Clipmarks | CrazyRedHead's 'children' clips

"I'll breastfeed till they're EIGHT!"

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 20:39:03 GMT

clipped by: CrazyRedHead

Stella Onions doesn't worry about people staring.

Whether sitting outside a cafe or walking round the park, whenever she breastfeeds her two children, she ignores the women gawping and men brazenly pointing her out to their friends.

But such reactions are hardly surprising; the babes sucking at this middle-aged mother's breasts are toddlers aged five and three years old.

Josephine has said she doesn't want to stop till adulthood. She really enjoys it and has actually told me she won't stop until she gets married.

She often says: "I never want to stop my mummy milk."

'Zac loves it, too - he says it's yummy and sweet.'

Now Stella has begun a campaign to normalise breastfeeding, so that it becomes as acceptable elsewhere as it is in her home. She says the benefits must be appreciated.

Even the most liberal of mothers find the sight of other babies sucking beyond infancy disconcerting, let alone their own.

Tags: children, health, family, breastfeeding

Albinos Face Deadly Threat in Tanzania

Sun, 08 Jun 2008 15:03:54 GMT

clipped by: CrazyRedHead
clipper's remarks: "It is no accident that the Tanzania Albino Society’s office is on the grounds of a cancer hospital. Many of its members are sick."

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

Discrimination against albinos is a serious problem throughout sub-Saharan Africa, but recently in Tanzania it has taken a wicked twist: at least 19 albinos, including children, have been killed and mutilated in the past year, victims of what Tanzanian officials say is a growing criminal trade in albino body parts.

Many people in Tanzania — and across Africa, for that matter — believe albinos have magical powers. They stand out, often the lone white face in a black crowd, a result of a genetic condition that impairs normal skin pigmentation and strikes about 1 in 3,000 people here.

Tanzanian officials say witch doctors are now marketing albino skin, bones and hair as ingredients in potions that are promised to make people rich.

Police officers are drawing up lists of albinos in every corner of the country to better look after them. Officers are escorting albino children to school.

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

Police officials said the albino killings were worst in rural areas

Tags: race, africa, health, religion

Her First Home Run

Sun, 18 May 2008 13:54:06 GMT

clipped by: CrazyRedHead
clipper's remarks: If you love children, baseball or heroes, you have to see this.

Clip Source: ace.mu.nu

[Video]

A really sweet story.

Tags: children, baseball, heroes

Children & Alcohol

Wed, 07 May 2008 14:37:16 GMT

clipped by: CrazyRedHead

Clip Source: timesonline.typepad.com

Eamon and Antoinette McGuckin were taken to hospital and their kids - ages 1 through 6 - were taken into care temporarily after the adult McGuckins apparently passed out in a hotel lobby and bar. The plot thickens as stories report that Antoinette says she only had three beers. Friends and neighbours describe them as devoted homebody parents rather than as, y'know, ginhead chavs.

Even for the most upstanding of us, drinking in front of children poses problems.

I've never gotten blotto around the under-18s but my daughter frequently brandishes her plastic stemware and says "This is my wine."

But so what? Drinking is part of the adult world. We drink responsibly. We don't drive afterward.

A big question is, does drinking around your children promote healthy drinking habits (witness the enduring story of Italian children learning to sip wine from their toddler years) or does it normalise a dangerous drug?

Do you drink around your kids and what is your stopping point?

Tags: children, alcohol, society, morality, health

New shoes that grow with children's feet

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 11:26:43 GMT

clipped by: CrazyRedHead

Clip Source: www.dailymail.co.uk

It's an expensive exercise keeping children in shoes, as any parent would attest.

All too often, the little darlings are bursting out of their new ones before the soles have been scuffed.

But one inventor claims to have found the solution - shoes that grow with the feet.

The INCHworm trainers use a technology called iFit to expand up to one full size.

They are altered by pressing a button on the side and pulling the toe out to the required length.

Each pair goes up in two half-size increments, which means that each offers three sizes.

According to the makers, the shoes are sturdy enough that they won't stretch accidentally and can withstand the roughest of playground workouts.

They are not cheap, at £47.99 including delivery.

However, the patented technology means that each pair would last about three to six months longer than a normal pair.

They are also great for the thousands of kids who have one foot bigger than the other - they could have one shoe set at size 11 and one at 11 and a half.

Tags: children, shoes, innovation

"Torture Dungeon" Excavation in Jersey

Thu, 28 Feb 2008 04:32:07 GMT

clipped by: CrazyRedHead

Clip Source: www.thisislondon.co.uk

The full horror of what may lie beneath the "Colditz" care home began to emerge last night as police uncovered a double dungeon where children were said to be taken for torture.

Detectives feared more bodies would be found after a dog trained to pinpoint human remains went berserk as officers smashed into the bricked-up cellar.

When they ripped up the floor of Haut de la Garenne, detectives were stunned to find not one, but two sealed underground chambers under a double layer of concrete.

Some victims have described the bathtub during accounts of abuse and part of the torture children were allegedly subjected to.

More than 160 victims have come forward to report abuse at the former children's home.

Police believe paedophiles visited and worked there over a period of up to 30 years until it closed in 1986.

More than 1,000 children may have lived in the 60-bed home from the early Fifties.

The Victorian building was formerly a centre for children in care or with behaviour problems.

Tags: crime, children, uk, murder

Clowns Disliked By Young Patients

Fri, 18 Jan 2008 14:50:32 GMT

clipped by: CrazyRedHead
clipper's remarks: I hate clowns too.

Clip Source: news.sky.com

Clowns are too scary for kids in hospital and are not the best decoration for children's wards, according to new research.

A survey found that decorating wards with images of clowns was more likely to frighten young patients than cheer them up.

More than 250 children aged between four and 16 were asked for their opinions - and every single one said they disliked clowns as part of hospital decor.

Even some of the older children said they found clowns scary, Nursing Standard magazine reported.

The youngsters were questioned by the University of Sheffield for the Space To Care study aimed at improving hospital design for children.

"As adults we make assumptions about what works for children," said Penny Curtis, a senior lecturer in research at the university.

"We found that clowns are universally disliked by children. Some found them frightening and unknowable."

The authors of the study have produced a guide on how to create child-friendly environments.

Tags: humor, children, clowns, health, psychology, terrifyingly garish zombie clones

Asthma and Antibiotics

Sat, 08 Dec 2007 04:46:45 GMT

clipped by: CrazyRedHead

Clip Source: www.sciam.com

children who had received antibiotics during their first year of life had a significantly greater risk of developing asthma by age seven.

Children who had received more than four courses of antibiotics were almost twice as likely to have asthma develop

researchers isolated 148 children who had received antibiotics for skin or urinary tract infections. They found that these kids had an even greater chance of developing asthma than children with respiratory infections who had been treated with antibiotics

the presence of a dog in the home lowered asthma risk

rural kids had less of a chance of developing asthma than urban children

they suggest carefully weighing the risks and benefits of antibiotic use before age one.

Asthma is on the rise worldwide. Virtually unknown at the dawn of the 20th century, the wheezing respiratory disease caused 255,000 deaths globally in 2005

Tags: health, science, children

NASA develops child car-seat safety device

Fri, 02 Nov 2007 20:41:19 GMT

clipped by: CrazyRedHead

Clip Source: www.nasa.gov

NASA develops child car-seat safety device

Every year infants and small children die needlessly because they have been left in vehicles, according to KIDS 'N CARS, a national nonprofit safety organization. As a result, NASA has developed a safety device that would alert parents who inadvertently leave their infants and small children strapped in car seats.

The NASA device, inspired by aircraft flight test technology, uses precision materials and electronics to sense when a child is seated in a car infant or booster seat after the driver has left the vehicle.

Overloaded, exhausted, distracted or confused by a change in routine, working parents can completely forget that they've left their children unattended.

The Child Presence Sensor driver alarm, designed to hang on the driver's key ring, sounds ten warning beeps if the driver moves too far away from the vehicle.

Tags: children, safety, science, baby

Are you a tokophobic?

Fri, 26 Oct 2007 12:04:24 GMT

clipped by: CrazyRedHead

Clip Source: www.dailymail.co.uk

Of course, for most women, the anticipation of labour comes with a degree of anxiety. But as many as one in seven women are thought to suffer from tokophobia (a word which derives from the Greek "tokos" meaning childbirth).

Dealing with the condition is often difficult because it remains one of society's taboo subjects.

Despite her desire to find a way to have children, Rachel has been labelled "cold-hearted" and a "babyhater" by some friends she has discussed her fears with.

"Because there is the reward of a baby at the end of childbirth, it seems most people think that women should just stop whinging and get on with it," she says.

"In fact, plenty of mothers wear their stories of horrific deliveries like a badge of honour.

There are two main types of the condition. Primary tokophobia relates to childless women who have a deep-seated dread of pregnancy and birth, often relating back to their own mother's experience or something they learned in school.

Tags: sex, children, childbirth, fertility, health, psychology

Mom snorted cocaine off baby's stomach while breastfeeding.

Tue, 02 Oct 2007 13:59:06 GMT

clipped by: CrazyRedHead

Clip Source: wnyt.com

"This is right at the top of the all time despicable crime list in Schenectady," said Schenectady Police spokesman Lt. Brian Kilcullen.

Wendy Cook of Saratoga was one of five women arrested during a police operation targeting prostitution in Schenectady. Police say Cook's five year old daughter and eight week old son were with her as she stayed out all night, having sex and doing drugs. Police say at one point, cook even snorted cocaine off the baby's stomach as she was breastfeeding.

Police say Wendy Cook, 37 of Saratoga, had been out all night, selling sex and smoking crack and snorting cocaine, while her children were with her.

Cook is scheduled to appear in court Tuesday. Her children were turned over to family members. Police say that the infant will be tested for cocaine.

Tags: children, crime, society, drugs, cocaine, idiots

Natural Disasters: Is your family prepared?

Sun, 16 Sep 2007 03:47:19 GMT

clipped by: CrazyRedHead
clipper's remarks: Love your kids? Write you name on them today!

Clip Source: www.ncmec.org

June marks the beginning of hurricane season. And with the threat of storms lingering through November, it is important to plan for your family’s safety.

Families may easily become separated during the chaotic period before a storm, especially when evacuation is required. NCMEC offers the following recommendations to all families potentially impacted by a hurricane or other natural disaster:

Know where your kids are at all times.

Stay together

Take photos of your children with you when evacuated.

Give children identification information to carry with them, including the child’s name, date of birth, address, phone numbers, etc. If a child is too young or otherwise unable to speak for him- or herself, consider writing his/her name, date of birth, parents’ names, home address, and telephone/cell numbers somewhere on the child’s body in indelible marker.

E-mail digital photos of all family members to extended relatives and/or friends.

Photocopy important documents and mail

Make a plan

Tags: kids, children, disasters, society, family

Scary Stats - Child Predators

Sun, 16 Sep 2007 03:32:15 GMT

clipped by: CrazyRedHead
clipper's remarks: Few children are abducted and killed each year, but most are snatched within 3 blocks of home - scary.

Clip Source: www.cbsnews.com

Victim Profile

76 percent of children killed by their abductor are girls

The average age is between 11 and 12 years old

57 percent are victims of opportunity

14 percent are chosen because of some physical characteristic

Well over half of all child abductions that lead to murder happen within three blocks of the victim's home.

Source: Attorney General of Washington State, U.S. Department of Justice

Clip Source: www.cbsnews.com

Profile of A Killer Kidnapper

The average killer of abducted children is 27 years old

85 percent are unmarried

Half are unemployed

51 percent live either alone or with their parents

61 percent have prior arrests for violent crimes

66 percent have a legitimate reason to be in the area where the abduction takes place

Clip Source: www.karisable.com

There is one child abduction murder for every 10,000 reports of missing children

The media's fixation with pretty white girls who become victims is so prevalent that the concept has been coined the "The Missing White Girl Syndrome."

Tags: children, family, crime, society

Code ADAM

Thu, 16 Aug 2007 23:09:21 GMT

clipped by: CrazyRedHead

Clip Source: www.ncmec.org

Why is Code Adam Important?
The Adam Walsh Story
Code Adam Participants
How to Start Code Adam in Your Workplace

Code Adam was created and named in memory of 6-year-old Adam Walsh. In 1981 Adam was abducted from a Florida shopping mall and later found murdered.

Since the beginning of the Code Adam program in 1994 it has been a powerful search tool for lost and possibly abducted children

There are six steps employees are trained to follow when a Code Adam is activated

If a visitor reports a child is missing, a detailed description of the child and what he or she is wearing is obtained.

The employee goes to the nearest in-house telephone and pages Code Adam

If the child is not found within 10 minutes, law enforcement is called.

If the child is found accompanied by someone other than a parent or legal guardian, reasonable efforts to delay their departure will be used without putting the child, staff, or visitors at risk

Clip Source: www.ncmec.org

Act immediately if you believe that your child is missing.

Tags: crime, children, child, safety

"The truth shall set you free." NOT.

Thu, 26 Jul 2007 13:35:26 GMT

clipped by: CrazyRedHead

Clip Source: www.star-telegram.com

William Dean Resto repeatedly urged jurors Wednesday to acquit him of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy at their church on Easter 2005, saying his truthful testimony and Jesus' forgiveness had freed him under God's law.

Johnson County prosecutor Martin Strahan countered that man's law dictates that Resto be imprisoned for as long as legally allowable to protect other children from an evil "wolf in sheep's clothing" who preys on trusting church people.

Man's law won twice Wednesday, despite dramatic closing arguments by Resto

Jurors later took 50 minutes to recommend that Resto serve the maximum prison term of 99 years and pay $10,000 in fines as sought by prosecutors on each of the four convictions.

The quick guilty verdict followed a Scripture-laced closing argument by Resto, whose defense was based mostly on references to Jesus' words: "The truth shall set you free."

The dramatics continued during the punishment hearing

Tags: crime, children, society, religion