Tag: parents

  • Effective Ways to Market to Teenagers and Their Parents

    Marketing has a certain set of common rules that apply to both online and offline strategies. There should always be a definite target group to which advertisers communicate their ideas instead of voicing them out to the whole global population. There are many products and services centered on teen and parent audiences who are the toughest audiences that marketers have to face…

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    http://www.associationofmarketing.org/articles/view.php?article_id=7484

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  • 5 trends among parents saving for college

    5 trends among parents saving for college

    Common trends among parents who are saving for college for their kids.
    5 trends among parents saving for college
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    https://investornews.vanguard/5-trends-among-parents-saving-for-college/

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  • COVID-19: IFRC, UNICEF and WHO issue guidance to protect children and support safe school operations

    GENEVA/NEW YORK – The International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC), UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO) today issued new guidance to help protect children and schools from transmission of the COVID-19 virus. The guidance provides critical considerations and practical checklists to keep schools safe. It also advises national and local authorities on how to adapt and implement emergency plans for educational facilities. 

    In the event of school closures, the guidance includes recommendations to mitigate against the possible negative impacts on children’s learning and wellbeing. This means having solid plans in place to ensure the continuity of learning, including remote learning options such as online education strategies and radio broadcasts of academic content, and access to essential services for all children. These plans should also include necessary steps for the eventual safe reopening of schools.

    Where schools remain open, and to make sure that children and their families remain protected and informed, the guidance calls for:

    • Providing children with information about how to protect themselves;
    • Promoting best handwashing and hygiene practices and providing hygiene supplies;
    • Cleaning and disinfecting school buildings, especially water and sanitation facilities; and
    • Increasing airflow and ventilation.

    The guidance, while specific to countries that have already confirmed the transmission of COVID-19, is still relevant in all other contexts. Education can encourage students to become advocates for disease prevention and control at home, in school, and in their community by talking to others about how to prevent the spread of viruses. Maintaining safe school operations or reopening schools after a closure, requires many considerations, but if done well, can promote public health.

    For example, safe school guidelines implemented in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone during the outbreak of Ebola virus disease from 2014 to 2016 helped prevent school-based transmissions of the virus.

    UNICEF is urging schools – whether open or helping students through remote learning – to provide students with holistic support. Schools should provide children with vital information on handwashing and other measures to protect themselves and their families; facilitate mental health support; and help to prevent stigma and discrimination by encouraging students to be kind to each other and avoid stereotypes when talking about the virus.

    The new guidance also offers helpful tips and checklists for parents and caregivers, as well as children and students themselves. These actions include:

    • Monitoring children’s health and keeping them home from school if they are ill;
    • Encouraging children to ask questions and express their concerns; and
    • Coughing or sneezing into a tissue or your elbow and avoid touching your face, eyes, mouth and nose.

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    https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/10-03-2020-covid-19-ifrc-unicef-and-who-issue-guidance-to-protect-children-and-support-safe-school-operations

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  • WHO Global Initiative for Childhood Cancer: progress on all fronts

    WHO Global Initiative for Childhood Cancer: progress on all fronts

     Peru shows the way forward and the courage of Ander Martinez

    “When Ander was diagnosed, I didn´t have the possibility to cover the cost of the treatment. It was very expensive, and I had nothing,” says Rosalina Tocto, 29 years mother of Ander Martínez Tocto. Ander had just been diagnosed with acute leukemia at the young age of 6 years. From the beginning, the odds were stacked against him. He and his family lived in a rural town, six hours from the nearest city. His parents did not have a formal job, placing the family under financial strain.

    Ander and his family were not alone in this situation. “In Peru, nearly 1800 children and adolescents are diagnosed with cancer every year; however, up to 70% will have a late stage, often metastatic due to delays in diagnosis,” says Dr. Juan García, medical chief of the Pediatric Department of in the National Institute of Neoplastic Diseases (INEN) in Lima, Peru. “Most of our patients come from outside Lima and the majority of parents do not have formal employment and therefore do not have any type of insurance.”

    Fortunately, Peru has made a strong commitment to Universal Health Coverage. In 2009, a law was passed to improve access to care by introducing a mandatory health insurance system and registering everyone living in extreme poverty under Seguro Integral de Salud (SIS), regardless of age or circumstance.  

    Dr. Reina Bustamante, Executive Director of the Division of Prevention and Control of Cancer of the MINSA says “UHC is an important step in public health particularly for those who lack public or private insurance like Ander. In this context, we are trying to follow WHO guidance to achieve UHC and ensure all individuals and communities receive the health services they need without suffering financial hardship.”

    In 2019, Peru was selected as a focus country for the WHO Global Initiative for Childhood Cancer as the first focus country in the Region. The Global Initiative aims to improve survival for all children with cancer to at least 60% by 2030 while reducing suffering, altogether with the potential to save an additional one million lives.

    Four main goals were formulated for the national pediatric cancer plan: (1) improve early diagnosis of childhood cancer, (2) decrease treatment abandonment, (3) implement a national pediatric cancer registry and (4) improve the quality of services in pediatric oncology units.

    Dr. Liliana Vasquez, pediatric oncologist who works as an external consultant for the Division of Prevention and Control of Cancer of MINSA said, “Ten working groups have been established to achieve the goals.”

    Dr. Vivian Perez, advisor of the Non-Communicable Diseases Office in PAHO-Peru added “the initial focus for the Initiative will be on six cancers selected as tracers for monitoring progress across the health system, alongside engagement of at least six focus countries with a record of strong political commitment and foundational efforts supporting children with cancer.”

    For Ander, his health care team, the commitments from the government of Peru and partners and Global Initiative have made it possible to be successfully treated and will now allow him to dream of a healthy future though better access to surveillance monitoring and psycho-oncological support aimed at childhood cancer survivors.

    Peru is showing what is possible for all countries. By concerted action and promoting universal health coverage, every child in the world can have access to high-quality care with the greatest likelihood of survival, and every family should be protected from financial hardship. We can do more together. 

     

    WHO Global Initiative for Childhood Cancer: progress on all fronts
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    https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/14-02-2020-who-global-initiative-for-childhood-cancer-progress-on-all-fronts

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  • Unleashing Youth Power:A Decade of Accelerating Actions Towards Zero Female Genital Mutilation

    Joint statement by UNFPA Executive Director Dr Natalia Kanem, UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore and UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka and WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on the occasion of International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation

    – “When Tabitha was growing up in rural Kenya, most of her 16-year-old peers were subjected to female genital mutilation – a human rights violation that more than 4 million girls worldwide are at risk of this year. Yet Tabitha remains unharmed, thanks to the unwavering support of her parents, who, in spite of enormous social pressure, saved their daughter from the same fate. 

    “On the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation, we join with Tabitha and young people around the world who are standing up for their rights with urgency and energy. They are engaging their peers, families, communities and governments with a call to end this harmful act of gender-based violence once and for all, as promised by the international community in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

     “While significant progress in eliminating the practice has been made in the last 30 years, approximately 200 million girls and women alive today have had their genitals mutilated. This can lead to long-term physical, psychological and social consequences.        

    “Support for the practice is dwindling. Adolescent girls aged 15 to 19 in countries where female genital mutilation is prevalent are less supportive of continuing the practice than are women aged 45 to 49. And in many countries, young girls are at much lower risk of being subjected to female genital mutilation than their mothers and grandmothers were. However, rapid youth population growth in countries where female genital mutilation is prevalent could lead to a significant rise in the number of girls at risk by 2030.

    “Today’s young people can play a critical role in ending the practice. Unleashing the power of youth means investing in youth-led movements to champion gender equality, an end to violence against women and girls and the elimination of harmful practices. This requires including young people as partners when designing and implementing national action plans, building relationships with youth-led organizations and networks that work to end female genital mutilation and recognize it as a form of violence against women and girls, empowering young people to lead community campaigns that challenge social norms and myths, and engaging men and boys as allies.

    “But this is not a goal young people can achieve alone, nor can it be addressed in isolation from other forms of violence against women and girls or from gender inequality. It also requires strong political leadership and commitment.

    “Last year, at the Nairobi Summit on ICPD25, governments, civil society, faith-based organizations and private companies recommitted to ending gender-based violence and harmful practices – such as female genital mutilation – in 10 years, the same timeframe for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. In March, we mark 25 years since the Beijing Platform for Action, a global commitment to advance women’s rights across 12 critical areas, including the elimination of all harmful practices against girls and women. This year, we will announce the creation of a new Generation Equality to drive further investment and results for gender equality.

     

    “Now is the time to invest, translating the political commitments already made into concrete action. Now is the time to do more and do it better and faster to end the practice once and for all. Now is the time to keep our promise to Tabitha and all girls of reaching zero female genital mutilation by 2030.”

     

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    https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/06-02-2020-unleashing-youth-power-a-decade-of-accelerating-actions-towards-zero-female-genital-mutilation

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  • Preventing child obesity in the next generation must start before conception

    Preventing child obesity in the next generation must start before conception

    The key to preventing obesity in future generations is to make their parents healthier before they conceive, leading health researchers suggest.

    In a series of papers, published in The Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology, the researchers say that the time before couples conceive represents a missed opportunity to prevent the transmission of obesity risk from one generation to the next. They argue that a new approach is needed to motivate future parents to live a healthier lifestyle.

    There is now a wealth of evidence that the risk of obesity and its associated conditions, such as heart disease diabetes and some cancers, could impact the developing baby. In turn, when the child becomes a young adult they may pass the risk of obesity on to their children – it is a vicious cycle.

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  • A family-based weight management program improved self-perception among obese children

    A family-based weight management program improved self-perception among obese children

    Battling the childhood obesity epidemic is a priority for many researchers, as obesity during adolescence increases the risk of chronic diseases throughout life. Because obese children have lower quality of life and self-esteem, greater levels of depression and anxiety, and also face more teasing and bullying than normal-weight peers, including mental health in any intervention is necessary. To that end, researchers studied the self-perception of children participating in the Fit Families program.

    Fit Families is a program based on Social Cognitive Theory delivered through the New Mexico Cooperative Extension service. The program was developed for areas of southern New Mexico lacking resources to help combat childhood obesity in a positive, culturally appropriate manner by encouraging healthy food and nutrient intake and increased physical activity. For this study, children with a body mass index at least in the 85th percentile were referred by local physicians. The final study included 46 children, ranging from 8 to 17 years of age, 43% of whom were male, and 80% of whom were Hispanic.

    “With our emphasis on fun physical activity, children and parents reported enjoying the games at Fit Families. We believe this may have resulted in the children’s increased self-perception related to their athletic ability,” said Martha Archuleta, PhD, RD, lead author of the study. “Children also improved the perception of their physical appearance, possibly due to the way self-acceptance and diversity of body sizes were promoted.”

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  • Who Will Become Wealthy in the Information Age?

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    As you know, we’re now well and truly in the
    Information Age. It began about 10 years ago. In fact,
    many economists say it began in 1989, with the Fall of
    the Berlin Wall (and the start of the World Wide Web).

    To understand who will become wealthy in the
    Information Age, first we need to understand how the
    Information Age differs from the Industrial Age (born
    about 1860, died about 1989).

    In fact, let’s get a complete overview and go back to
    the Agrarian Age.

    In the Agrarian Age, society was basically divided
    into two classes: the landowners and the people who
    worked on the land (the serfs). If you were a serf,
    there wasn’t much you could do about it:
    land-ownership passed down through families and you
    were stuck with the status you were born into.

    When the Industrial Age arrived, everything changed:
    it was no longer agriculture that generated most of
    the wealth, but manufacturing. Suddenly, land was no
    longer the key to wealth. A factory occupied far less
    land than a sheep farm or a wheat farm.

    With the Industrial Age came a new kind of wealthy
    person: the self-made businessman. Wealth no longer
    depended on land-ownership and the family you were
    born into. Business acumen and factories were creating
    a new class of wealthy person. But it still required
    enormous capital to build a factory and start a
    business.

    Then came the World Wide Web (in about 1989) and
    globalization. Suddenly, everything changed again.

    Factories (or real estate) were no longer necessary to
    run a business. Anyone with a website could start a
    business. The barriers to wealth that existed in the
    Agrarian Age and the Industrial Age were completely
    gone. People who could never have dreamed of owning
    their own business were making millions from their
    kitchen table.

    Of course, the Information Revolution didn’t begin
    in 1989.

    It began in 1444 when Gutenberg invented the printing
    press in Mainz, Germany.

    But the printing press (newspapers, magazines,
    paperbacks) belonged to the Industrial Age, not the
    Information Age.

    The printing press is a ‘one-to-many’ technology. The
    Internet is a ‘many-to-many’ technology. And that was
    what changed in 1989.

    The Industrial Age was about centralization and
    control. The Information Age is about
    de-centralization and no control. No government and no
    media magnate controls the Internet. This is the
    crucial thing to understand about the Information Age.

    As we moved from the Agrarian Age through the
    Industrial Age to the Information Age, there’s been a
    steady collapse of the barriers that kept one section of
    society wealthy and the other section poor.

    In the Information Age, literally anyone can become
    wealthy.

    So now that we have a clearer picture of how the
    Information Age differs from the Industrial Age, let’s
    ask that question again: ‘Who will become wealthy in
    the Information Age?’:

    (1) People Who are Self-Taught

    To explain this better, let’s go back to the Agrarian
    Age and the Industrial Age, and the Transmission of
    Skills.

    In the Agrarian Age, skills were passed on from father
    to son. If you wanted to learn how to be a blacksmith
    you had to be a blacksmith’s son. If you wanted to
    learn to be a stone-mason, you had to be the son of a
    stone-mason.

    With the coming of the Industrial Age, all this
    changed. You could go to University and learn whatever
    skills you wanted. Knowledge was freely available.

    But in the Information Age, the Transmission of Skills
    is changing once again.

    The skills necessary to succeed in the Information Age
    are not being learnt from our parents (as in the
    Agrarian Age), nor are they being learnt in schools
    and colleges (as in the Industrial Age). Children are
    teaching their parents computer skills. And many of
    the entrepreneurs who start hi-tech Internet companies
    have never been to college.

    The millionaires (and billionaires) of tomorrow
    probably won’t have a college education. They will be
    high-school drop-outs, self-taught people.

    (2) People with New Ideas.

    Again, it’s the people who are able to think outside
    of the existing structures who will become wealthy in
    the Information Age. Often, it’s just a Simple Idea
    that launches people to success in the Information
    Age.

    Take Sabhir Bhatia, for example – the man who invented
    Hotmail. Bhatia was a computer engineer working in
    Silicon Valley. He had no previous business
    experience, whatsoever.

    But one day, while he was driving back from work, a
    friend called him on his cell phone and said that he
    had an idea: What about starting a free, web-based
    email service? Bhatia knew this was the idea he’d been
    waiting for. He told his friend to hang up immediately
    and ring him at home on a secure line.

    Three years later he sold Hotmail to Microsoft for
    $400 million.

    (3) Writers

    The third group who will become wealthy in the
    Information Age are Writers.

    In the Industrial Age, Writers depended on large
    publishing Houses to get published (remember that the
    printing press is an Industrial Age technology – it is
    centralized and controlled). And the Publishing Houses
    took the lion’s share of the profits.

    In the Information Age, Writers are doing their own
    publishing – and keeping most of the profits
    themselves. Indeed, Writers are flourishing on the
    Web – mainly through eBooks and Ezine Articles.
    But even if you don’t write eBooks or Ezine Articles,
    if you own a website, you are a Writer.

    Why?

    Because the Internet is basically a written medium. It
    favors writers, people who are able to communicate
    effectively through the written word. Remember, it’s
    not the graphics on your website that sell, it’s the
    words you use.

    In the Information Age, we’re all Writers!

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  • Adult Children Come Home to Heal

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    Should you let an adult child come home again? Parents send their nearly grown children out to conquer the world and sometimes they bounce right back home. A parent’s goal is to teach their child to survive the best and the worst that life has to offer. Most young people are able to maintain a level of existence, sobriety and relationships that sustain them until they really know who they are and what they want to do with their lives.

    However, sometimes life throws them a curve and they falter. Circumstances can hurt them, even bring them to their knees. A devastating break-up with a lover, flunking their first semester, an unexpected death of a best friend, or getting fired from his or her first real job can knock your child out of the game and take months to a year to recover.

    Did you keep their childhood bedroom just the same? Perhaps this is the time to open the shades and prepare for a wounded visitor. Make it clear that the invitation is temporary but open your door widely and let them come home again. As irritating as they are to you and your spouse, remember that your little habits will irritate them, too. As they begin to recover their sea legs, they will want the freedom of their own place ASAP. If you want to encourages them to leave quickly after a few weeks recovery, begin to talk endlessly about developing a strong work ethic and new disciplined habits in place of blaming others for their situation or procrastination. Hopefully, they will soon be out seeking new adventures.

    Help them improve their diet and sleep patterns. Try including fish oil and B vitamins daily to help them recharge their nerves and bodies. Less coffee and colas and more vegetables will help them with their mood. If your child seems to be getting worse or rarely leaves the house, antidepressants may be indicated. Get medical help immediately if your child seems despondent or suicidal.

    Being mom or dad again may even heal your empty nest pain. Give them a safe haven for a little while away from the pressures of living fast and competitively. Soon, they will try to fly again, this time a little wiser, a little stronger and a bit more ready. Oh, and don’t redecorate that room just yet. They may be back.

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    Source by Molly Barrow

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  • Emotional Resilience in Children

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    Emotional resilience is the ability to cope with stressful life experiences, disappointments, and challenges in an effective and meaningful way that helps to preserve self-esteem, build social aptitude, and prevent frustration, anger, and even depression. Emotional resilience learned early in life assists in recovering from misfortunes and disappointments, thus fostering emotional health.

    Teaching your child to be emotionally resilient will help him / her be in control and build confidence to work through challenging situations effectively. Becoming emotionally resilient in childhood will provide a basic foundation for your child's emotional health in adolescence and adulthood.

    Emotions shape your child's interactions with others and affect his or her behaviors resulting from those interactions. In order to prevent conflict, or deal with conflict effectively when it arises, your child should learn to understand his or her feelings, be able to identify them, and regulate them. It is important to teach children there is a whole gamut of emotions that can be expressed in various ways. However, knowing how to express them in a meaningful way will help your child in solving social conflicts and maintaining relationships. One way of promoting development of emotional competence is to help your child develop vocabulary that expresses feelings. Parents can also assist their children in recognizing various emotions and teaching them that emotions can be changed by their thinking.

    Emotions are driven by behaviors. However, children must learn that emotions should not take control over their actions. It is crucial for children to know that expressing feelings helps in preventing and resolving problems. They need to be taught that bottled-up feelings lead to misunderstandings, anxiety, anger, and depression.

    When your child does not express emotions, he or she is more likely to experience angry outbursts that might come from being sad, embarrassed, or frustrated. Perhaps, your child feels guilty about something he or she did, is afraid, or feels helpless and chooses to express those negative feelings of emotional stress with angry outbursts. This inability to deal with stress in a constructive way most of the time stems from the lack of understanding one's own emotions, emotions of others, and lacking the ability to express feelings effectively.

    Signs of Emotional Fragility

    – Regression of behaviors
    – Withdrawal
    – Excessive clinginess
    – Bedwetting
    – Nightmares
    – Aggression

    One of the most important things a parent can do to foster a child's healthy emotional development is to promote positive family communication. That includes positive reinforcement, which is praising your child for positive behaviors, giving encouragement, and avoidance of negative criticism when expected results are not achieved. Also, providing consistency is extremely important for a child's emotional health, as it aids in avoiding ambiguity and uncertainty. If a child knows what's expected of him or her, they will most likely comply, thus avoiding frustration, anger, and possibly humiliation.

    Younger children might be more open and willing to express their feelings. In adolescence, family communication might become more challenging as the teen tries to suppress their feelings in an attempt to resolve them alone. Parenting teenagers requires patience and the ability to be supportive. Frequently, conversation with your teen at home might be extremely difficult. However, your teen may try to open up while riding with you in a car where there is no eye contact, thus the confrontation seems to be less intimidating. Building a sound foundation of emotional resilience in childhood will help your adolescent achieve emotional health. Should getting through to your child become impossible, or he or she becomes withdrawn and exhibits signs of emotional instability, don't be afraid to seek help. You may start by talking to another family member, a friend, or a counselor.

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    Source by Monika B. Pis, Ph.D.

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