NHL better listen to kids

Kids love action and adventure. They prefer snowboarding over baseball. It's about moving fast and taking chances. So you would think kids love watching hockey. Few mainstream sports offer the kind of action and adventure as hockey. So I took a little poll of a dozen Newburgh Free Academy hockey players. Who better to gauge hockey's popularity than young hockey players? Three of the 12 players interviewed watched the NHL All-Star game. Six of the 12 watch the NHL with any kind of regularity. The NHL better listen to the kids. They give the league its only chance of becoming some kind of major sport. This was supposed to be a breakout year for the NHL and for hockey. Changing rules and enforcing other rules were supposed to add interest. Only another layer of questions has been added.

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Dentists to give kids reason to smile

February is Dental Health Awareness Month. To kick off a month of promoting good oral health care, the South Carolina Dental Association (SCDA) is donating a day of caring for the dental needs of underprivileged children. Friday is Give Kids A Smile Day. Nearly 300 local dentists, hygienists and dental assistants will provide cleanings, sealants and restorative care to needy children at designated clinic sites across the state. Some of the sites include Midlands Technical College in Columbia; Florence-Darlington Technical College; Greenville Technical College; Aiken Technical College; Spartanburg Technical College; Palmetto Health Dental Clinic/Richland Hospital Campus; Tri-County Technical College; Medical University of SC Dental Clinic, Charleston. Many dentists in private clinics will also welcome Give Kids A Smile children at various locations around the state.

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Nickelodeon builds virtual community for kids

MTV Networks' kid-centric powerhouse will on Tuesday (January 30) launch Nicktropolis, an online environment for youngsters to chat, play games and watch video amid branded properties. In Nicktropolis, kids can customise the appearance of an avatar, the onscreen character with which they navigate a digital world complete with its own currency. The environment includes branded regions like Nicktoon Boulevard, where surfers can visit rooms inspired by such Nick shows as "SpongeBob SquarePants" and "Danny Phantom." Avatars can interact with icons representing characters from the shows or cue up episodes for viewing. Nicktropolis is a continuation of Nickelodeon's push in recent years into more interactive programming online. With the younger demos it targets emerging as the first generation to be as comfortable with the PC as the TV, Nick has put increasing emphasis on Nick.com and successive versions of a broadband player, TurboNick.

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Less of Omega- 3 in Obese Children

Swedish researchers have found out that consuming the right type of fat may actually keep child obesity at bay. Obese children are habituated to consume lesser quantities of unsaturated fat and very little omega-3. A study on 200 healthy children in the age group of four was undertaken by scientists at Goteborg University. These children belong to families with good socio-economic background. This study revealed that 23% of the children belong to an overweight category and 2% come under obese category. Children who consumed less fat had higher BMI readings and were heavier than the ones who had more fat. It was also found out that the heavier children had less of omega-3. Their eating habit was far from the set guidelines. When 400 grams of fruits and vegetables are required per day, these children consumed only 140 grams.

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Children pick up parents' behavior

Children living in a home with an alcoholic adult are twice as likely to engage in risky behaviors as they grow up, according to a national and state report. As children witness multiple adult dysfunctions, they will cope by overeating, smoking, becoming promiscuous or using drugs and alcohol. For children exposed to adults going through severe psychological stress from mental illness or substance abuse, they tend to have higher rates of divorce, unemployment, criminal histories and domestic violence. "Americans think that children are resilient and can get over bad things that happen to them," said Anne Roberts, executive director of the Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy. "But what we are seeing is that adverse childhood experiences are difficult for children to come through and are interrelated.

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Women 'birthing machines' says Japan's health minister

JAPAN'S health minister has provoked a storm of protest after he described women as "birth-giving machines" in a speech he gave on the country's falling birthrate. Hakuo Yanagisawa made the remarks in a speech he gave on Saturday as the government announced a council to draw up new strategies to tackle the country's shrinking population. .

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Details in death of child may be opened

A federal magistrate must decide whether to unseal what's been called "lurid and inflammatory" admissions contained in a plea agreement of a woman who pleaded guilty to murder in the beating death of her 5-year-old stepdaughter. Federal Magistrate Judge Leslie Kobayashi heard arguments on the request by The Honolulu Advertiser to make public the sealed portions of Delilah S. Williams' plea agreement. Williams' defense lawyer and the federal prosecutor on Dec. 6 requested that a seven-page section of her agreement be sealed, a request Kobayashi granted. Williams pleaded guilty for her role in the July 16, 2005 death of Talia Williams. Advertiser attorney Jeffrey Portnoy argued that the defense attorneys and prosecution failed to establish why the admissions should remain confidential, particularly when the media has already reported the allegations surrounding the child's death due to "battered child syndrome." The defense and prosecution argued that the disclosure would jeopardize the rights of a fair trial for Delilah Williams' husband, Naeem Williams, a co-defendant who faces the death penalty if convicted of murdering his daughter when he goes to trial scheduled for October this year.

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Child pornography law coming

With paedophiles and other sex devils using technology, particularly Internet chat rooms and instant messengers, to lure persons into sex traps, calls have come for legislation to protect minors and greater public education on technology. Mary Clarke, the Children's Advocate, says, "There certainly needs to be more regularisation of the IT (information technology) sector, especially as it relates to children." Similarly, Errol Anderson, president of the Jamaica Computer Society, says he would support legislation that would make criminal, persons who pose as teenagers in chat rooms and on instant messengers in order to lure minors into sexual encounters. "Such law is something we need to enact as soon as we can," says Mr. Anderson. He believes children make up a vast number of Internet users, and notes that a lot of them are often unsupervised.

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Child care foes face off again over tax-break plan

Some families with a stay-at-home parent say they should be able to split their incomes to reduce taxes. Opponents say the plan, which would cost the treasury billions, would mostly benefit the upper classes The new frontier in the battle over child care begins this week in Parliament's venerable West Block, the dust still swirling from the old frontier fight over $100-a-month payments for children under six. .

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Couple a 'positive influence' on kids

And although the couple has no children of their own, since September a significant amount of their time outside of work is spent with kids. It was a Sunday morning in late September and Ray was out in the neighborhood mowing a lawn when one of the boys in the neighborhood come up and asked if he could help. After the two raked the lawn, the boy asked Ray if he could help fix his bicycle. In the days and months that have followed, Ray and Retha have been introduced to the boy's family, friends, cousins and neighbors. Now the Haases spend time with 12 to 15 local kids, taking them to New Life Community Church for youth group on Sundays and taking trips together such as going to see planes at the airport, watching for deer and looking at Christmas lights. Since the first boy asked for help with his bicycle, Ray started to ask people at church, work and Habitat for Humanity for unused bicycles.

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Mom needs affordable home to get kids back

A 25-year-old Edmonton mom who's trying to regain custody of her four kids from Children's Services is doing everything right, her lawyer says. After separating from her husband with whom she had a stormy relationship, Roxanne is staying sober and undergoing counselling for a variety of issues, including anger management, explained Vic Findlater. But there's one final stumbling block. She can't find any affordable housing and is currently living out of a west-end hotel. "I'm very proud of this young lady. This lady has turned her life around," Findlater told the Sun. .

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New activities for Cool Kids

Cool Kids Wednesday, sponsored by Smart Start and community donations, will hold the following events at the Little River Family Resource Center, 8307 Roxboro Road. Suggested donation is $3-$5.* Feb. 7: Frozen Treasure Dig - Dig through ice as it melts and try to figure out how to get the "treasures" out.* Feb. 14: Happy Valentine's Day - make Valentines for your special someone.* Feb. 21: Rainbow Stew - Make a squeezable mixture that allows children to play with color mixing and "squoosh" as much as they'd like with no mess.* Feb. 28: Ocean in a Bottle - Make an ocean bottle to take home that will be fun for days to come.For more information, call 471-3231 or e-mail Melissa Gibbs at treefrg@netzero.com. .

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Report says area children faring worse

On several measures of well-being, Cape Girardeau County's children are faring worse than they did in 2001, according to the latest Missouri Kids Count report, released Thursday by Citizens for Missouri's Children. The number of Cape Gir?ardeau County children receiving free or reduced price lunches at school, the number born to mothers without high school diplomas and the number involved in child abuse or neglect cases were all up in 2005, the year the new ratings are based on, the child advocacy group reported. The good news is that generally the county is better off than most in the state, but the county's overall ranking fell from 25th last year to 30th this year. The Cape Girardeau County ranking is the best in the region. The most dramatic change in ranking took place in Perry County, which moved from 75th in 2005 to 34th in the 2006 ratings on the strength of declines in the births to mothers without a high school diploma, a reduction in the dropout rate for high school students and a decline in births to teen mothers.

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Are children safe at area schools?

An authority figure at a school, someone who once had students' trust, is accused of being a sexual predator. In the past six weeks, these stories sound particularly familiar in the Inland Valley. Since Dec. 14, four adults have been arrested on suspicion of sexual or lewd misconduct with minors. Three of them were teachers, one a coach. The arrests have prompted many frustrated parents to wonder what kind of place schools have become and how safe their children are behind classroom doors. They are understandable questions, but local experts believe the recent spate of arrests is a sign that the public is identifying and aggressively investigating child predators more, and not necessarily evidence that incidents are occurring more often. "This is not a huge new problem, but rather part of the human condition," said Norm Dollar, deputy director of the San Bernardino County Department of Children's Services.

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Pledge to disabled children reaffirmed by Treasury's Ed Balls

A Treasury minister yesterday reiterated the government's commitment to improving the lot of disabled children and their families in the next comprehensive spending review. Economics secretary Ed Balls, a prominent champion of disabled children, laid out how the current Treasury-led review of children and young people's services which will feed into the review in the summer, may benefit the group. .

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Child protection amendments stall

Legislators stalled an effort to bring Utah's child welfare rules for foster children laws in line with federal standards on Wednesday. House Bill 245, which enacts provisions in the federal Adam Walsh Child Protection Act, would add a layer of background checks and exclusions for potential foster parents. Some people are concerned about the bill because it could cause a delay in the placement of children into foster care. "This is prior federal legislation, and should have been included in ours, but we just haven't done it," said the bill's sponsor Rep. Merlynn Newbold, R-South Jordan. The bill would require the fingerprinting of potential foster parents for an FBI criminal background check. Potential foster parents also would be subject to a check against the child abuse and neglect registry in every state they have resided in for the past five years.

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Lost child found safe and sound

A three year old child, who temporarily wandered away from his home in Mayo, was found safe, but hungry, approximately three-fourths to one mile in the woods nearby. The child went missing on Tuesday, Jan. 16, at approximately 10:30 a.m., found approximately one half hour later, according to the Lafayette County Sheriff's Office (LCSO).LCSO personnel were quickly on the scene frantically searching for the child The Mayo Correctional Institution K-9 Unit was dispatched to provide assistance in the search and rescue.Before the MCI K-9 Unit arrived, the child was successfully located and brought back to his family.Sheriff Carson McCall recently stated that he commends everyone who became involved, determined to find the child no matter how long it took. - Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.

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Crime victim gets child-support check

Mary Barry thought the state's Victims of Crime Compensation Board was wrong to deny her child-support claims. She told her story to The Press of Atlantic City and convinced the board she was right. Barry's former husband allegedly stabbed her outside her Somers Point home in September 2005. The board initially denied her ensuing claims for child-support compensation, but has now reversed its decision and overturned precedent, paying Barry and opening the door to support future victims with derelict former spouses. The former husband, Brian Hoffman, had not paid child support to Barry for more than 10 years before the crime. Before Barry's case, board practice was to reject child-support compensation if victims had not been receiving entitled payments at the time of the crime, a frequent situation for victims, board Chairman Edward G.

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‘Gen We’: Today’s kids and parents happy to consume, create media ...

The parents of Gen We are also comfortable with the ubiquity of advertising and media, as well as technology. And they are encouraging their kids to understand it and learn how to customize it for their own use. "Parents of Gen We's don't see technology as the enemy and don't need to moderate it as much: They see it (as a way to) help them with parenting. They see it as a bonding experience," Robinson said. "As a kind of media Sherpa, they're encouraging kids to not just absorb what media tells you, but to think about how you can change it." Although television is far from going the way of the betamax, with TiVo, downloadable movies and YouTube, the viewing experience is now more interactive and customizable. According to a 2004 study of viewing habits, kids spend an average of three hours a day watching TV, the same amount from five years earlier.

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Cookbooks to light a fire under creative kids

Getting youngsters into the kitchen to help prepare meals and master some survival skills need not turn into a culinary tug-of-war -- if the right incentives are used. Kid friendly cookbooks will help ease the transition from table to kitchen for those young people who wish to lend a hand when it comes to planning and preparing meals. • "Kids Cook 1-2-3" (Bloomsbury, ages 9 and up, $17.95) by Rozanne Gold combines lavish illustrations with more than 100 healthy and mouthwatering recipes. By focusing on recipes that use only three ingredients, chef Rozanne Gold simplifies the process and assures young cooks success on their initial foray into the kitchen. There are great ideas here for breakfast, lunch and dinner, as well as snacks and delicious desserts.

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Super Franks keeps kids, adults happy

PLEASANTON — Some people spend half their lives dreaming about owning a particular kind of business before actually even thinking of making it a reality. But for Frank Tate, his new business started out as a joke. There weren't any longtime, lofty dreams, just a joking challenge from his wife. After yet another trip to Chuck E. Cheese ended up in a headache — and missing baseball playoffs on television — Tate's wife dared him to do better. Only kidding, Tate began to tell his friends how he was going to open a family entertainment center that was fun for all family members. He joked that it would be called "Super Franks." But his friends didn't think he was so crazy. Two years later, his "joke" is now reality. "This is a dare gone wild," said Tate, a Lafayette resident.

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