What's really happening inside public schools? Are failing public schools putting our children's education and safety at risk?

Former substitute teacher Geno Young is exposing disturbing incidents he says he witnessed inside Chicago-area public schools and what he claims school administrators did to keep these problems quiet.

I sat down with Geno Young, author of "Sex, Drugs, and Illiteracy: The Death of Education in America Today", to talk about the growing public school crisis, student violence, declining academic standards, school safety, and the lack of accountability in America's education system.

And let me tell you, some of the stories he shared absolutely disgusted me.

We're talking about students allegedly engaging in sexual activity and livestreaming it from a classroom. Violent fights. A teacher accused of making inappropriate comments about students who was reportedly allowed to work at another school. And school administrators who, according to Geno, failed to take meaningful action.

How is any of this acceptable inside our public schools?

Geno spent roughly a year working in Chicago-area public schools. He went into teaching hoping to make a difference. Instead, he says he witnessed a complete breakdown of classroom discipline, student behavior, academic accountability, and school safety.

And when he reported serious problems and later faced threats from a student, he says he ultimately lost his job.

But here's what really concerns me: Geno says these problems aren't limited to Chicago public schools.

Parents in suburban school districts, affluent communities, and states across America need to be paying attention, too.

In this episode, we discuss:

- What's really happening inside public school classrooms.
- Disturbing allegations of sexual misconduct and inappropriate student behavior.
- Why some schools are allegedly failing to discipline students.
- Student violence, threats against teachers, and school safety concerns.
- Why academic standards and student accountability may be declining.
- How school administrators allegedly handle complaints and serious incidents.
- Why teachers may be afraid to speak up about problems in public education.
- Parental rights, school transparency, and what parents should be asking their school districts.
- Why Geno believes America's public education crisis is spreading beyond Chicago.

As a Mom, I find it absolutely terrifying that parents can send their children to school every morning without knowing what's happening behind those classroom doors.

We trust schools to educate our children, keep them safe, and prepare them for the real world. But what happens when those schools stop holding students and administrators accountable?

I don't care if your children attend public school, private school, or you homeschool like I do. We're all taxpayers. Every parent needs to be asking questions.

Because protecting our children and demanding accountability from our education system should never be controversial.

I want to know what YOU think.

Are America's public schools failing our children? Have you witnessed similar problems in your child's school district? Tell me in the comments.

And please share this episode with another parent. These are conversations we cannot afford to ignore.

📚 Geno Young's Book: Sex, Drugs, and Illiteracy: The Death of Education in America Today

🌐 Learn more about Geno: https://www.genoyoung.net

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The Cornell University fraternity sexual assault allegations, the Chi Phi fraternity controversy, and a reopened criminal investigation have sparked national debate. But what really happened that night in October 2024, and why are there questions about the original police statement and subsequent allegations?

In this episode of Melissa Unfiltered, I examine the Cornell sexual assault case, the conflicting accounts, the alleged fraternity assault, and the evidence I believe deserves closer scrutiny. I also ask a much bigger question: Has America's hookup culture, social media obsession, and normalization of sex and alcohol created a dangerous environment for young adults?

I discuss the original six-page police statement, the later civil lawsuit, Snapchat messages, alcohol and consent, and why I believe the media needs to present the full story rather than selective details.

But this conversation goes far beyond Cornell University.

From college fraternity culture and sexual misconduct allegations to OnlyFans, Snapchat, pornography, celebrity influence, and the sexualization of young girls, I challenge parents to examine what today's culture is teaching their children.

In this episode:
- The Cornell University fraternity sexual assault allegations and reopened investigation
- Questions surrounding the original police statement and subsequent accounts
- Chi Phi fraternity, college parties, alcohol, and consent
- Why I believe the media isn't telling the complete story
- The dangers of hookup culture on college campuses
- Snapchat, disappearing messages, and what parents need to know
- How celebrities, influencers, and OnlyFans shape young people's attitudes toward sex
- Why parents must teach boundaries, accountability, and self-respect
- The role of faith, family, and personal responsibility in changing our culture

One thing is clear: No one deserves to be sexually assaulted, and no one outside that room knows exactly what happened. The allegations are disputed, and the investigation deserves a careful examination of all available evidence.

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I thought I understood how the sex offender registry worked. Then I learned about a loophole in Illinois law that left me completely stunned.

Someone can be convicted of certain unauthorized recording offenses involving a child and, under current Illinois law, that conviction does not necessarily require them to register as a sex offender.

So how is a parent supposed to know?

In this episode, I'm digging into Illinois Senate Bill 2381, the effort to change that law, and the arguments being made against expanding registration requirements.

Then my research took me somewhere else.

I started looking into sexual misconduct involving educators - and what I found made me question how much we really know about the adults we're trusting with our children every day.

Teachers. Coaches. Teacher's aides. Bus drivers. Camp staff. Church volunteers. The list goes on.

As someone who was sexually abused as a child, this isn't an abstract issue for me. My abuser was ultimately convicted, went to jail and was required to register as a sex offender. I'm grateful that parents can find that information.

I don't believe parents should blindly trust someone because they're respected, well-liked or hold a position we're supposed to trust.

Know who has access to your children. Ask questions. Look people up. Pay attention.

And after you listen, I want to know what you think: Should sexually motivated unauthorized recording of a child require sex offender registration?

This one will probably make you angry. It definitely made me angry.

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What happens when a child trafficking survivor goes undercover online pretending to be a 12-year-old girl?

What Kim Kelley told me about what happened next is something I think every parent needs to hear.

Kim says she is a child trafficking survivor and child safety advocate who was born and raised inside the Children of God cult. She describes growing up in a world where trafficking, exploitation and coercive control were all she knew. Today, she has taken what she survived and turned it into a mission to protect other children.

In this episode, Kim takes me inside her undercover work with law enforcement investigating online predators and trafficking. She tells me what happened when she created profiles posing as a 12- and 13-year-old girl using an innocent photo.

She didn't message anyone. She didn't send friend requests. She didn't like posts or invite anyone to connect.

They found her.

And that's where this conversation really hit home for me as a Mom.

We talk about online predators, smartphones, social media, location-based apps, children's mental health and why we can't simply assume that technology companies are going to protect our kids for us.

Kim also challenges some of the conventional narratives surrounding trafficking and explains why she believes we need to better understand what child trafficking actually is and the different forms exploitation can take.

But I don't want this episode to leave parents terrified or feeling helpless.

One of my favorite parts of our conversation is Kim's challenge to all of us: pick five kids.

You don't have to solve child trafficking. You don't have to fix the entire internet. You don't have to spend every day consuming horrifying stories and worrying about everything that could happen.

Look at the kids around you.

Your children. Your nieces and nephews. Your friends' kids. Your neighbors' kids. The kids on your child's team.

Pay attention. Be involved. Be someone they can trust.

Because maybe you can't protect every child.

But you can start with five.

This is an uncomfortable conversation, but it's one I believe parents need to hear.

🎙️ Melissa Unfiltered

This episode contains discussions of child trafficking, exploitation, abuse and online sexual predation. Listener discretion is advised.

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Do you REALLY know what's in the beef you're feeding your family?

Most of us walk into the grocery store, grab a package of ground beef or a steak, and never think twice about what happened to that meat before it reached the shelf.

But after this conversation, you might start asking a few more questions.

In this episode of Melissa Unfiltered, I'm sitting down with cattle farmer and meat processor Ben Gamble inside his USDA-inspected processing facility to talk about what REALLY happens to our beef before it ends up on our dinner tables.

My family has been buying beef directly from Ben for years. We purchase half a cow at a time because we want to know where our food comes from, how the animals were raised, and how the meat was processed.

But Ben shared some things about the beef industry that even I didn't know!

We're getting into the chemicals used in commercial meat processing, what USDA inspectors actually look for, how long beef can sit before reaching grocery stores, and why buying from a local farmer doesn't necessarily mean that farmer raised the animal.

We also talk about imported beef, country-of-origin labeling, the four major meatpacking companies that control so much of the industry, and why our American farmers are struggling to stay afloat while families are paying more than ever at the grocery store.

And here's something I found particularly interesting: Ben explains why USDA inspection is actually something consumers should WANT, especially when purchasing meat directly from a farmer.

We shouldn't have to blindly trust a system most of us never get to see.

Whether you're buying beef at the grocery store, shopping at a farmers market, or purchasing directly from a local farm, this episode will give you a whole new perspective on the food you're bringing home.

Because knowing where your food comes from shouldn't be a luxury.

Let's talk about it.

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Flock cameras, automatic license plate readers and police surveillance are facing massive backlash across America but I think we're blaming the wrong thing.

Yes, Flock cameras can make mistakes. In this episode, I break down disturbing cases where innocent people were stopped after license plate reader alerts went wrong...including a couple with their six-week-old baby whose SUV was mistakenly flagged as stolen and an officer approached with his gun drawn.

But here's my unpopular opinion:

The camera isn't the only problem. What happens AFTER the alert may be an even bigger one.

Flock says an alert is supposed to be a lead, not a conclusion. So why are innocent families being detained at gunpoint when officers could verify the license plate first?

And then there's the surveillance question I don't think we're talking about nearly enough:

Who has access to all of this data, what can they search, and what are they allowed to do with it?

I dig into cases involving wrongful ALPR stops, police reliance on automated alerts, alleged misuse of license plate databases, officers accused of repeatedly searching vehicles connected to former romantic partners, data retention, privacy safeguards and the enormous amount of information these systems can potentially make searchable.

Because here's the reality: cameras aren't going away.

They're outside our homes, businesses, schools, grocery stores, gyms and parking lots. Our phones and other devices are collecting enormous amounts of information too. Taking down one brand of camera doesn't magically end surveillance in America.

I don't blindly trust technology. I don't blindly trust corporations. And I certainly don't think government should have unlimited access to information simply because the technology exists.

But I also refuse to blame a camera for every terrible decision a human makes.

Maybe the real Flock camera controversy isn't just about the cameras.

Maybe it's about what happens when technology moves faster than accountability.

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I love sports. My kids play sports. But I cannot stand what adults have done to youth sports culture.

Somewhere along the way, playing a sport stopped being enough.

Now your kid needs the travel team. The private lessons. The expensive equipment. The tournament three states away. The required hotel. The matching gear. The trip to nationals. And, of course, the social media highlight reel showing everyone how “elite” your child is.

Enough.

In this episode, I’m taking on the travel sports industry and asking why so many parents feel completely powerless to say NO.

Families are spending thousands (and sometimes tens of thousands) of dollars a year on youth sports. Some are dipping into emergency savings or taking on debt. Kids are missing birthday parties, vacations and family traditions. Young athletes are specializing earlier, playing year-round, suffering overuse injuries and burning out.

And we're doing all of this because we're terrified our kids will somehow fall behind.

But will they?

I dig into the numbers behind youth sports, the odds of actually playing Division I or professional sports, what research says about specializing too early and why playing multiple sports may actually be better for young athletes.

I also talk about something I think parents desperately need to hear: your child's sport should not become their entire identity...and it shouldn't become yours either.

I'm not telling parents to pull their kids out of sports. I'm saying stop acting like you don't have a choice.

Protect the offseason. Protect their sleep. Protect family time. Let them play different sports. Let them miss a tournament for something that matters more.

Because local doesn't mean lesser.

Your kid doesn't need to look like a professional athlete at nine years old. And you don't have to mortgage their childhood trying to turn them into one.

I love sports.

I just think it's time we give sports back to the kids.

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I voted for Donald Trump. I’m still a conservative. My values haven’t changed, and I wouldn’t change my vote.

But I’m also not going to pretend that everything happening right now is good just because the person in office is someone I voted for.

At some point, we have to be willing to ask: What happened to America First?

In this episode of Melissa Unfiltered, I’m talking about something that has been bothering me for a long time. When did questioning our own party become a betrayal? When did being conservative or MAGA mean that we’re supposed to defend everything Donald Trump and his administration do?

We spent years criticizing Democrats for protecting their own party no matter what. I don’t want conservatives becoming the exact same thing.

So we’re going there.

I’m talking about what families are actually paying at the grocery store, inflation, tariffs, beef prices and American farmers. I’m asking what happened to the promise of ending endless wars as we continue to deal with Iran and conflict in the Middle East. And yes, I’m talking about Gaza, DOGE and Epstein too.

Some of this is going to make people uncomfortable. That’s okay.

I’m a Christian. I’m a mother. I’m a conservative. I believe in putting America first. And none of those things require me to blindly defend a politician, a political party or a news network.

I want Trump to succeed when he’s doing things that help Americans. I want any president to succeed when it means our country succeeds.

But I don't owe Donald Trump blind loyalty. I don't owe the Republican Party blind loyalty. And you don't owe anyone blind trust either.

If our principles only matter when Democrats are in office, are they really principles at all?

This one is going to get people talking.

Listen to the full episode, then come find me on socials and tell me what you think.

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