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March 2010
NEW YORK STATE
Funding children's services saves money in the long runWestchester County Executive Rob Astorino recently sounded the alarm about looming deficits in the county's current and future budgets. To get a start on righting this picture, he announced a series of savings and cuts, totaling about $16 million, to be enacted this year. We were dismayed that more than one third of this amount, $5.8 million, was to be realized through savings and reductions in the Department of Social Services, the part of county government that is charged with safeguarding the well-being of vulnerable children and families.
We believe that cutting services to children is the last place any government should start when trimming expenses. Why?
Investments in children have a high rate of return. Programs such as child care or community-based mental health and youth services help prevent the need for higher-cost interventions later on. Affordable child care allows families to stay gainfully employed and contributing to the economy.
Community youth services keep youngsters engaged in safe, productive activities and away from gang involvement, drug abuse and other anti-social and self-destructive behaviors.
Community-based mental health services strengthen families, and avoid costly out-of-home placements. Moreover, many county expenditures for children's services are eligible for matching state or federal dollars, and also allow nonprofit contractors to leverage private philanthropic donations.
Moveover, children can't wait. Unlike maintenance on computers or parks, children's development cannot be put on hold. If we miss the opportunity to help a 15-year-old juvenile delinquent change his life, we are likely to be dealing very soon with a 16-year-old inmate. If we miss the chance to nurture a 3-year-old with quality care and early education, that chance is gone forever, along with the opportunity to build the social and pre-literacy skills that are so important for academic success.
Children rely on government help. More than other age groups, children rely on government services. For example, about a quarter of Westchester's children rely on public insurance for their health care. Nearly 6,000 Westchester children who are reported abused and neglected each year rely on government workers and publicly funded services to keep them safe. Thousands more rely on publicly supported community programs to keep them safe and busy after school, help them with severe emotional problems, or provide tutoring to help them succeed in school.
As revenues shrink and the tax burden on county residents grows, our government must be prudent in asking taxpayers to support only the most essential services with the highest return on investment. Research shows that services to children are among the best investment any government can make, and that they benefit not only the children and their families, but taxpayers and the larger community as well.
As our elected officials look for ways to reduce county expenses, we believe that there are items in our county budget that should be scrutinized for possible savings before making reductions in children's services, such as the $22 million in overtime throughout the budget. We urge the county executive to cut services only as a last resort, and, when pursuing reductions in county contracts, to target all contracts — such as with law firms and construction companies — that do business with the county, not just service contracts with nonprofit agencies.
When families trim their own budgets, children's needs come first. We urge county leaders to keep the needs of children at the top of their agenda, just as we all do with the needs of our own children.
Cora Greenberg
30 March 2010
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CALIFORNIA
One foot at a time, support shown for youths in foster care
David Guiza showed up at California Baptist University on Saturday morning with his children, expecting to watch sons David, 12, and Abraham, 10, play in a youth league soccer match.
After the match was canceled, the father noticed a couple thousand people gathered on the front lawn of the university in Riverside. Before long, the boys had removed their cleats and were walking in their black sports socks along with their dad and sister Daniela, 3, joining others in the Walk Your Talk Walk in support of foster care programs in Riverside County.
"Kids need someone to take care of them," said the elder Guiza, who brought the family down from Fontana. He said children of relatives wound up in foster care.
Participants paid a $10 registration fee, and some collected donations before walking the approximate 2-mile loop outside the campus. The walkers started out past a color guard and bagpipe players, passing beneath an arc of balloons. Jaci Hasemeyer, who organized the first walk in 2005, hoped to raise about $50,000. Proceeds will be used to send youths ages 13-18 in foster care to a three-day leadership camp this summer.
Team Leadership Foundation founder Lisa Castetter said her organization provides the programs for churches that sponsor and host the camps for 300 youths annually. The hope is that the youths develop trust and self-esteem and will find a mentor at camp who can assist them with finding jobs and preparing for college after they leave the foster care system at age 18.
That mentorship is important, walk organizers said, because half of the youths in foster care will not graduate from high school. Castetter said 500 leave the county foster care system each year, and organizers said there are 4,000 children in the county's foster care system.
Lisa Thomas, of Riverside, said she has taught some of the foster children taken in and adopted by Jaci and Eric Hasemeyer. Thomas and husband Chris and sons Joshua, 8, and Aaron, 5, took part in the walk. The boys wore multi-colored caps with propellers that spun round and round in Saturday's fast winds.
"I think it's important that Riverside stand up for these kids who need homes," Lisa Thomas said.
Brian Rokos
27 March 2010
http://www.pe.com/localnews/stories/PE_News_Local_W_walk28.479ad48.html
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Solving kids' math is a problem for some parents
Geometry, algebra, data management and probability. These are just a few examples of what students are being taught today under Ontario's new, and increasingly-advanced math curriculum.
"I found my solutions by guessing in my head and then writing them down and trying them out," explained one Grade 6 student, under a sample math question (and flawless calculation) offered on the Ontario Ministry of Education website.
But often times this kind of arithmetic isn't so easy for parents and caregivers, or even retired math teachers who provide tutoring to local students through Rebound Child and Youth Services Northumberland. That's because students as young as eight and nine are learning the equivalent of yesterday's high school and college calculations.
According to the 2003 report of the expert panel on early math in Ontario, early understanding of math has a profound effect on mathematical proficiency in the later years. Understanding math means learning to manage time and money, understand patterns, solve problems and use technology. It also builds confidence and opens the door to a range of career options.
The new curriculum is more complex than ever and more specific than previous curricula with respect to both the knowledge and the skills that students are expected to develop and demonstrate in each grade. As a result, Rebound, in partnership with St. Mary's Secondary School, in Cobourg, is holding a free elementary math training workshop for parents, caregivers and tutors. It will be facilitated by math consultants from the Peterborough Victoria Northumberland Clarington Catholic School Board.
"There seemed to be an increase in the number of math calls and requests (Rebound gets)," said Nicola Crow, Rebound's executive director, while explaining the reason behind the workshop. "It will assist tutors and parents to discover what is different about today's math and how to help their child succeed."
The reason parents often have difficulty helping with the more advanced concepts is partly because much has changed in the math curriculum since they were in school, and partly because of the time that has passed since parents have taken math classes, she added.
Karen Lloyd
25 March 2010
http://www.northumberlandnews.com/news/northumberlandcountynews/article/150842
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Is pre-teen violence on upswing?
While a series of incidents between students at Thomas Jefferson Middle School in the last few weeks have brought attention to discipline issues in the Jefferson City School District, David Luther, director of school-community relations, said this is more the exception and not the rule.
In a letter that he and TJMS Principal Roberta Hubbs sent out to parents, they sought to quell concerns about a growing trend within the student population. "We've had some behavior issues that we are not thrilled about, but it is a very small percentage of the student body," Luther said. "We feel that we have a safe school."
Part of the equation that is feeding into perceptions of discipline issues is the change in definitions to third-degree assault.
"Anymore, with third-degree assault, there is very little wiggle room," Luther said. "The rules were different. ... I can say with great certainty that a fight that occurs today is going to get reported to the police department. If we go back 15 or 20 years ago, that would not be part of a (police) report. If you are in your 30s or 40s or 50s or 60s, and you were involved in an altercation at school, that would have been taken care of almost exclusively at the school and parent level. That's just not the case any longer."
One of the most telling statistics that comes as a result of incidents is the time in which students have been removed from class.
Ben Yarnell
21 March 2010
http://newstribune.com/articles/2010/03/22/news_local/nt285local04preteen10.txt
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INDIANA
Parents must watch behavior at games
When it comes to soccer, there are
times where I have to wear different hats — coach for most of the week
and parent of a youth player at other times. Even when I am chasing
after some of my own children as a 'soccer dad' (if we can have 'soccer
moms', we can certainly have 'soccer dads', too), it is hard to totally
displace my job as a soccer coach from my personal life.
This past weekend I was a spectator at a tournament with my daughter,
and in the same way that you might 'people watch' when you are shopping
in the mall or a passenger in the car, it was hard for me not to
'spectator watch' while on the sideline at these youth soccer games.
Coming from someone who is part soccer coach, and part 'soccer dad',
here are some guidelines for behavior on the sideline at a youth soccer
game.
n Talking to the referees doesn't really help your team: No matter how
knowledgeable you may feel you are, or how wrong you feel the referee
may be, I have never seen an official change his call due to an
argumentative parent's opinion. All that really does is embarrass your
child and distract the referee from calling the game. Everyone is
welcome to an opinion, and while you opinion might not be wrong, it
really doesn't matter when you are sitting in a lawn chair watching
little kids run around.
n Why are you keeping stats?: Knowing that most youth soccer fields
don't have scoreboards, there is nothing wrong with keeping track of the
score. Not only is it one of the key factors in the game (both teams are
trying to win, so it is essential to know the score), it is really the
only statistic that is important in team sports. I was in disbelief when
I walked by a field and saw a parent with a scorebook in their lap,
filling out each player's name. I was so taken by it that I actually
doubled back behind him to see what he was tracking. He had each
player's name, position, minutes played — I found it both humorous and
terrifying. I couldn't imagine why a parent would be so compelled to
keep track of all that data rather than just sitting back and watching
their child play. Surely the child or their coach couldn't care about
that information, and even the most compulsive person would think that
keeping that kind of data in an under-10 game is a little excessive.
n Look at your child's expression when you yell at them: I am always
surprised at how distracted a player can be when their own parent yells
something during a game. It is not hard for a child to differentiate
between their parent's voice and a stranger's, and I know that the last
thing your son or daughter wants to be thinking about when a ball is
traveling toward them is what instructions you are yelling at them. The
reality is that if they really needed your instructions, you would have
been asked to sit on the bench on the other side of the field and coach
the team. The best youth soccer parents are the ones that give
encouragement at the appropriate times — when the ball is out of play.
The best youth soccer parents also keep their critical feedback to
themselves during the game.
n Your coach doesn't want to hear it, either: Watching a parent yell at
their child's coach is almost as comical as watching them yell at their
child. With a coach's focus centered on your child and their teammates,
why would they want to be distracted by you? You entrusted that coach to
work with your child, so let them do their job. Could you imagine that
same coach visiting you at work to look over your shoulder?
Fortunately, for every 'little league' parent gone wild', there are 50
who have the correct focus and intentions. For the good of the game, as
well as for the good of your kids, don't set a bad example.
Mike Jacobs
21 March 2010
http://www.courierpress.com/news/2010/mar/21/parents-must-watch-behavior-at-games/
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WASHINGTON STATE
Parents of foster kids need basic services, study says
Sixty percent of the parents with children in the state’s child welfare system had trouble getting enough food for the family last year, according to a social survey done by Partners with Our Children.
The data collected by the public-private organization were a part of an independent evaluation of the state’s Department of Social and Health Services. Its purpose was to better engage parents in DSHS’s work to reunite biological families after the children had been put into foster care.
The report was presented at the February Legislative session at the request of Representative Ruth Kagi, who is the chair of the House Early Learning and Children’s Services Committee. “The study is really valuable,” Kagi said. “It really helps us to understand how parents view our child welfare system and what are the major barriers they are facing, which we need to address.”
Of the parents surveyed, over 70 percent were unable to pay the rent or mortgage, buy needed clothing or pay an important bill at some point in the past 12 months. Roughly 50 percent had been homeless, evicted or had to move in with family or friends. Annual income was $10,000 or less for about half of the families.
Parents also said they prized the state’s ability to help them meet basic needs like food or housing over services for substance abuse, domestic violence or anger management. But they agreed with social workers that learning parenting skills is a high priority.
“The social worker can help get families the services they need to overcome the conditions that caused the child’s removal,” said the Director of Partners for Our Children Mark Courtney. “But the worker usually doesn’t have access to resources to provide basic, concrete services like housing. This raises important policy issues.”
Jocelyn Chui
17 March 2010
http://www.realchangenews.org/index.php/site/archives/3965/
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Tag for the gamer generation
Humans vs. Zombies is a massive game of tag. One player starts as the zombie, what we used to call “being it.’’ All others are human. Both wear official bandanas on their arms. Zombies tie a second bandana around their heads. When a zombie tags a human, the human becomes a zombie. The zombie in my class was on a tight clock. He had to tag a human before 48 hours were up or face starvation. Class was a safe zone, but tensions were high.
Despite the use of Nerf guns (which caused an uproar after the Virginia Tech shootings, and rightfully so), I can’t help but love the game — to see this generation using cellphones like walkie talkies to call for reinforcements, sprinting across greens, lying low in bushes, holing up in bathroom stalls. It feels like an attempt to claim an essential part of childhood — one that this generation simply missed.
My own childhood was spent running through the wilds of suburbia, playing a hybrid version of kick-the-can and dodge ball — a terrifying, vicious, exhilarating game that allowed us to act out primal fears. We celebrated victories madly, and took defeats hard. We made up our own suburban versions of Native American names. I was Jogging Hamster. I felt like explaining to my class that in olden days this was what we called “playing,’’ an activity that was done outdoors, that called for speed, agility, an eye for hiding places, and a large dose of imagination.
I first realized that something had shifted since my own childhood when, 14 years ago, I started strolling my first child through newly constructed neighborhoods. There were swing sets, bikes peeking from garages, an occasional stray trampoline, but rarely a child, and never children playing, as I once had, in packs. Where were they? Many were in day care and after-school programs. But often enough, the children were inside their houses — having chosen the virtual world over the real one, right outside their door. In their defense, the real world had become more dangerous (or was it the barrage of media telling us that the world had become more dangerous?) and they weren’t allowed to go out hiding, dodging, and being primal.
This gamer generation has been raised to equate playing with screens — running through virtual landscapes with joysticks, jumping with buttons while sitting in darkened playrooms often alone. They don’t have made up names. They have avatars that put Jogging Hamster to shame. The most important difference is this: real play, unlike its virtual substitute, relies not on the ability of techies to create realistic CGI, but on the vividness of the player’s imagination. The stories that played out in my childhood suburbia were not a programmer’s plot. They were our own.
At this point, I have to wonder if I’m just an old crank, nostalgic for the joys of my own childhood simply because I was young then — like my father who loves the smell of coal pollution and the dusting of flowers with ash, because it reminds him of his youth in West Virginia.
Certainly the generation before mine bemoaned the loss of a true wilderness, and felt sorry for my generation whose connection to nature was stunted by suburban development. It’s trickledown sympathy, each generation shaking their head at the next. First, the wilderness was replaced by sprawl, in-ground pools, gnome statues, swing sets, and then sprawl was replaced by virtual worlds.
Perhaps this is why the game intrigues me. Humans vs. Zombies seems like a metaphor for a much larger and quite real battle that could be called the Real World vs. the Virtual World.
Of course, the real-world play in Humans vs. Zombies is still new to the gamer generation, and some elements of the game lack the spontaneity and inventiveness of my youth. With Humans vs. Zombies, they rely on someone else’s rules. They check into an official website, and there is, of course, a merchandising element. (The gamer generation is accustomed to paying for play.)
Nonetheless, not only was it as if a video game had gone live on our campus and specifically in my own classroom, my students had come to life, too. The zombie-epidemic survivor glared at the zombie. The zombie glared back, daringly. An air of excitement filled the room, and after class ended, I imagined them hurdling across campus, real wind on their real skins. And I chalked up a small victory for the Real World.
Julianna Baggott
16 March 2010
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OREGON
Lawmakers put aside partisanship to help kids
Tough economic times can take their toll on families. Parents lose their jobs, and bills go unpaid. Foreclosure or eviction can soon follow. Too many times, it's the children who fall through the cracks and suffer the most. Unfortunately, it's something we see almost every day. If you are like me, it makes you wonder what you can do to help.
A new pilot program being planned in Salem and McMinnville will seek to connect those who want to offer assistance with those who need it. Safe Families is modeled after a privately run program in Illinois that utilizes volunteer host parents to provide respite care for children of families in crisis. The children go to live with the volunteer host families, while their parents work through their difficulties.
It is not a form of foster care and is not a new state-based program. Unlike foster care, the parents maintain legal custody of their children and are encouraged to be in contact with them regularly. Host families provide for the children's needs, making sure they have a safe and nurturing environment until they can be reunited with their parents.
In founding the Chicago program, Dr. Dave Anderson discovered that many times that's all a family in crisis needs — someone to look after their children for a few days, weeks or months. Knowing that their children will be properly cared for gives parents the peace of mind they need to get their lives in order.
Senate Bill 991, which I sponsored in the February session, removes some regulatory barriers to allow private organizations to provide volunteer respite care for children, and it ensures that the volunteers will be properly screened. That last point is very important. SB 991 requires any organization placing children in respite care to have the Child Care Division of the Oregon Employment Department conduct a background check on any volunteer family before a child is placed in their care. The sponsoring organization (and not the state) pays for the background check.
The effort has already brought together a diverse group of people from our community. Jim Seymour from Catholic Community Services and local businessman Dick Withnell, the chair of the Oregon Commission on Children and Families, worked with my office and the Department of Human Services to craft the legislation that is making Safe Families possible. Withnell has already committed to leading the local effort to raise the funds necessary to operate Safe Families. Seymour's organization will run the pilot program.
Safe Families also brought together members of the Legislature in a unique way last month. While partisan differences usually grab the headlines, most of the votes in the Oregon Senate and House are widely bipartisan. Few, however, win the kind of unanimous support the Safe Families legislation gained. In five separate votes over 23 days, not one member of the Oregon Legislature voted against it.
Taking care of our children shouldn't be a partisan issue, and the Legislature proved in February it's not one in Oregon.
The changes SB 991 makes in Oregon statutes are small. The changes Safe Families can make in the lives of Oregon children and parents will be immeasurable.
Peter Courtney
14 March 2010
http://www.statesmanjournal.com/article/20100314/OPINION/3140327/1049/OPINION
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NEW YORK
Report gauges current level of Rochester's child services
Five community partners have their starting point as they address the needs of children in the greater Rochester area.
A study released Wednesday by the Center for Governmental Research and the Children's Agenda looked at three areas — home visitations for vulnerable families, early care and education, and after-school programs — that had been identified in an earlier report as focal points for changing lives.
"Youth are very close to so many challenges facing this community," said Ed Doherty, vice president for Community Programs for the Rochester Area Community Foundation. He cited dropout rates and violence as examples. "We need to do a better job serving youth."
The Community Status Report on Children was commissioned by Monroe County, the city of Rochester, the City School District, the Rochester Area Community Foundation and the United Way. It followed the release last fall of a report by the Children's Agenda, an advocacy group that had issued a call to action and set goals for 2015.
Before charging ahead, the community needed to know where it stood, said Dawn Borgeest, chief corporate affairs officer at United Way of Greater Rochester. She compared the Community Status Report on Children to a barometer. The report provided data on how many people are being served by the three key programs, the capacity of those programs, and the gaps that need to be filled in order to achieve the goal by 2015. The target areas cover children from before birth to age 18. Specifics include increasing the number of families in the Nurse-Family Partnership to 1,000 per year; increasing the number of children in quality child care and early learning by 20 percent; and providing effective after-school programs to 25 percent of city children.
Programs are based on evidence of success in communities similar to Rochester.
"The easiest thing is to have all of those issues be extremely overwhelming and paralyzing," Borgeest said. "I hope it brings focus back to how we're faring as a community in terms of how we're doing by the kids. Clearly, there's a long way to go."
The report is being made available throughout the community.
Borgeest said that other organizations or agencies might consider funding programs. She said it was coincidental that the report was issued as the United Way is beginning its donor campaign, but the report offers insight for taxpayers into how money is spent for human services.
Patti Singer
11 March 2010
http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/20100311/NEWS01/3110337
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TENNESSEE
Budget cuts to blend boys with girls divisive
Troubled teenage boys and girls, who once coexisted at Woodland Hills Youth Development Center, could again be reunited if the Department of Children's Services gets its way in a plan to slash millions from its own budget. "It's not something that we wanted to make," said Steve Hornsby, deputy commissioner for DCS's division of juvenile justice. "We're trying to make the best use of facilities that we can because we do have empty buildings over at Woodland Hills."
Hornsby and his colleagues testified before a legislative committee at legislative plaza on Monday afternoon. The committee was made up of the Davidson County delegation of lawmakers who also heard from child advocates who pleaded with the panel to make cuts elsewhere: in a place other than the now 4-year-old New Visions Youth Development Center. A home exclusively for girls, located a mere 400 yards from Woodland Hills.
"With this scenario, I feel that the care and treatment of these girls will surely suffer," New Visions board member Lois Wagner, Ph.D., R.N., told the panel.
The details of the DCS proposal include merging the two populations: the roughly 36 girls currently at New Visions and the roughly 145 boys at Woodland Hills, though DCS insists the two populations will rarely - if ever - see each other.
"These girls come into the system as trauma survivors. So, let's not put them at risk for re-traumatization," said Wagner. New Visions board members are not going to take the plan lightly. They are urging state lawmakers to make more practical cuts in other places. "Everything will be shared," said Minty Ballard, also a board member. Ballard is skeptical the two groups will actually be successfully kept apart.
Even Betty Adams Green, a juvenile court judge in Davidson County, lobbied on behalf of keeping the two populations separate. "When you start cutting your supervision and cutting your programming, you're short changing the young people that are there," Green told the panel.
DCS is charged with finding $11.5 million to slash from its budget by July 1. Shutting down New Visions temporarily will save the state an estimated $2.7 million, annually. Hornsby told the press staffing cuts at mainly boys' facilities would account for the biggest contribution in budget cuts.
State Senator Thelma Harper, D-Nashville, who sits on the panel, stressed the need to make money cuts in different programs, and the danger of placing teens with hormones going "whackity whack" under the same roof. "They need us more than they've ever needed us," said Harper, referring to the troubled females at New Visions. "We need to save them. Putting them back at Woodland Hills is not going to save them."
The legislative body will take all of Monday's testimony into consideration and modify or keep the planned cuts. DCS submits its plan as final and, though not the most popular, the most practical - in the eyes of Steve Hornsby.
Brent Frazier
9 March 2010
http://www.newschannel5.com/Global/story.asp?S=12106655
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CANADA
Glen Murray's remarkable work with disadvantaged youth
It’s sad but true that in covering elections — and byelections — reporters often ask the wrong questions. Sometimes, you simply don’t know all the facts. And yes, this is by way of a mea culpa.
When I wrote about the Toronto Centre byelection, I didn’t ask Liberal candidate Glen Murray the right questions. Sure, I asked all the controversial questions — about the HST, about the threatened closure of the Grace Hospital in that riding. But I didn’t ask — because I didn’t know back then — about Murray’s work as a foster parent helping street kids in Winnipeg, back when he was a young city councillor there.
Murray’s work was the subject of a National Film Board (NFB) documentary. I tried to get a copy of the film but, sadly, the 1992 documentary, A Kind Of Family, is no longer available at any Toronto public library. It is described on the NFB website this way:
“The story of a relationship between a man and a boy, both of whom have become marginalized by society. Glen is a young, gay city councillor and Mike, his foster son, is a 17-year-old, tough street kid. Their relationship is always tenuous and always turbulent as they struggle to define themselves together and alone.”
Murray is reluctant to talk about Mike. He says it’s not fair to put his family in the spotlight. “I said when I went back into politics that I would never include my family in my literature or put them on display as a reason to vote for me or talk about them,” he said in an interview.
Their own voice
“I think when you do work with street-involved people and
low-income people and marginalized people, they are so easily defined by
everyone else — and one thing they don’t have is their own voice,” he
said.
Back in his early 20s, he and a group of friends started to foster the young people individually and as a group. “We tried to find safe places for kids, where they wouldn’t be alone, where they would be protected and safe,” Murray, 52, said. The kids he worked with were some of the city’s most vulnerable. Many were from small and remote first nations reserves. Some had HIV or were at risk of getting it. Others had Hepatitis C or fetal alcohol syndrome.
Murray could empathize with the kids because he was himself adopted as a toddler. He said his experiences with the young street kids made him realize how fortunate he was to have been adopted into a warm and loving family in Montreal. “I became a great believer that the most important institution for a kid is a safe place to call home with responsible adults who love them and can take care of them,” he said.
The only thing that made his work unusual, he says, was the fact that he’s gay. “At that time, it was very difficult for a gay man to do it,” he recalled. “I had to fill out a 17-page questionnaire once about homosexuality and child abuse, which was odd for me since I was spending my nights at 3 a.m. writing down licence plates of people I saw picking up children on the streets, and sending them to police,” Murray said. “Being gay was seen as being analagous to being a child abuser,” he said.
Murray went on to become mayor of Winnipeg before moving to Toronto.
Normally outgoing
And for a guy who’s normally very outgoing and talkative — I
could barely shut him up during my byelection interview with him — he is
uncharacteristically modest and shy about his work with street youth.
All of which proves once again that every so often, the most important things you need to know about a politician aren’t in his resume. They’re in his heart.
Christina Blizzard
7 March 2010
http://www.torontosun.com/comment/columnists/christina_blizzard/2010/03/05/13131836.html
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SWITZERLAND
Swiss make extra small condoms for 12-year-olds
Twelve-year-old boys in Switzerland will soon be able to buy packets of extra small condoms, and the controversial contraceptives may soon be on their way to the UK. The Hotshot condoms, manufactured by Lamprecht AG, have been produced after research by the Swiss Government revealed that an increasing number of twelve to 14-year-olds are having sex.
Nancy Bodmer, who headed the research, said: “The result that shocked us concerned young boys who display apparently risky behaviour. They have more of a tendency not to protect themselves. “They do not have a very developed sexual knowledge. They do not understand the consequences of what they are doing and leave the young girls to take care of the consequences.”
And a spokeswoman for Lamprecht AG has indicated that the UK’s high rate of teen pregnancies makes the UK market a prime target for expansion. Nysse Norballe said: “At the moment we are only producing the Hotshot in Switzerland. But the UK is certainly a very attractive market since there is a very high rate of underage conception. “The UK would definitely be top priority if we marketed abroad.”
The announcement is likely to further disturb family values campaigners in the UK, who have warned that dishing out condoms will not cut the nation’s dire teenage pregnancy rate.
The research, carried out for the Federal Commission for Children and Youth, interviewed 1,480 people in Switzerland aged 10 to 20. The current age of consent in Switzerland is 16, but if there is no more than three years’ age difference between the partners then no punishment is given.
Earlier this week press reports revealed that condom adverts are set to be aired on UK television before the 9pm watershed. The adverts are an attempt to reduce the nation’s teen pregnancy rate, but critics have warned that the scheme will not work. Norman Wells, of the Family Education Trust, said: “Advertising condoms on prime-time television would do nothing to reduce teenage conceptions or sexually transmitted infections. Research does not support the common claim that teenage pregnancy rates in the UK are high because young people lack reliable information about contraception and are unable to access it with sufficient ease.”
And last week it was revealed that a £280 million Government plan to slash the number of teenage pregnancies is falling woefully behind schedule. The Government had aimed to halve the rate of teen pregnancies by 2010, but the latest figures available from 2008 reveal only a 13.3 per cent drop.
News feature
4 March 2010
http://www.christian.org.uk/news/swiss-make-extra-small-condoms-for-12-year-olds/
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County's 'Teen Court' offers other options for young people
The thought of getting into trouble with the law is scary enough for most people, but imagine going through the legal process as a teenager. However, there are some other options in certain Wisconsin counties for young people to learn life lessons in a harsh, but unique approach.
Many say that sometimes people have to make mistakes to learn a lesson. And yet, what if the mistake results in a ticket? Or even an arrest? What if a youthful mistake could hurt a chance of getting a job or into college? One Iowa County courtroom is also a classroom of sorts where teens - some of whom are in trouble with the law - come to learn lessons not taught in school. Supporters say that the so-called Teen Court is a serious, gloves-off approach to keeping teens from getting into trouble twice.
Amber Larson was accused of driving too fast for conditions, which resulted in a crash as snow fell in December. As part of the Teen Court proceedings, Larson's mother has been called to the stand.
Teens participate in similar hearings in the courtroom, which looks like any other, but that's where the differences end. The jurors get to ask questions and the defendants must admit their guilt and the sentences are harsh. In Larson's case, the jury rendered a verdict of 25 hours of community service and ordered her to pen an essay on driving in hazardous conditions. Larson must also tell her story to a driver's education class.
Teen Court is optional for the offenders. Court volunteer Sabrina Badertscher said that many teens participate in the program, which requires they admit their guilt with the guarantee of a stricter sentence, because of the potential benefits. "I think it is a lot better than having something on your record. And it gives you a second chance from stupid mistakes," she said. Badertscher poured soda on an ex-boyfriend's car and after serving her sentence, including mandatory time on the jury, she is now working as a volunteer. "I really enjoy being here," she said.
Organizers said that this is something many young people who come through Teen Court decide to do as well. Teen Court coordinator Marcia Richgels said that even the toughest offenders often begin participating in the program. "Even when the ones that come in with this big, bad attitude that they shouldn't have got this, they get involved," Richgels said. "I think it just gives the kids an opportunity to make better decisions."
Richgels said the process is treated with the upmost seriousness. There are consequences for defendants who joke around in the court and they come at the hands of the jury. "Get up there and laugh - and whether it's because they are nervous or aren't taking it seriously - boy, those kids will come down hard on them. I mean their sentences are unbelievable," she said.
While Richgels oversees the program, it was created by Iowa County Judge Bill Dyke in the 1990s. "They realize the conduct is unacceptable," Dyke said. "I think it's in one sense, a healing process. It could be looked upon as restorative justice," he said. Dyke said that he thinks the approach is appropriate for young people and proven effective.
Parents of former defendants even find themselves back in the courtroom as volunteers, WISC-TV reported. Parent Lance Hook said he thinks the youth understand the motivation behind the project. "I think the kids realize there are people out there who care, and they respond to that," he said.
Dyke said that while the jury consists of teens' peers, they don't go easy on them. "They know how to ask some very probing questions to bring the whole thing to a conclusion. They do a good job," he said.
Youthful suspects are only allowed to go through Teen Court once and once they've completed their sentence, a case is dismissed as if it never happened. If offenders run afoul of the law a second time, they'll face the standard juvenile justice process and end up with the charges on their record. The program has an incredible success rate, WISC-TV reported. Most of the children aren't ever seen in court again -- unless it's as a Teen Court volunteer, organizers said.
There are similar courts in most counties in the state although Iowa County's is one of the oldest.
News Feature
3 March 2010
http://www.channel3000.com/news/22730459/detail.html
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NEW YORK
Homelessness in city schools rises with recession
For a student in the New York City homeless shelter system, leaving school at 6 p.m. can mean going home to loud or messy neighbors, bed bugs, or the possibility of having to move again.
“The quality of home life is poor, even though they have four walls, a door, and a ceiling,” said Amier Carmel, a social worker at Democracy Prep Charter School on West 133rd Street. “In the shelter [system], they can’t count on a regular home. It might be month to month, or week to week that kids are moved.”
According to the NYC Department of Homeless Services’ most recently released daily report, as of Feb. 26 there were a total of 15,495 families with children in shelters across the city. Experts say that this number is growing in response to the recession. “Data published by the city of New York clearly shows that the economic crisis has increased homelessness among NYC single individuals and families,” said economics lecturer Anna Musatti. “Starting from 2001, families with children represent a larger and fast-increasing portion of the city homeless.”
Out of the 410 students at Carmel’s school, he knows of six who are currently living in shelters. But he said that there could be more, since he only knows students are homeless if they tell him personally, because shelters can also be used as a permanent address for school paperwork. “Some of our kids are real troopers,” Carmel said. “They pull themselves up by their own bootstraps and … charge ahead with work.”
Democracy Prep provides students with transportation to and from school if they don’t qualify for city-issued MetroCards, an escort service, outside support while their parents are busy, and in-school counseling, Carmel said. “New York City is good in the sense that there’s a battery of services out there. The problem is accessing those services. Since funding has gone downhill in an incredible and staggering way, these services have also gone down,” Carmel said.
Legally, schools have specific responsibilities toward homeless students. Under the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, reauthorized in January 2002, states are obligated to provide homeless children with the same free public education that students living in households receive.
The NYC Department of Education also has a program called Students in Temporary Housing, which provides family assistants and experts who help families make sure their rights are maintained even when they are homeless. The unit’s aim is to help make families aware of the available resources for homeless students. The Department of Homeless Services also funds shelters across the city.
Still, Youth in Crisis, a study released by Covenant House and the Columbia Center for Homelessness Prevention Studies in March 2009, reported that 77 percent of the youth enrolled in Covenant House New York did not have a high school diploma and were not enrolled in school. Covenant House New York, on 41st Street, serves 18- to 22-year-olds, many of whom have aged out of the foster care system, said Kate Levin, spokesperson for Covenant House. Some youth enter the crisis program, meaning that they stay at the shelter for 30 days, while others transition into the Rights of Passage program for a year-and-a-half and enroll in community colleges or GED programs.
Levin said that the experience can be very challenging for students. “I’ve heard from some of the students that it’s embarrassing. They don’t want to admit to their fellow classmates that they live in a shelter. For these young people, trying to succeed and move beyond it [homelessness] can be hard,” Levin said.
But Nicholas Robertson-Forge, a boardmember of Trinity Place Shelter on 100th Street, which aids homeless LGBT youth between 18 and 24, pointed out that shelters can provide youth with basic needs so that they can pursue an education or a career. “When you think about homeless youth, the first thing that comes to mind is, if you don’t have a stable home environment or place to stay, getting your basic needs met comes first,” Robertson-Forge said. “For a lot of homeless youth, they’re not thinking about high school or college because they don’t have their basic needs met.”
One challenge in helping homeless LGBT youth is the lack of records, which makes it difficult to secure financial aid or other services, Robertson-Forge said. For young people who have left home, it is difficult to access that information readily.
He said, though, that the McKinney-Vento Act protects children under 18, so that they do not require documentation to have access to school immediately. The school must help homeless students access this information. “When it comes to college-age youth, I think it could potentially be more problematic because there aren’t necessarily protections at the federal level in terms of accessing colleges or universities, because we don’t view that as a right—it’s something you can access if you’re able to,” Robertson-Forge said.
At Trinity Place, he said, there are residents who are full-time students. He wasn’t sure if their schools were aware if the students were homeless, because the shelter serves as a permanent address.
While Democracy Prep Charter School provides students with extra support services, the school should still have a better method of identifying the homeless, Carmel said. “Our school day is 7:44 to 5:15 p.m., so the kids don’t leave until around 6 p.m.,” he said. “We try to keep kids here as much as possible to get everyone up to speed academically and also socially, … to give them a positive experience.”
The DOE did not respond to repeated request for comment.
Jessica Hills
2 March 2010
http://www.columbiaspectator.com/2010/03/02/homelessness-city-schools-rises-recession
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MINNESOTA
Parenting game plan
A high school counselor has written a book of
parenting tips covering topics from toddler tantrums to teen rebellion.
In her new book Parents! Get Your Head in the Game*, local
author Terri McCarthy offers words of wisdom both true and sobering: "If
parenting is not hard work, you are not doing your job."
McCarthy, a chemical health counselor at Jefferson High School in Bloomington, has been a school counselor for more than 25 years and raised three children who are now 26, 25 and 10. She and her husband, Jon, and youngest child, Sydnie, live in Prior Lake.
Professionally and personally, McCarthy knows all about life in the parenting trenches. Her book offers solid tips and suggestions about how parents can handle everything from sleep issues and temper tantrums (in toddlers, but occasionally in teens) to peer pressure, school performance and drug use. "What I say about the hard work of parenting isn't meant to scare people," she said. "You'll definitely reap the rewards of that work. The biggest accomplishment of your life will be that you raised a healthy, normal kid."
McCarthy weighed in on a few key topics that can affect parenting at every stage:
Boundaries
The sooner you can set them for your child, the better. "Children need
to know that parents are in control and will take care of them," said
McCarthy. "Their world won't end if you say no."
In the book, she tells about a former high school student struggling with depression and drug experimentation. He asked for McCarthy's help in getting his parents to set the boundaries he didn't have and knew he desperately needed. "His parents had no idea what was going on in his life," she said, adding they did ultimately attend a meeting with McCarthy and their son and drew up a contract to address his specific needs. "A lot of times, parents want to put their heads in the sand, which is really the worst possible response," she said.
Youth sports
As the recent confrontation at a Burnsville sixth-grade boys'
basketball game proved, there are parents who continue to place far too
much importance on youth athletics. "You wonder if there is a void in
their lives that is causing them to put all their eggs into the basket
of their child's athletic ability," McCarthy said.
She encourages parents to approach coaches or commissioners if they are concerned about the behavior being displayed on the court or in the stands. "There should be zero tolerance of negative behavior," McCarthy said. "We have to make sure youth sports is about fun and team building."
Communication
Sometimes listening is even more important than talking when it comes to
communicating with your child. "Not only listening, but really
reflecting on what they are telling you," McCarthy said.
Creating an atmosphere of honesty and trust with your child is key. "Tell them from an early age that no matter what happens, they should know they can always tell you about it," McCarthy said. "If they come to you with the truth, let them know you will cut them some slack for being honest because if they are always fearful of your response, you've shut a door."
Julie Pfitzinger
27 February 2010
*Parents! Get Your Head in the Game by Terri McCarthy is in our bookstore
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