francene--blog. Year 2013
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Nov 5th

11/5/2013

 
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Many cultures are ignoring the traditional belief about the importance of the first four years of a child's life. They're casting aside the time for building close ties so the child can learn about behavior, speech and social values. I believe youngsters need to be held, cuddled and comforted after each tumble.

Unlike the USA, most children in England go to nursery at the age of three or four before starting school in the September following their fourth birthday. Legally they have to be in full-time education by the term after their fifth birthday.


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But, according to the chairman of Ofsted, the UK Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills, children should start school when they are two years old to stop the most disadvantaged from slipping behind.  Their recent report found that children from really poor backgrounds are not ready to learn and many five-year-olds are still 19 months behind their more affluent peers.

MP Baroness Sally Morgan believes that this ‘big, bold, brave’ move of schooling two-year-old children is needed to tackle the under-achievement of under-fives from the poorest areas across the country. 'Weak parenting, low educational attainment of parents, poor diet, poor housing and so on—the gap between affluent and disadvantaged is greatest in that group.’


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Stay-at-home mothers are angry over other parliamentary comments about being an optional part of the labor force. They think it is more important to encourage unemployed young people into work than coaxing mothers into leaving their young children at home or in care.

Children are our future, but so many people are exploiting their innocence for their own ends. Pornography and sport fighting have gained the spotlight recently.

A Dutch organization for children's rights created a computer-generated 10-year-old girl Filipino girl named 'Sweetie' to entice them to ask for child porn. The Dutch chapter of the group Terre des Hommes then posed as her on internet chat rooms to conduct a sting operation to unmask webcam child-sex tourists. They were quickly approached by more than 20,000 predators from 71 countries, and yesterday, they gave the identities of 1,000 to Interpol.


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Lately, fighting in the style of Prankration, a blend of boxing and wrestling but with scarcely any rules, has become popular in America. As MMA classes pop up around the country, some catering for children as young as five, there are concerns about the safety risks of young children taking part in such a violent contact sport. It is estimated that three million boys and girls, some as young as five-years-old launch themselves at each other weekly across the nation engaged in Pankration, some wearing no head protection and throwing punches boasting gloves little more than one-inch thick. They cry when they are hit and, belittled by competitive parents, sob when they lose their fight.

And a final story about separation comes from China, where thousands of parents are sending children as young as three away to boarding school. Despite China's one child policy, there are boarding kindergartens in Shanghai, Beijing, and other major Chinese cities. While no official figures are available, it's estimated that the number of boarding toddlers runs into thousands nationwide. In traditional Chinese culture many grandparents live with the family, and sometimes there are four grandparents, two parents and just one child in a home. In a culture where family pride depends overwhelmingly on a child's success or failure, some parents worry that the grandparents will spoil the child. However, many kindergarten's are closing as Chinese parents are now starting to realize that it's important to spend more time with their kids when they are very young, because they are learning and it's a very important stage of growth.


Katherine Hetzel link
11/4/2013 08:03:20 pm

I saw that headline today - AND the Chinese boarding kindergartens.

What are we doing to our society?! Children need their parents - it IS possible to give them love and attention even if you're working. They don't need more school hours, more pressure to perform, more separation from the people who should be the most important figures in their early years!

Sorry - rant over...

Francene Stanley link
11/5/2013 02:20:23 am

I agree with you completely. They don't need to perform at a young age. They just need to learn how to love.

Amy link
11/4/2013 08:07:34 pm

Oh, Francene, this all makes me so sad. It's very clear that the most healthy and nourishing place for young children is home, with loving parents. Not in boarding schools or brothels or fighting rings. Children are so innocent and good, how adults can use them like this is beyond me. It must really tear at the heart of God.

Francene Stanley link
11/5/2013 02:21:42 am

I love that statement: Children are so innocent and good. If only we could act more like children the world would be a better place.

Kim Steadman link
11/4/2013 08:48:50 pm

Any time I read of governments inserting their belief of how they think parents should raise their kids...I cringe.

Francene Stanley link
11/5/2013 02:22:40 am

You're right. Governmants should never tell parents how to act.

Alana link
11/5/2013 08:30:27 am

I had not heard of Prankration but now do, thanks to your blog and Google. Reading about it gives me chills, as it makes me think of a (YA?) novel I read in a future U.S. where gladiator sport had once again been legalized. It would seem this sport is derived from a sport in Ancient Greece and at least one state, California, is looking to regulate it.

Francene Stanley link
11/5/2013 05:47:21 pm

It's horrifying to guess why some parents encourage theri children to fight this way.


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    Author

    Francene Stanley, author of many published novels. If you like my writing, why not consider purchasing one of my books? You'll see them on the sidebar below.
    Born in Australia, I moved to Britain half way through my long life.

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