Forums

Posted: 01-10-2009 00:37 Post subject:

All kids need to learn is:

Do as you would be done by
What goes around comes around
Don't piss on your own doorstep
Politeness costs nothing

It's simple, and shouldn't take long to learn. So why do so many kids ignore these principles?

Posted: 04-10-2009 03:48 Post subject:

Posted: 12-10-2009 14:30 Post subject:

Posted: 12-10-2009 16:42 Post subject:

No great surprise. Everyone knows children can think themselves sick. Why not the opposite?

Posted: 14-10-2009 06:12 Post subject:

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/10/13/florida.teen.burned/index.html

Evil or Very Mad

Five juveniles were in custody Tuesday after a 15-year-old was intentionally set on fire at a Deerfield Beach, Florida, apartment complex, police said.

Police say Michael Brewer, 15, is expected to be hospitalized for five months.

Michael Brewer suffered second-degree burns over 80 percent of his body. "He's in for a long, long recovery," Broward County Sheriff Al Lamberti told reporters.

Three juveniles were arrested Monday night, hours after the incident, and two others were arrested Tuesday, sheriff's Sgt. Steve Feeley said.

"A couple of them last night were laughing about it," he said. "One of them arrested today seems genuinely sorry about it."

The youths all attend school together, police said, and Brewer apparently owed one of the suspects $40 for a video game and had not paid it. So the suspect allegedly stole the victim's father's bicycle, Feeley said. Brewer reported the bicycle stolen Sunday, and the suspect was arrested that day, taken to a detention center and released to his parents early Monday, police said. Watch Lamberti describe the alleged motive »

Neither Brewer nor the suspect went to school Monday, and the victim was waiting at the apartment complex for his friends when the suspect and two other people approached him, Feeley said.

From what the suspects and witnesses have told police, the suspect yelled, "He's a snitch, he's a snitch" and "pour it on him." Another juvenile threw what police believe was rubbing alcohol on Brewer from a plastic jug and used a lighter to set him on fire, he said.

Witness Provindencia Maldenero told CNN affiliate WPLG, "I saw a kid throwing something at the other kid, and next thing you know, the kid was on fire. He was up in fire."

A resident used a fire extinguisher to put out the flames, and Brewer jumped into the complex's swimming pool, WPLG reported.

Malissa Durkee, the teen's sister, told WPLG on Monday night that her brother was in critical condition. Lamberti said Brewer is expected to be hospitalized for five months.

"In my 31 years -- I always say, 'it's the most heinous crime I've ever seen,' " Lamberti told reporters Tuesday. "This one fits in that category. The fact that a person would intentionally ignite another child on fire -- it's indescribable."

Brewer "reported somebody for stealing his dad's bike," the sheriff said. "That's what this comes down to. It's retaliation. They deliberately sought him out, poured alcohol on him and set him on fire. I can tell you there's no way to explain it, no way to rationalize it."

Police believe the three arrested Monday night took an "active role" in the incident, while the other two helped surround Brewer and prevented him from leaving, Feeley said.

He said authorities are hoping to interview Brewer on Wednesday or Thursday

Posted: 18-10-2009 12:22 Post subject:

Modern girls put children before marriage
Less than half of teenage girls believe marriage should come before children and most think gay couples make good parents, according to a Girlguiding UK study.
By Julie Henry, Education correspondent
Published: 9:30AM BST 18 Oct 2009

A ground-breaking series of studies, published next month, show liberal attitudes towards the make-up of the family, religion and cultural integration among the modern generation of girls and young women.

The survey, which questioned a representative sample of 1,109 seven to 21 year-olds across the UK, found that a third of girls in the younger age group thought they would be "grown up" by the age of 15, while 90 per cent of 16 to 21-year-olds regarded themselves as "grown up".

Girls were generally positive about marriage but less than half thought it should come before parenthood. One in four thought it was "OK to get married several times", rising to a third in the 16 to 21 age range.

One finding suggested that some teenagers actively plan to become single mothers. Of the girls questioned who had left schools and were unemployed, almost half (45 per cent) expected to have a baby before they were 21.

Liz Burnley, the Chief Guide, said the attitudes of respondents, who were not necessarily Girl Guides, reflected those developing in society.

"We don't know if these girls are experiencing these things personally but they see it around them, whether it be couples who are not married or who are divorced," she said. "The findings from girls who were unemployed have real implications. Rather than early pregnancy being a mistake, is seems to be a pattern that they are expecting to follow. We need to work with youngsters to give them different horizons."

Cheryl Cole, a singer in Girls Aloud and a judge on the ITV show the X Factor, was the most popular role model for seven to 16 year olds. Among the older girls, Michelle Obama, the wife of the American president, achieved the most votes.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/6359900/Modern-girls-put-children-before-marriage.html

Posted: 06-11-2009 13:43 Post subject:

Hitler, the German football coach and other historical 'facts' according to our schoolchildren
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 8:15 AM on 06th November 2009

One in 20 children surveyed believed Adolf Hitler was a football coach, not the leader of the Nazi regime
Adolf Hitler was Germany's football team manager, according to youngsters aged nine to 15.

A study of 2,000 children which tested them on their knowledge of facts of both world wars found that 40 per cent of them did not know that Remembrance Day falls on November 11.
Twelve per cent said the symbol of the day is the golden arches of McDonald's, rather than the poppy.

Some of the more disturbing results were that one in six children believed Auschwitz was a World War Two theme park. Shocked

Only half knew D-Day was the invasion of Normandy - a quarter believing it was 'Dooms Day' and one quarter thought a nuclear bomb was dropped on Pearl Harbour which spurred America's involvement.
The study was conducted by war veterans' charity Erskine in the run-up to Remembrance Day.

Major Jim Panton, chief executive of Erskine, said: 'Some of the answers to this poll have shocked us and it has shown that Erskine, amongst others, has a part to play, not just in caring for veterans but in educating society as a whole.

'As we approach Remembrance Day it is hard to believe that 40 per cent of our children do not know when it is.

'There are also some positives to come out of this survey with the level of interest from children wishing to learn more at school about the World Wars.
'Schoolchildren are the future of the country and it is important that we help them to learn about our history.'

The survey questioned the children on their knowledge of key World War triggers, events, people and dates.

A quarter admitted they don't stop to think about the soldiers who sacrificed their lives but just over half do know where their local war memorial is located.

Encouragingly though, it emerged that 70 per cent wish they are taught more about the World Wars at school.

One in 20 thought the Holocaust was the celebration at the end of the war and one in ten said the SS was Enid Blyton's Secret Seven, not Hitler's personal bodyguards.

And one in 12 said The Blitz was a massive clean-up operation in Europe after World War Two.

Each year, Erskine cares for over 1,350 veterans, many having served in World War Two and who are more than willing to share their firsthand experiences and memorable war stories with younger generations.

Following the survey Erskine will work in partnership with Their Past Your Future, a UK-wide educations project, to develop the charity's schools pack on the back of the survey results.

This will enable Erskine and Their Past Your Future to start educating young people online about the sacrifices made during World War Two.

Andrew Salmond, TPYF Scotland Project Manager for Museums Galleries Scotland said: 'This initiative offers a fantastic opportunity to inform young people about the experiences of war - both at home and abroad.

'Some, we know, will convey wartime loss and suffering, others will speak of daring and inspiration.

'However, all will be of great educational value, offering an insight to what previous generations have endured in times of conflict.'

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1225549/Hitler-coached-Germanys-football-team-McDonalds-arches-symbolise-remembrance-day-What-todays-children.html#ixzz0W4gajZPs

Posted: 06-11-2009 14:43 Post subject:

This story sent shivers up my spine:

Notes left behind: The heartbreaking messages a six-year-old cancer victim hid for her family to find after she died
By Mail Foreign Service
Last updated at 7:57 AM on 06th November 2009

These are the heartbreaking notes a six-year-old cancer victim hid for her family to find after she died.
Elena Desserich was diagnosed with inoperable brain cancer when she was just five years old.
During her nine-month struggle with the illness, Elena, from Wyoming, hid hundreds of notes between the pages of books, in cupboards, drawers, bags, and clothes stashed away for the winter.

She died in August 2007 - but her parents Keith, 34, and Brooke, 35, and her younger sister Gracie, who was five at the time, say they have been finding the notes and drawings she left behind ever since.
'We found the first ones a few days after she died,' said Mr Desserich, who runs a construction company.
'But then they kept on showing up everywhere and now we have three large boxes full of them.
'We even found them in the bags of Christmas decorations.'

Now Elena's family have put a collection of the touching messages together with diary entries they made during her struggle in a book, Notes Left Behind.
All proceeds from the book will go to cancer research.

When little Elena was diagnosed with the rare and terminal form of paediatric brain cancer in 2006, her parents were told she had just 135 days to live.
The distraught couple vowed to make each moment special for Elena and her sister Gracie, then four.
'We wanted to protect her so we never told her she might not make it,' said Mr Desserich.
'We didn't want to focus on the cancer, we wanted to focus on being a family and doing all the things that Elena wanted to do.'

Mr and Mrs Desserich were worried Gracie might grow up and not remember Elena, so they began to write a journal about their kind little girl who loved books and art.
'She was a wonderful little girl,' said Mr Desserich. 'She loved books, they were her passion. She said she wanted to grow up to be a teacher and a mother.
'She loved to nurture people and she was always so bright.'

While the Desserichs were forming their own tribute, Elena was secretly writing notes and tucking them away in nooks and crannies in her house and the houses of relatives.

'She was a child who was wise beyond her years,' said Mr Desserich. 'I hate to think she knew she was dying but I think she did.'
'I think the notes were her way of telling us that everything would be OK,' added Mrs Desserich. 'It feels like a hug from her every time we find one.'

Despite a month of radiation therapy, Elena's condition deteriorated rapidly. She lost the ability to speak and gradually became paralysed.

But the brave child would not be silenced. She continued to hide the love notes and drawings for her mother, father, sister, grandparents and her favourite dog Sally, who belonged to her auntie.
Some read simply 'I love you' or have pictures of hearts and flowers.

Many are addressed for Gracie and one reads 'I love you Gracie, Go Go.'
'We don't ever want to find the last note,' said Mr Desserich. 'I hope we keep on finding them for years to come.'
In fact, both parents have saved one unopened note from Elena which they carry with them in their briefcases.
'It's our way of saving the last note,' said Mrs Desserich.

The Desserichs have published the notes as a tribute to Elena and to help Gracie remember her big sister.

All proceeds from the book are going to the Cure Starts Now Cancer Foundation, one of the only charities dedicated to finding a unified cure for all forms of cancer.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1225419/Notes-left-Six-year-old-cancer-victim-Elena-Desserichs-heartbreaking-messages-love-family.html#ixzz0W4vJOFS8

Posted: 07-11-2009 01:48 Post subject:

Posted: 07-11-2009 16:23 Post subject:

'Seafarers' disease' scurvy on rise among children due to lack of vitamin C in diet
By Daniel Martin
Last updated at 3:03 AM on 07th November 2009

Scurvy is making a comeback among England's children.
Caused by a lack of vitamin C, the potentially fatal disease was a scourge of pirates and sailors in the heyday of the British Empire, but was thought to be largely a thing of the past.
However, newly released statistics show that the number of children admitted to hospital with scurvy soared by over 50 per cent in the past three years.

Released following a parliamentary question, the figures show that in 2004/05 there were 61 children admitted with scurvy in England.
But by 2007/08, the latest year for which figures are available, there were no fewer than 94 cases: up 54 per cent in three years.
Because the figures cover only those admitted to hospital with scurvy as a primary or secondary diagnosis, the actual numbers with the disease will be far higher as many will not get further than their GP.

Others may be listed under the wider term of 'malnutrition'.
Scurvy occurs if people do not eat enough foods containing vitamin C such as fruits, tomatoes, potatoes, liver and oysters.

Scurvy leads to spots on the skin, particularly the legs, as capillaries break down. There is cracking and bleeding of the lips, nostrils and ears. Gums go spongy and teeth fall out.

Wounds cannot heal properly, and old scars reappear. There is internal haemorrhaging and left untreated, victims will die.
Conservative health spokesman Stephen O'Brien, who uncovered the figures, said: 'It is shocking that this disease of 17th-century pirates is on the rise again in 21st-century England.'

Ursula Arens, of the British Dietetic Association, said it was not possible to say how the children were getting scurvy: whether it was from a poor diet, or as a by-product of other diseases such as cancer.
'There may be examples of children just living on bread and jam and nothing else because of poverty,' she said.
'It is such an unusual thing now that perhaps it is something that many GPs would not be able to diagnose.'

A spokesman for the Department of Health said: 'Families in lower income groups tend to consume less vitamin C in their diet.
'The Department of Health promotes consumption through its "five a day" campaign and Healthy Start, which provides free vitamin supplements for beneficiaries.'

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1225905/Seafarers-disease-Scurvy-rise-children-lack-vitamin-C-diet.html#ixzz0WBCAKHL0

Posted: 13-11-2009 12:28 Post subject:

Sir Michael Caine: Harry Brown filming taught me of 'wasted generation'
Sir Michael Caine believes society has created a 'wasted generation' of children in Britain's inner cities.
Published: 8:51AM GMT 13 Nov 2009

Speaking shortly after the release of his new film Harry Brown, Caine, 76, said: "We have wasted a whole generation here and that will be passed on to the next generation."

He said he had changed his mind on how society should deal with crime and anti-social behaviour among the young, urban poor, after returning to the streets around Elephant and Castle in south London to research Harry Brown.

It was there that he grew up, but he said the area had changed incomparably since the 1940s.

In an interview with the Daily Mirror, he said: "I had gone into this film with the attitude of 'let's lock them all up and throw away the key' – all of those old opinions. But now I have completely changed my mind.

"Meeting the kids around Elephant and Castle I realised how wrong I was.

"Those young children were born like all other young children yet they were turned into what they are by the society we have created.

"I spent a lot of time talking to the actual lads as we filmed and every single one I spoke to felt that they hadn't been given a chance at all.

"I am talking about kids who would scare the daylights out of you on any other occasion. But I came to realise they had been let down."

While he lived in a prefab house, that has since been demolished, and belonged to a gang for "self-defence", he said children now lived in housing that was "incredibly poor" and faced worse violence on the streets.

"When I grew up there it was tough and rough," he said.

"But then it was alcohol and fights but now it is drugs and guns and knives and death."

While he had thought that children and teenagers joined gangs "to kill someone" he came to realise that their motivation was the same as him when he was young – self-preservation.

The state should invest in educating such children, he argued, saying it was cheaper than jail and that afterwards "you hopefully have a useful citizen".

But he more pessimistically believed that family breakdown, and in particular the "irresponsibility" of absent fathers, was "the start of all of this".

"Sadly the state cannot provide fathers," he concluded.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturenews/6559638/Sir-Michael-Caine-Harry-Brown-filming-taught-me-of-wasted-generation.html

I thought the state did invest in educating children... Confused

Posted: 13-11-2009 18:23 Post subject: