CCFC Guide to Commercial-Free Holidays

Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood
November 23, 2009

Frazzled? Cranky? Anxious?

Overspent?

Looking for respite from commercialized holidays?

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Supreme Court Weighs Life Sentences For Juveniles

by Nina Totenberg
National Public Radio
November 9, 2009

Retribution versus the possibility of redemption were at the core of Supreme Court arguments Monday in two cases testing whether it is unconstitutionally cruel and unusual punishment to sentence a juvenile to life in prison without parole — for a crime that does not involve a death.


Florida leads the nation in sentencing juveniles to life in prison without parole for non-homicide crimes. Nationally, of 111 such cases, 77 are in the Sunshine State.


So it is fitting that the cases both came from Florida. One involves a 13-year-old convicted of rape; the other, a 16-year-old convicted of armed robbery...

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Lullabies Behind Bars

by Beth Schwartzapfel, from Ms.
Utne Reader
March-April 2009

In a few innovative prisons, babies find a safe haven with their moms...

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Early Childhood and After School Appropriations Update

National Women's Law Center
August 2009

The Senate expects to take its bill to the floor in September. (The 2009 federal fiscal year runs out on September 30.) Some programs did not receive increases of significant increases compared to current levels because they were included in the ARRA (stimulus) legislation that covers fiscal years 2009 and 2010.

Highlights of the bills include:

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Clowns spark laughter among children living in distressed regions

by Carmel Wroth
August 2009 issue
Ode Magazine

The word "clown" has gotten a bad rap, according to Moshe Cohen, founder of the U.S. branch of Clowns Without Borders. The group sends volunteers to entertain children in post-conflict zones and other distressed regions. "Clowning is not just something that's funny," Cohen says, "but anything that's uplifting or brings warmth." Clowns Without Borders, which has branch organizations in nine countries, tries to improve the psychological health of people living through traumatic circumstances such as wars and natural disasters. "It's about releasing psychic tension through laughter," says Cohen.

Tortell Poltrona founded the organization in Barcelona in 1993. The group's first performance–in a refugee camp in the former Yugoslavia–drew an audience of nearly 700 children. Today, the organizations have collectively gone on some 300 expeditions and performed for over 1 million children. Though shows are primarily for children, Cohen says adults in a camp or village often come, too. "There's an incredible sense of wonder of a whole community laughing together," he says...

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Obesity Risk Reduced With Water Fountains in Schools

By Derek Markham
Eco Child’s Play
posted at Care2 blog Apr 18, 2009

The one year study, published in Pediatrics, weighed 2nd and 3rd graders in socially deprived areas and interviewed them about their water consumption. In schools in the intervention group, water fountains were added and four lessons were presented to the kids about the health benefits of water consumption. Water flow from the fountains was also measured...

Study: Lead Threatens Brains of School-Age Children, Not Just Toddlers

By Dan Shapley
The Daily Green
May 18, 2009

Parents have long been cautioned to pay close attention to their children's blood lead levels before the age of six, because that's when children are most vulnerable to the damage from lead poisoning. New research suggests the risk of permanent brain damage, learning and behavioral problems may be most acute at the later end of that range, not at age two, as current public health guidelines seem to suggest.

The Food Project

by John Wang
Yes! Magazine
Spring, 2009

Since 1991, The Food Project has built a national model of engaging young people in personal and social change through sustainable agriculture. Each year, they work with over a hundred teens and thousands of volunteers to farm on 31 acres in rural Lincoln, MA and on several lots in urban Boston. They focus on identifying and transforming a new generation of leaders by placing teens in unusually responsible roles, with deeply meaningful work.

Each season, The Food Project grows nearly a quarter-million pounds of food without chemical pesticides, donating half to local shelters. The remainder of the produce is sold throuh Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) crop “shares” and farmers’ markets. Locally, they also partner with urban gardeners to help them remediate their lead-contaminated soil and grow healthier food...

TAKE OUR DAUGHTERS AND SONS TO WORK DAY

April 23 is "Take Our Daughters And Sons To Work Day," so mark your calendars! This day serves as a unique opportunity to empower young children and give them tools for the future. Learn more about what you can do to help children in your community.

TreeHugger Introduces WeeHugger!

We are so pleased to announce WeeHugger, a great new site full of ideas to keep children happy, busy and productive. In these tough times everyone has to pitch in and contribute and children have so much to offer. And they love to work at things, often spending hours on the same activity, no matter how repetitive and inane it seems to us. Just look at video games! Why not use our site to learn how put that incredible energy to work...

How to Go Green: Kids' Toys

Planet Green
Sean Fisher

It's a little cliché but true nonetheless, your children and your children's children will inherit the world that we create today. So, the stuff we give them shouldn't make life any harder on them in the future. If that alone isn't enough, how about the fact that your child will, more likely than not, chew everything edible and non-edible in his/her sight. Now there's motivation to make sure your child's playthings are green and healthy! Here we'll give you the scoop on how to find more sustainable and less toxic toys for your little TreeHugger so you can do good for your child and the environment.

Kids Eat Vegetables with Cool Names

ScienceDaily Mar. 4, 2009

Do you have a picky preschooler who's avoiding their vegetables? A new Cornell University study shows that giving vegetables catchy new names – like X-Ray Vision Carrots and Tomato Bursts – left preschoolers asking for more...