An innovative concept of child care by SOS Children’s Villages of India!
February 12, 2008 by user2 · Leave a Comment
“Giving a home and family to an abandoned child”- This is the aim and distinct concept of SOS Children’s Villages to shape both the present and future of a child who has been deserted by his or her own family.
“Poverty and lack of awareness” are among the major reasons that lead to millions of Indian children being abandoned every single year by their own parents. Their future ends up either by living on the street or working in factories and mines in harmful environment or getting exposed to sexual harassment in a brothel. Their future is enclosed in a world where there is no place for terms like ‘family’, ‘mother care’, ‘siblings love’ or ‘education’.
However, there are many non-government organizations running programs to bring back their childhood and get that love and affection which we get from our family. Among these, SOS Children’s Villages of India is one such name that is a reason behind a smile on the face of millions of destitute children of India.
The term ‘abandoned’ is replaced with ‘blessing’ when a deserted child gets the haven of SOS Village. SOS Children’s Villages of India is a non-government child welfare organization who laid its foundation in 1964. Through its villages spread nationwide, the organization is reaching to several forsaken child of India.
What a child eyes are searching out at a tender age? No doubt, home, warmth of parent’s love, care of siblings and the most important education. SOS Children’s Villages of India is providing the same to millions of abandon children of India.
Recently I made a visit to SOS Children’s Villages of India in Bawana. Their home based concept of child care has taken a shape of 20 villages in the haven where every basic need of a child is fulfilled, and is given a platform standing on which the child grows up as an independent individual.
These 20 villages are not facilities rather 20 families where every child enjoys a home environment, and is nurtured by his or her loving mother (SOS ladies working voluntarily and taking care of these children) and grow up with his brothers and sisters (who are also destitute children). A one glance of such children enjoying every moment of his or her childhood under the social and homely environment reflects their safe and secured future.
The village looks after the growth of small children at this SOS kindergarten, who are shifted to SOS youth house in Sonipat, India for vocational or higher education. The same affection and care given to the children along with a mother looking after them left me overwhelmed. What touched me most is the bonding that all of them shared with their virtual family, which has now become a reality of their life. They are as much attached to each other as we all are with our mothers and siblings. All families staying here have their own schedule, children study in both boarding and day schools. Apart from the 20 family homes, a dispensary, one kindergarten, small library, learning center, community house, a store and staff residences are all that makes the new world for these children. I was amazed when I got to know that uptil now there have been 140 marriages that have been solemnized here.
Their efforts do not here end only. Among their child welfare programs, nutritional and health support, career consultation and job placement programs are among the actively played programs by the organization. The Indian Government has also shown its support for the concept by exempting tax on the donations that will be extended to the organization.
Nevertheless, a lot has been done but still the organization has a lot more to tread on this path of child care which is only possible with our contribution. Our support indeed can make the life of a child to blossom once again. We can also express our care to such children in the form of individual sponsorships, contribution to the education fund or simply by making a donation for an overall development of the children.
Cold Weather Fire Safety Tips
February 4, 2008 by user2 · 3 Comments
Child safety includes safety from home fires. Fire, fire in YOUR home, is one of the main home based dangers to children.
This time of year many of us are warming ourselves from the January chill and its a great time for you to check your home for maximum fire safety. Fireplaces, space heaters, stoves and furnaces should all be checked and in good working order.
Make sure all smoke detectors are in good working order. Have them on every level of your home. Put fresh batteries in each one and test them. If you have fuel burning systems use carbon monoxide detecors as well.
Furnaces
Have your furnace inspected once a year to ensure that it is in good working condition. Make sure all controls and emergency shutoffs are in proper working condition. Look at the walls and ceiling near the furnace and the chimney line for discolored areas or areas hot to the touch which could mean additional pipe insulation or clearance may be required. Flues and pipe seams should be well supported and free of holes and cracks. Soot along or around seams may be an indicator of a leak.
Keep trash and other combustible materials away from the heating system. If repairs or adjustments are needed always use a qualified furnace repair group. Furnaces are nothing for amateurs to mess around.
Heaters
With electric heaters, be sure not to overload the circuit. Avoid using electrical space heaters in bathrooms or other areas where they may come in contact with water.
Make sure a fuel burning heater has an emergency shut off in case the heater is tipped over and use them with proper room venting. In bedrooms, be sure there is proper ventilation to prevent a buildup of carbon monoxide. Burning fuel (coal, kerosene, or propane) can produce deadly fumes. Keep kerosene, or other flammable liquids stored in approved metal containers, in well ventilated storage areas, outside of the house. When refueling an oil or kerosene unit make sure it is off and cool, avoid overfilling. Refueling should be done outside of the home. Keep young children away from space heaters especially when they are wearing night gowns or other loose clothing that can be easily ignited.
Fireplaces
Do not use flammable liquids to start or accelerate any fire. Keep a glass or metal screen in front of the fireplace opening to prevent embers or sparks from jumping out, unwanted material from going in, and help prevent the possibility of burns to occupants. Keep flammable materials away from your fireplace mantel. A spark from the fireplace could easily ignite theses materials.
Before you go to sleep, be sure your fireplace fire is out. NEVER close your damper with hot ashes in the fireplace. A closed damper will help the fire to heat up again and will force toxic carbon monoxide into the house. If synthetic logs are used, follow the directions on the package. NEVER break a synthetic log apart to quicken the fire or use more than one log at a time. They often burn unevenly, releasing higher levels of carbon monoxide.
Here’s a free checklist for home safety brought to you by COUNTRYFinancial. We partner with them to increase public awareness of fire dangers to children. Their goal is to help more families be fire safe. To us, prevention is the buzzword of the day. CLICK HERE for your tips.
Finally, most fire victims are caught unprepared when disaster hits. Its a good idea to always have an updated list of your personal items in case of a fire. We have a checklist you can download and use to keep track of your belongings.
Preston Jones and Joyce Jackson are child safety experts in the San Francisco Bay Area, California, USA. Keeping Kids Safe is a comprehensive personal safety program covering the full gamut of the things kids need to know today to be safe in their world for their entire lifetime. Their entire APPROACH to total child safety is UNIQUE. One, they teach kids to keep themselves safe. Two, they teach parents to reinforce their safety techniques at home by making families better with safer kids. For more information go to . www.KeepingKidsSafeToday.com.
Internet Safety Gets A Boost On MySpace
January 27, 2008 by user2 · 2 Comments
Internet safety gets a boost this month. MySpace, “the place for friends” is working hard to distance itself from being identified as a place for pedophiles and pornography. While we know dangers to children online lurk everywhere, the new legislation in the U.S. targets MySpace in particular.
We think it will help. Here’s what happened. On January 14 all 50 Attorneys General signed a document under which MySpace agrees to make several changes. The changes are primarily for protecting the younger kids, the minors who are members.
Some of the things MySpace has agreed to do include:
• improving software that identifies underage users
• allowing parents to send their child’s e-mail address to the site so MySpace can restrict the child from signing in
• creating a closed “high school” section that makes it harder for adults to contact children
• dedicating resources to educating children and parents about internet safety
There are additional things they will do that include preventing the site from harboring child pornography rings. This will occur by MySpace obtaining and constantly updating a list of pornographic web sites and regularly severing any links between them and MySpace. MySpace is also retaining a contractor to identify and eliminate inappropriate images.
Did MySpace step up and do all this willingly? No. It strictly comes from the pressure of Federal prosecution. Several states have been seeking to sue MySpace using a lawsuit that attacked the tobacco industry for marketing a dangerous product to kids as precedent. While MySpace relented under this threat, the changes for our kids are a positive thing. Who cares today why they are making the changes. Its great they are.
For now, these changes are just for MySpace. We all know it is not the only social networking playground for pedophiles. It is just the most visible in the news. It is not any more dangerous than other social networking sites, it just gets more use with its 100 million visitors.
Be smart as a parent with your child. They can be safer online if you, the parent are smart about teaching them the basics of online safety. If you’re completely trusting on the internet, no matter what your age, you’re endangering yourself and your child.
The old adage, “Better safe than sorry” is a good rule of thumb when on the web. And, there many better ways at safety than making more laws. However, when people are aware they’re less likely to be targets. While mandated, this has got to have a positive impact on safer kids online. No matter what states, officials or MySpace do , the most important thing for you is parental guidelines, rules and controls for your child online.
Preston Jones and Joyce Jackson are child safety experts in the San Francisco Bay Area, California, USA. Keeping Kids Safe is a comprehensive personal safety program covering the full gamut of the things kids need to know today to be safe in their world for their entire lifetime. Their entire APPROACH to total child safety is UNIQUE. One, they teach kids to keep themselves safe. Two, they teach parents to reinforce their safety techniques at home by making families better with safer kids. For more information go to . www.KeepingKidsSafeToday.com.
Wheel Safety – The Hidden Dangers
January 21, 2008 by user2 · Leave a Comment
We had a young man show up in our safety classes this past week with a staples in his head and wrist in a cast. He was all of 7 years old. When asked what happened he replied, “ I fell.” Mom rushed over, interrupted her son, and proceed to tell us to take it easy on him in class because of his head injury. She then proceeded to sit for an hour during class on the sidelines and chat away on her cell phone.
What happened is that the boy, upon receiving g a pair of shoes with wheels on the bottom, fell while scooting around on the wheel part of the shoe. His feet went out from underneath him and back he went and smacked his head. He had no helmet on. The wrist he used to cushion his fall broke.
Every week we have a 5 minute “Chalk Talk” with the kids at the end of class. It usually covers some additional aspect of safety, such as fire, bike or water safety for the kids in class. This night it was wheel safety, including shoes with wheels and protection. From the sidelines, Mom was still on the phone, laughing and animated with conversation.
“If it has wheels under it you wear a helmet on it!” We teach the kids this witty little saying. It true. Anything with wheels requires safety headgear for any child. This includes bikes, skateboards, scooters, inline skates and shoes with wheels, called heelies.
Some smart kids will say, “What about cars?! Cars have wheels!” And, we’ll reply, the roof is the “helmet.” Make sure you have your seat belt fastened, too!
Hopefully, we can make a point with a child, we can catch formulate ideas in a manner they can understand. Hopefully, we can get this young man, who was very, very fortunate to not be injured in a worse way, to understand what we are saying and put his helmet on next time. There will be a next time.
As for his Mom, she is the real problem. We don’t know if we can reach her. It is her responsibility to make sure her son wears a helmet, understands why he wears it and the danger with heelies. On the other hand, she also needs to put down her cell phone and pay attention. She also needs to allow her son to speak for himself. Mom needs a good does of waking up about her lack of parenting skills.
We did take her aside and mention a few things along these lines to her as they both left class. We take our business seriously and we just had to tell her about a few safety practices. We hope they come back to class next week. It would not surprise us if they did not. Total child safety is about parents that understand they are responsible for their child’s safety.
Enough of this…..heelies are wheeled vehicles for your child, too. Have them wear a helmet. Better yet, leave the wheeled shoes at the store. Yes, we get a little crazy when it comes to keeping kids safe!
Preston Jones and Joyce Jackson are child safety experts in the San Francisco Bay Area, California, USA. Keeping Kids Safe is a comprehensive personal safety program covering the full gamut of the things kids need to know today to be safe in their world for their entire lifetime. Their entire APPROACH to total child safety is UNIQUE. One, they teach kids to keep themselves safe. Two, they teach parents to reinforce their safety techniques at home by making families better with safer kids. For more information go to . www.KeepingKidsSafeToday.com.
Healthy Kids Are Safer Kids
We spent the day yesterday as an invited guest at a local Health Fair here in northern California. What? Child safety experts at a health fair?!
Yes, we did, for several reasons. One, we provide safety programs inside YMCA’s. The focus for the “Y’s” are health, family and kids. It’s a natural organization for us to partner with as we can fold into the families and kids that are members.
Two, the Health Fair was sponsored by Kaiser Permanente, a Health Care provider that has a wonderful and successful “Thrive”campaign throughout California. Three, we believe healthy kids can protect themselves even better that kids that are not. As athletes, we understand the value of good health and tie it closely into our over child safety for a lifetime ideas.
As part of this, parents need to be their healthiest, too. In addition to chatting with many wonderful people we met, we handed out a small card that Mom and Dad can tape to their refrigerator door. It listed our “Stress Minute Managers” for parents.
Stress is one of the biggest and most common things that can and will destroy health and happiness, and do it very quickly. By managing stress effectively, parents can be healthier and manage their families and child’s safety better, too.
Here’s our Stress One Minute Manager suggestions:
• Breathe!
Breathe in deeply through your nose and let breath out slowly through your mouth. Repeat at least three times.
• Let The Problem Go!
Worrying about something will not change it. Every problem has a solution. To and it you need to be relaxed and have clarity of mind.
• Stretch and Move!
Most often stress is manifested through tension in the muscles in our neck and shoulders.
When you feel tight in these areas stretch in slow movements while using the breathing technique.
• Find A Quiet Place!
When you feel your emotions are “out of control” remove yourself from the situation and and a quiet place where you can regain your composure. Try not to let your emotions override your common sense.
• Walk!
Take a 30 minute walk three times a week. Engaging in a regular exercise activity at least three times a week will help control muscle tension thereby helping you effectively manage your stress level.
Many psychologists and doctors that came by to chat with us took stacks of these little cards with them to give out to their patients. We find them so easy to use we want to make them available to you, too.
CLICK HERE FOR YOUR STRESS MINUTE MANAGER
They are 3 per page. Print it out, card stock is best. You’ll have to slice it. Tape one up to your refrigerator door or place it in your office. Give one to a friend. When you manage your stress, your life and the life of your kids and family will be better for it, too.
Preston Jones and Joyce Jackson are child safety experts in the San Francisco Bay Area, California, USA. Keeping Kids Safe® is a comprehensive personal safety program covering the full gamut of the things kids need to know today to be safe in their world for their entire lifetime. Their entire APPROACH to total child safety is UNIQUE. One, they teach kids to keep themselves safe. Two, they teach parents to reinforce their safety techniques at home by making families better with safer kids. For more information go to www.KeepingKidsSafeToday.com.
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