Mike Lew: 2012 Events in Australia

The Next Step Counseling and Training is located in Brookline, Massachusetts. Co-directors Mike Lew, M.Ed. and Thom Harrigan, LICSW and their associates offer individual therapy, couples counseling, group therapy and clinical supervision as well as experiential workshops, professional trainings and public lectures. A primary focus of the work at The Next Step is adult male recovery from the effects of sexual child abuse and other trauma.

Events are still in the planning stages for Mike's return to Australia in 2012. At this time, most events have been scheduled, and a few are in the planning stages. Here are those events that are currently arranged. If details change, or other locations are added, they will be posted here. The overall organiser is Donovan Pill Anyone interested in sponsoring an event can contact him for information and scheduling.

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Male teacher numbers falling over abuse and pay concerns

FEAR of being accused of child sex crimes and higher pay in non-government schools are being blamed for a 4 per cent fall in the number of men teaching in NSW public schools.

While the number of male teachers in private schools has risen 20 per cent, government schools are suffering a lack of men.The "alarming" figures contained in a Social Trends report released yesterday by the Australian Bureau of Statistics were damned by the NSW Federation of Parents and Citizens Associations.

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Women who cry wolf

On January 29, a short article appeared in the The Age online. Four sentences of this article were devoted to the fact that Police have cleared two Collingwood footballers, Dayne Beams and John McCarthy, of alleged sexual assault following grand final celebrations in 2010. It stated that Mr Beams and Mr McCarthy denied wrongdoing and co-operated with the investigation. In stark contrast to the brouhaha that erupted when allegations were made by an unnamed female in October last year, the media have by and large glossed over this story. A mere four sentences pales in comparison to the deluge unleashed by multiple Fairfax media commentators baying for blood and decrying the rampant misogyny of the AFL.

Nancy Grace on female teacher "seduction" of male student (USA - YouTube)

This CNN news story shows an important shift in attitudes in at least one segment of the media which is explicitly pointing out the double standard of America's legal system and media regarding older females having sex with underage males v. older males having sex with underage females.

95% of abuse of juvenile inmates perpetrated by females (USA)

The January 2010 report from the US Bureau of Justice Statistics titled "Sexual Victimization in Juvenile Facilities Reported by Youth," found that 95% of children reporting sexual misconduct by juvenile corrections staff reported it was perpetrated by a female correctional officer, even though there are more male correctional officers than female correctional officers in juvenile correctional facilities. Of course, that may be due, in part, to the fact that male children are much more likely to be incarcerated for their offences than female children are. Even so, the report goes on to say that 10.8% of male juvenile inmates in the U.S. reported sexual misconduct on the part of facility staff, as compared to only 4.7% of the female juvenile inmate population. That means that your odds of being sexually molested in a juvenile correctional facility are twice as high if you are a boy than if you are a girl.