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The U.S. Fund for UNICEF today announced the launch of UNICEF Kid Power, an innovative child health initiative that encourages elementary school-age kids in the United States to get physically active in order to help save the lives of their peers in developing countries. Kicking off in New York, Boston and Dallas in March 2015, the month-long initiative will leverage the power of technology together with movement-based curriculum and activities to promote fitness among American students. Kid Power will simultaneously help UNICEF—the world's largest purchaser and distributor of Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food—provide lifesaving nutrition to severely malnourished children around the world.
UNICEF Kid Power is sponsored by the George Harrison Fund for UNICEF and backed by Mayors Bill de Blasio (New York), Marty Walsh (Boston) and Mike Rawlings (Dallas), and supported by local sports teams and players including the Boston Celtics, Boston Bruins, Brooklyn Nets and Dallas Mavericks. Over the course of the 30-day program, sports teams will encourage kids to stay active by cheering them on with classroom visits, recognizing the young philanthropists at home games and more.
"Malnutrition is responsible for over a third of all deaths of children under the age of five globally. By putting children first, we believe we can reach a day when no child dies of a cause we know how to prevent," said U.S. Fund for UNICEF President and CEO Caryl M. Stern. "I can't think of a better motivator for kids to get active than the fact that they're helping save lives. We're grateful to the cities of New York, Boston and Dallas, their sports teams and all the teachers, students and parents who are getting involved in helping malnourished children get the treatment they need to survive."
Beginning in March, some 10,000 participating elementary school students will monitor their physical activity with UNICEF Kid Power fitness bands that displays the number of steps taken and number of points earned. Program supporters will convert students' points into monetary donations toward the purchase of therapeutic food. A full day of physical activity—12,000 steps—will translate into five Kid Power Points. Every five Kid Power Points earned will convert to one packet of Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food, a specially-designed protein and vitamin-rich peanut paste that is used to save the lives of children with severe acute malnutrition, a deadly condition if left untreated. The UNICEF Kid Power program also includes in-classroom curriculum and educational activities focused on childhood malnutrition.
"Through UNICEF Kid Power, children are learning the importance of a healthy lifestyle and, at the same time, how good it can feel to give back to others," said UNICEF Ambassador and Dallas Mavericks center Tyson Chandler. "I'm excited to be part of a program that's bringing positive change not only to kids in Dallas and other U.S. cities, but to children in need all around the world."
The three-city launch follows a successful four-week pilot program this past October in Sacramento, where nearly 900 students, teachers and teaching assistants at six schools tested the potential of UNICEF Kid Power with the support of the Sacramento Kings and Mayor Kevin Johnson. According to an assessment by independent evaluators, school kids engaged in the program were 55 percent more active than those not participating in the initiative. UNICEF Kid Power participants in Sacramento also earned enough therapeutic food packets for 473 severely malnourished children to complete a full course of treatment.1 The U.S. Fund for UNICEF aims to launch UNICEF Kid Power in additional cities in the Fall of 2015 and into 2016.
Severe acute malnutrition is a life-threatening condition that requires urgent treatment. Until recently, severely malnourished children had to receive medical care and a therapeutic diet in a hospital setting. With the recent advent of Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food, large numbers of children who are severely malnourished can be treated successfully in their communities, which has the potential to transform the lives of millions of malnourished children.
In the tradition established by George Harrison and Ravi Shankar with the 1971 Concert for Bangladesh, the George Harrison Fund for UNICEF continues to fund innovative programs that support the rights of children worldwide, and now their generous support has allowed the U.S. Fund for UNICEF to pursue this 21st century approach to global citizenship.
For more information on UNICEF Kid Power, please visit www.unicefkidpower.org.
About UNICEF
The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) works in more than 190
countries and territories to put children first. UNICEF has helped save
more children's lives than any other humanitarian organization, by
providing health care and immunizations, clean water and sanitation,
nutrition, education, emergency relief and more. The U.S. Fund for
UNICEF supports UNICEF's work through fundraising, advocacy and
education in the United States. Together, we are working toward the day
when no children die from preventable causes and every child has a safe
and healthy childhood. For more information, visit
www.unicefusa.org.
1. The average course of treatment for a severely malnourished child consists of 150 therapeutic food packets over the course of 30 days.
SOURCE U.S. Fund for UNICEF
Feb. 25, 2015
PRNewswire-USNewswire
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25 FEBRUARY
Today, Environment Minister and M.P. for Nunavut Leona Aglukkaq, on behalf of Justice Minister Peter MacKay, announced $225,000 in funding for the Arctic Children and Youth Foundation to explore the development of a Child and Youth Advocacy Centre (CYAC), the Umingmak Child and Youth Protection Centre, that would serve young victims and their families living in Nunavut.
The funding is being used by the organization to identify the existing gaps in service delivery, gain a more in-depth understanding of the incidence of child abuse in the territory, and explore the unique cultural and practical requirements for a CYAC in Nunavut. The funding will also be used to determine the sustainability of a CYAC that would provide for coordinated intervention, investigation, prosecution and treatment to help children and youth in the territory who have been victimized or have witnessed a violent crime.
CYACs, along with Child Advocacy Centres (CAC), help child and youth victims and their families navigate the criminal justice system. They provide a safe child- and youth-friendly environment where a coordinated team of professionals work to meet the specific needs of each person. The work of a multi-disciplinary team in a CYAC or a CAC can greatly reduce the emotional and mental harm to child and youth victims involved in the criminal justice system.
Quick facts
The funding will be provided as follows:
2014-2015: $50,000
2015-2016: $175,000
The funding is being used by the Arctic Children and Youth Foundation to:
Identify gaps in services in the current system for child and youth victims;
Identify and assess options for addressing those gaps;
Assess the need for and feasibility of different service models; and
Identify the unique cultural, demographic and practical requirements for a CYAC in Nunavut.
This funding is being provided by the Government of Canada through the Department of Justice Canada's Victims Fund. This fund provides financial support to projects and activities that give victims of crime an effective voice in the criminal justice system. These projects may encourage the development of new approaches, promote access to justice, improve the capacity of service providers, foster the establishment of referral networks, or increase awareness of services available to victims of crime and their families.
Quotes
"Our Government recognizes that child and youth victims of crime have unique needs. We are pleased that this funding will support the Arctic Children and Youth Foundation as they explore the creation of a Child and Youth Advocacy Centre in Nunavut. These centres create safe, child-focussed environments where victims and their families can go to receive the services they need to both navigate the criminal justice system and heal."
Peter MacKay
Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada
23 March 2015
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23 FEBRUARY
The day after Manteca Unified launched its historic initiative to equip every student from the youngest kindergartner on up with a digital device in January, a mother gratefully approached Superintendent Jason Messer.
In a school where nearly all of the students qualify for free or reduced-price lunches, She couldn’t afford to buy her children computers, the French Camp Elementary School parent told him. Now, a lease option and discounted Internet access enabled her to provide, for $20 a month, all three of her children with the cutting-edge technology. Another girl, Messer recalls, wrote to her teacher, “This is the first email I ever sent!”
Ambitious initiatives such as Manteca’s Going Digital and Stockton Unified’s $114 million Measure E, technology continues to fundamentally reshape the landscape of education. It’s also giving more historically disadvantaged kids something many may have never had had before: a much more level playing field.
“I think it is absolutely a game changer, but more important to me, it’s an equalizer,” Messer said. “Those stories – this was not something they had access to. Those equalizers in our district, that’s what I’m excited about.”
From technological to academic to emotional, health and social supports, school districts are finding that a whole-child approach to education is fast becoming the great equalizer in a rapidly changing, increasingly diverse world. Addressing a students’ holistic needs – Did they eat this morning? Do they speak the language? Are they being abused at home, Do they suffer an allergy or disease that requires the care of a school nurse? – costs less in the long run. Factor in the intangible costs to society of a child who never makes it to graduation and the duty to give every student an equal shot at success becomes all the more imperative.
Technology and workplace readiness
With the county’s 14 school districts at different stages of development in their tech plans, that progress may not look the same from classroom to classroom. But in many ways, the 21st-century focus on digital learning is a new variation on something almost as old as the Industrial Revolution itself: Vocational education. Only now, instead of funneling students through an outdated tracking system designed to feed skilled laborers into factories, today’s students, Messer notes, are being equipped with the digital tools they need to excel in a new age – the Information Revolution.
“There are 40,000 coding jobs in the state of California; we’re currently graduating 4,000,” Messer said. “That means 36,000 jobs are going somewhere else. Now we’re preparing our students for their global future while they’re residing right here in the Central Valley.”
For decades out of favor, the pendulum has been swinging back toward Career Technical Education for the past few years, said James Mousalimas, new superintendent of the San Joaquin County Office of Education, landing squarely on the 2014-15 budget Gov. Jerry Brown proposed in January that directs hundreds of millions into the kinds of CTE programs and regional partnerships the county office has been developing for years.
“For the first time in many years the state has made vocational education a priority, and that presents some great opportunities for us at the local level. We have outstanding examples of these programs already in San Joaquin County," said Mousalimas, pointing to the San Joaquin Regional Conservation Corps and the San Joaquin Building Futures Academy as prime examples already in place.
A major focus for the county office will be expanding the programs and partnerships that train youth, both in job skills and soft skills such as punctuality, attitude, dress, then actually provide them with work. Not only does this better serve area employers, he said, it also offers a path out of poverty that in many cases can reach back generations. “That’s a priority of mine,” Mousalimas says.
Whole-child support
With everything from restorative justice to peer mentoring to health support, “I think the trend is really going back to treating the kids holistically,” said Julie Penn, interim superintendent of Stockton Unified. The county’s largest district has been at the forefront of putting programs in place that address those needs, a proactive move that’s paying dividends in the form of plunging expulsion and dropout rates and a graduation rate of 85 percent last year that marked its biggest success in decades.
A somewhat surprising spike in the number of students with food allergies and insulin-dependent diabetes this year prompted the district to beef up its nursing staff, Penn said – making specialty schools such as Health Careers Academy that much more critical in equipping students to meet the burgeoning demand for skilled health workers.
“That’s just tip of the iceberg,” said Mark Hagemann, assistant superintendent of educational services for the district. “We’re going to be seeing more need for public health because of the global society.”
Literacy
A connection between literacy and public health may not always be obvious, but research increasingly shows that those who don’t learn the tools for literacy in early childhood are left with repercussions that last a lifetime. Even more critical is literacy with a capital L, says Lynn Beck, dean of the Glady L. Benerd School of Education at University of the Pacific, nationally recognized for its Beyond our Gates Reading by Third initiative – “not just reading and decoding but understanding and using language to communicate, to solve problems, to create, to make sense of things.” That overarching focus dovetails perfectly with the broad-based goals of the new Common Core curriculum standards.
Best of all, in many ways, it’s a low-tech, simple solution. Teaching caregivers to immerse their children in language-rich environments is as easy as getting them to understand and embrace the critical importance of talking, singing, counting and playing with the child right from birth and even before, Beck said.
“It’s basically a no-cost intervention that would have such an enormous payoff in our community,” she said. “Our community has embraced literacy as a goal. It’s to our credit that we’re not letting up. If we can really do this in a serious fashion, we’re laying a foundation that we can build on in the years ahead.”
Elizabeth Roberts
21 February 3015
http://www.recordnet.com/article/20150221/NEWS/150229964/-1/A_OPINION
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20 FEBRUARY
The Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, sees a “glimmer of hope” for his proposed ‘freeze’ of localized hostilities in the city of Aleppo amid continuing fighting throughout the Middle Eastern country between Government forces and entrenched rebels.
Recent savage terrorist acts – culminating in the beheading of 21 Coptic Christians – highlight the “imminent danger” confronting Libya, its people and the wider region, the United Nations envoy to the country warned today, urging swift agreement among the main parties on resolving the crisis and ending the military and political conflict.
The Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, sees a “glimmer of hope” for his proposed ‘freeze’ of localized hostilities in the city of Aleppo amid continuing fighting throughout the Middle Eastern country between Government forces and entrenched rebels.
Speaking to reporters following his closed-door briefing of the Security Council yesterday evening, Mr. de Mistura explained that he has “no illusions” about the difficulty of the task ahead based on his past experiences attempting to negotiate a peace. Nonetheless, he added, there is “hope” that a structured ‘freeze’ in Aleppo could alleviate the increasingly urgent conditions citizens were facing in the city.
Press release: UN News Centre
18 February 2015
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=50114#.VOXkDekcSUk
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18 FEBRUARY
Los Angeles County officials are allowing the use of powerful psychiatric drugs on far more children in the juvenile delinquency and foster care systems than they had previously acknowledged, according to data obtained by The Times through a Public Records Act request..
The newly unearthed figures show that Los Angeles County's 2013 accounting failed to report almost one in three cases of children on the drugs while in foster care or the custody of the delinquency system.
The data show that along with the 2,300 previously acknowledged cases, an additional 540 foster children and 516 children in the delinquency system were given the drugs. There are 18,000 foster children and 1,000 youth in the juvenile delinquency system altogether.
State data analysts discovered the additional cases of medicated children by comparing case notes of social workers and probation officers with billing records for the state's Medi-Cal system. The billing records for those additional children did not appear to have corresponding case notes, leaving child advocates concerned that the drugs may have been prescribed without appropriate approval.
The previously published figures, posted on a UC Berkeley website by the state Department of Social Services, helped to guide efforts to improve oversight and curb the use of the medications but obscured their widespread use in the delinquency system.
State law requires a judge's approval before the medication can be administered to children under the custody of the courts, but a preliminary review showed no such approval in the newly discovered cases.
Child advocates and state lawmakers have long argued that such medications are routinely overprescribed, often because caretakers are eager to make children more docile and easy to manage – even when there's no medical need.
The information about the additional cases of prescribed drugs was received by the county's Department of Children and Family Services last year, but county staffers resisted reviewing and releasing the data until The Times' public records request.
The information about delinquent youth was shared with the county's Probation Department by DCFS this week, after authorities learned that The Times had obtained it.
"We were just made aware that there may be a problem," said Reaver Bingham, deputy chief of the Los Angeles County Probation Department. "We are researching whether the approval process for the medications was fully executed."
DCFS Medical Director Charles Sophy, who is in charge of oversight for foster youth on the medications, said he was not aware of the information until this month.
DCFS Director Philip Browning said that he had also been unaware, but that he learned recently that staffers delayed work on the issue because they hoped for an agreement with state officials that might allow them access to current Medi-Cal billing records on an ongoing basis. He noted that Sacramento lawmakers are in the early stages of drafting legislation that may order counties to review the Medi-Cal billing records to ensure that all children receiving the drugs are properly approved.
Leslie Starr Heimov, who leads the court-appointed law firm representing foster youth, said she was frustrated that the county was not treating the information in hand with greater urgency.
"If there are group homes prescribing these medications without proper approval, we need to know that right now," she said. "We shouldn't wait for the Legislature to tell us that we need to take care of these kids."
No one questions that many children involved in the foster care and delinquency systems benefit from the medications. Both populations have experienced a high level of trauma, and mental health issues are diagnosed at a more frequent rate. The drugs help many to emerge from depression and other disorders. Sophy said that medications often allow children to return to family settings after stays in group homes and multiple failed efforts to stabilize the children's lives.
But many experts say there is ample evidence that the drugs are overprescribed, and Congress has ordered states to improve oversight to prevent overuse.
In California, 51% of children on psychiatric medications are taking the most powerful class of the drugs – antipsychotics – which have experienced explosive growth in foster care over the last 15 years, according to data obtained by the National Youth Law Center through a Public Records Act request.
"To me, this rate for antipsychotics is extraordinarily disturbing," said Bill Grimm, a senior attorney with the law center.
Most scrutiny centers on a new class of antipsychotics sold under such brand names as Abilify, Seroquel, Risperdal and Zyprexa. These drugs, which have strong sedative powers, have been linked by researchers to sudden and severe weight gain, increased risk for diabetes and movement disorders.
In a study of 2009 national Medicaid claims data, researchers found that the listed diagnosis supporting the use of 49% of antipsychotics for foster youth was hyperactivity or disruptive behavior. The drugs are approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and certain forms of autism. Such diagnoses accounted for only 25% of the reasons listed for using the medications.
The second-highest prescribed class, antidepressants, were given to 48% of foster children on psychiatric medications in California, according to the information obtained by the National Youth Law Center.
The FDA has issued a "black box" warning – its most serious drug labeling – that antidepressants may increase the risk of suicidal thinking and behavior in some children and adolescents.
A district covering Los Angeles County and three coastal counties to its north had the state's highest rate of foster youth being treated with multiple psychiatric medications simultaneously: 41%, according to the law center's information.
Leslie Gilbert-Lurie, who co-chaired a blue ribbon commission appointed by the L.A. County Board of Supervisors to make recommendations on how to improve the safety net for abused children, said medications were a constant concern as her team surveyed foster youth and professionals across the county
"We heard over and over that children were being so overly medicated in the classroom that they were not in a position to learn," she said. "There is a great need for children to be assessed properly and to have access to talk therapy in addition to any medication they might need."
Foster youth repeatedly reported, she said, that medications put them in a foggy state of mind.
"Medication," Heimov said, "is often the first line of attack and not the last. We should be starting with less intrusive behavioral interventions, and that is rarely the case."
"Every one of my lawyers could name five children who did better once they were off the meds," she said.
Garrett Therolf
16 February 2015
http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-children-psychotropic-meds-20150217-story.html#page=1
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16 FEBRUARY
‘Foster care should be an intervention that is rare and brief’
As someone who has been in care, I identified with the struggles of the four care leavers on Monday night’s programme Aftercare – The Story of Ireland’s Care Leavers. I remember similar emotions as I left the care system, and I remember the support I received to help me through it.
Like the positive endings to the documentary, I attended university, received four degrees and am fortunate to have a career and family of my own. The story of the care leaver, though, is fraught with the reality of coming to terms with a care system and a past that is deeply troubled.
We don’t choose to enter the care system. I am left with one question: is the care system really working? On the evidence shown on the RTÉ programme, no. Let’s look a little closer.
More than 6,000 children and teenagers are in State care in Ireland and the numbers are growing each year. There is a backlog of cases of children who need to be assessed for potential placement.
While in care and until they turn 18, the State is responsible for a child in care’s welfare – from a roof over their head to schooling, along with their health and emotional wellbeing. Ninety per cent of these children live in foster families.
Each year, about 500 young adults leave foster, institutional or residential care for a new life on their own. Therefore, it is reasonable to estimate there are about 15,000-20,000 care leavers in Ireland.
Foster care should be an intervention that is rare and brief. There should be earlier intervention to troubled families, where there is a window of opportunity for meaningful help, to prevent children from entering the system.
The child-protection system needs to be fully scrutinised and evaluated against best international practice, to see what should be done to improve it. And there should be full accountability from top to bottom of decisions made.
Tusla , the child and family support agency, needs more resources and more social workers. Too many Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa) inspections show significant shortfalls in the quality of care that children receive. The private fostering and residential sector, receiving multimillion euro contracts a year from the State, should be fully regulated.
There is no obligation on the State to provide aftercare services. Young adults leaving the care system, regardless of age or length of time in care, should receive financial, practical and emotional support, including access to therapeutic services.
On turning 18, many of these young people are left to fend for themselves and are unable to cope.
I accept we have made significant progress in the past three years, but more needs to happen. This Government, and particularly Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald, has made huge strides in protecting Irish children.
In 2012 the Irish people voted for the rights of children to be enshrined in the Constitution. The Government established Tusla in 2014, a dedicated State agency responsible for improving wellbeing and outcomes for children.
The Children and Family Relationships Bill will soon be published, which will strengthen children’s rights even further by dealing with long outstanding family law and children issues in relation to parentage, including parentage in assisted reproduction, guardianship, custody, adoption, access and maintenance.
The Children First Bill 2014 provides for a number of key child-protection measures to keep children safe and its measures are being implemented in organisations throughout Ireland. Many of these initiatives are a result of the work of Christine Buckley and other care leavers who, at considerable personal cost, brought to public attention some of the most painful and disreputable wrongs that happened to children with the authority of the State.
I’m proud to be a care leaver. I’m proud of lots of other care leavers and I am in good company. Barack Obama, Charlie Chaplin and Paul McGrath are all care leavers, as are lots of superheroes – Superman, Batman, Spider-Man and Harry Potter were all fostered.
All of these care leavers spawned thousands of other books and other films. It seems that writers know that the child outside of family reflects on what family truly is. These care leavers have taught us, in so many ways, that our destiny is to be who we truly are.
Let’s hope we can create an improved care system for the most vulnerable children in our society, but let’s not leave it to someone else. We can all play our part in helping those who lack family life, which is so crucial to wellbeing. We can learn from the Irish-American Jim Casey, founder of UPS (United Parcel Service). In 1948, he established a foundation that now helps to build better futures for disadvantaged children and their families throughout the US.
“What is needed is a renewed determination to think creatively, to learn from what has succeeded and what has failed,” he said, “and perhaps, most important, to foster a sense of common commitment among all those concerned with the welfare of children.” Wayne Dignam is the founder of the Irish Care Leavers Network (ICLN) to support and advocate care leavers throughout Ireland.
Wayne Dignam
13 February 2015
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13 FEBRUARY
UNICEF, David Beckham launch
new initiative
to boost funding for world’s children
International football icon and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Goodwill Ambassador, David Beckham, today announced his latest fundraising initiative, launched in tandem with the UN agency and aimed at boosting assistance for the world’s youth, amid the planet’s worsening humanitarian crises.
“Today, the need to help children has never been greater, and since retiring, I have more time and I want to do so much more,” Mr. Beckham said in a press release marking the unveiling of 7: The David Beckham UNICEF Fund – his “ground-breaking initiative” to protect millions of children around the world from danger.
“This is me stepping up my support – because I can, because I want to, because the outcome will help change the lives of millions of children,” he continued.
“Everything I have done, my football career, my family, has led to this point – this is the moment for me to do what I can to help children in every corner of the world. This is something I want my own children to be proud of.”
Mr. Beckham’s latest effort comes after one of the most devastating years for children on record.
As many as 15 million children are caught up in violent conflicts in the Central African Republic, Iraq, South Sudan, Syria, Ukraine and in the Occupied Palestinian territory – including those displaced in their own countries or living as refugees outside their homeland, according to UNICEF.
At the same time, schools have increasingly been commandeered by combatants for military purposes amid a rise in attacks on education and health facilities. Overall, an estimated 230 million children live in countries and areas affected by armed conflicts.
Children are also at serious risk from a wide range of factors beyond immediate emergencies. 168 million across the globe are engaged in child labour and many others are victims of sexual violence, trafficking and female genital mutilation.
The launch of 7, named in honour of Mr. Beckham’s famed jersey number, will inaugurate a series of fundraising initiatives in which the former England captain will plan to “raise millions and speak out for children all over the world.”
Once fundraising objectives are achieved, UNICEF would be able to provide child protection services and counselling support to children in El Salvador, the country with the highest homicide rate among children in the world; provide water pumps and train communities to maintain them in Burkina Faso, where currently 1 in 5 child deaths are caused by diarrhoea; and support breastfeeding mothers to give children the best start in life in Papua New Guinea, where child malnutrition has caused stunted growth in nearly half of all children under the age of five, the UNICEF press release explained.
“There are some very exciting plans ahead and I am so proud to be part of this,” Mr. Beckham added.
Paloma Escudero, from UNICEF’s Global Management Team, acknowledged Mr. Beckham’s longstanding efforts to “speaking up for those who need it most – the world’s most vulnerable children,” noting that the football star had already dedicated 10 years of work as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador.
“David has raised awareness of major dangers facing children – including malnutrition, Ebola and AIDS – and has travelled with UNICEF to Sierra Leone, South Africa, Thailand and most recently the Philippines, where he helped raise vital funds for children affected by Typhoon Haiyan,” she affirmed. “Through 7: The David Beckham UNICEF Fund, we can act together to drive positive change for children.”
Press Release
9 February 2015
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=50033#.VNyi7ukcSUk
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9 FEBRUARY
UK
Brand new laws come into force today,
changing when children can take part in public performance.
Whether they are treading the boards in a local drama production or
taking up a starring role in a film or TV show, children will have more
freedom to participate in public performances following new laws that
come into effect today (6 February 2015). The laws overhaul a system of
outdated and confusing rules, and will nurture and support stars of the
future while keeping them safe and rested.
Until today, child performers were hampered by restrictive and complicated rules, such as a limit to how many performances they could take part in during a single day or when they can perform, meaning they could often miss out on exciting opportunities to show off their talents. For example, a young Cosette taking a starring turn in ‘Les Miserables’ would be able to perform in the show but would be denied the chance to take part in the accompanying photo shoot with the cast.
The changes will keep important safeguards in place to ensure children are kept safe and fully rested.
Children and Families Minister, Edward Timpson, said:
“As a proud dad who can often be found in the audience cheering on his children, I know that taking part in a local dance production or performing on a West End stage can be hugely rewarding, helping to build important confidence, teamwork and communication skills that can propel them into adult life and success – no matter what their career plan.
“Yet too often in the past, children have missed out on rewarding opportunities – like giving a star turn in a show but being denied the chance to take part in the curtain call due to unnecessary barriers and restriction.
“These new simplified rules will encourage children to chase their dreams, while keeping them safe and rested, helping all aspiring actors, singers and dancers showcase their talents both now and in the future.”
Baroness Floella Benjamin OBE, children’s TV champion, said:
“I am thrilled that the revised Child Performance and Activities legislation comes into force today in England. This follows on from the changes we secured to the Children and Families Act in 2014, and will enable children to fully benefit from a range of opportunities to perform in a safe environment, boosting their confidence and development.
“I am also pleased that the sector has worked together to provide best practice examples in order to improve consistency and standards.”
The old rules also meant that children under the age of 13 couldn’t be licensed to take part in a performance after 7pm if the performance was filmed for broadcast, meaning a budding Matilda would have to retire to the dressing room before the evening show began if it was to be shown on television.
From today, the new rules will:
replace the complex restrictions on the hours children can perform with a single set of limits, based on age groups, that cover all types of performances
scrap the limit on the type of performances children can take part in over a single day or a week
strengthen the number of breaks children must have during performances, making sure children get adequate rest
There will also be a greater emphasis on ensuring young performers are able to wind down and rest overnight.
The government has also today published new guidance for local authorities and amateur groups on how to implement the new rules. The National Network for Children in Employment and Entertainment (NNCEE) is also publishing examples of best practice on how to support child performers while keeping them safe.
UK Department for Education
6 February 2015
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-laws-to-help-childrens-talents-shine
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6 FEBRUARY
Preschool children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) differed from each other in symptom severity and adaptive functioning at the time of diagnosis and some of these differences appeared to increase by age 6, according to a study published online by JAMA Psychiatry.
Although a small proportion of children with ASD will lose the diagnosis at some point in their life some literature suggests that ASD is a lifelong condition involving persistent and stable impairments in language, social skills, educational attainment and activities of daily living, according to the study background.
Peter Szatmari, M.D., of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Canada, and coauthors described the developmental trajectories of autistic symptom severity and adaptive functioning in a group of 421 newly diagnosed preschool children with ASD who were participating in a large Canadian study. Data collected at four points from diagnosis to age 6 years were used to track the developmental trajectories of the children.
Study results showed two distinct trajectory groups for autistic symptom severity: Group 1 (11.4 percent of the children) had less severe symptoms and an improving trajectory, while Group 2 (88.6 percent of the children) had more severe symptoms and a stable trajectory.
For adaptive functioning, the children fell into three distinct trajectories: Group 1 (29.2 percent of the children) had lower functioning and a worsening trajectory, Group 2 (49.9 percent of the children) had moderate functioning and a stable trajectory and Group 3 (20.9 percent of the children) had higher functioning and an improving trajectory.
Researchers found that sex was associated with what autistic symptom severity group children would be in, and female sex was associated with the group with less severe and improving symptoms. Age at diagnosis, and language and cognitive scores at baseline were associated with grouping for adaptive functioning.
“During the preschool years, there appears to be only a small amount of ‘yoking’ [hitching together] of the developmental trajectories in autistic symptom severity and adaptive functioning. It is imperative that a flexible suite of interventions that target both autistic symptom severity and adaptive functioning should be implemented and tailored to each child’s strengths and difficulties,” the study concludes.
(JAMA Psychiatry. Published online January 28, 2015. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2014.2463. Available pre-embargo to the media at http://media.jamanetwork.com.)
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4 FEBRUARY
Control the child, lose the love
Children of pushy parents are more likely to reject them in later life, a study has suggested.
Boys and girls born to ‘helicopter moms’ grow up being resentful of the pressure that has been piled on them in their youth.
Instead parents should respect a child’s autonomy from an early age and let them make their own choices.
Researchers studied ‘helicopter moms’ – a term coined for middle-class parents who continually ‘hover’ over their offspring – by measuring the extent to which the mothers of 2,000 children aged two controlled activities during play.
They then repeated the experiment between the ages of 10 and 11 and made observations during a discussion between mother and child about areas in which they disagreed.
According to the study, the level of controlling behaviour accurately predicted whether a child liked or disliked their parents.
‘It looks like children just don’t like to be with their mothers as much if mothers are highly controlling,’ said lead researcher Jean Ispa, a human development professor at the University of Missouri. That is not a good thing. Ten-year-olds should enjoy being with mom.’
She said parents should explain why they are giving an order from an early age.
‘We found that mothers who supported their children’s autonomy were regarded more positively by their children than mothers who were highly directive,’ said the professor.
Daniel Bates , Daily Mail
3 February 2015
http://www.iol.co.za/lifestyle/family/kids/control-the-child-lose-the-love-1.1812571#.VNDTKukcSUk
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2 FEBRUARY
Author uses children's book to bridge communities with police
A platypus and a police officer. Not two things you would put together but one author did just that. And he's hoping it will bridge gaps between the youth and those who serve to keep us safe.
He's only four years old. But Damon Melton feels like he can talk about anything with Birmingham Police Chief A.C. Roper, or any police officer for that matter. "Because they're our friends," Melton said.
It's that kind of spirit Massachusetts author Jarrett Korsoczka is hoping will come from his book, Platypus Police Squad, The Frog who Croaked. "The books are a lot about you know the characters trying to work together to try to protect the city. It's like a big brother little brother story," Korsoczka said.
To emphasize a community push Jarrett held a book signing at the Birmingham Library. Inviting the community as well as those who protect it.
To help him with a little skit, Birmingham's own played along. Even Chief Roper got in on the fun....or you could say the fun was made out of him. "Every opportunity that we get to partner with our community members, partner with kids to show them that police are not their enemies we're their friends. We're here to help and we'll sacrifice our life for our community members," Roper said.
Chief Roper says reaching kids at Damon's age is imperative. That's why he says officers take time to go into city school classrooms and read to the children. "It motivates the police officers and it motivates the children. Because they're laughing. They're talking about the uniform and they just enjoy shaking a police officer's hand," Roper said.
Or in Damon's case, just having a good conversation.
Jordan Smith
1 February 2015
http://www.wsfa.com/story/27994410/author-uses-childrens-book-to-bridge-communities-with-police
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