As adults wrestle with rising foreclosure rates and disappearing jobs, child-development experts are reporting that children may end up shouldering some of the most severe, long-lasting consequences of the recession of 2008, according to the Foundation for Child Development (FCD). Read more...
The pair will play at Philadelphia’s Mann Center for the Performing Arts on July 27 in show that will feature Franklin’s music and classical composers. Read more…
Chura gives us a glimpse into the world of young people, mostly youth of color, and illustrates that despite Wade having a mother with AIDS, Khalil having no family to speak of, or Anna being a tough drug dealer, the kids behind the labels were vibrant and full of humor and passion. He also introduces us to the "no-non-sense" Officer O'Shay who covertly shows the youth sensitivity despite his outward display of callousness, and Ms. Wharton, a spunky hall monitor who didn't get along with anyone except the animals she volunteered to care for at a local shelter. Through his writing, Chura demonstrates that the keepers and the kept have more in common than they realize. He imparts his greatest lesson to his readers, "…I learned during my ten years in county lockup, a lesson as deep and livid as the wounds many of my students carried away with them, as enduring of the stresses of CO's (correctional officers') shoulders, that we are all children of disappointment." Click here
All women who are trying to get pregnant should learn that the adverse reproductive effects of alcohol range from infertility and increased risk for spontaneous abortion to impaired fetal growth and development. Alcohol abuse and alcoholism are also provably associated with hypothalmic-pituitary-ovarian dysfunction resulting in amenorrhea (absence of menses), anovulation (lack of ovulation), luteal phase defect (abnormal development of the endometrial lining) and hyperprolactinemia. Drinking alcohol puts you and your baby at risk for a miscarriage, pre-term birth, stillbirth, and other serious effects. Read more...
by Honey Berk
Babies whose fathers are absent during pregnancy are four times more likely to die in their first year of life, regardless of the mother's race, ethnicity or socioeconomic status, according to a recent study.
They also are more likely to be born with lower birth weights, preterm and small for their gestational age, according to the study conducted by researchers from the University of South Florida. Additionally, pregnant mothers with uninvolved fathers are more likely to experience obstetric complications such as anemia, chronic high blood pressure, eclampsia and placental abruptio. Read more…
There is great confusion among the scientific community about whether women who are drug abusers should breast feed their 
"The general recommendation is to totally avoid drug abuse while breastfeeding, because these substances can pass directly through to the newborn", Óscar García Algar, co-author of the study and a doctor in the Paediatrics Department at the Hospital del Mar in Barcelona, tells SINC.
The researcher adds: "This recommendation extends to the prenatal period, because these substances are passed on to the foetus via the placenta, and then in the postnatal period via the environment. If they have exposure through the milk, they will certainly also have had it during the pregnancy, and they can also be in the environment, as is the case with tobacco smoke". Read more...
By Dean Reynolds
Attempts to tackle gang-related activity among young people are "patchy " and focus too heavily on enforcement over prevention, a report on Wednesday revealed.A joint report by the inspectorates for prison, probation and police services found initiatives to combat gang culture, while wide ranging, showed a "lack of coordination" and were "at times counter-productive".
The investigation -- which looked at how police, youth offending teams and young offender institutions were dealing with gangs and gang-related crime -- said the agencies "missed significant opportunities".
While police had a "relatively well-developed understanding of gang activity", their policies focused heavily on enforcement -- or "catch and convict" -- the report stated.
Youth offending teams (YOTs) also placed emphasis on enforcement, rather than prevention and rehabilitation, inspectors found. Read more...
