THE RIGHT TO INCLUSIVE, QUALITY EDUCATION

Plan International believes that education should beavailable and accessible to all girls and boys. Every child must be able toaccess and complete an inclusive, quality pre-primary, primary and secondary education in order to meet the Global Goal for education by 2030.

Plan International believes that education should be available and accessible to all girls and boys. Every child must be able to access and complete an inclusive, quality pre-primary, primary and secondary education in order to meet not only the the Global Goal for education, but all Global Goals by 2030.

To achieve this, the international community, local governments and the private sector must fund quality education, to lift up and support the girls and boys who are least likely to be able to access education.

QUALITY EDUCATION FOR GIRLS

Plan International believes that education is the key to unlocking girls’ potential, and one of the most effective interventions for achieving development goals. Every girl has an equal right to complete a quality education, in safe school environments that are free from gender bias. Education must challenge discriminatory social norms and promote gender equality.

Plan International will continue to work to ensure that girls’ education is a priority issue globally and that gender equality is advanced in and through education.

We commit to prioritising the removal of gendered barriers to girls’ access to and completion of education, such as poor sanitation and menstrual hygiene management facilities, early pregnancy and childcare, and child marriage.

INCLUSIVE EDUCATION FOR ALL

Plan International believes that mainstream education systems can and should be adapted to meet the needs of all learners, and should offer learning opportunities for every child. Children with disabilities have an equal right to access an inclusive, quality education, and a right to the support and adaptations necessary to facilitate their learning. 

Likewise, no child should be denied the right to access and complete an inclusive, quality education due to poverty - and recognises that poverty exacerbates the likelihood of exclusion for girls or children with disabilities.

EDUCATION IN EMERGENCIES

Plan International believes that no child should be denied their right to an education due to conflict and disaster. This fundamental right must be protected before, during and after an emergency, including for displaced children, refugees, asylum seekers and internally displaced persons, to ensure educational continuity.

We believe that education in emergencies is crucial to maintaining a sense of normalcy in children’s lives, to provide safe, supportive spaces for children, and for equipping children with the skills and knowledge they need to negotiate their present and future circumstances. Girls’ education during times of crisis is particularly important and can protect them from trafficking, forced marriage and other forms of abuse and exploitation. 

EDUCATION FREE FROM VIOLENCE

Plan International asserts that every child has the right to learn in a safe and secure environment, free from the fear or threat of violence. This is an inseparable aspect of a quality education.

We believe it is unacceptable that any child should be a victim of violence of any description either in school, or on the journey to and from school – including sexual violence or harassment, bullying and intimidation, and corporal punishment. We recognise that school-related gender-based violence is a significant factor preventing girls from accessing and completing school and are committed to eliminating such violence through our advocacy and programming work.

WHAT IS QUALITY EDUCATION COMPRISED OF?

Quality education should provide children and young people with the necessary skills and knowledge, attitudes and behaviours to lead positive and productive lives. Quality education should include not only literacy and numeracy but also wider life skills that empower them to be leaders and change-makers. Comprehensive sexuality education is a key element of quality education and provides girls, in particular, with the skills and knowledge to make decisions about their bodies and futures.

In addition, Plan international recognises that non-formal education can ensure that out-of-school children are able to access opportunities. In some cases non-formal education programs can bridge children back into the formal education system. For young mothers or girls who have been married early, non-formal education can address their unique needs.

In addition, we believe that early childhood care and pre-primary education are vital components of a quality education that are of critical value for the early socialisation of gender equality. A quality education must gender-sensitive at a minimum and aim to be gender transformative by transforming harmful gender stereotypes, norms and biases in schools and in society more broadly.

TOP 10 BEST ONLINE LEARNING TOOLS FOR KIDS IN 2020

One of the most important gifts you can give your child is the gift of knowledge. Parents today are increasingly turning to the Internet for excellent learning programs suitable for children as young as toddlers. It’s not using the computer or tablet as a babysitter, but rather, a desire to help kids become tech-savvy from an early age and to take full advantage of having the World Wide Web at our fingertips.

There are plenty of points to consider when choosing an online learning tool for your child. How old are your kids? What are their academic strengths and weaknesses? How do they learn best? Then, of course, there are the worries all parents have: Is the website safe? How much will it cost?

Methodology:

In our ranking of the 10 best online learning tools for kids, we took into account all of these factors and more:

• We considered the comprehensiveness of an online learning program based on the subject matter covered in the curriculum and any quantitative data to back up the tool’s effectiveness.
• To understand safety, we looked at factors like data collection and encryption and whether the site had advertisements or external links that could lead kids down the wrong path on the Web – possibly to viruses or inappropriate content.
• Activities scores factor in the quantity, quality, variety, and level of interactivity found in an online learning platform’s content.
• Sites with the most high-quality materials and the greatest assortment of content types earned the best scores.
• Parents’ reviews of how much their children enjoyed using the platform played a part in determining their score for the subjective factor of fun.
• Finally, because sticking to a budget is important for families, we consider the price – and more importantly the value – of the online learning tool.

Public-health experts say: Reopen schools! and other commentary

Public-health experts: Reopen Schools!

Though no fans of President Trump, Harvard public-health professors Benjamin Sommers, Joseph Allen, Sarah Bleich and Jessica Cohen agree with him in The Boston Globe: “Schools can — and should — reopen” in the fall. Just “listen to the science,” which shows that the spring school closures have, among other things, “led to months of lost learning and widened gaps in educational achievement.” At the same time, studies show children are “less likely to become seriously ill from COVID-19,” half as likely to “get infected in the first place” and “less likely than adults to” transmit it to others. Yes, schools would need to “implement proven risk-reduction strategies” — but that’s no reason to keep them closed. “Listen to the evidence,” in other words: Let kids learn in person.

Culture critic: A Theocracy of the Woke

“Woke-ism is fast becoming the new state religion,” Ben Weingarten ­laments at Newsweek — “the ultimate tool of cynical, radically leftist power-grabbers.” Its main principle — that “America is a deplorable, irredeemable nation”— isn’t new among leftists, but only recently have our elites “mainstreamed” it. Politicians such as Mayor de Blasio and Gov. Cuomo, among others, have let “the Woke flood the streets” to start “rioting and looting with impunity” while banning Christians and Jews from practicing their religion, and the ideology has even spread to the federal financial and security establishments. Such a situation portends the undermining of our founding principles and “dismantling of our system” — leading, in the end, to “a theocracy of the woke.”

Libertarian: Our Worsening Economic Crisis

New data show that “permanent business closures” are “on the rise ­nationwide, even as consumer activity continues to slowly increase,” ­reports Reason’s Eric Boehm, with even big businesses “now making further cuts.” Restaurants “have been hardest hit.” No matter how much they reopen, after all, “there’s no substitute for a packed house on Friday night,” which is “simply not realistic right now.” Even federal assistance and loans “may end up merely having flattened the curve” of job losses. Worse, we have no solution right now: The economy will only reopen if most Americans “feel safe going out to restaurants and stores again,” which won’t happen “until the number of coronavirus cases and deaths start falling” — “a vicious cycle for the country and death spiral for many businesses.”

Conservative: An Octogenarian Tyranny

“American politics is getting senile,” blasts Daniel McCarthy in The Spectator. Polls show that the public is about to turn its back against President Trump. Yet “his defeat does not promise to be a source of renewal — not when the alternative is a 77-year-old former vice president.” Joe Biden represents and/or outright committed all the major foreign-policy and economic blunders of his generation of establishment leaders. And joining him will be an equally old and discredited Democratic leadership in the House, including “the chamber’s oldest ever Speaker (80-year-old Nancy Pelosi), an even older House majority leader (Steny Hoyer, 81) and a third octogenarian as majority whip (James Clyburn, 80).” Predictably, given the two parties’ aging power base, their programs are downright “stale” and “decrepit.”

Education desk: No to a Federal School Bailout

“Almost half of House Democrats” want “an additional $305 billion for an 18-month ‘stabilization’ fund for K-12 public schools” — a “massive increase in federal taxpayer spending” that’s “at least a year too early for Congress to consider,” economist Benjamin Scafidi worries at The Washington Examiner. “Instead, public schools should follow the lead from the private sector by right-sizing their staffing models,” starting by considering if they really “need to increase staff endlessly.” If they need money after that, they should “rely on state and school-district reserve funding first” — and if all of those sources don’t work out, then Congress can consider a bailout. Instead of asking for a congressional bailout now, though, school districts should “weather the storm” by starting to “rethink their priorities.”

Girl's Education

Every Girl Deserves a Chance to Learn

A girl is not a statistic or a piece of property. She's a child who deserves a future. 

Girls the world over face discrimination – just for being born a daughter and not a son. A girls education is less likely to be valued, and she’s more likely to be forced into early marriage, face violence or be stolen by traffickers. Her childhood cut short – her very life and future at risk.

A girl’s education changes everything. An educated girl is more likely to grow up healthy, safe and empowered to determine the course of her life and future. She’ll decide when she’s ready for marriage and children. She’ll likely send her children to school – and even live a longer life.

We understand the importance of education for girl children. We do whatever it takes to ensure every last child has a chance to grow up healthy, educated and safe – her best chance for a bright future. 

With your help, we can educate girls who may not otherwise have the chance to learn — changing the course of their lives, their children’s lives and the future of their communities.

Schooling does not always lead to learning. Worldwide, there are more non-learners in school than out of school.

What’s more, roughly one in five school-aged children are not in school at all.

Children and adolescents are excluded from education for many reasons. Poverty remains one of the most obstinate barriers, with children from the poorest households almost five times more likely to be out of primary school than those from the richest.

Children with disabilities and from ethnic minorities are also more likely to be left behind.

For girls in some parts of the world, education opportunities can be especially limited. Only 66 per cent of countries have achieved gender parity in primary education. Harmful gender norms can have severe effects for boys, too.

Location also keeps children from school. Children from rural areas are more than twice as likely to be out of primary school than their urban peers. In conflict zones, 27 million children are out of school.

Return to School During COVID-19

A big question parents have right now is how students can go back to school safely during COVID-19. The latest American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) advice says children learn best when they are in school. However, returning to school needs careful steps in place to keep students and staff safe.

Why students should go back to school–safely

The AAP guidance is based on what pediatricians and infectious disease specialists know about COVID-19 and kids. Evidence so far suggests that children and adolescents are less likely to have symptoms or severe disease from infection. They also appear less likely to become infected or spread the virus.

Schools provide more than just academics to children and adolescents. In addition to reading, writing and math, children learn social and emotional skills, get exercise and access to mental health support and other things that cannot be provided with online learning. For many families, school is where kids get healthy meals, access to the internet, and other vital services.

What schools can do

To stay safe, there are a number of steps schools should take to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. They include:

Physical distancing. The goal should be to stay at least 6 feet apart to help prevent the spread of the virus that causes COVID-19. However, spacing desks at least 3 feet apart and avoiding close contact may have similar benefits for students--especially if students wear cloth face coverings and do not have symptoms of illness.

Teachers and staff, who are likely more at risk of getting COVID-19 from other adults than from children at school, should stay the full 6 feet apart from each other and students when possible. Teachers and staff should also wear cloth face coverings and limit in-person meetings with other adults.

When possible, outdoor spaces can be used for instruction and meals. Students should also have extra space to spread out during activities like singing and exercising.

Cloth face coverings & hand hygiene. Frequent hand washing with soap and water is important for everyone. In addition, all adults should wear cloth face coverings. Preschool and elementary students can benefit from wearing masks if they do not touch their mouths or noses a lot. Secondary school students should wear cloth face masks, especially when they can't stay a safe distance apart.

Classroom changes. To help limit student interaction outside the classroom, schools can:

• Have teachers move between classrooms, rather than having students fill the hallways during passing periods.
• Allow students to eat lunches at their desks or in small groups outdoors instead of in crowded lunchrooms.
• Leave classroom doors open to help reduce high touch surfaces such as doorknobs.

Temperature checks and testing. COVID testing ​of all students is not possible for most schools. Taking students' temperature at school also may not always be feasible. Schools should establish ways to identify students with fever or other symptoms of illness. ​They can also frequently remind students, teachers, and staff to stay home if they have a fever of 100.4 degrees or higher or have any signs of illness.

Cleaning and disinfecting. Schools should follow CDC guidelines on proper disinfecting and sanitizing classrooms and common areas.

Buses, hallways and playgrounds

Since these are often crowded spaces, schools can:

• Give bus riders assigned seats and require them to wear a cloth face coverings while on the bus. Encourage students who have other ways to get to school to use those options.
• At school, mark hallways and stairs with one-way arrows on the floor to cut down on crowding in the halls.
• Outdoor activities are encouraged, so students should be allowed to use the playground in small groups.

Other considerations

In addition to having plans in place to keep students safe, there are other factors that school communities need to address:

Pressure to catch up. Students may not have gained as much from distance learning. Some students may not have had access to computers and internet. Schools should be prepared to adjust curricula and not expect to make up all lost progress. It is important to balance core subjects with physical education and other learning experiences.

Students with disabilities. The impact of schools being closed may have been greater for students with disabilities. They may have a difficult time transitioning back to school after missing out on instruction time as well as school-based services such as occupational, physical and speech-language therapy and mental health support counseling. School should review the needs of each child with an Individual Education Program before they return to school, and providing services even if they are done virtually.

​Immunizations. It is important as students return to school that they are up to date on their immunizations. It will be critical that stud​ents and staff get their flu shot this year to reduce the spread of influenza this fall and winter. Your pediatrician is available now to make sure you child is ready for school.

Exams. ​ If your child participates in extracurricular activities like sports or band, talk with your pediatrician to see if they need a preparticipation physical exam.  Key well-child visits​ are also important.  

Behavioral health/emotional support. Your child's school should anticipate and be prepared to address a wide range of mental health needs of students and staff. Schools should provide mental health support to any student struggling with stress from the pandemic and recognize students who show signs of anxiety or distress. Schools also can help students with suicidal thoughts or behavior get needed support.

Nutrition. Many students receive healthy meals through school meal programs More students might be eligible for free or reduced meals than before the pandemic. Schools should provide meal programs even if the school closes or the student is sick and stays home from school.

Students at higher risk. While COVID-19 school policies can reduce risk, they will not prevent it entirely. Even with safety steps in place, some students with high-risk medical conditions may need to continue distance learning or other accommodations. Talk with your pediatrician and school staff (including school nurses) to determine if your child can safely return to school.

Remember

Returning to school during the COVID-19 pandemic may not feel like normal – at least for a while. But having school plans in place can help keep students, staff, and families safe.

Schools should also prepare to close again and temporarily switch to distance learning if there are new waves of COVID-19 infection.

Children's Mental Health Research

CDC and partner agencies are working to understand the prevalence of mental disorders in children and how they impact their lives. Currently, it is not known exactly how many children have any mental disorder, or how often different disorders occur together, because no national dataset is available that looks at all mental, emotional, or behavioral disorders together.

Research on prevalence
Using different data sources

Healthcare providers, public health researchers, educators, and policy makers can get information about the prevalence of children’s mental health disorders from a variety of sources. Data sources, such as national surveys, community-based studies, and administrative claims data (like healthcare insurance claims), use different study methods and provide different types of information, each with advantages and disadvantages. Advantages and disadvantages for different data sources include the following:

• National surveys have large sample sizes that are needed to create estimates at the national and state levels. However, they also generally use a parent’s report of the child’s diagnosis, which means that the healthcare provider has to give an accurate diagnosis and the parent has to accurately remember what it was.
• Community-based studies offer the opportunity to observe children’s symptoms, which means that even children who have not been diagnosed or do not have the right diagnosis could be found. However, these studies are typically done in small geographic areas, so findings are not necessarily the same in other communities.
• Administrative claims are typically very large datasets with information on diagnosis and treatment directly from the providers, which allows tracking changes over time. Because they are recorded for billing purposes, diagnoses or services that would not be reimbursed from the specific health insurance might not be recorded in the data.

Using different sources of data together provides more information because it is possible to describe the following:

• Children with a diagnosed condition compared to children who have the same symptoms, but are not diagnosed
• Differences between populations with or without health insurance
• How estimates for mental health disorders change over time

Abstract

Knowledge on the prevalence of mental disorders among children informs the work of many health care providers, public health researchers, educators, and policy makers, and any single data source and study methodology can provide valuable insight. However, it is only after prevalence estimates from complementary studies are considered together that distinctions can be made to more deeply inform an assessment of community needs, including diagnosed prevalence versus underlying prevalence, differences between insured and uninsured populations, and how estimates change over time. National surveys, community-based studies, and administrative claims data each provide a different type of information that builds broad understanding. This article presents some of the overarching complexities of the issue, discusses strengths and weaknesses of some common data sources and methodologies used to generate epidemiological estimates, and describes ways in which these data sources complement one another and contribute to a better understanding of the prevalence of pediatric mental disorders.

Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist Finder

In exchange for access to the Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist Finder, we ask that you agree to the following terms. This document is a legal contract, and it affects your legal rights. Please read it before continuing.

The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry’s (AACAP) Web site includes a convenient, online research tool called the “Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist Finder,” which is designed to help parents and other adults who are seeking psychiatric care for their children to locate psychiatrists who have reported to AACAP that they are providers of psychiatric care for children and adolescents. Choosing the psychiatrist who is best qualified to meet the needs of your child involves a number of considerations, and should not be based on the limited information that is available through the Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist Finder.

If you need immediate assistance, please dial 911.

AACAP does not give endorsements or recommendations concerning any particular psychiatrists, and no express or implied endorsement or recommendation is intended by the information that is made available through the Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist Finder.

The Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist Finder, and the information it contains, is the property of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. By using the Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist Finder, you agree not to download, republish, resell, or duplicate, in whole or in part, the listings or other constituent elements of the Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist Finder. You also agree not to use the Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist Finder for commercial purposes, including, without limitation, for purposes of compiling mailing lists or any other lists of physicians, engaging in a solicitation to listed physicians, or establishing data files or compendiums of statistical information.

You agree to access the Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist Finder Psychiatrist Finder only through the interface provided by AACAP. In particular, and without limitation, you agree not to use any computer programs, robots, spiders, or other technologies to access the Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist Finder, or to attempt to harvest or collect any data from the Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist Finder. Notwithstanding this restriction, you are authorized to collect contact information for individual physicians as long as the collection is exclusively for personal use.

By accessing the Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist Finder, you agree that you, your employer, employees, and agents will indemnify and hold AACAP harmless from all claims, damages, or other losses resulting from, arising out of, or in connection with your use of the Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist Finder, whether authorized or unauthorized, including reasonable attorney’s fees.

Disclaimer of Warranties and Liabilities

The information available through the Psychiatrist Finder is self-reported by AACAP members and is not supervised by the AACAP. AACAP makes no express or implied representations or warranties whatsoever, including warranties of merchantability or fitness for any particular purpose, regarding the information you may receive through the Psychiatrist Finder service or the advice you may receive from a listed psychiatrist. In no case shall AACAP be liable to you or anyone else who relies on the Psychiatrist Finder or information received from the Psychiatrist Finder. Any damages for any reason shall be limited to the amount paid to access the Psychiatrist Finder, if any. By using the Psychiatrist Finder, you agree to do so exclusively at your own risk.

Private School verses Public School - The Debate Continues

There are many arguments about whether you should send your child to a private school or a public school. The debate will never end because everyone has their own opinions about education. Getting a good and safe education is a very important goal to accomplish in this day and age. Although most children go to a public middle and high school in their area, many still begin and end their education in a private school. Here, we will bring up some points and arguments for both sides.

Many people swear by public schools. They have attended them, received a great education and will tell others it is perfectly fine and safe for your children to attend these schools. Also, they do not cost nearly as much money as private schools do. They are actually free! Other than paying small fees and bringing supplies into class each year, the fees are very small. People who are against public schools will argue they are really dangerous and terrible tragedies happen at these schools every single year. Although there may be some merit to those statements, there are more police officers being put into schools and also numerous safety measures being instated to make sure everyone at the schools are safe- faculty, staff and students a like.

For the people who can afford to send their children to a school other than a public school, it is not guaranteed to be safer. Just because a family has a little more money than most other people does not mean they will properly raise their children and keep a close eye on what they are doing every day. Supporters of private schools will argue the curriculum is better at their elite and prestigious schools, and maybe that is true. Certainly the children will be exposed to much more culture because their parents will have the money to send them on field trips to see and experience the world. This does not make their opinion wrong. It just means they prefer one over the other.

At the end of the day, as long as children are being well-educated, we should all be supportive of one another- public or private school. Since children are our future, we need to make sure they learn as much as they can, and also understand how to survive and avoid dangers and other harmful things this crazy world has to offer. Good people should stick together to fight evil!

Ask the schoolchildren to paint the murals "Black Life Matters" for downtown Madison

   

 I'm reading "Painting murals gives students empowering role in protest movement" (Wisconsin State Journal):

 As murals were being painted at the end of the school year, SJ Hemmerich, art teacher at Randall Elementary School, created a slide presentation of them. Hemmerich then presented it to students and as a last assignment asked , “If you could design your own mural for (Black Lives Matter), what would it be?” Then Hemmerich got the idea of why not do it for real.

    Hemmerich, like other teachers, reached out to “Black and brown students” to get involved. Hemmerich got permission to work on one large mural and five panels located near each other. ... Hemmerich also sent an email out to art teachers in the Madison School District to recruit more help beyond Randall and wound up with more than 135 students and some staff members.

    “I am really passionate about social justice work,” Hemmerich said. “I thought it would be a really good way to get students involved.”...

    Monique Karlen, art teacher at La Follette High School, said she started by recruiting some of her students and then got other help from students from Middleton and East high schools...

The only mention of parents in the article is about one student who said that her parents worry about her participation in the protests, so the mural-painting is a good, safe alternative. But I don't think teachers should be recruiting children to engage in political activism — even if it's artistic — without first involving the parents and getting their consent. I don't think adults should put any sort of pressure on children to take a political position and to do political work — even if it's artwork. Teachers should not be exploiting their access to children for any political purpose. They are given access to our children for the purpose of education, and it is a solemn trust that should never be violated.