Monday, November 26, 2012

Psychic Kids: Children of the Paranormal: Fact or Fake? Pt. 4



CHAPTER 5 - DEALING WITH SKEPTICS AND DISBELIEVERS

- It is very interesting how Coffey attempts to frame the discussion concerning skeptics and disbelievers. (He knows who manages the discussion often wins the outcome of it.) Coffey paints those who are skeptics as being uninterested in the truth, which belongs to only those who think as he does. To him, you either think in the same way he thinks or else you are someone who is not interested in learning the truth.

- Coffey presents numerous stories from mothers (observe that few episodes ever feature a child with both a mother and a father), concerning a psychic kid going to a mental hospital. It has been my experience that when it comes to events in peoples' lives that there are two sides to the story, and then there is the truth. It appears that the tales presented in the book paint schools and doctors as evil and psychic kids and their parents as good.


CHAPTER 6 - GOD NEVER HAD ANYTHING AGAINST PSYCHICS

- One of the realities that psychics like Chip fail to deal with when it comes to psychics and crime is that there is not one documented case of a psychic helping police solve a crime. This phenomenon has not happened to date.

- Coffey chooses to start this chapter with yet another anecdotal story we cannot document as true. Then he turns to a former police officer to praise the show while the chapter supposedly focuses on God and psychics. So why trot out the police officer in this section?

- Father Bob Bailey is used as proof that God endorses psychics. All the proof we receive from Father Bailey is that he is open to people that are psychic. There are no bible references given whatsoever. Note that Father Bailey and Coffey are linked to the same paranormal reality show, namely "Paranormal State". This is another show that has many questions raised concerning its credibility as the same production company that produced it also produced "Psychic Kids: Children of the Paranormal".

- Coffey states that if you are using the bible to address apprehension concerning his show, this means that you are a bigot. Again, he tries to frame the discussion to focus on him being right while everyone who disagrees with him is wrong.

- Chip chooses a bible passage that is often used by new age supporters to back their beliefs. John 3:7 "Ye must be born again." This quote serves as a pillar for the reincarnation debate. But if you read the full passage there is no way that it could mean what they want you to think it does. "Marvel not that I said unto thee, ye must be born again." Coffey also turns to a much used passage "Judge not, that ye be judged." If we take it to the extreme, as Coffey suggests, this would mean that all judges who oversee a court are headed for hell. Furthermore, anyone impacted by a criminal is bad because they judge the criminal for inflicting pain and suffering.

- Nor does Chip address the various passages in both the New and the Old Testaments that raise issues with being psychic or talking to the dead.

CHAPTER 7 - MOVING INTO ADULTHOOD

- This chapter should have been labeled LOOK AT ME! I'M A FREAK, MOM! We receive no real information about how to help a psychic kid move into adulthood. We read more self-promoting of Coffey's life which as I continued reading, more doubts began to form about being told the truth.

We come to the end of the main text and I feel the book falls short on the promises made by the publisher on what the book was supposed to provide the reader. Let's take a look and see what we get:

* Determine if a child is really psychic—as opposed to simply imaginative or seeking attention

Not done.

* Identify the different kinds of psychic abilities kids (and adults) might have

Done but we are never told where the information came from.  The International Psychic Association? 

* Gain control over when and how psychic information is received

Not done.

* Safely connect with others in the psychic community

Not done.

* Deal with skeptics and disbelievers:

Done but the only advice given is to call them bigots.

But most concerning is this passage:

NO one knows more about psychic kids than Chip Coffey, and no expert on psychic kids is better known throughout the world. These kids are widely misunderstood, misjudged, and misdiagnosed. In Growing Up Psychic, Chip Coffey offers indispensable information for anyone who interacts with these extraordinary youngsters—parents, educators, medical professionals, mental health clinicians, members of the clergy, paranormal investigators—and adults who faced the challenges of growing up psychic.

Where did Chip Coffey get his degree?

What level of degree did he receive?

What training and research has been done concerning psychic kids?

What type of license or certification does he hold?

Has he taken part in any training or schooling since he allegedly received his degree back in the nineteen-seventies?

Does he belong to the A.P.A. or any other professional psychological organization? Has he taken part in research into any psychological topic?

Has he been published concerning his psychic kids work in any peer review publication?

EPILOGUE

There is no need to cover it.

GLOSSARY

We are presented with a list of terms and most of them were not used in the book. There is no reason given for listing them and we find at the end that his research into these terms from two websites: Wikipedia and the Free Online Dictionary.


PRAYERS OF PROTECTION

My demon experts list that all of these prayers are easily found online and offer the reader no insight.

TRUE TALES I NEVER TIRE OF TELLING

This section reads as though the book was falling short of the length that his publisher was expecting so these were tacked on to make the book longer. They read like the earlier tales he shares for more self-promotion.

The last story is troubling as it seems to me he is profiting off the victims and the dead of 9/11. This is a date where many of us lost loved ones and friends. Events concerning that day then and now should be treated with the utmost respect.

I have found this book to be more about CHIP COFFEY, the abilities he claims to have, and his life, than about psychic kids. It appears to me that psychic kids were used to justify writing it. What a shame. Exploiting gifts that have not been proven is wrong, but exploiting children, psychic or not, is even worse.

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