We Need to Increase Efforts to Treat Rare Pediatric Diseases

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Sen. Brown recently attended a hearing, called at his request, of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee. It examined rare and neglected pediatric diseases.

At the hearing, "Treating Rare and Neglected Pediatric Diseases: Promoting the Development of New Treatments and Cures

," Sen. Brown noted that while children make up more than 20 percent of the American population, "pediatric research by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) accounts for a mere 5 to 10 percent of the total NIH budget."

Furthermore, Sen. Brown continued, "If we are falling short in our efforts to cure and treat pediatric diseases and conditions - we are falling woefully and inadequately short in our efforts to cure and treat rare and neglected pediatric diseases and conditions. Seven thousand known rare or orphan diseases afflict nearly 30 million Americans - approximately 50 percent of whom are children."

To read Sen. Brown’s full remarks, please click here

. To give Sen. Brown your thoughts, please click here

.

NEIGHBORHOOD HOMICIDES PRODUCE LOWER TEST SCORES IN STUDENTS

The Sentencing Project

A new study by Patrick Sharkey, a sociologist at New York University, analyzed 6,041 Chicago homicides and found that African-American children score lower on reading and vocabulary tests within a week of a homicide in their neighborhood compared to tests a month before or after a homicide. The results add a new area of support to the evidence that children are negatively impacted when they live in close proximity to extremely violent events.

Not surprisingly, the study illustrates that exposure to local homicides varies substantially by race and ethnicity: exposure to a local homicide is much less likely to be experienced by Hispanic students and is extremely rare among whites. Sharkey draws on prior research that shows that violence weighs on the minds of children and leads to reductions in cognitive performance. According to the data used in the study, about 15% of the African-American children in the study spend at least one month out of a year functioning at a low level because of exposure to a local homicide. 

Sharkey, Patrick.  2010. "The Acute Effect of Local Homicides on Children's Cognitive Performance."  Proceedings of the National Academy of Science Early Edition.

NASHVILLE: NINE SCHOOLS SUSPENDED 50% OF BLACK BOYS

The Sentencing Project

According to the reports from the Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) to the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights, nine schools have suspended more than half of all black boys enrolled. One school, J.T. Moore Middle School, has suspended 58% of its African-American male population but only 10% of its white males. Similarly, according to the school district records, six elementary schools have suspended only black males despite four of these schools having a mixed population of black and white students. According to national statistics, African Americans are sent home from school three times more often than white students.  

According to an NPR interview with Maury Nation, Associate Professor of Human Organizational Development, David Martin, Principal at Nashville's Jerre Middle School, and Pedro Noguera, Professor in the Steinhart School of Culture, Education and Human Development, many school officials want teachers to be equipped with more alternatives to suspension. While their discussion focused on racial bias as the underlying problem, Martin, points to cultural differences; he asserts that many teachers are unfamiliar with many behaviors students display particularly when they come from environments that are very different from the environments teachers are unfamiliar with. For example, he explains, "Students who are trying to be successful in a community that is fairly violent, filled with gang activity, crime, drugs, and prostitution, have to learn a set of skills to survive on the streets that don't necessarily translate well into appropriate school behavior."

Professor Nation points to the complex issues that many students may be coping with in their families such as domestic violence or homelessness. He states, "We have to remember, we are talking about fairly young kids - nine, 10, 11 years old.  If suburban kids are your benchmark, some of those behaviors may look unusual and, in fact, problematic." Professor Noguera adds, "What's important to keep in mind is that racial disparity and who's disciplined mirrors the achievement gap. That is that the same kids who are least likely to do well in school are also the kids who are getting a disproportionate amount of discipline in school."  Ironically, we discipline misbehavior in school by denying students school time which exacerbates the academic problem. Click here

 

for NPR coverage. Click here

 

for WSMV coverage.

How to Keep Children Safer During Summertime Travel

As families take to the highways and airways this summer, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) wants to remind parents and guardians about some tips to help make the traveling experience more enjoyable and minimize some of the potential risks. 

Whether traveling solo or with family, parents and guardians need to talk with children about safety before boarding a plane, train, or bus this summer season. Crowds are greater this time of year and children may easily become separated from their parents and guardians. If that should happen, parents and guardians need a plan and children should be taught what to do.

And remember: child safety is a year-round priority. Parents and guardians need to look out for kids and keep communication lines open 365 days a year!

If your child is flying or riding a train or bus this summer, NCMEC urges parents and guardians to remember the following travel safety tips:

• When you make reservations for your child, specify whether your child will be traveling alone.
  
  
• Whenever possible, book a non-stop flight or direct route. Avoid booking the last flight of the day.
  
  
• Plan to visit the airport, train or bus terminal prior to departure. Let your child know what to expect, so the experience will not be so intimidating.
  
  
• In case of delay or cancellation, remain at the station or gate until the train, plane or bus departs.
  
  
• Make sure children travel with proper identification and parents or guardian contact information.
  
  
• Always have a back-up plan for the person or people meeting the plane at the destination, in case they are delayed.
  
  
• Encourage children not to become too friendly with other passengers or to reveal any personal information.

• Remind them that the flight attendant is the adult to go to if they are uncomfortable or need assistance.

Safety Tips adapted from Know the Rules...When Your Child is Flying Unaccompanied, and Know the Rules...When Your Child is Traveling unaccompanied by Bus or Train. Copyright © respectively 2000 and 2000 National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC). All rights reserved.

Youth Group Speaks Out Against Indy Black Expo Violence

 

Fighting to stop violence in the black community.

Saturday's shootings at the Black Expo in Indianapolis have leaders from a local youth group speaking out.  Read more…

Genders of alcohol-dependent parents and children influence psychopathology in the children

 

The children of alcohol-dependent (AD) individuals have a greater risk of developing a psychiatric illness. New findings indicate that gender of AD parents and the gender of their children interact to influence the nature and extent of psychopathology in the children.This influence appeared strongest in the female parent-female child pairing. Read more …

Drinking trends increase for whites, blacks and Hispanics

 

Drinking trends for whites tend to dominate views of overall drinking trends for the United States. Yet blacks and Hispanics often face specific challenges related to alcohol. A new study has found a rise in the proportion of drinkers for all three ethnic groups. Read more …

Healthy families, religious involvement buffer youth against risk factors related to drug abuse

American-Indian adolescents continue to have the highest rates of illicit drug use among all ethnic groups. Although previous research has found that increasing adolescent exposure to protective factors can reduce their risk for substance abuse, this has not been thoroughly examined in American-Indian adolescents.

Recent findings from a University of Missouri study reveal that positive family relationships and religious affiliation can counteract risk factors - including addicted family members, exposure to violence and deviant peers - associated with drug use.

Read more

Tell Congress To Vote Yes for Crack Cocaine Sentencing Reform

 

This week, the House of Representatives may vote on legislation, recently passed by the Senate, to reduce the 100 to 1 sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine to 18 to 1. The Fair Sentencing Act of 2010, S. 1789, would also eliminate the simple possession mandatory minimum (5 years for 5 grams without intent to distribute), limit the excessive penalties served by people convicted of low-level crack cocaine offenses, and increase penalties for high-level traffickers. The U.S. Sentencing Commission estimates the changes could reduce the federal prison population by 3,800 over 10 years.
Champions for sentencing fairness are urged to contact their representative in the House today to ask them to vote yes for the Fair Sentencing Act. Call the U.S. Capitol Switch Board at 202-224-3121 and ask for your representative. They will patch you through to the correct office.
Once you reach your representative, tell them you support the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010, S. 1789 because:
•    The current 100 to 1 cocaine sentencing disparity is unfair. The five-year penalty for possessing as little as five grams of crack cocaine is the same for selling 500 grams of powder cocaine. The law imposes excessive prison sentences for low-level crack cocaine offenses that often exceed penalties for offenses involving powder cocaine trafficking.
•    The current 100 to 1 cocaine sentencing disparity exacerbates racial disparity in federal prisons. Over 80% of those serving time for a crack cocaine offense are African American, despite the fact that two-thirds of users are white or Hispanic.
•    The Fair Sentencing Act, S. 1789, is an historic opportunity to advance justice and restore faith in the criminal justice system. A broad consensus among criminal justice experts, law enforcement organizations, and policymakers has emerged that concludes the current 100 to 1 disparity cannot be justified. Organizations endorsing reform include: the NAACP; Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights; American Bar Association, American Civil Liberties Union; the National District Attorneys Association; and the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association.
•    The Fair Sentencing Act will also save taxpayers money. Replacing the irrational 100:1 ratio with a new 18:1 ratio will save $42 million over five years, according to Congressional Budget Office.
When you have completed your call to your representative, please email kgotsch@sentencingproject.org and say how it went.  Also, please consider forwarding this email to a friend.

Wireless AMBER Alerts: Become our eyes and ears

 

It’s been more than 25 years since my wife Revé and I started the National Center in 1984, a few years after our son Adam was abducted from a shopping mall and murdered.
We’ve come a long way since then. Not only has the National Center become the nation’s most trusted organization when it comes to protecting children from abduction and exploitation — largely thanks to the commitment of friends like you — but we’ve joined in other partnerships designed to keep kids safer and bring home missing children. Today, I’d like to tell you more about Wireless AMBER Alerts — a nationwide initiative to distribute AMBER Alerts to wireless subscribers who opt in to receive the messages.
The first three hours after a child is abducted are the most critical to recovery efforts. Wireless AMBER Alerts, an initiative of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and the wireless industry, have the potential to reach more than 242 million wireless subscribers with information to help bring abducted children home quickly and safely.
Wireless subscribers capable of receiving text messages and those whose providers participate in the initiative can sign up to receive free text message AMBER Alerts in one of three easy ways:

1. Text AMBER followed by a space and five-digit ZIP code to AMBER (26237) (available for most eligible wireless subscribers);
2. Visit www.wirelessamberalerts.org; or
3. Register on your carrier’s Web site.

To date, AMBER Alerts have helped to safely recover more than 495 children. Join those who have already signed up for Wireless AMBER Alerts and help bring an abducted child home safely. By signing up today you can become the eyes and ears of law enforcement when a child has been abducted. Your vigilance could make all the difference for a missing child. Click here for more information about this critical program.
Thanks,

John Walsh
Co-Founder
P.S. Wireless AMBER Alerts can help galvanize communities to assist law enforcement in the search for and return of the child — something I’m grateful is available to the families of missing children. Sign up today to receive free text message alerts and be on the front lines of recovery whenever a child has been abducted.

Video Game CEO cheers Digital Tyranny and Technological Enslavement

 

By Andrew Steele

Credit for originally posting this video goes to the writer at Technofascism Blog who does a great job of  summarizing it with his own commentary, and so I encourage everyone to also read his post by clicking here.

This video is from a gaming conference that was held this year and the speaker is Jesse Schell– a professor at Carnegie Mellon University and CEO of a video game company.  It’s important to watch the WHOLE video to understand how psychology is being used against us through computer games to slowly ease us into accepting the kind of surveillance we would have never condoned years ago.

Wii Games - E3 2011 - Guitar Hero 5

How Giant Food Corporations Are Giving Kickbacks to Schools to Get Their Products on Kids' Trays

By Ed Bruske

D.C. Public Schools in the last two years have taken in more than $1 million in corporate rebates -- referred to by some as "kickbacks" -- paid by giant food manufacturers as an inducement to place their brands on kids' cafeteria trays at school.

Documents I obtained through the Freedom of Information Act show that Chartwells, the company hired by D.C. Schools to provide food services at 122 schools across the city, through February of this year had declared $1,076,738 in rebates it received since its contract began in the fall of 2008. That represents 5 percent of the $18.7 million in purchases Chartwells billed the school system during that period. Under federal law, Chartwells is required to credit D.C. schools for any rebates it receives.  Read more...

United Nations Study Shows Behavioral Changes Among Young People May Help Improve AIDS Outlook

Youth Put a Dent in AIDS Epidemic

Younger people across the globe, including those who live in Africa and other areas hard hit by AIDS, may be helping to ease the epidemic, a new study shows.

There was a 25% reduction in HIV prevalence among 15 of the 25 countries most affected by AIDS, and this is largely due to behavior changes among younger people.

Specifically, there have been declines in HIV prevalence among youths in the Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Namibia, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

The data were reported during a UNAIDS-sponsored telebriefing that serves as a kickoff for the XVIII International Aids Conference in Vienna. UNAIDS is a joint United Nations program aimed at improving access to HIV prevention, treatment, care, and support.

"There is a glimmer of hope that in countries where HIV/AIDS prevalence is high, young people are taking things in their own hands and watching out for themselves," says Mahesh Mahalingam, a spokesman for UNAIDS. "Young people are changing their behavior by having sex later, using condoms if they have more than one partner, or having fewer partners."

Black Youth Organization Founder Wins World Open Speed Chess Competition

BlackNews.com - Orrin Hudson Wins World Open Speed Chess Competition

Orrin Hudson, founder of Be Someone, celebrated Independence Day by taking first place in the 5-Minute Blitz Chess Championship at the 38th Annual World Open International Chess Tournament in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania.

Hudson, the creator of the award winning leadership chess program for kids and parents, also finished first place last year in the 10-Minute Blitz. These important wins prove Hudson's message is correct when he tells his students, "Nature is neutral. If you make the right moves you get the right results." Be Someone is a nationally acclaimed crime prevention program that uses chess to teach at-risk youth self-esteem, as well as responsibility and analytical thinking.

Binge drinking teenagers could be risking osteoperosis

 

Binge-drinking teenagers may be putting themselves at risk for future osteoporosis and bone fractures, a new university study warned yesterday.

Researchers at Loyola University Health  System in Chicago found long-lasting disruptions in hundreds of genes involved in bone formation in rats.

The study is published in the July-August issue of the journal Alcohol and Alcoholism.  Read more…

Young Muslims killed in car crash

 

Since the announcement of their deaths, FaceBook tributes from friends, classmates and family members have been numerous. All were shocked by the sudden death of the two brothers, who by all accounts were described as peaceful, well-mannered and respectful young men. Family and friends held a candlelight vigil on June 24 at Kennedy High School where both attended and graduated.

Brother Khalifah had hoped to enter the film industry and was working towards that goal. Recently, Brother Khalifah was featured in The Final Call after being named Morehouse College's "Freshman of the Year".

The two were sons of Final Call Staff Writer Nisa I. Muhammad and Muhammad Mosque Number 4's Prison Reform student minister Anthony Muhammad.  Read more…

(For those who wish to send cards, flowers or donations, Sister Nisa has asked that her daughter be e-mailed with requests for info at majidah.muhammad@gmail.com.)

Teenagers more likely to have premature babies because they are 'biologically immature

 

Teenagers are more likely to give birth prematurely and have a smaller baby than women in their 20s, research suggested today.

Girls who were 14 to 17-years-old were also more likely to give birth early if they were having a second child, the study found.  Read more…

4mm Games reveals another batch of artists for hip hop rhythm game; A Tribe Called Quest, Onyx, LL Cool J also contributing hits.

The Def Jam Rapstar tracklist is starting to take shape. Developers 4mm Games and Terminal Reality today announced another batch of hip-hop hits that will appear in the karaoke rhythm game when it launches this fall.

The new additions include a number of slightly dated signature tracks from some hip-hop heavy hitters, including A Tribe Called Quest's "Scenario," LL Cool J's "Mama Said Knock You Out," Run DMC's "Run's House," and Onyx's "Slam."  Read more...

Poll: Minority Children Have Fewer Opportunities

By Jeff Mays

Minority children have inferior and unequal access to good health care, safe neighborhoods and quality education, according to the first national survey of the adults who work with them.

Among the findings are that 55 percent of the respondents believed white children had good access to quality health care, while 45 percent believed the same about African American children. Approximately 59 percent of the respondents said young white children, defined as 8 or younger, have a lot of opportunity to play in homes and neighborhoods without violence. Only 37 percent said the same about African Americans, and 36 percent about Hispanics.  Read more...

America Healing: A Racial Equity Initiative of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. from Widmeyer Communications on Vimeo.

Over 3 Million Low-Income Children in Rural Areas Face Cut in Child Tax Credit if Recovery Act Improvement Expires

By Arloc Sherman and Marybeth J. Mattingly

These nearly 3.3 million low-income children live in rural areas all across America. More than 10,000 rural children will face reductions in the tax credit in each of the 44 states for which we have reliable rural data. In 11 states, more than 100,000 rural children will face a reduction. Moreover, rural children (i.e., those who live in non-metropolitan areas) will be over 20 percent more likely than children in urban and suburban areas to be affected — because their families are more likely to have modest incomes.  Read more...

The "Great Recession" and the Well-Being of American Children : Before the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Children and Families

High rates of child poverty exist in the United States even in the best of times, and this poverty tends to limit the health, education, and earnings of adults who grew up poor throughout their lives. This creates costs not only for the individuals themselves and their families, but for the U.S. economy as a whole. The current recession will raise child poverty rates substantially and for many years to come, thus exacerbating these problems. Even short spells of poverty or parental unemployment can scar children and youth for many years. Policies that tend to limit child poverty in the next few years by strengthening the safety net, raising employment, or improving the skills of disadvantaged children and youth might thus have a high social payoff over time. Read more...

The face of America's homeless youth

By Jim Spellman

"We see a lot of kids really since age of 7 or 8 [who] haven't had any real roots to call their own," according to Tom Manning, spokesman for Covenant House, which helps those who are young and homeless. "Those are the 18-year-olds who [have] very limited education and really need to start from square one."  Read more...

NASA piles on the Jabulani hate

By Richard Whittall

Now it turns out there is a very real scientific basis for all the moaning. NASA's aerodynamics people at the Ames Investigation Centre managed to get some MLS players to kick a very dusty Jabulani around to what sounds like a soundtrack from a 1970s instructional video. The tests confirm what everyone has been saying: Jabulani's scanty 440-gram weight, coupled with the high-altitude conditions in South Africa, means when at speeds of 44 mph or more the ball becomes susceptible to something called the "knuckle effect." That's aerodynamic shorthand for "it swerves all around like crazy at high speeds because of the air flow on the seams and stuff," which isn't so bad when you get goals like this.  Read more...

Overview Of Black Youth's Biggest Problem

Whereas good people "in the trenches" with these youth are doing all they can to make these youth as comfortable as possible inside their mental prisons, the next step is to replace all of these youth's "I can'ts" (which is actually "I am unwilling to...") with what it takes to get them back on the path to their Mission in life. That means replacing delusions with the Truth. And there is no "cookbook" way to do this. But Management is simultaneously required--i.e. the nourishing of and the caring about these youth's entire Selfhood—with the intention and actuality of them getting a little better every day in activities of daily living-- e.g. how to properly make, save, and use money; how to cultivate the thriving parts of their Rational Brains instead of settling with the status quo and "making do" with whatever crumbs they can find; and how to switch from Emotional Energy to Spiritual Energy. Ref: Bailey, Word Stories Surrounding African American Slavery; Bailey, Word Stories Originated by Ancient Africans.  Read more...

Divorce not always bad for the kids

by Rachel Rettner

In marriages with a lot of conflict, "staying together for the kids" might do more harm than good, a new study suggests.

Children of parents who fight a lot yet stay married  experience more  conflict in their own adult relationships than children of parents who fight and do get a divorce. Read more...

Low-Income Children Not Getting Adequate Dental Care

By Madonna Behen

Children in California who have dental insurance through Medicaid and other public insurance programs are less likely to visit the dentist regularly than privately insured kids, a new study has found.

The study, by researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles and the California HealthCare Foundation (CHCF), revealed that black and Latino children are especially at risk of having inadequate dental care.  Read more...

Kids' Neck Sizes Could Indicate Risk of Obesity Disorders

by Tom Henderson

Kids with chubby necks risk more than joining the army of the undead: They could be fat.

Measuring the circumference of a kid's neck could provide a quick and easy way to screen him or her for weight problems, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force suggests.

Reuters reports the task force is an influential panel sponsored by the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.  Read more...

Children exposed to fewer TV ads for sweets, beverages but more for fast food

Children were exposed to fewer television advertisements for sweets and sugar-sweetened beverages in 2007 compared with 2003. However, children now see more fast-food advertisements, and racial gaps in exposure to all food advertising have increased, according to new research.

“The study showed a number of positive changes in exposure to food advertising between 2003 and 2007 seen by children,” Lisa Powell, PhD, research professor in the department of economics and senior research scientist at the Institute for Health Research and Policy, University of Illinois, Chicago, told Infectious Diseases in Children. Read more...

Now Recorded on Film, Memories of ‘the Black Y’ Provoke Smiles and Tears

By DIRK JOHNSON

Known around town as “the black Y,” it served as the heart of the African-American community for more than 50 years after opening in 1914. Young people played basketball, learned to swim, box and play Ping-Pong. The little Y.M.C.A. branch hosted proms for black students, father-and-son banquets, even a performance by Nat King Cole.

The closing of the Emerson branch in 1969, part of the move toward racial integration, provoked a deep sense of sorrow in the black community here, a sense of loss that has not been fully voiced until lately.

HHS Awards $10 Million in Prevention and Wellness Grants to 10 National Organizations

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) today announced awards of $10 million to 10 national non-profit organizations to support public health efforts to reduce tobacco use and reduce obesity through increased physical activity and improved nutrition. Read more...

Wash your mouth with a bar of soap: Cursing is a growing trend with teens both online and off

Sue Scheff

Generations ago many remember the threat or even use of a bar of soap if you back talked or used profanity.  Today whether it is verbal or in keystrokes, teens and kids are cussing like sailors and not thinking twice about it.  Why?  Is it our culture?  Is it peer pressure?  Do they think they are cool?

Cuss Control Academy has many answers for you.  They offer Ten Tips for Taming Your Tongue.  Read more...

A Rave Warning

Mega-dance parties known as raves are popular among today's youth. But, as Ben Tracy reports, these raves also serve as a potentially fatal venue for drugs and other illicit activities.

Watch CBS News Videos Online

4 awarded Singapore's highest youth accolade

By Alvina Soh

Four Singaporeans have been awarded the country's highest accolade for youths this year.

The Singapore Youth Award (SYA) honours those who contribute significantly to society and excel in their professions.

The four outstanding youths received their awards from Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean at *SCAPE on Sunday.

Their profiles will be exhibited at the heart of the youth precinct, in a bid to inspire other youths.  Read more...

New: Juvenile Justice page

We are pleased to announce the launch of our juvenile justice page, where policymakers, practitioners, researchers, advocates, and the media can visit to obtain data and analysis on juvenile justice matters.  The juvenile justice system is undergoing important reforms, including diverting more youth from secure confinement, adopting evidence-based programming, and recording information about youth in the system with greater accuracy than in earlier periods. Still, with nearly 100,000 youth in detention on any given day, and nearly 2,000 young people sentenced to juvenile life without parole sentences, an urgent need for a more rational approach to juvenile delinquency remains.

Our juvenile justice page contains information and analysis on a broad range of issues, including:

• Juvenile life sentences;

• Overrepresentation of youth of color;

• Transfer of juveniles to the adult system; and

• Youth reentry.

As with our other topical web pages, the juvenile justice page contains information under advocacy, publications, and news. In addition to the resources on the juvenile justice page, our Web site also contains a 50-state map of data on all aspects of the criminal and juvenile justice systems.

Our thanks to Joseph Rodriguez whose photo illustrates the new Web page.

APNewsBreak: Ohio can't stop youth prison gangs

A new report says Ohio's efforts to stop gang violence in its youth prisons are ineffective and that three facilities remain unacceptably dangerous places for youth.

The report released late Wednesday says the state Department of Youth Service has tried to deal with the problem but has a misguided belief that the gang violence isn't an issue.

Youth Prisons spokeswoman Kim Parsell told The Associated Press the state is changing how it approaches the gang problem.  Read more...

Ethiopia: Speaking Truth on Behalf of Country's Youth

Alemayehu G. Mariam

ETHIOPIA'S YOUTH AT RISK

In discussing Ethiopia's youth here, I am not employing the standard quantitative age category of 15-24 years. In the context of the African economic realities, a broader swathe of the under 30 age group is warranted.

Article 36 of the Ethiopian Constitution enumerates a whole set of guarantees to ensure the health, education and welfare of the country's children and youth. But the statistics on Ethiopia's children in general is shocking. Though the population under the age of 18 is estimated to be 41 million, or just over half of the country's population, UNICEF estimates that malnutrition is responsible for more than half of all deaths among children under age five.[2] Ethiopia has an estimated 5 million orphans - approximately 15 per cent of all children. Some 800,000 children are estimated to be orphaned as a result of AIDS. These children are highly vulnerable to all forms of exploitation including child labour and sexual, and receive little educational services, social support or supervision. Urban youth unemployment is estimated at 70 per cent. According to a Population Council report 'the vast majority of Ethiopian adolescents, 85 per cent, live in rural areas. Levels of education are very low, especially for girls and for rural youth. A substantial proportion of adolescents do not live with their parents, especially in urban areas, where 33 percent of Ethiopian girls aged 10-14 live with neither parent. Some regions have extremely high rates of early marriage. For example, 46 percent of girls in the Amhara region were married by age 15'.[3] There are also about 2.5 million children with disabilities receiving very little government assistance. Frustrated and in despair of their future, many urban youths drop out of school and engage in a fatalistic pattern of risky behaviours including drug, alcohol and tobacco abuse, crime and delinquency and sexual activity that exposes them to a risk of acquiring sexually transmitted diseases including HIV. There is a serious problem of child trafficking, and highly publicised instances of adoption fraud and abuse cases have been documented in the international media in the past year.  Read more...

Tell Your Congressional Representatives to Make Juvenile Justice a Priority This Year

For too long, "tough on crime" political rhetoric has resulted in juvenile justice policies that are bad for youth and don't keep the public safe. More effective ways to deal with juvenile offenders exist, and now is the time for Congress to take action, but we need your help.

Time is running out!  On July 7, please let Congress know that voters care about juvenile justice reforms.

Three major juvenile justice initiatives remained stalled in the Congress:

• Reauthorizing the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA), which is currently three years overdue for reauthorization. The JJDPA, first enacted in 1974, promotes the use of effective community-based alternatives to detention, keeps youth out of adult facilities, reduces the disproportionate involvement of youth of color in the system, and promotes other research-driven best practices in the juvenile justice system. Call on Congress to reauthorize the JJDPA bill, S. 678.
• Increasing appropriations for juvenile justice programs, which were the only category of children's programs that received a significant decrease in funding in the President's proposed budget. In order for the States to make positive changes, they must receive the federal support they need to prevent youth crime and rehabilitate juvenile offenders. States have experienced a steady decline in funding for juvenile justice programs since 2002. Ask Congress to preserve and increase juvenile justice appropriations for the coming fiscal year.
• Passing the Youth PROMISE Act to promote cost-effective prevention-based strategies to reduce youth crime. Among many improvements to juvenile justice, this legislation allows representatives from the communities facing the greatest juvenile crime challenges to develop a comprehensive plan to prevent youth crime through a coordinated prevention and intervention response. 
  
  Action item:  On July 7th, contact your two U.S. Senators and your U.S. House Representative and urge them to make juvenile justice a priority in the 111th Congress by:
  
  •    Reauthorizing the JJDPA;
  •    Increasing juvenile justice appropriations; and
  •    Passing the Youth PROMISE Act.
  
  Click here
   
  to contact your Congressional Representative and Senators on Wednesday. After entering your zip code, you will be provided with the phone numbers for your representatives, along with suggested talking points and a feedback form to report on the response you received.

Media Exchange Group Announces Development of a Youth Sports Social Network and Digital Trading Card

Rachel Baer, Secretary for Media Exchange Group, Inc. (f/k/a China Wireless Communications, Inc.) (Pink Sheets:CWLC), announced today the formation, development and beta testing which has begun on the company's Digital Trading Card, a mobile application. Similar to baseball cards of old, the Digital Trading Card allows users of all ages, with proper consent, to upload a photo of their own youth star athlete, along with his or her statistics, and trade these cards with friends on their mobile phone or other device. Offering other features as well, such as video links and trivia, this application is designed to compliment youth sports and the athletes who participate in them, in any and all sports throughout the world.  Read more...

Jaden Smith's role in 'The Karate Kid' is a refreshing depiction of a black youth

By Lonnae O'Neal Parker

Forty-five minutes into "The Karate Kid," I looked around the theater, wondering if anyone else was marveling.

My 8-year-old son Satchel's eyes were glued to the screen. The story of unlikely friendship and triumph hit familiar notes, but I was seeing something new. Jaden Smith was playing a black boy in three dimensions: vulnerable, contemplative and in possession of a wholly formed interior world.  Read more...

Teen Abuse: A Growing problem

 

BY CHARLENE MUHAMMAD AND NISA MUHAMMAD

Teen dating violence is a type of intimate physical, emotional, or sexual violence between people who are in a close relationship. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has determined it a public health problem that leads to poor performance in school, drug and alcohol abuse, eating disorders, depression, and even suicide.

According to the CDC, 72 percent of 8th and 9th graders reportedly “date” and 1 in 4 adolescents report verbal, physical, emotional, or sexual abuse from a dating partner each year. About 10 percent of students nationwide said they were physically hurt by a boyfriend or girlfriend in the past 12 months.  Read more…