaron is always ready to fight. Perhaps a summer spent in a less stressful atmosphere will allow him to relax. Perhaps. From our archive: Stories and poems that we think you'll enjoy reading again — or for the first time. Two Friends ~ A Novella by Colin Kelly. How many kids meet and become best friends that first day and remain best friends — and more — through the present day, ten years later? Click here to read the hundreds of serial novels, short stories, flash fiction, and poems on the Codey's World site.

Hamburgers and almost any other junk food. And, of course, chocolate cake, too. Colin

There was a series of articles in the San Francisco Chronicle in May thru July, 2017 titled Fostering Failure about the problems at many county-run foster facilities in California, and the inclination to turn a kid over to the police for a minor infraction like hitting another kid with a blanket instead of handling it at the foster facility level. I hope this link works for those interested in what is, unfortunately, the way we treat kids in the foster system in California and probably many other states. Colin

R, Bullies is set during a three-day period starting on a Tuesday afternoon and ending on Thursday evening. Without the involvement of the police there would be no story. About a third of the way into the story, on Wednesday afternoon, Cameron and Lyle Sanders were arrested for felony assault and battery on a juvenile and sent to the Juvenile Hall in Martinez where they would be held until their arraignment hearing in juvenile court. The arrest warrant was based on the recording of Michael Everett telling who attacked him; the statement of the witness who chased after Cameron and Lyle Sanders and when he caught up to Lyle he grabbed his shirt collar and pulled of his shirt; he brought the shirt to police headquarters; the police found Lyle's bus pass in the pocket of the shirt; and the witness recognized the pictures of the two boys when shown photos from the high school student registration database. The police interview of Michael Everett was scheduled for Wednesday evening. Their arraignment in court would be scheduled by the Assistant District Attorney the following week which is outside of the timeline and focus of the story. On Tuesday morning, the day when the attack took place, Mr. and Mrs. Sanders had left to go to Stockton to visit her mother who fell and was injured. They returned Wednesday morning after their sons left for school. They both went to work. Mrs. Sanders was called at work Wednesday afternoon when the police were at their house to arrest Camron and Lyle. She rushed home and the police told her why the boys were being arrested. The testing of Camron and Lyle at the request and with the approval of their father and finding meth in their urine might explain the violence of their attack. How did they get the meth? Was it a factor? That's outside of the timeline and focus of the story. Colin