What parents need to know about child safety and identification

There seems to be a general misconception concerning child safety and child identification. In speaking with parents, one thing becomes very clear. Parents commonly believe, that by recording their children’s fingerprints and DNA information, they have taken all the steps necessary in order to protect as well as provide identification for their children. Unfortunately, this could not be further from the truthmon sense dictates that the only time a child’s fingerprints or DNA information would ever become necessary would be in the worst-case scenario, after the unthinkable has happened. We as parents would like to watch over our children 24-hours a day, thereby, ensuring our children’s safety. However, this is unrealistic. In situations where young children get separated from their parents as well as natural disasters such as: hurricanes, floods, earthquakes and tsunamis, we are reminded time and again, that children do not carry identification. A Canadian company seems to have taken a very logical approach towards helping parents protect their children. Their small label can give parents great peace of mind as far as their children are concerned. Jerry Scala founded Child ID Labels inc. in 1995, with the intentions of offering his identification concept to fellow members of his congregation. However, within nine months, the fledgling program gained national exposure with their first recovery. The company’s first successful recovery happened on Easter Weekend, 1996, outside of Toronto, Canada. While his parents were in the kitchen, a small three year-old boy let himself out and wandered three blocks before ending up in a convenience store. The store’s clerk noticed the identification label on the outside of the back collar and contacted the toll free number on the id label. The authorities, with Child ID's help, had the young escapee in his parent’s arms in less than eight minutes. Child ID’s program helps parents deal with everyday events that happen, not out of neglect, but are due to situations that are beyond our control. Unlike other programs that are passive in nature and wait for something to happen before they spring into action, This company’s unique focus and approach towards child safety and identification is proactive as well as preventative, thereby, offering parents an unparalleled amount of peace of mind. In today’s world, identity theft is not at all uncommon and, therefore, a very real concern. Each Child ID “kit” is assigned a unique, personal identification number (PIN) code, which is specific to each family. The company supplies parents with an unlimited supply of the coded iron-on identification labels and coded weatherproof stickers, which can be placed on literally anything that leaves the home as well as key rings, which list the family's unique pin code, which can be used for school bags, sports bags, luggage etc. The id labels and coded stickers protect the families privacy as they contain only the company name, a message that reads "If Found Call", a toll free number as well as the PIN code; this ensures the prompt and accurate identification of a child after a 1-800 number is called. If anyone locates a lost child who is wearing the identification labels, a phone call is all it takes to identify the child and contact the parents. Child ID Labels Inc.’s concept focuses on the fact that “Children do not carry id, if they did they would likely loose it. We as adults never leave home without our id, frightening but true; there is more identification on the neighborhood dogs than on our children. For pre-teens, the elderly who suffer from Alzheimer’s as well as the intellectually challenged, the company also offers their version of a “no name” label, which simply reads in bold letters “If Found Call” and the same toll free number as well as the family’s PIN code. When called, the 1-800 number links the caller to a monitoring service, which is staffed twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. The company’s database contains the PIN codes assigned to families so there is no danger of anyone identifying the child except Child ID. One of the many advantages to this labelling system, is the labels can be as visible or invisible as the parents feel necessary. The company recommends that for individuals who might be considered high flight risk, such as Autistic children or sufferers of Alzheimer’s, the label should be placed in plain view. In one case the company has recovered a 21 year-old autistic man twice. This program seems to have taken everything into account. For those parents who believe that prevention far outweighs the cure, it’s nice to know that there is a company working to protect and keep our children safe.

Kids internet safety and myspace be careful

Kids Internet Safety - Be Careful! The Internet and Computers are becoming a necessity in our homes. Nearly everything we do be it registering a new appliance, paying bills, finding a movie, restaurant or an amusement park for location and hours, is easy online. Why "let your fingers do the walking" in the yellow pages as the phone book companies used to say, when you can find it with a few keystrokes and click of the mouse online? Becoming computer literate is a must say California education standards. Even the 1st through 6th Grade and Middle Schools have computer labs! As a research and learning tool the computer, with the Internet and it's unlimited resources if used in a safe manner can make all the difference in how well your child does on homework and assignments. There is temptation and danger Online When kids sit down at the computer the temptation to venture out and surf away from homework into chat, blogs and MySpace is extremely high. What kid wouldn't want to see what their friends are talking about, listen to music and make their own free webpage? MySpace is a good example of the most inviting of these temptations. Nearly every internet savvy kid knows about MySpace. Opening with "what's your MySpace?" when they meet a new friend in person is very common as part of getting to know each other. A local English teacher who also works in the computer lab guestimates one in four of her 8th grade students has their own MySpace. MySpace - Danger Danger Danger! There are countless articles on how kids have gotten in trouble and endangered their lives by turning to MySpace as a way, initially to get to know other kids their age. Read your kids articles about teens who have really gotten in hot water with MySpace to help them understand how persistant and dangerous the preditors really can be. For an example of a good kid in trouble read the New York Times story of Justin Berry, who at age 13, innocent, lonely and computer-wise, behind the closed door of his room quickly exposed himself to countless pedophiles in a matter of minutes on MySpace. The scariest part of this Report was the video interview with the then 18 year old where he warns others of how much his experience "messed him up". How do you keep your child interested in learning, doing productive things and away from the dangers online? That's a good question because the way they see it all the other kids are interacting on MySpace, sharing their favorite music and expanding their circle of friends there. Begin by Educating Yourself and Your Kids! * Read this CBS News Report to see how to protect Kids on MySpace. * Sit with your child when they are on their MySpace. * If they switch screens or minimize the page and refuse to show you every time you try they are hiding something. This is when you have to either get software filters or a software program that tracks every keystroke, every page, every website they go to, to find out who they are chatting with and what they are saying. * Visit a page we here at JerSooz made a few years ago for more information on Kids Safety. Towards the bottom you will find a table with links that are designed help you get the information you need to keep your kids safe on the Internet. * Another option is to use your Browser History, Chat History, Cookies and Temporary Internet Files to figure out where they go yourself. See below on how to do this. Use Cookies - From the Start button go to Search, then Files and Folders type in Cookies and Search Now. Usually they are found in the C Drive of our computer. There you can click on any of the files that have a suspicious name to see what websites they might have visited. Check for saved images - Another thing most kids do is save pictures from the people they talk to and websites they enjoy. This is a way to get an idea of what they are really interested in when they are not telling you everything. The Center for Missing and Exploited Children reported more than 2,600 incidents last year of adults using the Internet to entice children. With numbers like that, you'd think all parents would be hovering over their kids, demanding to know everything they're doing online. Check out your kids' and all their friends Chat and MySpace profiles. Do yourself a favor and make sure their Login and Password are set on automatic when your child goes into chat and MySpace online. Even if you are accused of invading their privacy it is worth it to pretend you are them a few times and see what sort of conversations they have online and whom with. You might be amazed and upset by who you find yourself chatting with and what is said but do not break your cover just yet! Above all things remember you are doing this to protect your kids safety. By doing this you will either find that your child is the perfect innocent kid just having fun online or...get enough proof that they need more strict guidelines, rules, parental controls, or to have the internet taken away until they can get a handle on it. It's for their own good! Did You Know How Easily Your Location Can Be Found Online? You are not annonymous online and your address can easily be found. This, of course means your kids on the internet in your home can be found by outsiders. It also means that you are responsible for trouble they might get into on your internet connection! It's simple, really, every internet connection has an identifying number that shows where your internet connection is. IP or Internet Protocol addresses show in chats and when you send an email. Want to see how easy it is to find someone with their IP Address? Start with your own IP address, Visit GeoBytes IP Address Locater page, and see for yourself!

Immigration rally was a valuable lesson for students

The recent immigration rally on the National Mall sparked controversy for Montgomery County High School in Rockville, Maryland. School officials allowed students to participate in the march and to claim state-required "community service" hours for the experience. This decision set off the tempers of otherwise-sensible parents, who inundated district offices with irate phone calls. They wanted an explanation. After all, community service is helping old folks in the home or serving lunch at the shelter or raising money for your favorite charity. It's not about picking sides in a political debate. Or is it? Not sure myself, I decided to visit the Maryland State Department of Education's website to get their side of the story. I discovered something interesting--Maryland doesn't require community service at all. What they require is "Student Service Learning" or SSL. Their site specifically states that SSL is not the same as volunteerism, community service, or work-study internship. So what is it? SSL is an activity that meets 7 core criteria. First, it must fill a recognized need in the community. This may be a direct action (serving meals), an indirect action (fundraising), or an advocacy action, advocacy being defined as "educat(ing) others about a particular issue with the goal being to eliminate the cause of a particular problem." The activity must be linked to curricular studies, help develop student responsibility, establish community partnerships, and equip students with knowledge and skills. The student must plan ahead for the activity and must write a paper reflecting on the experience. So did participation in the immigration rally meet the requirements for an SSL activity? I think it did. The rally served to educate the American public by generating discussion of immigration issues, and the goal of the rally was the elimination of problems faced by immigrants; therefore, the advocacy criteria was met. The immigration rally was certainly linked to curricular studies. The students witnessed Amendment I of the Bill of Rights in action. For those of you who forget the wording from your own curricular studies, let me refresh your memory: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances. By actively exercising the right to peaceably assemble, these students gained a stronger sense of the First Amendment than they would have gotten from merely reading the words in a textbook. But what about the other criteria? Did the rally develop student responsibility, establish community partnerships, and equip students with certain knowledge and skills? Again, I think it did. The students had to attend the rally under the supervision of CASA, a Maryland-based advocacy group for low-income Latinos in the D. C. Metropolitan Area. Through their involvement with CASA, students were exposed to other services CASA offers, such as English language and citizenship and financial skills classes. The final two criteria were also met. Students planned ahead for the activity by contacting CASA and arranging time to attend the rally, and they were expected to complete a written report reflecting upon their experience. In my mind, the immigration rally easily met the requirements for Student Service Learning as defined by the Maryland State Department of Education. So really, the irate parents should complain to the State if they want the advocacy clause removed, not the local school district. In the meantime, if these parents objected to the rally, they should have forbidden their minor children from participating and steered them toward a different experience. I suspect the real problem is that the complaining parents disagree with CASA's view of immigration reform. Perhaps these parents disagree with mass citizenship for illegals. Perhaps they feel illegals should be rounded up and sent south. Perhaps they feel a wall should be built along the U. S.-Mexico border. That's fine. There is certainly merit to those opinions as our national debate on immigration reform continues. But parent opinion on immigration issues is not the point here. The point is teaching our children that we have the right to peacefully voice our opinion in the United States of America without fear of imprisonment or execution. That is a right we should never take lightly. That is a right folks in China and Iran and North Korea hunger for. That is a right that could be extinguished in our own country if we fail to teach and defend it. COPYRIGHT 2006 Mike Patrick Jr, MD - This article is available for free distribution. Certain restrictions apply. Please visit the editors page at pediascribe for a complete list of reprint guidelines.

How to survive as a working parent

Basic Tips 1municate with your babysitter, nannies or au pair, mother’s help to keep up-to–date. Make as much time as possible to talk to your child care provider. If you can keep the lines of communication open beyond the rush, you'll have a much better feeling about your child's development and well being. 2. Don't get wound up by small issues. If your child only wants to eat burgers every day, let him eat them. He will outgrow this phase. Providing the child is not harming itself (getting over-weight etc.) or someone else by the behaviour just let it go. 3. Be flexible and open to new ideas and options If you have an early morning meeting and it takes your child an hour to decide what to wear in the morning, consider letting them sleep in their clothes. They will think it's fun and you'll be at work on time. 4. Be honest and up front with your child about going to work and leaving them with the babysitter, nannies or au pair, mother’s help Explain that you have to work, encourage the child to ask questions of the carer. Be enthusiastic about the carer as your attitude will shape your child's expectations and experiences. Remember research proves that children benefit from trusting relationships with more than one caregiver. The research has shown that babies with more than one attachment are less distressed when mother leaves for work, they are more playful and content in the presence of other adults, and are less distracted at the birth of a sibling. 5. Don't panic or feel guilty when your child cries when you leave Young children don't understand what "I'll be back later" means. As your child grows older, she will begin to understand that you'll return for her at the end of the day. With older children, reassure them that you'll return. Never sneak away. You're trying to build your child's trust, not break it down. Remember that childcare can be great for your child, as your child will benefit from personal attention, interactions with other children and age-appropriate educational programs that will be great preparation for school. Research shows that children who receive good quality childcare tend to be ahead of other children both intellectually and developmentally. Research also shows that children in childcare show the same degree of attachment to their mothers and the same amount of security as children with mothers who stay home. Remember if working makes you happy, you're children will be happier. Working mothers who like their jobs have better personal adjustments, are happier, and are less depressed than full-time mothers, even those who prefer being at home. Depressed mothers naturally have depressing effects on their children. 6. Accept help When your relative or neighbour offers to baby-sit the children or pick them up from school or childcare, let them. They wouldn't offer if they didn't mean it. 7. Keep duplicates of "vital stuff" Extra blankets, nappies, clothes, and dummies will come in handy in a panic. 8. Get organized Plan ahead, menus for the week so you can cook extra so there are leftovers, pack the baby’s bag the night before. Generally working parents are organised. For example, working mothers spend the same amount of time in direct interaction with their children as full-time mothers. Employed mothers spend as much time reading to and playing with their children as those at home, although they do not spend as much time simply in the same room. 9. Abandon the idea of the perfect home Perfectly clean house, nutritionally balanced meals, clean well-dressed children, and a fantastic career is an impossible standard that will cause you unnecessary strain. Give yourself a break and concentrate on what's important. Get in a cleaner, mother’s help to help you with the laundry, house-cleaning, and household work. It will be money well spent. Fast food and ready meals are not poisonous. 10. Occasionally pamper yourself with me time Consider lighting some candles or josh sticks, put in some bath oil and grab your favourite magazine. As most kids hate the bathroom you should be undisturbed. 11. Plan time without the kids. Eat some chocolates, read the newspaper or a book, go to a movie, visit a new restaurant, or go to a museum and relieve some stress. Escape. 12. Go on a course. There are many courses to assist with everything from cookery, through home economics to child psychology How To Choose Quality Child Care 1. Is the carer trained and/or experienced? 2. Have you spoken in person or got reports on at least one (preferably two) parents who've used the carer and said good things about her or him? 3. Does the carer respond to your child as an individual and communicate well with you? Are you and your child happy and appreciated? 4. Is she or he willing to help you continue your child's routine with things such as sleep, food or any special needs? 5. Is she willing to fit in with your ideas on discipline, toilet teaching, sweets and other issues? 6. Does she or he obviously like children and enjoy caring for them? Copyright Amie Porter