ChildControls.com - Keeping one step ahead!

Leading children's charity Barnardos is recommending early intervention and education as the most important factors in preventing young people from falling into crime or drugs.

The group says the first few years of a child's life are crucial in fostering the positive attitudes necessary to become a fully contributing adult citizen later on.

(Adapted from IOL)

Susan Paynter of the Seattle PI writes, "after interviewing countless parents, child-development specialists, psychologists and practitioners of juvenile justice over the years, I am convinced of this: Kids learn nothing at the other end of a hand, fist, belt or backscratcher except a sense of impotent rage that they are highly likely to pass on like an ugly, poisonous hand-me-down."

Full opinion piece at nwsource  

The vast majority of bicycle accidents are low-speed, single participant accidents, and these rarely produce more than just a scratch or scrape. However, some accidents can include multiple riders, high speed, cyclists and pedestrians, or even bicycle versus motor vehicle. These accidents have a great potential to be dangerous, and certain safety measures should be taken to reduce the risk of serious injuries while cycling.

Right across North America, injuries due to falls are one of the main reasons for children being admitted to hospitals. It may be a fall from a change table, slipping on a kitchen floor or a fall from a window.

Halloween is an exciting time for kids as they go trick or treating. However, some basic rules should be followed to ensure the safety of your kids.

Flame resistant costumes, costumes which do not cause the kids to trip, arming kids with a flashlight and giving kids a cell phone can all enhance their security.

Michigan's proposed law establishes graduated penalties for an adult who leaves a child 6 or younger in a vehicle without supervision by someone 13 or older for a period of time or under circumstances that pose "an unreasonable risk or harm" to the child. The law would not apply if an adult exits a car to pump gas.

From the article, last year 8 kids died because of being left in the car alone in 90 degrees weather.

Recently, I came across an article on disposable diapers and how the companies are pushing very hard to make it accessible in low income regions like India and China.

While i agree with some of the points raised in the article, I find it very hard to even think of using reuseable diapers on my kids. I agree that I could save some money by using reuseable diapers. I agree that the environment would be better off if i did. However, I do think that nothing can beat the convenience of disposable diapers.

New scientific evidence points to a new form of pollution as a possible link in depression, miscarriage and cancer. The so called 'Electronic Smog' is caused by the electric fields emitted by various electronic gadgets like alarm clocks, cell phones, TV's and toasters.

The phenomena is being taken so seriously that the UN's World Health Organisation calls it "one of the most common and fastest growing environmental influences" and stresses that it "takes seriously" concerns about the health effects.

Massachusetts Attorney General called on MySpace to take tougher measures against the illicit use of the community website. The Attorney General called for raising the minimum age of registrants from 14 to 18 and for closer monitoring of the site against sexual predators.

The arrest Tuesday of a 27-year-old man in Connecticut on charges of illegal sexual contact with a 13-year-old girl

The US Department of Health and Human Services and the Federal Trade Commission jointly released a report urging companies to voluntarily curb junk food advertising to children. The report cited the explosion of obesity amongst kids in the USA which has doubled in young children and tripled amongst adolescents in the past 25 years.

Two long-awaited, government-funded studies found no evidence that dental fillings containing mercury can cause IQ-lowering brain damage or other neurological problems in children.

Children with such fillings were no more likely than other youngsters to suffer such problems, researchers found.

Some experts found the findings powerfully reassuring. But the studies are unlikely to end the fierce debate over the long-term effects of what are known as amalgam fillings, and some advocates accused the researchers of conducting unethical experiments on children ...

In the USA, more than 23% of children aged between 2 to 5 are overweight and 10% are obese. With latest research indicating that inadequate car seats for heavier children puts them at further risk during a crash, manufacturers are starting to make bigger models of car seats.

"Based on growth charts and the 2000 Census, at least 283,305 children ages 1 to 6 are too heavy for standard safety seats. That includes nearly 190,000, or almost 5 percent, of 3-year-olds ...

The debate on whether to create a .xxx top level domain name for pornographic websites hit a snag recently as the United States, Australia and Iran blocked the bid.

The debate is whether to force all pornographic websites to end with .xxx on their domain name. So for instance, a website which offers pornographic content would have to have a domain name similar to http://www.examplepornsite.xxx.

ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) was to have held a final vote on creating a .xxx top level domain for adult content online at its conference this week in Wellington.

A group of public health experts have written a letter to the state education officials, urging them to ban certain soft drinks in schools until they are proven safe. The strong worded letter impressed the urgency of the matter. "It is irresponsible to provide to schoolchildren products that are unhealthy and may contain a carcinogen," the letter stated.

Among the soft drinks that contain ascorbic acid and sodium or potassium benzoate are Diet Pepsi Wild Cherry, Fanta Orange, Hawaiian Punch, Mug Root Beer, Pepsi Vanilla, Sierra Mist, Sunkist and Tropicana Lemonade.

There is a lot of controversy surrounding kids usage of internet, especially around social networking sites like MySpace. While most parents might be tempted to completely cut off internet usage of kids, it is hardly the ideal solution. What is needed is some way for parents to monitor their kids useage in a non-intrusive manner.

While it does not conclude one way or another, this article has the run-down of the different ways parents can approach the thorny issue of their kids safety.

Tips from a class in internet safety held for parents at Timberlane regional school. From the article,

There are things parents can do protect kids from cyber stalkers:

Don't simply rely on firewalls and blocking software.
Watch for secretive or obsessive behaviors around the computer.
Learn how to review your child's online history.
Talk to your kids, so they learn cyber safety too.

A Study finds that dogs and children of age less than 5 just do not get along! It advises parents to atleast wait until kids are school going age before taking in a pet. The study finds that parents who have pets before having kids are less likely to give up their pets after marriage.

From the article, "The likelihood of a child receiving a dog bite decreased with age, with children 1 year old and younger most likely to be bitten, the researchers found.

A local travel agency says more parents are traveling with their kids now because of the disappearance of Natalee Holloway. The high school student from Alabama disappeared on a trip to Aruba last May. She has not been seen since. Some parents say they're going on spring break because they want to make sure their kids play it safe.

My first thought was, "What a great idea!". Why not make spring break like a family vacation. Would certainly keep the kids safe and secure. On reflection, it might actually be counter productive because my kids probably need to let out the tension and frustration that comes from going to college. And as we all know, family vacation only adds to the tension!

Recent study contradicts the 2004 study which claimed to establish a link between watching tv and behavorial problems (ADHD) at school. The authors of the study say that the difference in the results of the two studies is due to the different methodology used in the studies.

"DOCTORS AND SURGEONS at a dermatology convention here in San Francisco have warned children and teenagers against attending tanning clinics as skin cancers in the US reach epidemic proportions."

Take Vit. D quacks warn!