"Most of What I Need to Know I Could Learn from My Children"

On my parenting journey, the line between teacher and student is often muddied. I have grand ideas of wisdom and value that I want to impart to my children while they are still under my wing. My children, on the other hand, have no agenda, no plan for all that they need to teach their mother, and yet many times I know that I am the recipient of their wisdom. While I fight my drive to "do," they simply "are". They ride with the moment, savoring every bit of their current existence. Lately, I’ve been taking notes - as all good students must do on occasion - and my notes have revealed a treasure of wisdom learned from my children. The most important things to learn in life are really very simple.

1. Stay close to the ones you love.

Many of us are saddened by the transient pattern of our society. Even more alarming is the transient pattern of families. . . the taxi driver mom, the workaholic dad, the kids running from music to dance to sports and more. Whatever happened to home? We all have houses, but do we have homes? We all struggle with this transient pull in some way or another. When I look at my children, I see a baby who wants to be near his mama and daddy all the time, except for brief periods of exploration or visits to others’ arms. I also see a little girl who thrives on lots of at-home time, weaving in and out of the activities of other family members. Being close to the ones they love the most is the main stabilizing factor in the lives of our children.

2. Do a few things and do them well.

Have you ever read the same book to a toddler 25 times in one day? Or watched a baby throw laundry from a hamper over and over as you throw it back in? The natural, unhampered attention span and focusing ability of children are amazing. When their lives are not invaded by unnecessary media, chaotic adult schedules, or rigidly structured activities, children are very focused and take delight in doing simple tasks over and over. My children are challenging me to re-examine the activities that fill our days. We are trying to schedule our errands one day per week, and hone down our outside involvement to a few important activities. This allows us time to concentrate on home, cherished relationships, and favorite hobbies - all of which benefit from my increased and focused attention.

3. Consider the potential for good in all things.

Many moms have pretended to nurse a stuffed animal, a wooden block, or even a truck at the insistence of a nursing toddler! Our children seem to be saying "This, too, deserves to be loved by you, Mama!" Looking at my own life, I struggle with many things: wastefulness (I have been known to throw away something with seemingly no value only because I have tripped over it 100 times); "Jones disease" (the mentality that takes over when we covet new things because what we own doesn’t measure up to the Jones’ belongings); and too many conveniences (which makes me see less value in simple things). I have much to learn from my little ones in this area, and it will be a life-long struggle for them to teach me, I’m sure.

4. Eat when you’re hungry.

Ahh… how much we could learn from the breastfeeding infant. Eat when you’re hungry, stop when you’re full, reject that which is bad for you, like the tongue-thrusting action of an infant not ready for solids. A new mother asked me recently if her three-month-old baby could possibly be ready for solids, because he kept grabbing Oreo cookies from his mom. This is a case of an adult projecting her unhealthy eating attitudes on her baby instead of vice-versa. We all struggle with the "I see it - it looks good - I eat it" syndrome. There is so much to learn from our precious little ones, who are in touch with their natural eating instincts. They challenge us to examine the place food has in our lives. Does it nourish our bodies or feed our emotions?

5. Sleep when you’re tired.

I’ve always marveled at how my children can drop off to sleep in the middle of a noisy party, in the middle of a meal, or even in the middle of a conversation. They have no inhibitions about when and where they should sleep! When they’re tired, they just close their eyes.

An amazing thing happened in our family recently. We moved into a new home, and lived without curtains for a few weeks. We began to wake with the sun and go to bed shortly after sundown, and felt better rested and more alert. Where we once moaned at the creeping sun in the morning, we began to welcome it. As adults, many of us ignore the signals that our bodies give us regarding our physical needs and we often suffer the havoc this wreaks on us.

6. Be curious and adventurous.

When we embark on new adventures, my children are so excited that they can’t stop bouncing! One evening, I found an old rubber ball that my one-year-old son had never seen before. We started rolling it across the floor, and he was so excited, his enthusiasm made him look like Tigger bouncing around our living room! My reaction, on the other hand, most likely would have been "Oh - a ball - seen one, seen them all."

On another day, when a city employee showed up at our door to fix our water meter, my daughter wanted to know all about his family, his job, and whatever else he wanted to share with her. Her natural curiosity drives her to learn and explore. I usually squelch my own questions and curiosities because I figure that my time demands that I do more important things. Now I find myself wondering … who was the meter reader in my basement? I suppose I could ask my daughter.

7. Look at things from a new perspective.

So often, people get stuck in ruts - especially with regard to their perspective of the world. How many times I have looked at a situation with a critical eye, only to find myself having to reconsider my position later on, when I am forced to deal with the same situation in my own life. Have you ever watched a child look at the world? Young children, especially, inspire me - they stand on their heads, hang upside down from trees, swing as high as possible, and peer through empty toilet paper tubes! Many conflicts could be averted and stress lifted from our shoulders if we would adopt the principle of shifting our perspective.

8. Sing Random Songs.

One night recently, I was up late reading a good book. My one-year-old had been asleep for several hours, but he started squirming and fussing to nurse. I latched him on and continued to read. Suddenly, he stopped nursing, looked straight up at the ceiling, and launched into a musical baby-babble. When he was finished, he went back to nursing and soon drifted off to sleep. That’s living in the moment! I have come to enjoy making up songs about my children. These random songs are a highlight for all of us.

9. Find joy in simple things.

I have watched my daughter fill her treasure box with old railroad ties found on hikes, pieces of gravel which she calls "golden rocks," and old pieces of rubber that she treasures as "old tires." Lately, she has been bringing me dandelions in plastic cup-vases. I am learning to appreciate the beauty in these weedy flowers.

10. Have faith.

A child's faith is pure and unwavering. It seems as we grow into adults, our desire to control the circumstances of our lives leeches our ability to trust. But children live in the present, and are often oblivious to the future. My daughter talks about birth, life, and death with an attitude of hope and trust while I struggle with fear.

I often ponder a certain scripture from the gospel of Mark (10:14-15), in which Jesus says, "Let the children come to me; do not prevent them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Amen, I say to you, whoever does not accept the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it." I can recall many times when I have placed expectations on my child that rob her of her chance to be a child. From this gospel I learned that there are virtues of childhood that I need to encourage and protect in my children, and that I should strive to take on these virtues myself.

My children are teaching me to embrace life, to accept people at face value, to trust, and to take care of myself. I am a tough student, but they are such loving and forgiving teachers, that I should do okay.

by Jacquelyn deLaveaga

Source: The Natural Child Project

The Con of Controlled Crying

When controlled crying ("graduated extinction") was first advocated around twenty years ago, it was recommended for infants over six months old, not newborns. While there are still professionals who feel comfortable with variations of controlled crying for older babies, many of these people would see any such methods as inappropriate for younger babies. However, popular advice by various authors and even some baby sleep centers now commonly includes leaving babies as young as a couple of weeks old to cry in order to teach them to sleep, much like advice offered in the 1850s. Sometimes modern sleep-training methods are couched in euphemistic labels like “controlled comforting” or even “controlled soothing” and within each definition there can be different recommendations about how long to leave babies to cry and how often or how long to "comfort". Others simply advise leaving the baby to cry until he falls asleep.

Although many baby sleep trainers claim there is no evidence of harm from practices such as controlled crying, it is worth noting that there is a vast difference between "no evidence of harm" and "evidence of no harm". In fact, a growing number of health professionals are now claiming that training infants to sleep too deeply, too soon, is not in babies’ best psychological or physiological interests. A policy statement on controlled crying issued by the Australian Association of Infant Mental Health (AAIMHI) advises, "Controlled crying is not consistent with what infants need for their optimal emotional and psychological health, and may have unintended negative consequences." According to AAIMHI, "There have been no studies, such as sleep laboratory studies, to our knowledge, that assess the physiological stress levels of infants who undergo controlled crying, or its emotional or psychological impact on the developing child."

Despite the popularity of controlled crying, it is not an evidence-based practice. Professor James McKenna, director of the Mother–Baby Behavioral Sleep Laboratory at the University of Notre Dame and acclaimed SIDS expert, described controlled crying as "social ideology masquerading as science". What this means is that despite a plethora of opinions on how long you should leave your baby to cry in order to train her to sleep, nobody has studied exactly how long it is safe to leave a baby to cry, if at all. Babies who are forced to sleep alone (or cry, because many do not sleep) for hours may miss out on both adequate nutrition and sensory stimulation such as touch, which is as important as food for infant development. Leaving a baby to "cry it out" in order to enforce a strict routine when the baby may, in fact, be hungry, is similar to expecting an adult to adopt a strenuous exercise program accompanied by a reduced food intake. The result of expending energy through crying while being deprived of food is likely to be weight loss and failure to thrive. Pediatrician William Sears has claimed that "babies who are 'trained' not to express their needs may appear to be docile, compliant or "good" babies. Yet, these babies could be depressed babies who are shutting down the expression of their needs."

Often the predisposing conditions for depression in infants are beyond our control, such as trauma due to early hospitalization and medical treatments. However, if we consider the baby’s perspective, it is easy to understand how extremely rigid regimes can also be associated with infant depression and why it isn’t worth risking, especially if your child has already experienced early separation. You too would withdraw and become sad if the people you loved avoided eye contact, as some sleep training techniques advise, and repeatedly ignored your cries.

Leaving a baby to cry evokes physiological responses that increase stress hormones. Crying infants experience an increase in heart rate, body temperature and blood pressure. These reactions are likely to result in overheating and, along with vomiting due to extreme distress, could pose a potential risk of SIDS in vulnerable infants. There may also be longer-term emotional effects. There is compelling evidence that increased levels of stress hormones may cause permanent changes in the stress responses of the infant’s developing brain. These changes then affect memory, attention, and emotion, and can trigger an elevated response to stress throughout life, including a predisposition to later anxiety and depressive disorders. English psychotherapist, Sue Gerhardt, author of Why Love Matters: How Affection Shapes a Baby’s Brain, explains that when a baby is upset, the hypothalamus produces cortisol. In normal amounts cortisol is fine, but if a baby is exposed for too long or too often to stressful situations (such as being left to cry) its brain becomes flooded with cortisol and it will then either over- or under-produce cortisol whenever the child is exposed to stress. Too much cortisol is linked to depression and fearfulness; too little to emotional detachment and aggression.

One of the arguments for using controlled crying is that it "works", but perhaps the definition of success needs to be examined more closely. A recent Australian baby magazine survey revealed that although 57 per cent of mothers who responded to the survey had tried controlled crying, 27 per cent reported no success, 27 per cent found it worked for one or two nights, and only 8 per cent found that controlled crying worked for longer than a week. To me, this suggests that even if harsher regimes work initially, babies are likely to start waking again as they reach new developmental stages or conversely, they may become more settled and sleep (without any intervention) as they reach appropriate developmental levels.

I am so glad that I didn’t cave and do controlled crying. My baby is now fifteen months old and even my husband has thanked me for standing my ground on this one. Learning to listen to what is in my heart when it comes to parenting has been the greatest gift. I know myself better now and I think it has helped me in every area of my life. Just knowing that my instinctive responses are the right ones give me so much confidence as a mother. - Michelle

Controlled crying and other similar regimes may indeed work to produce a self-soothing, solitary sleeping infant. However, the trade-off could be an anxious, clingy or hyper-vigilant child or even worse, a child whose trust is broken. Unfortunately, we can’t measure attributes such as trust and empathy which are the basic skills for forming all relationships. We can’t, for instance, give a child a trust quotient like we can give him an intelligence quotient. One of the saddest emails I have received was from a mother who did controlled crying with her one-year-old toddler.

After a week of controlled crying he slept, but he stopped talking (he was saying single words). For the past year, he has refused all physical contact from me. If he hurts himself, he goes to his older brother (a preschooler) for comfort. I feel devastated that I have betrayed my child. - Sonia

It is the very principle that makes controlled crying “work” that is of greatest concern: when controlled crying “succeeds” in teaching a baby to fall asleep alone, it is due to a process that neurobiologist Bruce Perry calls the “defeat response”. Normally, when humans feel threatened, our bodies flood with stress hormones and we go into “fight” or “flight”. However, babies can’t fight and they can’t flee, so they communicate their distress by crying. When infant cries are ignored, this trauma elicits a “freeze” or “defeat” response. Babies eventually abandon their crying as the nervous system shuts down the emotional pain and the striving to reach out. Whether sleep "success" is due to behavioral principles (that is, a lack of "rewards" when baby wakes) or whether the baby is overwhelmed by a stress reaction, the saddest risk of all is that as he tries to communicate in the only way available to him, the baby who is left to cry in order to teach him to sleep will learn a much crueler lesson – that he cannot make a difference, so what is the point of reaching out. This is learned helplessness. Secure attachments in infancy are the foundation for good adult mental health.

Neuroscientists and clinicians have documented that loving interactions that are sensitive to a child’s needs influence the way the brain grows and can increase the number of connections between nerve cells. The Australian Association of Infant Mental Health advises: “Infants are more likely to form secure attachments when their distress is responded to promptly, consistently and appropriately. Secure attachments in infancy are the foundation for good adult mental health.” So, when you adopt the perspective that your baby’s night howls are the expression of a need, and she is not trying to “manipulate” you, and you respond appropriately (this will vary depending on your baby’s age and needs), you are not only making her smarter, but you will be hardwiring her brain for future mental health.

by Pinky McKay

Source: The Natural Child Project

Deadly violence shatters Gaza calm, 13 killed including a two year old baby boy

By Mirek O

After a week of relative calm in Gaza, violence broke out again in Gaza Strip after the death of two Hamas members in what the anti-occupation group described as a roadside bomb attack on a convoy by members of the former ruling Party Fatah.

Hamas spokesman Abdel-Latif Qanoua said it would "chase those killers who carried out this cowardly action".

The incident prompted fierce clashes between members of the two rival factions, while Hamas supporters gathered to mark a year since the Islamist group defeated President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah Party in Palestinian elections.

The fighting, which reports said was the deadliest between Hamas and Fatah in Gaza for months, killed at least 13 people, including two civilians.

A two-year-old boy was among those killed, according to Palestinian medics.

Violence also included the kidnapping of members of both factions.

Fatah reportedly abducted six Hamas men in the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahiya early Friday, residents told Reuters.

Hours after the two Hamas members had died in the roadside bomb attack, Hamas fighters surrounded the house of Mansour Shaleil, a local Fatah leader in the Jabaliya refugee camp just north of Gaza City, seeking to question him in regard to the roadside bomb.

Two people were killed in the fighting that followed the siege, but Shaleil was left unharmed.

Fighting also reached the residences of the Palestinian President Mr. Abbas and Hamas Foreign Minister Mahmoud Zahar, whose home was reportedly damaged following a rocket-propelled grenade attack, according to security sources.

Fatah and Hamas members announced canceling talks aimed at forming a national unity government.

"How can the dialogue go on when there is a bomb underneath the table?" Fatah spokesman Tawfiq Abu Khoussa was quoted by Reuters as saying.

But Hamas blamed Fatah for the stalemate.

"The Fatah movement continues to give a factional, political and media cover to the killers. Hamas has therefore decided to suspend all talks with Fatah," spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said.

Fighting between Hamas and Fatah since mid-December killed more than 40 people. And officials from both parties have so far failed to reach an agreement to form a national unity government.

Bush sells Fatah weapons

Numerous reports over the past months revealed that U.S. and Israel supply weapons to Fatah forces to support President Mahmoud Abbas, whom they see as “moderate”.

Washington is believed to have been sending advanced weapons to the Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' party in recent months that witnessed a noticeable deterioration in the conflict between the group and Hamas, the Islamist organisation that controls the Cabinet and parliament and which has pulled the carpet from under Fatah, the former ruling Party, according to World Net Daily.

Also senior Palestinian officials revealed that during the U.S. Secretary of States Condoleezza Rice’s meeting with President Abbas last month, she pledged U.S. military support to Abbas' Force 17 security forces, including providing it with new weapons to strengthen the group against now the ruling Party Hamas.

Source: Aljazeera

"we want milk" Palestinian girl

A Palestinian child wears a bandana with script in Arabic that reads, "we want milk" as she stands with government employees demonstrating in front of the Palestinian cabinet offices in the West Bank town of Ramallah, 30 May 2006. A group of around 1,000 civil servants staged a protest in the centre of the Palestinian Authority's political capital over the non-payment of salaries for the past three months. PHOTO/ABBAS MOMANI

Source: FREEPAL

'He was a tough and tireless champion of children's rights'

Above Peter Clarke

PETER CLARKE, the Children's Commissioner for Wales, died yesterday following a long battle with cancer.

Mr Clarke, 58, who became the first person in the UK to hold such a role, was last night hailed as a "pioneer" and an "inspiration" by colleagues and politicians.

In addition to establishing the office of Children's Commissioner, he will perhaps be best remembered for setting up the Clywch inquiry into child sex abuse by Welsh writer and teacher John Owen.

First Minister Rhodri Morgan said, "I am deeply saddened to learn of the death of Peter Clarke.

"Peter was very much a pioneer. Not only was he Wales' first Children's Commissioner, he was also the first to hold such a post in the UK. He had the difficult job of establishing the office of Children's Commissioner from scratch and worked tirelessly to develop his demanding role as champion of the rights of children and young people. He always placed the highest importance on listening to the views of children and young people and making sure that their voices were heard, and responded to, particularly by government at all levels.

"He could sometimes be tough and demanding as a champion for children but that was his job. He always fulfilled his duties with passion, dedication and commitment. He blazed a trail for others to follow. He made an enormous contribution to the lives of children and young people in Wales in the past six years and many thousands have benefited, and will benefit in the future, from his work.

"On behalf of the Welsh Assembly Government and the people of Wales, I send deepest sympathies to his wife and sons."

Llandudno-born Mr Clarke took up post as Children's Commissioner on March 1, 2001. He was previously director of Childline Cymru/Wales, a position he held for over five years. Before that he had moved back to Wales in the early 1990s to become Director in Wales of the National Schizophrenia Fellowship.

A social worker by profession, he lived in Carmarthenshire with his wife and two sons.

His family were at his side when he died shortly after 6am yesterday.

Maria Battle, Acting Children's Commissioner, said, "It is with great sadness that we have had to say goodbye to Peter, who established this organisation and worked so tirelessly to improve the lives of our children and young people.

"We all took strength from the tremendous courage that Peter showed in the face of his illness and from his continued determination to speak up for Wales' children and young people. He has inspired his staff to take his vision forward.

"For those of us who had the privilege of knowing him and of working with him, it will be no surprise to know that up until the end his thoughts were of the children and young people of Wales.

"We offer our deepest, heartfelt condolences to Peter's wife Jenny and his sons Liam and Bryn. His devotion and love for his family was always clear."

An online remembrance board was yesterday being planned in Mr Clarke's memory.

Among his most lasting legacies will undoubtedly be his role in setting up the long-running Clywch inquiry after John Owen, author of S4/C school drama series Pam Fi Duw?, committed suicide in 2001 before he could be brought to trial on charges of indecent assault.

The findings of the public inquiry, which described how Mr Owen abused pupils over two decades, called for big changes in the protection available for children.

Assembly Education Minister Jane Davidson last night paid tribute to a commissioner who would be "a hard act to follow" while Assembly Children's Minister Jane Hutt described Mr Clarke as an "authoritative voice" for children's rights.

Source: icWales

Family bid to aid young addicts

Alcohol and drug addiction among teenagers in Glasgow is to be treated with a new form of therapy that involves their family.

A pilot project will see about 40 teenagers with addictions take part in family therapy.

The holistic approach - developed by the University of Miami - aims to tackle a problem which currently affects about 1,000 teenagers.

Professor Cindy Rowe said the treatment had been successful in the US.

Professor Rowe, of the University of Miami, has travelled to Glasgow to train 10 staff.

Forefront of treatment

She said: "This type of comprehensive family-based treatment is now seen internationally as an effective tool in reducing adolescent drug use and other psychological, family and social problems."

The Glasgow Addictions Service will roll out the initiative from February.

Professor Rowe added: "We saw this collaboration as a great opportunity to address the problem of substance misuse among young people in Glasgow."

The University of Glasgow's Centre for Drug Misuse Research will be examining the treatment and assessing its effectiveness.

If it proves successful, it will be rolled out further.

Gemma McNeill, senior officer with the Glasgow Addiction Service, said "The fact we will soon be able to add therapy to the range of interventions offered to young people will keep Glasgow at the forefront of drug treatment and support."

Five other European countries are exploring the therapy, with the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany and France in the process of training staff.

Source: BBC

Smacking vital as last resort, insist parents in 'Growing Up' study

NEARLY half of all Scottish parents of toddlers believe smacking their children is necessary to discipline them.

A Scottish Executive study, Growing Up In Scotland, revealed that 42 per cent agreed or strongly agreed with the statement: "It may not be a good thing to smack, but sometimes it is the only thing that will work." Thirty per cent of babies' parents also agreed with the statement.

The findings come a week after The Scotsman revealed that a UN watchdog is preparing a report that will criticise the Executive for failing to outlaw smacking.

The parents of around 8,000 children aged up to three were questioned for the study, which will track the children's lives into their teens.

Robert Brown, the deputy education minister, said the ambitious study will help the Executive to plan policy.

He said: "We want all youngsters to get the best possible start in life. The information will help ensure that future generations grow up in safe, supportive environments and have every opportunity to realise their full potential."

Last night, child-welfare campaigners said they were concerned that so many parents find smacking acceptable.

Tom Roberts, the head of public affairs at Children 1st, described the figures as "extremely worrying" and said: "Extensive data has shown that children who are frequently hit develop more behavioural problems, particularly aggression, as well as emotional and mental-health problems."

The Executive backtracked from a plan five years ago to ban smacking children under three after complaints from parents and warnings the law would be unenforceable. It outlawed hitting with an implement such as a belt, slipper or cane.

Scotland, the early years: the trials and tribulations of being born here
DRINKING
Mothers living in more deprived areas were less likely to say they drank while pregnant than those in less deprived areas. Sixty-five per cent of mothers in the latter group never drank alcohol while pregnant, compared to 82 per cent in the most deprived.

SMOKING
About one in four mothers said they smoked during pregnancy - 42 per cent were in the most-deprived areas, compared with 9 per cent in the least-deprived. Of those who smoked in pregnancy, half said they smoked "most days" and half "occasionally".

BIRTH
A quarter of Scots mothers said they had a Caesarian section, but the figures suggest it was not because they were "too posh to push". Only 12 per cent had the C-section before labour began, while 13 per cent chose to do so once the baby was on the way.

GRANDPARENTS
Four per cent of children had five or more grandparents, indicating a rise in the number of so-called "blended families", where the parents of step-mothers and fathers can act as grandparents. Most children in the survey had at least one grandparent.

PREGNANCIES
Sixty per cent of pregnancies were described as planned, but the survey stresses that this does not mean the rest were unwanted. Although 23 per cent were not planned at all, 17 per cent said they did not do anything to prevent it happening.

TELEVISION
The survey suggests that the television is often used as a surrogate baby-sitter when parents have their hands full. More than half of babies (53 per cent) had watched TV in the past week, as had 95 per cent of the toddlers covered in the research.

HOUSEWORK
Equality of the sexes is still a long way off when it comes to housework. The majority of household tasks, such as cooking, ironing and cleaning, were carried out by the mother, even when both parents worked for more than 16 hours a week.

BREASTFEEDING
Around 60 per cent of children were breastfed. Those living in the least-deprived areas were twice as likely to have been as those in disadvantaged areas. The survey says "challenges remain" in promoting breastfeeding among the more deprived groups.

CHILDCARE
A quarter of parents found meeting childcare costs difficult or very difficult. Costs vary considerably across the country, the research found, suggesting that the demand for affordable and available childcare has not been met.

Source: The Scotsman

Why childhood abuse harms health as adult

People who were physically or sexually abused as children are twice as likely to have inflammatory proteins in their blood, according to a new study.

The findings could explain why children who are abused show a higher incidence of conditions such as heart disease and diabetes as adults, the researchers say. Until now, it has not been clear exactly how early stress could cause these future health problems, says Andrea Danese, a psychiatrist at King's College London in the UK.

Danese and colleagues monitored 1000 people in New Zealand from birth to the age of 32, noting factors that created stress and measuring for levels of inflammation associated with heart disease in their bloodstream.

They found that people who had been physically or sexually abused, or rejected by their mothers as children were twice as likely to have significant levels of the C-reactive protein, a measure of inflammation.

Anticipation of pain

The team believes that stress induces abnormal levels of inflammation in children, which has repercussions in adulthood. "Inflammation is a natural response to physical trauma, such as cutting yourself or getting an infection," explains Danese. "But psychological stress can also trigger inflammation, since stress is really the anticipation of pain."

This constant triggering could reduce the children's ability to produce glucocorticoid hormones that suppress inflammation, leading to an increase risk of heart disease, stroke, and other illnesses as adults, says Danese. The team plan further work to measure glucocorticoid levels.

"This is much stronger than simply saying that people who have a harder time in childhood are more miserable or depressed as adults," says Andrew Steptoe at University College London, who has studied the relationship between emotional triggers and heart disease. "They've elegantly connected childhood to stress to a real adult risk of disease."

Danese hopes that the study will help practitioners to identify abused children as having a high risk of heart disease at an earlier age.

Journal reference: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0610362104)

Source: New Scientist

Also see: "The Body Never Lies": A Challenge

Missing: 48 trafficked children taken into care

Above RomAlbanian Children, Many children are victims of child trafficking and are sent to Greece or Italy for begging

Forty-eight children illegally trafficked into Britain have disappeared while in the care of social services. More than half of the 80 children identified in a report on victims of trafficking have gone missing, according to an assessment of care provision in parts of the north-west, north-east and West Midlands.

The authors of the study of five local authorities warned that the 48 were only "the tip of the iceberg", and there are likely to be hundreds of child victims of smuggling who have escaped the radar of the social services. Many are thought to have been returned to the criminal gangs who smuggled them in - often for child "slavery" - or to have fled in fear that they would be recaptured.

The children were brought into the country to work as prostitutes, tend plants in cannabis factories or work as domestic servants, according Missing Out, a study published today by Ecpat, a coalition of children's charities. Others are believed to have been brought in for forced marriages or to work illegally in factories or restaurants.

Christine Beddoe, Ecpat's director, called for a national inquiry into the "deeply disturbing" findings. She said many social workers had told researchers that the immigration status of trafficked children was an obstacle to treating them as victims of human rights abuses. "From the moment children are passed into social service care they are defined as under 'immigration control'," she said. "Social workers are unsure of how to deal with them.

"One solution would be to provide residency permits or another form of visa to these children to allow them to stay in the country beyond the age of 18, when they are currently deported. This would enable social services to provide long-term care plans - something they find difficult."

Under existing legislation, the rights of children can be subordinated if they have entered the country illegally. Until now studies of child trafficking have tended to focus on London, where social service teams in 26 out of 33 boroughs have voiced concern about the the issue.

Researchers focused on care provision in Manchester, Birmingham and Newcastle after information that criminal rings are smuggling children into new urban centres with regional ports of entry and large ethnic minority populations, where children can easily be "hidden".

Three-quarters of the children identified as known or suspected victims of trafficking were girls. However, the report stressed that more boys are now being smuggled into Britain to work in the underground sex industry.

All the children were aged between 10 and 17, and most originated from Africa and east Asia. Thirty came from China.

Source: The Guardian

ECPAT UK

End the suffering of Somali children

Above Somali girl carrying a baby

NAIROBI, 12 January 2007 - Peace and stability are urgently needed in Somalia to end the suffering of thousands of Somali children affected by the recent conflict, UNICEF and Save the Children UK said today.

Children have been victims of conflict and, according to eye-witness accounts, have featured prominently in recent fighting as active combatants. UNICEF and Save the Children demand that all children associated with armed forces or groups must be immediately released from their ranks, or from detention centres where they might currently be held. Both agencies call upon the TFG and Somali Institutions to take the necessary steps to ensure these children are adequately cared for, and safely reunited with their families without discrimination.

UNICEF and Save the Children say they are very disturbed by reports that Somali children and women are among the casualties of aerial bombardment and accounts that camps for internally displaced people are coming under grenade attack. The agencies are concerned that with the closure of Kenya’s borders, the threats to fleeing Somalis have increased. While noting that children are most vulnerable of all, they say they have received information that some have been randomly shot in the street, while others risk being recruited to fight by re-emerging warlords. The agencies say this is unacceptable under any rules of engagement.

Whilst the prospect of a centralized government brings opportunities, there are huge challenges facing the country that stand in way of stability and a safe future for children. The agencies’ concern is now compounded by the fact that the conflict situation is restricting access for humanitarian workers to reach vulnerable populations, deliver supplies and monitor the extent of child rights violations. UNICEF Somalia Representative, Christian Balslev-Olesen stated “Any continuation of the conflict within Somalia would do much to compromise the modest gains that have been achieved by the Somalis with the support of the International Community over the past fifteen years.”

El Khidir Daloum, Save the Children’s Country Director said “Children in Somalia, and in particular the South, are suffering the consequences of a triple humanitarian crisis: drought, flooding and now conflict. Unless the situation stabilizes rapidly, no one can guarantee the safety of Somali children. More children will be separated from their families, orphaned and vulnerable to abuse and neglect.”

Education is key to the rehabilitation of Somali children. However, with over 65,000 - 70,000 people displaced by current fighting and continuing insecurity, school enrolment has been severely affected.

Source: UNICEF

Save The Children

Also see: UNICEF Representative in Somalia assesses impact of conflict on children and families

UNICEF's new report, 'Child Alert: Horn of Africa',

UNICEF Representative in Somalia assesses impact of conflict on children and families

Above Somali Children

NEW YORK, USA, 12 January 2007 – Children in southern Somalia are suffering from recruitment and abduction into militias, displacement from their villages and other ill effects of an increase in violence and instability in the region.

Somali families in the most vulnerable communities are fleeing their villages and heading for the Kenyan border. But once they get there they are unable to cross to safety, as the borders are closed. Over 65,000 people have been displaced by the recent flare-up in fighting.

In an interview with UNICEF Radio today, UNICEF Representative for Somalia Christian Balslev-Olesen expressed grave concern for people in the conflict zone. Many problems are converging at once, with a dreadful impact on children, he said.

Entire population affected

The good news is that the country’s Transitional Federal Government has been able to regain control of the capital, Mogadishu, said Mr. Balslev-Olesen. But he added that there is also bad news – a resurgence of activity in the capital by dangerous warlords, who had been relatively inactive over the preceding six months.

As a result of the warlords’ return to Mogadishu, as well as the fighting in the south, children throughout Somalia are now being affected by conflict.

“The children being mobilized into the militias, the children detained and the children on the run, because of fighting in the villages, are the most affected people and the most vulnerable,” said Mr. Balslev-Olesen.

“But we are also concerned about the ordinary children who are not involved in the conflict,” he noted.

“Parents are taking children out of school because of fear of letting them go into the street, where they may be recruited by militias. So the whole population is affected.”

UNICEF’s activities curtailed

Mr. Balslev-Olesen is particularly concerned because security issues have significantly limited the work of UNICEF and other humanitarian agencies.

“Due to the war in the southern part of the country, we have had to terminate or suspend a number of lifesaving activities and programmes,” he said. “That’s in the area where children are suffering most because of conflict, and we’re not able to get access to these people. It’s very frustrating.”

For children in Somalia, the situation is dire. Today, UNICEF and Save the Children issued a joint press release to alert the world to their plight.

“These children are definitely not getting the support they need,” asserted Mr. Balslev-Olesen. “There has been reported harassment of NGO workers, including UN workers. We cannot do our work. People are not getting the assistance they need and that we are mandated to give, because of the ongoing conflict.”

UNICEF Radio correspondent Blue Chevigny talks with Representative in Somalia Christian Balslev-Olesen about UNICEF’s response to ongoing instability there. AUDIO listen

Source UNICEF

Save The Children

Also see: End the suffering of Somali children

UNICEF's new report, 'Child Alert: Horn of Africa',

Scotland faces 'global disgrace' for Executive failure to ban smacking

Smacking of children, even those aged under three,

is legal in Scotland despite UN criticism.

• UN to report on lack of outright smacking ban in Scotland
• Existing legislation bans use of implements such as cane or slipper
• Executive confirmed there were no plans for further legislation

Key quote"The Executive banned smacking using implements but you can still chastise your child with physical punishment in Scotland. This is against the UN convention" - DOUGLAS HAMILTON, SAVE THE CHILDREN

Story in full A POWERFUL UN watchdog is preparing a report that will criticise the Scottish Executive for its failure to outlaw the smacking of children.

The Scotsman has learned that ministers will face a damning submission from the UN committee on the rights of the child over its refusal to ban smacking despite pressure from more than 60 UK organisations.

It comes five years after the same body urged them to act swiftly on the issue.

Scotland's children's tsar is set to embarrass the Executive further by writing to the UN committee expressing her concern at the Executive's failure to push the current legislation further.

Kathleen Marshall, Scotland's commissioner for children and young people, is an outspoken critic of the practice and has called for a ban.

She told The Scotsman: "The UN committee has been quite clear that no form of smacking or hitting should remain acceptable under the law. I have already been in communication with the Scottish Executive about some areas of concern."

Charities fear Scotland will be disgraced on the world stage for its inaction, since Britain has signed up to the UN convention on the rights of the child.

The law in England and Wales is stricter on smacking. Adults who smack children so hard it leaves a mark face up to five years in jail under laws which came into force in 2005. Mild smacking is allowed but any punishment which causes bruising, grazes, scratches, swellings or cuts can face legal action.

The Scottish Executive stopped short of an outright ban on smacking in 2003, leaving ministers at odds with the UN and a number of countries.

Under the original terms of the Executive's Criminal Justice Bill, it would have been an offence to smack children under the age of three, or hit those of any age with an "implement" such as a belt, slipper or cane. The proposals on using an implement were adopted, but the smacking ban on under-threes was dropped after a Holyrood committee rejected it.

Last night, Douglas Hamilton, head of policy and research with Save the Children UK, said ministers had failed on the issue.

"The Executive banned smacking using implements but you can still chastise your child with physical punishment in Scotland. This is against the UN convention," he said.

In October 2002, the UN recommended a ban on smacking, describing it as "a serious violation of the dignity of the child". But The Scotsman has learned that in a draft report by the Scottish Executive, to be presented to the UN this year, it has conceded that no further action will be taken in Scotland.

The UN committee's last report said it was "deeply worried" that the UK courts let parents inflict "reasonable chastisement". And in the past few years courts have acquitted parents who have admitted using canes, belts and electric flexes to beat their children.

In 1996, a teacher was taken to court for hitting his 12-year-old son, but the case was dropped when the boy decided not to give evidence.

A study supported by the Department of Health showed nine in ten children had been hit and almost a quarter of seven-year-olds had experienced "severe punishment" by their mothers.

Scottish and English ministers are assessed by the UN, following the UK's ratification of the convention on the rights of the child in 1991.

Representatives from the UK and Scottish governments are expected to meet the examining committee in Geneva later this year to defend their record.

A spokesman for the Executive confirmed there were no plans for further legislation.

CHILDREN AND CRIME

ASIDE from the issue of smacking, the UN is also concerned that the age of criminal responsibility in Scotland - eight years old - is too low. This is two years younger than the rest of the UK. In Canada it is 12 years; 13 in France; 14 in Germany, Russia and Japan.

Children's tsar Kathleen Marshall is due to raise the issue in her report to the UN.
In some countries, children are not dealt with by the courts until they are 16.

Source: Smacking children should be outlawed, says SSP

Smacking children should be outlawed, says SSP(I worked on the SSP with Steve Johnston on the SSP Smacking Ban now Party Policy)

Public can purchase $100 laptop

The backers of the One Laptop Per Child project plan to release the machine on general sale next year.

But customers will have to buy two laptops at once - with the second going to the developing world.

Five million of the laptops will be delivered to developing nations this summer, in one of the most ambitious educational exercises ever undertaken.

Michalis Bletsas, chief connectivity officer for the project, said they were working with eBay to sell the machine.

"If we started selling the laptop now, we would do very good business," Mr Bletsas, speaking at the Consumer Electronics Show, told BBC News.

"But our focus right now is on the launch in the developing world."

Durable

The laptop has been developed to be as low cost, durable and simple to use as possible.

The eventual aim is to sell the machine to developing countries for $100 but the current cost of the machine is about $150.

The first countries to sign up to buying the machine, which is officially dubbed XO, include Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Nigeria, Libya, Pakistan and Thailand.

The XO's software has been designed to work specifically in an educational context. It has built-in wireless networking and video conferencing so that groups of children can work together.

The project is also working to ensure that children using the laptop around the world can be in contact.

"I'd like to make sure that kids all around the world start to communicate. It will be a very interesting experiment to see what will happen when we deploy a million laptops in Brazil and a million laptops in Namibia."

'Glue'

The OLPC project is working with Google who will act as "the glue to bind all these kids together".

Google will also help the children publish their work on the internet so that the world can observe the "fruits of their labour", said Mr Bletsas.

He said that the plan was to put the machine on sale to the general public "sometime next year".

"How to do that efficiently without adding to the cost is difficult," he said.

"We're discussing it with our partner eBay. We need to minimise supply chain cost , which is pretty high in the western world."

Philanthropic organisation

Mr Bletsas said that a philanthropic organisation would be formed to organise the orders and delivery of the laptops.

"It's much more difficult to do this than making the laptop," he said.

The aim is to connect the buyer of the laptop with the child in the developing world who receives the machine.

"The will get the e-mail address of the kid in the developing world that they have, in effect, sponsored."

Mr Bletsas was speaking amidst the festival of consumerism taking place on the show floor of CES.

He said he hoped that the laptop project would help children enrich their lives to the extent that one day they could become consumers of the types of technologies on display in Las Vegas.

'Castigated'

But he castigated the industry for being unambitious in its plan to "connect the next billion people".
"They should look to connect the next five and a half billion.

"The way to do it is not to try and deploy tried and trusted technology but to try and develop technology specifically targeted to the developing world."

He said that OLPC was ensuring that laptops were being deployed to areas where there was internet access.

"We are trying to help the governments - that ranges from donating resources, to making sure that we work with them and that they don't consider the laptop as something that can work in a disconnected environment.

"It's vitally important that children are connected. My ambition is that we will get them connect to a vast amount of information that is unavailable to them.

"It will stimulate their interest in looking further - not waiting for some teacher or an adult."

Source: BBC

Also see:

Microsoft broadsides African laptop

$100 laptop project launches 2007

One Laptop Per Child OLPC

Report: Gates Foundation Causing Harm With the Same Money It Uses To Do Good

Above Baby Justice Eta

IN EBOCHA, NIGERIA: The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation invests in the oil plant in the background, which doctors say harms babies like Justice Eta, whose immunizations were funded by the foundation.
(Edmund Sanders / LAT) Jan 5, 2007

more images here

The Los Angeles Times has revealed the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has made millions of dollars each year from companies blamed for many of the same social and health problems the Foundation seeks to address. We speak with the lead reporter on the LA Times investigative team that broke the story.

Is the world's largest private philanthropic organization causing harm with the same money it uses to do good? That's the question hanging over the charity of Microsoft founder Bill Gates and his wife Melinda today. The Los Angeles Times has revealed the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has made millions of dollars each year from companies blamed for many of the same social and health problems the Foundation seeks to address.

The Gates Foundation has an endowment of more than $31 billion. The investment mogul Warren Buffet has pledged an additional $30 billion delivered in incremental sums. Since its inception six years ago, the Foundation has committed more than $11 billion to programs around the world. This includes major grants for vaccine and immunization programs, HIV and AIDS research, and public education here in the United States.

But the LA Times investigation reveals the Gates Foundation's humanitarian concerns are not reflected in how it invests its money. In the Niger Delta -- where the Foundation funds programs to fight polio and measles - the Foundation has also invested more than $400 million dollars in companies including Royal Dutch Shell, Exxon Mobil Corp, and Chevron. These oil firms have been responsible for much of the pollution many blame for respiratory problems and other afflictions among the local population.

The Gates Foundation also has investments in sixty-nine of the worst polluting companies in the US and Canada, including Dow Chemical. It holds stakes in pharmaceutical companies whose drugs cost far beyond what most AIDS patients around the world can afford. Other companies in the Foundation's portfolio have been accused of transgressions including forcing thousands of people to lose their homes; supporting child labor; and defrauding and neglecting patients in need of medical care.

Overall, the LA Times says nearly $9 billion in Gates Foundation money is tied up in companies whose practices run counter to the foundation's charitable goals and social mission. And that number may be understated - the Gates Foundation has not provided details on more than four billion dollars in investments it says are loans.

The Gates Foundation refused to talk to the LA Times about specific investments and whether it planned to change its practices. We also contacted the Gates Foundation for comment but we did not get a response.

Charles Piller, the lead reporter on the Los Angeles Times investigative team that broke this story. He joins us from Los Angeles.

Source: Democracy Now

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation- Truth Revealed Part 1

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation- Truth Revealed Part 2

Read the Full 8 page article here

Learning Through Play

My son Jason, now 25, has been unschooled from the beginning - we were lucky to discover John Holt's books when he was two.

Jason always loved playing with numbers. Although he was somewhat "late" in walking and reading, he had a huge vocabulary by 18 months, understood the concept of infinity at 2, and taught himself squares and square roots at 3. In spite of all this, I still worried about not using a curriculum - especially for math.

When he was 7, he asked for a math book as his special holiday gift that year (we had read John Holt's glowing review of Harold Jacobs' book Mathematics: A Human Endeavor, in Growing Without Schooling). I thought "I must be doing something right if a 7-year-old wants a math book for Christmas!"

The book proved to be as wonderful as John Holt had said, and we enjoyed it a lot. But a couple of months later, I noticed that Jason hadn't looked at it for a while. I decided to offer to go over a chapter per week with him. Fortunately, I was busy that day and didn't get around to asking him. That evening, here comes Jason, book in hand, saying "Let's play math." I felt chills, thinking, "Whew, that was a close one." Had I made my offer, he probably would have accepted it, and even learned from it, but where would the concept of math as play have gone?

When Jason was 8, my neighbor, who also had an 8-year-old son, asked me if Jason knew the times table, and when I said he did, she asked me how he had learned it. Her son had struggled for months, and still had trouble remembering the answers. He was frustrated and worried about his grades, but none of her ideas had helped. I explained that Jason's dad had brought home a dart board, just for fun, a few months back. Scoring a darts game involves both addition and multiplication, and because Jason wanted to be the scorekeeper, he learned all the number combinations. By the end of that afternoon he knew the times tables - though the dartboard had not been purchased with that in mind, nor had we ever used that term.

Now at 25, he can do just about anything mathematical in his head, unlike me. I can do most math problems, having memorized formulas, but always on paper, and I rarely understand the concepts involved. Jason can not only do the math easily but really understands the whole process. If he happens to need a new mathematical tool, he can easily learn it. He needed to know about sines and cosines when he converted paintings from my illustrator into graphics for my children's book A Gift for Baby. He learned it quickly and easily from the Internet. I could only look back and remember how much time I spent memorizing calculus formulas, and though I passed all the tests, I had no idea what was going on, nor did I have any no real-world application.

Jason has learned everything through play, and has the same love of learning he was born with. He learned abut money by playing Monopoly, about spelling by playing Scrabble, about strategies by playing chess, Clue, and video games, about our culture by watching classic and modern TV shows and films, about grammar by playing Mad Libs, about fractions by cooking, about words by playing Dictionary, and writing skills by reading P. G. Wodehouse. He learned about life through living it. But all of his learning has taken place more incidentally than intentionally, as part of the larger business of living life freely and naturally.

During a recent newspaper interview for an article on unschooling, the reporter asked me which techniques unschoolers use that could be used by parents of children in school. I explained that unschooling isn't a technique; it's living and learning naturally, lovingly, and respectfully together. As my friend and unschooling parent Mary Van Doren once wrote:

"Raising children with an emphasis on intrinsic rewards is not a technique, a method or a trick to get them to do what the parent wants them to by subtler means, but a way of life, a way of living with children with real respect for their intelligence and for their being."

I feel indebted to John Holt for encouraging me to trust Jason to know what he needed and wanted to learn and how to go about learning it. But my best teacher has always been my son. For parents who went to school, unschooling can be a challenge, but it is also our best opportunity to learn to trust our children's natural love of learning.

"The pursuit of truth and beauty is a sphere of activity in which we are permitted to remain children all our lives."

Albert Einstein

By Jan Hunt

Source: Natural Child Project

Poll must respect families - Logan

Above Irish girl takes a stroll in a meadow

Families must be supported by the State in the upcoming children's rights referendum, the Ombudsman for Children Emily Logan insisted today.

Ms Logan called for Government to consider the principles of the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child and set out a clear, unambiguous position in the Constitution.

She said that to genuinely respect the rights of children in Ireland, they need to be recognised as individuals. "There is a lack of clarity about the status of children's rights in our Constitution," said Ms Logan.

"Last November, the Taoiseach expressed a view that children's rights should have a central place in our Constitution. "Changes need to be made."

The Ombudsman met with Minister for Children, Brian Lenihan, in early December 2006, to discuss the proposed constitutional change during which, in accordance with law, submitted written advice on the issue.

She acknowledges that while there may not be consensus on the issue, the changes she has recommended could substantially enhance the protection of children in the State.

"There is evidence in Ireland that children view the family as the most important contributor to their well-being," said Ms Logan. "The experience of my office through our direct contact with children and young people and our complaints function supports this view. "Parents and children who complain directly to the office seek help for their family.

This has consistently been expressed as supplementing not supplanting their family responsibilities."
The Ombudsman for Children's Office is the independent, statutory organisation with responsibility for promoting children's rights in Ireland.

Ms Logan believes the Government must be guided by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child as regards the approach to such a change and the wording to be proposed.

She said the UN Convention is consistent with the Irish Constitution in terms of its presumption that the family environment is the optimal environment for a child's growth and well-being.

But she added the State needs to recognise the many changes and challenges facing families today which requires parents to be given better state support, considering that such support is essential for children, parents and society as a whole.

"Irish people demonstrated their concern for children's well-being last summer following the Supreme Court judgement on statutory rape," she said. "Hopefully, this year they will have an opportunity to effect legislative change to strengthen children's rights".

Source: The Irish Times

Goa - new paedophile's paradise?

Above upset Goan Girl

For many years now, certain parts of the world - such as Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam - have had an unsavoury connection with sex tourism: foreigners arriving to sexually abuse children. Now, a BBC investigation finds that the Indian state of Goa may be added to that list.

Child sex tourism is threatening to become the darker side of life in Goa's tropical paradise - and there is evidence that the Indian authorities are turning their back on the problem.

Nishta Desai, a consultant to the organisation Children's Rights In Goa, estimates that there are "hundreds" of children being abused by foreign paedophiles.

"It is not getting the attention it requires," she says.

"We believe it is organised, and already fairly institutionalised.

"It is something that really requires a lot of will to unearth the way it is organised."

Trafficking network

There are various ways that the sex offenders get access. Some approach the children directly on the beach, and offer them a drink or a meal before taking them back their hotel rooms.

Others are approached by intermediaries, such as shack owners and motorcycle taxi drivers.

Within half an hour of my being on the beach in north Goa, a young man who called himself Romeo approaches and tells me he knows friends at the nearby town of Mapusa who can help me have fun with girls.

I ask if there are 13-year-old girls, and he replies that "it's no problem," even though the age of consent in Goa is 18.

Non-governmental organisations say that there is such demand in Goa for child sex workers that they are now being trafficked into the state on demand by criminal gangs operating from India.

"Traffickers in Bombay contact the local traffickers and ask them how many girls they want, and then they traffic the girls by buses," explains Aaron Pandy, director of charity ARZ, set up to try and rescue children from the sex trade.

"The local traffickers receive these girls from the bus stop and then they supply them to the hotels and lodges... it's a very organised network."

'Hyped' issue

Concern over the problem is shared by the UN office on drugs and crime, which last year began a project to strengthen law enforcement on the issue. It believes as many as three or four million women and children are being trafficked around India.

In a report, the UN agency said Goa is a "major destination" for children trafficked for paedophiles, and that sex tourism in the state is "significant."

But this is denied by the state's government minister for social welfare, Subhash Shirodkar, who categorically states that "neither Goans nor non-Goans are abused."

"The issue is a little hyped," he adds.

"There may be one or two instances over the last five to 10 years - maybe."

And he also states that he does not think child trafficking is a problem in the state at all.

"I totally disagree with this," he says.

"NGOs are not complaining to me. What prevents them, when very week and every month, they meet with me?"

However, Ms Desai of Children's Rights In Goa says she is not surprised by the minister's denial, saying there is no political will to deal with child prostitution.

"There is a sense of fear that if they take up the problem in a forthright manner, we could lose tourist revenue and give Goa a bad name," she says.

"What we would like to say is that it will not do this - if any country takes on child sexual abuse, it should in fact give that country a good name."

'Bribes'

Perhaps lending credence to this theory is that a report commissioned by the Goan government which estimates at least 100 paedophiles are active there during the tourist season - and speaks of an increasing threat and the need for the government to take firm action - has never been published.

And on the rare occasions alleged sex tourists have been put before the courts, they have been acquitted; there has been no successful conviction apart from a paedophile ring that was broken up by a national police squad brought in from Delhi.

And NGOs also complain that local police take bribes and keep the problem hushed up.

One senior worker for a charity organisation, who did not wish to be named, said that he actually caught one man with a boy in a hotel bedroom, but that when he reported the case to the police, they dropped it immediately - despite a signed confession from the child who had been abused.

Certainly, the superintendent of Goa's crime division, Vishram Bourka, says that no cases of paedophiles have been investigated in 2006.

"I think we're doing a good job.

"Without a complaint, we cannot proceed further."

Source: BBC

Palestinian Children- Music Video

Warning this video contains graphic images of injured and murdered children

It depresses me how Palestinian children, or any other child in war zones, famines etc lose their innocence at such a young age.

The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child guarantees the fundamental rights of all children. Israel signed and ratified this agreement in October 1991.However, according to the Palestine Monitor, between September 2000 and July 2006, 783 Palestinian children under the age of 18 have been killed by the Israeli army and Israeli settlers. ...

This figure is almost 22% of the total number of Palestinians killed in that time.According to the Palestinian health ministry, 2,660 Palestinian children have been permanently disabled due to Israeli attacks in the same period.Unicef has said that 123 Palestinian children have been killed in 2006, which is more than double the 2005 figure.

In Gaza alone, 103 children have been killed.Dan Rohrmann, Unicef's special representative in the occupied Palestinian territory, said: "This has been a tragic year for Palestinians living in Gaza and the West Bank."It's been one of the deadliest years that we have.

By OhhHoney

Music:Pet Shop Boys - Numb [acapella]

GUERNICA IRAQ- Music Video

"Guernica" was painted by Picasso in 1937. It depicts the senseless massacre by the Nazi Luftwaffe in the Basque city of Guernica, Spain. The attack was ordered at the behest of fascist Spanish General, Francisco Franco, during the Spanish Civil War. Guernica was a non-military target, the innocent people of the town were attacked in an attempt to psychologically break the will of those who opposed Franco's fascistic nationalist pursuit.

Picasso captured an intense scene reflecting the deeply unjust suffering,agony and despair experienced by the people of Guernica. And in doing so he produced one of the most iconic, powerful and affecting pieces of anti-war artwork ever put to canvas. It is little surprise then that a reproduction of the painting, which hangs outside the entrance to the UN Security Council, was covered while Colin Powell was attempting to sell the Iraq War to the world.

The people of Iraq are suffering what amounts to the similar unjust brutality inflicted on the people of Guernica, except it's practically on a daily basis. A more accurate comparison would be to imagine having the London Tube and Bus bombings everyday. And have them happen so often that they become a predictable daily occurrence and part of life.

Source: Chewbacca2000

Chavivanej: Education's Keepers- Documentary Video

In the middle of the jungle, two communities fight a war against the oppressor and murder Mexican Government. They rise above the system by developing their own education system to teach their children the meaning of emancipation.

Source: viejochile

The education year in Scotland

Since it is the season of glad tidings and good cheer, let us start with one of the year's highlights - the bold claim that one part of Scotland has virtually wiped out illiteracy.

Five years ago 28% of youngsters starting secondary education in the disadvantaged area of West Dunbartonshire were functionally illiterate.

Two years later only 8% fell into this category. And further instruction in secondary school resulted in all but one per cent - those with severe dyslexia or learning difficulties - being functionally literate by the age of 16.

That means they go out into the world with a reading age of at least nine and a half, able to perform tasks like filling in forms and reading popular newspapers.

Their chances of jobs, college places and a stable lifestyle are greatly enhanced.

The council says success came from teaching reading and writing in a simpler, more structured way.

Phonics, the sounds that letters make, play an earlier and more important role than they do in many other reading schemes.

The children sound out letters to identify unknown words and quickly become independent readers.

Lack of basic skills

The national picture is, despite improvements, less rosy. One in five adults report problems with the three Rs.
HM Inspectorate of Education said in a report: "It's clearly unacceptable that any youngster is going through at least 11 years of education and coming out at the end without an adequate level of literacy and numeracy.
"We need to address that with greater vigour."

The inspectors link poor basic skills to the high numbers of Scots "not in education employment or training", the so-called Neet group.

No other country in the developed world has a higher proportion walking into a void when they exit the school gate for the last time.

One in eight has no job or place in a training scheme, college or university. And the true figure is likely to be higher still as there is no record of what happens to many.

The figures make unpalatable reading for a country which has for centuries enjoyed a reputation around the world for educational excellence.

On this theme, the CBI north of the border said businesses were having to set up what are effectively remedial classes for new recruits.

It claimed: "Schools are failing to engage meaningfully with too many young people, leaving them far short of being work-ready, often with few qualifications at all or little to show for the years spent in the classroom."

In response to these criticisms, many voices in education say too much is expected of schools, that it is what happens at home that stops youngsters succeeding and that schools could do a better job if only central and local government would stop saddling them with more and more new schemes.

Leadership issues

The picture is brighter at the other end of the spectrum. Inspectors praised the quality of state nurseries and indicated private and voluntary ones should attempt to keep pace by appointing better bosses.

But they also said state schools still had major problems with the calibre of their leadership. One in six head teachers was judged either unsatisfactory or fair.

The first ever report summarising the performance of our education authorities said there were serious problems with the leadership in over a quarter of them.

And the same proportion was unsatisfactory or only fair at managing money and other resources.

In the course of the year the Scottish Secondary Teachers Association and the Headteachers Association of Scotland made separate calls for the 32 education authorities to be replaced by a far smaller number of area boards.

They claimed more could be spent in schools if less were needed to pay for the salaries and accommodation of council education officers.

Councils reacted angrily, pointing to the mergers of council departments such as education and social services, which have resulted in savings and a more joined up service for youngsters.

The year's exam results made disappointing reading for ministers. It is expected that the final figures released in the new year will reveal a drop of one per cent in the proportion passing three Highers, the minimum needed to win a place at university.

Disappointment too in that the much-praised drive to make school meals healthier has resulted in fewer takers.

To stop the "chippie" van being too convenient an alternative, policy makers are exploring the idea of removing permission for primary pupils to graze in the streets at lunchtime.

Teachers

An OECD study brought confirmation that pay and conditions here are among the best in the world.

Secondary staff are the sixth highest paid, ahead of the United States, England and Sweden.

Most teachers are, within a few years of graduation, at the top of the scale: £31,000.

As the year closed ministers ordered a review of the Chartered Teacher qualification which allows staff to be on a salary of up to £38,000 without going for a promoted post which takes them away from the classroom.

There have been few takers for this scheme which union leaders lobbied for as an alternative to the introduction of performance related pay.

Early reports suggest teachers find it academic and are not convinced it will make them better teachers. There is also resistance to the idea of paying fees to take this professional qualification.

College funding

The landmark McCrone agreement on pay and conditions made the headlines after the watchdog Audit Scotland indicated the £2bn deal was negotiated in such a way it is impossible to tell whether it has improved children's education or been cost-effective to the public purse.

Further education colleges have quietly and successfully lobbied for substantial extra funds.

In return the Scottish Executive's Labour and Lib Dem coalition has been lobbying colleges to merge and also to modernise their buildings and what they teach.

One concern is that in 2007 the substantial funds colleges receive from Europe will diminish, as impoverished new partner states stake their claim.

Sam Galbraith, a former education minister, raised hackles when he claimed it was unsustainable for taxpayers to match what English universities are now receiving in higher tuition fees.

He said graduates here should, in the course of their careers, pay more than the one-off £2,000 endowment charge they pay at present.

Without change our universities were likely to fall behind their international counterparts, he said.

The E word

In the meantime institutions seem to be generating a little revenue by increasing the number of overseas students by almost 50% in the last five years.

There is no cap on what can be charged to those from outside the EU. And the added bonus is that the visitors also bring to campuses welcome cultural richness.

In the closing months Hugh Henry, a former member of Militant, now more in the centre ground, became Education Minister.

He could have a busy time in the run-up to the elections in the spring to the Scottish parliament.

First Minister Jack McConnell has already signalled that education in all its forms is likely to be centre stage.

Yes, from here on in, it will be the E word: education, education, education.

Source: BBC