NewsBites for Kidz
Oct 27-
This is what kids did all around the world last week
Harry Potter
causing headaches?
Survival courses for rich kids
Rich kids causing school problem: police
Street children help other kids access health services
News for Kidz Site Map Earlier NewsBites
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Harry Potter causing headaches?
A
Call them Hogwarts headaches, named after the wizard
school that Harry attends.
Dr. Howard Bennett of George Washington University
Medical Centre wrote in a letter to this week’s New England Journal of Medicine
that the three children, ages 8 to 10, experienced a dull headache for two or
three days.
Each had spent many hours reading Harry Potter and the
Order of the
After ruling out other potential causes, Bennett told
his patients to give their eyes a rest. But the spell cast by the book was
clearly too powerful.
“The obvious cure for this malady—that is, taking a
break from reading—was rejected by two of the patients,” Bennett said, adding
that the children took acetaminophen instead.
In each case, the headache went away only after the
patient turned the final page.
Order of the
“If this escalation continues as Rowling concludes the
saga, there may be an epidemic of Hogwarts headaches in the years to come,”
Bennett predicted.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/xml/uncomp/articleshow?msid=258239
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http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/xml/uncomp/articleshow?msid=263748&Curpg=2
Survival courses for rich kids
ROBERT WINNETT,The
Sunday Times,
NOVEMBER 02-For the child born into untold riches, facing the pressures of too many luxury foreign holidays, a top education and a gilded future: help is at hand.
Private banks have introduced exclusive services for the offspring of their multi-millionaire clients which
teach future heirs how to deal with the burden of being seriously wealthy.
Rich Kids (1979)
Children worth tens or, in some cases, hundreds of millions of pounds are to be sent on courses or enjoy mentoring from private bankers on how to deal with the “emotional, social and psychological” aspects of
being super-rich.
The new “affluenza” courses, launched by investment banks including Citigroup and JP Morgan, cover
topics such as sifting “real friends or partners” from gold-diggers.
They also teach children how to develop a sense of “purpose and identity” separate from that of their
tycoon parents and deal with a “thicket of personal issues” confronting those with millions in the bank.
Citigroup runs its course from a specialist “family advisory practice”
it has set up in its
More than 100 British families have so far indicated that they will take advantage of the exclusive scheme
which aims to help with the “human issues” associated with money. Only the children of clients with more
than pounds 60m are advised to take part.
The bank also caters for teenagers with a series of “one-on-one” mentoring sessions. Families are
encouraged to spend breaks or days out with the bank’s experts who then spend time helping the children.
“There is a potential for conflict when wealth is involved and we can help in the process of raising children
to be responsible with their riches,” said Peter White, an “educator” at Citigroup, who runs the scheme.
“We teach heirs how to live their own life and not someone else’s. The process starts with teenagers whom
we usually meet one-on-one and then develops with group seminars around the world once they are
slightly older,” said White.
The services are primarily aimed at self-made multi-millionaires such as Bernie Ecclestone, the Formula
One racing tycoon, who has three daughters, Sir Richard Branson, who has two children, and Philip Green,
who owns several high street fashion chains. I have taught them to be thrifty,” said Ecclestone’s wife
Slavica. “They are not label heads, they don’t want Gucci or Prada - that is a sickness.”
Green, the sixth wealthiest man in
into a great bucket of money. I just won’t allow it,” he said. “Children need to be taught the value of money
and that is certainly what I have done.”
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http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2003/11/02/pf-244914.html have created a new
breed of problem children, counsellors and police
say. The problem was highlighted in
ago allegedly slit
the throat of a 16-year-old schoolmate. The accused boy’s father told
the media $2,000 was stolen from his son - whom he gives $100 each day in pocket money - and that
it was just boys fighting. Kelley Ng, director of family
and youth counselling for SUCCESS, an agency serving
Chinese immigrants in the Lower Mainland,
said male parents often give money because they don’t know another way to show affection or love for
their kids, many of whom are having a hard time adjusting to life in “It’s (money) psychological
compensation for some parents, especially male parents who don’t know how to express their
concern. It’s their way of demonstrating a lot of care. “Many parents are doing all
right, but many don’t understand the importance of building a relationship with
teens.” Young people who, like the
accused 13-year-old, are going through adolescence after recently immigrating, need someone to talk
to, not money, said Bruce Beairsto, superintendent of
the “In my experience, it’s
trouble. Other kids want to know them for their money, want them to buy things
for them and it can get
really awful where they are subject to extortion or abuse.” Absentee parents add to the
problem in his district, which went from having a few hundred English-as-a-second-language
students to 10,000 in a few years and where 59 per cent of people are visible minorities. Scores of people moved to the regained control of their
territory, their economy would be thrown into chaos. When that didn’t happen, some
returned, leaving their kids alone in their upscale homes to finish school. The children became known as “satellite
kids.” The next wave of satellite
kids now includes those whose parents move the family to get a better
education for their kids. But when one or both parents
are unable to find jobs as lucrative as those in offshore and leave their
children in “We find young kids have
surprising amounts of ready cash,” Beairsto said. “Chinese parents see trees. It’s almost
like a park to them. They perceive it as being enormously safe and quiet, their
kids are getting a good
education. In their perception of things, this all balances out as being good.”
He said parents he’s talked to
view being away from their children as a sacrifice to provide them with a better life. In the worst cases,
arrangements are made for someone as distant as a real estate agent to check in
on them. But Howard Irving, a professor
emeritus at the so-called satellite kids,
said the satellite arrangement isn’t always a problem. He said it can work if
the children had good
relationships with their parents and were well-adjusted before immigrating. But police say it’s easy for
them to fall into trouble. Richmond RCMP Cpl. Peter Thiessen
blames the phenomenon, in part, for
the suburb’s street racing and some of its gang-related problems. “These kids have minimal
supervision and there’s no accountability,” he said. Dealing with it isn’t easy, he
said. “To some degree, it’s cultural
and you have to be careful about singling out groups.” Irving and Beairsto
agreed better links need to be made between Chinese and mainstream social
services and that different
cultural groups need to work on the problems together. “The police can say it’s not a
policing issue, the schools can say it’s not an education issue,” Beairsto said. “This is Canadian
multiculturalism at work and it’s everyone’s issue.” which can be
traumatizing. “A lot of them didn’t
voluntarily come, they were told they had to go and were never helped through
that crisis.” Lots of the parents Ng
counsels at SUCCESS don’t understand what their kids are going through, he
said. Nor do the kids understand
that their parents might be grappling with employment and language stresses. Immigrant children are too
busy trying to fit in to a new culture, learning a new language and trying to figure themselves out
as they grow up. “They’re trying to mix with
friends from different cultures and they are wondering ‘Who am I? Am I Chinese or Canadian.’ “Some act out and in the
extreme cases hurt themselves or somebody else.” ___________________________TOP
http://www.philstar.com/philstar/News200311016305.htm It
has enhanced child participation in bringing health services to urban poor and
street children in Metro Manila. Since the United Nations Convention on the
Rights of Children stressed children’s rights to participate – the project is
an actual embodiment of this right, in the delivery of health services. The
JHWs,also children themselves,
are able to help and reach out to other children by conducting primary health education
sessions and first aid and escorting them to public health centers. The Junior
Health Workers Project utilizes the child-to-child approach in advocating health
issues and practices
among street children and their peers. Childhope Asia
Philippines (CHAP) with the help of its sister NGO, Families and Children for
Empowerment and Development (FCED) is jointly implementing the project. A
Junior Health Worker must be able to meet the following criteria: he/she should
be at least 13-18 years old; have leadership skills; be able to prepare simple
reports; be either male or female; be responsible, talented and patient;
withstand difficult circumstances; be faithful/committed to his/her job and
last but not the least, be sensitive and caring towards other children. These
children are selected from among children who have attended basic training
workshops conducted by street educators, community social workers or health
volunteers. Lota Jane Ofiasa is a 15-year-old girl whose
street family lives in a pushcart located at the back of the Another
JHW, Emily Porciuncula, is a 14-year-old second year
student in Both
Lota Jane and Emily have responded to emergency
cases. When Rolly Jeres, 15
years old, fell and hit his head he felt dizzy and was brought by the two JHWs to the This
is a result of the lessons they have learned from their training as JHWs. ___________________________TOP
By PHILIP RECCHIA, http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/9710.htm If she’s lucky, she
sometimes has Monday night free. But Lindsay is only 10. Experts say a growing
number of young city children have over-scheduled lives that mirror - or
sometimes outdo - their fast-paced parents’ lives. The
practice is launching them headlong into what’s being called the “rug-rat
race.” And that has sparked a
debate over whether it’s good for children to have such busy schedules; or whether “hyper-parents” - eager for their child
to have “perfect” lives - have allowed them to become slaves to prematurely hectic lives. “Hyper-parenting is something
of an epidemic in psychiatry at “An overwhelming number
of parents here are over-scheduled in their own lives, so they project similar behavior onto their children.” A recent study found the
time spent by American kids in structured events like sports and
special-interest classes has doubled over the last 20 years. During the same period,
kids have lost 12 hours a week of free time - including a 25 percent drop in
play time and a 50 percent drop in unstructured
outdoor activities, according to the study by the University of Lindsay’s mom, Amy Katz,
and her dad, Aaron, a Wall Street investment banker, spend much of their time shuttling their daughter to and from school,
soccer practice and games, Hebrew school and other events. Katz says Lindsay does so
many things because it makes her happy. “She doesn’t need
downtime,” Katz said. “She’s happiest when she’s
involved in sports. As much time as I can have her out of the apartment and on a field somewhere, the better.” Katz is quick to add that
Lindsay also loves school and gets top grades in her classes. “My activities
never interfere with my schoolwork, because I use time
management,” Lindsay told The Post. Elaine Goldstein says her
10-year-old daughter, Jane, who attends a busy after-school schedule similar to
Lindsay’s. Goldstein has no problem
with her daughter’s schedule because, she says, all aspects of Jane’s
activities are healthy. “They help her forge
relationships, keep her in good shape and are absolutely manageable. Plus, she’s
got one hour of downtime each evening,” Elaine
said. That’s not enough, say
some parents. Jodi Nass says she eased up on
hyper-parenting last year after daughter Stephanie came home with a “B” on a
test. “Stephanie told me, ‘This
is really good - considering all the activities I have,’ “
said Nass, a hedge-fund manager who moved to “That was when I realized
I’d been over-programming her. She was going along with it, but wasn’t at the
top of her game academically. She’d always been
a straight-A student.” Stephanie, who attends
Horace Mann, a private school in the Riverdale section of The Bronx, has since dropped dance lessons from her schedule - which
still includes tennis and piano - freeing up five after-school hours a week. That time, says her
mother, is better spent “doing homework, playing with friends in the
neighborhood or simply sitting around the house.” Dr. Richard Gallagher,
director of the Parenting Institute at NYU’s uncommon among New York-raised kids. “I’ve seen a number of
kids who’ve said - unsolicited - that they’re involved in so many after-school activities, they can’t focus on anything,” he said. Jane Lopez has a
10-year-old son, Max, who attends the private Packer Collegiate Institute in Heights. She says she’s happy for Max to just
spend time with his family. “Social pressures used to
make me feel guilty, like I don’t do enough for my kids - that
they should be taking squash and French and piano and all
these other things,” said Lopez, a party planner whose husband, Tony, is a corporate lawyer. “But then I saw a friend
whose 5-year-old takes squash and I thought, ‘That’s absurd, this child doesn’t even have the right motor skills yet,’ “ “What’s
most important now is that my kids are happy and relaxed and have a good family.” BETH and Lou Obergh, of Their son recently dumped
competitive sports - 12 hours a week of soccer and karate - and chess from his crammed schedule. “I was so busy that I had
to do my homework at recess,” said Andrew Obergh, 7,
who attends The Beth said she saw instant
benefits from cutting back her son’s organized schedule. “His true interests
emerged - Lego and airplanes,” she said. “Now he has more time for play dates,
spends more time with his sister, and we’re able to
have dinner together as a family every night.” Carmen Gonzales says she
has deliberately not awakened her daughter Miranda for morning basketball practice on some occasions because she felt it
was overloading the 12-year-old’s schedule. “Practice was at Gonzales said. “I knew she’d be
penalized [for not attending practice], but sometimes you have to override the
coaches and just say, ‘That’s enough.’ “ Now in eighth grade at dropped ice hockey, figure skating and
basketball, leaving her with just four hours of soccer a week. “School is enough
pressure, so I try to get my kids to veg out on the
weekends - stay home in their pajamas, play video games, instant-message their
friends. Real loosey-goosey,” said Gonzales. Noted child psychologist
Dr. Alvin Rosenfeld - who wrote “The Over-Scheduled Child: Avoiding the Hyper-Parenting Trap” -
says micro-managing kids can sometimes relegate parents to the roles of agents and chauffeurs. And although children
need some degree of structure in their lives, some kids, if pushed too hard,
can develop depression and attention-deficit
disorder, burn out in college, or even get “dragged down by drugs, alcohol and premature sex.” “Down the road, your kids
will resent you if you don’t step in and help them have a normal, relaxed childhood,” Rosenfeld told The Post. “What they
want more than anything is time with their parents.” ___________________________TOP
Does the opening
of the American Girl store herald
a new era of wholesomeness? http://www.nydailynews.com/city_life/story/132776p-118469c.html she
and her daughter, Serena Kerrigan, were riding home on the M-104 bus. Out of
nowhere, the 4-year-old made
an announcement. Her mother stared
blankly. “I went, ‘What’s that?’ I had no idea,” says Neumeyer,
an MTV producer who’s ordinarily
pretty hip. “Then a woman behind me tapped me on the shoulder and said, ‘Don’t
worry. You’ll know
very soon.’” She wasn’t
kidding. Three American Girl dolls, a dozen American Girl outfits and a shelf
full of American Girl
books later, Serena, now 9, is still a fanatical member of
the American Girl cult. It’s a far-flung network that
lives and breathes these scrub-faced dolls - eight historically based characters
- that have become one of
the biggest gotta-haves since the Cabbage Patch
craze. Gals and Dolls:
Jane Rossman, Rachael Kahtan
and Clara Olshanski
A Doll’s House: Malachia Bembry, 12, above, with Addy Pampered: Emily
Queen’s dolls have received a pampered upbringing. The Place to Be:
The new store on Still doesn’t ring
a bell? Don’t be surprised. The 18-inch creatures exist in their own
girl-centric universe, propelled
to superstardom, despite their $98 price tag and without the traditional toy
industry publicity machine:
American Girl doesn’t advertise. But any pretense
of a below-the-radar kid cult is likely to disappear next saturday, when the company opens
toe-to-toe
with its glitziest neighbors: FAO Schwarz (American Girl wants to be on every
girl’s must-do list); Broadway (the
store has its own 130-seat theater and a live revue written by Gretchen Cryer) and the Plaza (luring erstwhile eloises to skip the Cafe). Heady
stuff for an unapologetically wholesome doll from among
first
through the door. “I can’t wait to
get to the store,” she says, sitting in her bedroom amid posters of Hilary Duff
and Avril Lavigne.
“You can’t have tea in a catalogue. You can’t touch all the stuff in a
catalogue. When I heard they were
coming to That is, until she
discovered that price - a party is $30 a person - is the biggest chink in
American Girl’s pink plastic
armor. “I was upset, so my dad said he’ll take me to the store for the whole
day instead.” The brainchild of
a former educator named Pleasant - really! - Rowland, American Girl landed in
1986, three years
after Cabbage Patch Kids rocked the toy universe. The idea: Each doll would
represent a sliver of American
history. First came Kirsten (the pioneer), Samantha (who
lives in the early 1900s) and Molly (a child
of World War II). They were followed
by Felicity (a daughter of the American Revolution), Addy
(whose family flees slavery), Josefina (a 19th-century
Hispanic girl), Kit (a child of the Depression) and Kaya
(a Nez Perce Indian). “In a make-believe
play world, it would be great if every child could enjoy the dolls,” says
Marlene Hochman,
founder of the Doll and Toy Museum of New York City. “But not every
little girl in will
be able to afford one.” Some, like Rachel Kahtan, take matters into their own hands. To finance her
first American Girl doll, she held
a stoop sale in front of her “It seemed like
the best way to get the most American Girl stuff,” Rachel says, showing off the
doll bed she built
in woodworking class. Listen as Rachel Kahtan, Jane Rossman and Clara Olshansky spread their dolls across Rachel’s living room
floor. “Okay, I’ve got
it!” shouts the intrepid Clara. “Let’s pretend it’s the day after the
Depression! And we’re all gonna celebrate that the
depression is over! YEAH!” And with that, they dive
in, swapping clothes, giggles and
ideas. ___________________________TOP http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/features/story/0,11710,1075336,00.html
Favorite family-friendly museums in Rich kids causing school problem: police
Street children help other kids access health services
How Does One Become A JHW?
Lota Jane And
Emily
The anti-Barbie
BY
MICHELE INGRASSIA
“Mom, I need an American Girl doll!”
