Children in Hospital

SUMMARY. The care of children in hospital has greatly changed over the past thirty years. Their stay in hospital is now much shorter, they are more likely to be cared for in paediatric wards, by staff specially trained to meet their needs, with close, continuing attention from their parents. This article traces these changes from the days when visiting was strictly limited to the family centred care to be found in most hospital wards today. The processes by which these changes came about are described and the areas of concern which still remain are considered     

Young Children in Rural Areas: Implementing the Children Act

SUMMARY. This article is based on the results of the first stage of a study of the Children Act (day care and preschool education), and looks at how the Children Act 1989 has been put into practice with respect to services for children under eight, in rural local authorities in England and Wales. It considers the duties given by the Act to local authorities from a rural perspective, including providing a range of services for children in need, reviewing the services that are available for all young children, and setting standards for day care services provided by the voluntary and private sectors. It concludes that although the Act has helped to focus attention on the needs of children in rural areas, there is a danger that nothing will be done to meet them because of the principle of targeting resources on children who are most in need. Rural isolation was rarely specified as an indicator of need, and other criteria often had an urban bias which may work against the development of services in rural areas. The article also argues that there is a particular need to develop new models of service delivery and ways of providing training and support to early years workers which are appropriate for rural areas.     

The Limits of Working with Children Cards in Protecting Children

Abstract

In 2006 Western Australia passed legislation that introduced a system to check criminal records and issue permits to those who wish to work with children. In 2007, the legislation was described by the minister responsible as a “powerful system that would prevent harm to children”. This paper explores that system and identifies limits to its effectiveness. The paper concluded that unless the system's limits are fully appreciated there is a possibility of a paradoxical outcome, whereby children's lives will be less safe. It also raises the question of whether in the area of record checking a national approach is not preferable to each state and territory developing its own system.     

Children and Poverty in Ireland

SUMMARY: The life chances of children and young people can only be understood in the context of their material circumstances. Through a review of what is known about children and poverty in Ireland today, North and South, this article highlights the causes and impact of poverty and makes the case for more resources to be committed to children and their carers in the interests of both social justice and economic prudence.     

Children Caught in the Middle

Children from divorced homes are caught in the middle of parental conflict significantly more often and are experiencing more resulting stress than children from intact homes. Our intention was to use a brief educational intervention to reduce the number of times divorced parents put their children in the middle. Participants were 45 high school students with divorced parents (male = 22, female = 23; Mage = 15.8). These subjects rated the frequency and stressfulness of 32 such situations. The parents of the intervention group were mailed the subjects' averaged responses on the 32 items and an explanatory letter. The same 32-item questionnaire was given about 1 month after the mailing as the intervention evaluation. Subjects in the intervention group improved more than the two control groups combined, F(1,42) = 3.45, p < .10. These results imply that having divorced parents read some brief information is sufficient to produce behavior changes in the majority of those parents.     

NCH's Children in Danger campaign

SUMMARY. This article describes the thinking behind the National Children's Home's (NCH) Children in Danger campaign which began in 1985. It discusses the difficulties and benefits for a service providing child care voluntary organisation involving itself in social policy campaigning. The reasons behind the campaign are outlined, its implementation and its effects both on the public and the organisation.     

Children and Divorce in Canada

This paper examines the statistical trends in Canada related to children in divorce actions. The recommendations of the Law Reform Commission of Canada regarding custody of children in divorce cases are summarized.     

Protecting Children

Abstract

In this study, difficulties that women with alcohol problems and victimization experiences might have protecting their children from victimization were investigated. Mothers of children (ages 3-17) were recruited from a longitudinal study of women, alcohol problems, and victimization; women came from alcohol treatment programs, battered women's shelters, mental health clinics, drinking and driving programs, and a random household sample. Hypothetical parenting scenarios were constructed to assess mothers' ability to protect their children from victimization trauma. Women's responses to the scenarios were analyzed thematically and coded. Next, coded responses were analyzed quantitatively to identify significant differences among women with past alcohol and other drug (AOD) problems, current AOD problems, and no AOD problems. Women with current AOD problems were more likely than women with no AOD problems and women with past AOD problems to provide aggressive responses to scenarios. Women with past AOD problems were more likely than their non-addicted counterparts to perceive sexual abuse as a possibility, to attribute responsibility for the problem to the other participant only (seeing no role for their child), and to seek information about what happened from the other participant only. Findings suggest that some interpersonal problem-solving difficulties resolve when women become sober while others persist into recovery, potentially affecting women's ability to protect their children.     

Appreciating Children

ANOTHER Spring Festival was drawing near. From her college in Dalian, sophomore Zhou Tingting returned home to Nanjing—to the family that had given her life and affection, and perhaps most importantly, appreciation. Family indeed has special meaning for Zhou Tingting. She is a deaf girl who entered college at age of 16, but it     

Expendable Children

In spite of alarming statistics about the status of children in the United States, there is little evidence of a public commitment that addresses the various dimensions of the problem (e.g., poverty, abuse) in a systematic, integrated, and long-term way. It is argued that this is because very poor children contribute disproportionately to these statistics and that they have become expendable within the context of contemporary economic trends. Examination of a variety of programs addressing children's issues illustrates that many of these have the effect of further marginalizing young people. Suggestions on how to reverse these trends are discussed.     

Twilight's Children

The following article describes conditions in South Africa just as the "dismantling of apartheid" was beginning in earnest at the start of this decade. Thus it provides something of a baseline by which to compare changes which have taken place in that country since then. However, its greater contribution may be its evocation of the atmosphere of the time. As such it provides a unique perspective and a useful addition to the historical record of South African social welfare as well as a testament to those who struggled and continue to struggle to serve the nation's children.     

把爱心奉献给孩子们 中国儿童少年基金会

作为伴随着我国改革开放而诞生的第一家全国性公募基金会,中国儿基会恪守为儿童少年竭诚服务的宗旨和陈慕华会长提出的把爱心奉献给孩子们的指示,紧紧围绕实施春蕾计划和安康计划两个公益项目,通过举办中国儿童慈善活动日、海外募捐、零钱慈善、网上结对救助和义卖、义演、义赛等多种形式的公益活动,在为中国儿童教育福利事业谋福祉的努力中,描绘出一幅亮丽和美的儿童公益画卷。     

Implementing Looking After Children in Australia

Five of the Australian States and Territories are involved in projects using the Looking After Children materials. Few changes have been required for cultural reasons: initial fears of increasing workloads have been outweighed by positive responses from practitioners, carers and young people.     

Gypsy Children in Post-Communist Eastern Europe

SUMMARY: Far generations Gypsies have suffered from oppression and discrimination. Five centuries of slavery, attempted genocide during the Holocaust, forced assimilation and separation under communism have all been part of their history. In some areas of Eastern Europe, 90 per cent of children in state care are of Gypsy origin. In post-communist Eastern Europe economic recession has brought a new wave of anti-Gypsy feeling and violence. In such a climate Gypsy children face a forbidding future. Here in the UK we are currently debating new proposals under the Criminal Justice and Public Order Bill which could radically affect the lives of Gypsy children and their families. As we consider this legislation, do we have something to learn from the experience of Gypsy children in Eastern Europe?