Peace Through Financial Stability

Our children have the future of the world at their young hands.  If we can teach them to attain stability in their personal lives, then peace will inevitably prosper.  An important aspect of stability in one’s life is being stable financially.  We need to teach our children the importance of saving for retirement by using a 401k calculator suited to their specific situation.

A 401k calculator can be a helpful resource for mapping out your retirement goals. If you are over 40 years of age, you will definitely need to start planning for your retirement. The 401k calculation system helps people figure out how much money they will have with their investment plans.

This calculation system covers variables such as your earnings and value of assets to determine how much you will be able to save. The retirement planning calculators are simple tools for figuring out the percentages and numbers. Remember that your money is a means of looking after you when you no longer work and you can live the dream life you have always wanted.

Using this calculation tool can be a rewarding experience as it helps you assess the way you want to live after you have retired. It is advisable to speak to a financial consultant beforehand so that you can set yourself realistic goals and targets. Whatever amount of money you invest will not be taxable unless you withdraw it early.

If you are uncertain about how much you get out of this scheme, whenever you retire, the 401k calculation will fill in all the details. You must enter your annual income, how often you are paid and once you have done this, the calculator asks your age, marital status and your household position. You will also have to include the number of exceptions that are stated on your W2 tax form.

Next, the calculation tool will ask you to include details of your plan. You will have to answer the questions about the expected returns on your investment, and there will be a list of different levels of personal contribution for making comparison. The calculator will then give you the option of including narrative, and you will have to state whether your investment plan is traditional or the Roth 401k type. The projected returns on your savings for each level of individual contribution will be shown, so you can decide on the most suitable plan for your own needs.

These types of retirement calculation tools are only appropriate for those people who want to find out exactly how they should live after they stop working. These machines are simply telling you how much money you can receive at your current rate. So if you are not sure about what kind of life you want to live, this tool will not be useful to you.

It is therefore important for every working person to set themselves realistic and attainable financial goals for their future. When people retire, they do not want to struggle with paying their bills and other expenses, so it is highly recommended to plan out your future carefully with the help of online calculators.

After figuring out what you want, determine how much it will cost. At this point, you will work out whether or not it is enough to support you and your family. Using a 401k calculator, people can live the lifestyle they want affordably when they stop working.

Categories: Education

Homeschooling and Online Dating

Homeschooling and Online Dating
Homeschooling has become rampant in America and Canada today. Many parents feel that they are much more in control of their children education once they are homeschooling. Many people cite several challenges that come from being home schooled. The main issue about homeschooling is socializing. Many home schooled kids need friends and they may be limited to those only in the home schooled group. However, this is not much of a problem with the involvement of the various services that are found from the internet. Lack of friends is a thing of the past with the idea of online dating.

Online dating sites are available for kids and they have the required limitations for kids to find friends and dates. When alone at home, one can find other home schooled children online via forums or via Facebook. The problem for many home schooled children remains finding love and here in Montreal I recommend you start using sites de rencontre gratuit in French or free dating sites in English. These safe, sensible students’ sites and teen chat rooms are able to allow students and other home schooled people to socialize. Kids are free of lack of friends when the online chats provide various topics on which kids can participate. It is very easy to find peers who have similar interests and strong friendships are built. Various activities are also offered in these sites for kids to participate with friends while having lots of fun. Video games, movies and TV shows are incorporated in these sites to bring kids together from all over the world. It is important for parents who provide education to their children at home to have them participate in these online dating and chat rooms to help them find friends.
High school kids who are home schooled would benefit a lot from online dating. Many complain of lack of friends and this can be solved easily without having to be enrolled in an actual school. Online discussions are available and help instructions are included in the sites. Kids will not just be educated but also they will achieve social skills both online and offline. The sites are very safe and parents should counter check what services are offered before allowing their kids to join the sites. All the information will be availed and parents will have no cause to worry on their children accessing inappropriate information.
The kids who join online dating are able to create a good profile and be honest about their skills and interests. Parents can be able to supervise their kids so that they do not spend the whole day on the computer but enough time to meet and chat with friends. Kids can share education tips with their friends online and help each other with education matters. Online sites can be very beneficial to kids if used appropriately.

Stopping Cyber Bullying – Teach Kids Peace

Social media has become increasingly popular with many young people today. It is possible to connect with friends and family through sites like Facebook. However, these sites have being misused by malicious people or kids who result to harassing others. Parents, kids, social networking sites and social dating sites have to be proactive and be aware that cyber bullying is a major problem. Various things should be put into consideration to prevent cyber bullying within the social media. The major issue is educating ourselves and understanding social networking as well as cyber bullying.

Parents should be able to learn and get acquainted with social media as well as dating sites. Knowledge on how these sites work and how kids interact with them is very important. In most cases, sites like Facebook have an age limit that kids below a certain age cannot join. If this is the case, the parent should be able to implement this rule in the home. Dating sites are mainly for the older people and therefore, parents should ensure their kids do not join these sites. These dating websites are also used by kids to harass others about their appearance and profile information. If the child does not join these sites then it is easier to bring down the bullying. A good dating site that I can recommend to university students is match4me as it has a strict member policy where bullying is not allowed. Also with online dating sites in Belgium, it is very important to respect each other as much as we can. Parents and teachers should encourage kids to make peace with one another and avoid hurting other people. If one is a parent, ensure that you are in peace with your neighbors and the kid’s friends. Monitor what kids do online just as you monitor what they do offline. It is very necessary to have your children’s password from social media sites. For university students, I would focus on joining paid online dating sites such as Match4Me to be sure there are only relationship minded people on that site. With free dating sites there can be a chance that you are singled out to bully as now everybody knows you are single and looking for love.The kids should be allowed to have an online account if they give the parent the password so that the parents monitor what the kids do online. It is important for parents to stay involved with their children and develop close relationships. In this way, children will be more open to them and approach them when they have problems in school or in social media.

For parents whose children are in dating sites must ensure that they teach kids computer etiquette and caution them against posting images or information that they would not want everyone to see. Parents should encourage their children to spend more time with their friends or family offline more than spending hours on the computer. Online dating sites such as Match 4 Me should only be allowed to be used when they go to college in order to find a equally high educated partner. Sites like Facebook should be used on a limited amount of time.

Kids need to know money management

YOURTEXTEvery kid is different in his/her own right. In the challenging world today, kids need right kind of nurturing and upbringing. Education is an important aspect of any child’s development as it teaches them to become responsible and sane citizens. However, one important subject that is life changing yet is not taught in schools is the subject of money. Kids must be taught about money from an early stage say from the age of 10. It is rather strange and perhaps a little upsetting that money in many families is not discussed openly.

Money management teaches kids to understand how it is earned and more importantly, where they must spend it. Majority of people who struggle financially are the ones who are weak at handling money. Many of these people think that having more money solves their problems but the fact of the matter is that it is lack of financial literacy that causes them to fail. If you want your kid to succeed in life then it is important to make him/her understand how money works.

The best way to approach this subject is when you’ve heaps of time on hand. Create a calm and serene atmosphere. It is good to get some snacks and juices using the latest Breville 800JEXL for something to go with the conversation. Softly break the topic and listen to what your kid thinks about the topic before burdening him/her with any kind of information. Once you know what your kid thinks then you can slowly talk about it. Kids are great learners so please mindful of what you teach them. It is always advisable to give them pocket money but also teach them to become accountable for it by keeping a track of where they spend it. Later, sit with your kid and explain why a certain expense was necessary and why some could be avoided.

Financial literacy is a wonderful tool and all champions must start early.

Categories: Education

Stop Racism by Teaching Children about other Cultures

They say the root cause of racism is fear. It is fear of the ‘other’, the ‘alien’ that leads to hatred for other races. This fear is based upon ignorance. Because people have little true experience of another culture they tend to view that other culture as inferior and by extension the people from that other culture as worthy of contempt. As result people come up with racist terms that become common parlance and racism enters the linguistic level.

It is important to never allow your child to use such words. I won’t even write which words I mean because they are offensive and shouldn’t even be written in defense of tolerance and mutual understanding. When I was young my parents took me to India. I was shocked by the chaos and the strangeness of the place. But eventually, I learned to love the culture and the people. Even though I was only 12 years old I realized that my country was no better than India. And that Indian culture was beautiful.

Now I have a child. I want him to also appreciate the different cultures of the world, and also the different people of the world. I’m going to be a bit more gentle with my son. First we are going to Laem Set beach in Koh Samui. We will enjoy the beach, the the animals and visit the nearby temples. Then when he is acclimatized to Asian culture we are going into the heart of the chaos – Varanasi in India and we are going to watch the celebrations for divali.

My greatest hope is that my son will learn valuable lessons from this journey and will not be a racist not because he is told not to be one but because he has experienced first hand the beauty of foreign cultures and peoples.

Teaching Our Kids To Live Mindfully By Drinking Tea

The idea of “living mindfully” can be a difficult value to teach our kids, especially in our modern go-go world.  With so many distractions, a 24 hour news cycle and our caffeinated approach to living, it can be hard to stop “doing” and start “being.”  To help my kinds start to practice mindfulness I started with the simple ritual of drinking tea.

Drinking tea may not be the usual place to start.  Most people who teach mindfulness start with asking us to concentrate on our breathing.  But this did not resonate with my children.  They needed more for their mind to latch onto than just breathing in and out.  Perhaps they didn’t have the patience?  But when we began to be mindful one sip and a time when drinking tea, something clicked for them.  They were able to quiet the mental chatter of their minds and fully appreciate the tea and the present moment of their lives.  They had become mindful.

From there, things flowed easily.  We started a tea journey, enjoying loose leaf tea leaves from around the world.  We sipped all the tea types from green tea to oolong tea to chai tea, being mindful as we did so.  Then we started to embrace the practice of mindful eating.  Putting our fork down between each mouthful, being silent and really experiencing the flavour and texture of what we were eating.

Mindful eating has brought us into the world of gardening.  We now grow quite a lot of what we eat and what we steep.  We now cook every day.  And every day we are becoming more connected with the process of creating food.

For me (and I think now also for my children) mindfulness is about living a more sensory life.  After all, if we are able to notice the small things in life, like the delicate taste of a white tea, or the sweet burst from a ripe tangerine, then we’ll be able to notice ALL the details in our life.  And a more mindful, a richer life blooms.

Categories: Education

Teaching Your Child to be Independent and Financially Savvy

One of the most important things to teach your children is how to be independent in all things. When I was growing up my parents always used to say three things to me that I find myself repeating to my own children today. The first was that the world doesn’t owe you a living and the second was don’t be concerned about what other people have and the third was to keep something for a rainy day. The third thing is really essential, now more than ever, in the current economic climate and I think it is a good idea to make sure children are generally more financially savvy about all kinds of things from fixed rate mortgages and ISAs to credit cards and loans.

Categories: Education

Educating the youth through an open community

The current generation of youth have an almost Darwinian opinion on life: Survival of the fittest is a necessary evil and that we should do whatever it takes to get ahead of the rat race. We see it happening in our daily lives and affiliate marketing is one of them. There are all sorts of outlandish promises being made and a lot of people getting hurt by re-bill offers.

TO ensure a brighter future we need to teach the youth at an early age that the key to staying on top of the game is to be able to offer something unique to your clientele. Aside from offering bonuses or freebies, you should also make sure that your visitors feel that they are treated like real human beings and not just leads that can be converted into sales.

Personalization is one of the best methods of engaging your customers and that you should only hire an seo agency if you have an ethical business model. This is what differentiates the successful people and those that are struggling in this business. If I were a customer, I would definitely go for someone I can trust and talk to rather than settle for someone who would pass for a fictional character in a fantasy novel.

7 Ways to Keep Your Children Safe

Nowadays, one of the concerns of every parent is how to keep their children safe at all times and away from any forms of danger. Keeping the communication channels always open to both parents and children in concern is a must to help the parents clarify issues relating to their children’s safety and what measures can be agreed upon by both parties, following medical billing and coding rules, to guarantee total peace of mind.

Children are always the target of bad influences, pedophile or criminals who kidnap children for ransom. With combined efforts, here are 7 effective ways to protect the children from any possible harm:

  1. Frequently check your children’s safety on their whereabouts, especially at times when you need to be away, either from work obligations or other personal matters to attend to. Call them often and if there is an elder person in-charge asking him/her how are they. Show your children that even you are not around, you are just a call away if they need you.
  2. Teach kids even at a very young age with regards to their own safety in times when they get lost, people abusing or bullying them and finding ways to keep them safe while using the internet.
  3. When your children are approached by strangers, tell your kids not to entertain them and if they are in danger, call for help or create some noise by shouting loudly to attract passersby
  4. Give your kids detailed instructions where to contact you easily in cases of emergencies or when they are in trouble.
  5. Remind your children to be extra cautious in places that are not familiar to them. Advice them not to go alone in public toilets or in any dark alley and if possible ask somebody to assist them if there is a need to go to that area.
  6. If somebody is following them on their way to school or going home, advice them to go to the nearest place where there are lots of people around. Ask for somebody’s help if they feel any danger is about to happen.
  7. Be open with your kids, so they will always trust you and tell the truth where they are going. Explain to them your main concern is for their safety and that you just want to know where to pick them in cases of emergencies.

In general, parents and children who are always open to share and communicate their feelings and ideas are more successful in achieving their goal of keeping their kids safe from any harm. In cases the children are hospitalized due to some major accidents, feel free to ask your health care provider or insurance company of all the requirements that you need to submit in your claim application and be sure to follow the specific instructions of medical billing and coding guidelines to quicken the approval of your claim. Always include your children’s views in whatever decision you might make on their behalf.

Categories: Education

Sharing my Relaxing Hobby with my Children

Greenhouses are good places to relax and shut the rest of the world out.  After a stressful or hectic day you can retreat to your greenhouses and do some planting which is very relaxing.  Or you could just sit there on a nice comfy chair and admire all the lovely plants growing.

Some people spend hours and hours each week in their green houses both men and women equally.

It is also a very good idea to get children interested in growing things both boys and girls so that they learn where vegetables and salads come from – not the supermarket shelves!

Adults Have A Big Influence On Youth Actions

Have you ever sat there in a world of your own having a cigarette and thinking nothing of it? Next time have a look around you and see who is watching you, do you have teenage relatives? Do your friends have young children or teenagers? If you answered yes to any of these then it is highly likely that you have ‘been seen’ smoking. If this could be true then there is a possibility these kids may look at smoking and think that it is in some way it is cool or acceptable. The next step could see them trying cigarettes and eventually becoming addicted.

Obviously this is something only smokers will relate to but smokers may also be unaware of. Children are generally educated in school about the dangers of smoking but this could all be wiped out with just one moment of carelessness by an adult they look upto smoking when they should really know better.

If you are likely to be in a position of responsibility like this and you smoke then you need to look at your habit and even consider quitting smoking. Electronic cigarettes can be a great alternative to smoking tobacco even if you don’t want to quit. Take a look at this E-Lites review for instance, you can just introduce this product to help you reduce the amount of cigarettes you smoke.

 

Categories: Education

Ensure our Youth are Financially Savvy

Ensuring that our youth are financially savvy and ready to take on one of life’s most important aspects (finances) is crucial to our society’s future.  Understanding how loan amortization works using an amortization calculator is an important part of this process.  These skills will become particularly useful when a young person grows up and purchases a home.

An amortization calculator is used in the calculation of the amount you pay on a month to month basis for your loan or house mortgage. Aspects of the mortgage such as the principal, interest and the duration you pay the loan are the most common variables used to in this calculation. Ideally this term is used in the repayment of mortgages but it can also be used in other aspects of credit such as credit card payment. Mostly it involves the calculation of the exact amount you’ll be paying for the interest and for the principal every month.

The first step in the amount you will pay every month is to determine the exact principal of the loan or mortgage. Basically, the principal is the exact amount you borrow. This amount can sometimes include any associated cost that will accompany the loan. Mostly the processing fees are included in these associated costs and add up to the money which will be regarded as your principal.

Once you have the determined the principal, the next step is determining what your monthly pay will be. The monthly pay is the amount that you will pat with to go to your loan repayment. To do this, you will need to know the interest rate and also the period you will be paying the loan. For instance, if your principal is $10000, the pay duration is ten years and interest rate is five percent, your monthly payment will be around one hundred and six dollars.

After you know your monthly payment, you now determine the exact amount of interest you will be paying every month. Basically, you will pay more in terms of interest in the initial stages of the loan repayment; this amount will keep on reducing as the months proceed. Also, your principal repayment will be low in the initial months and keep increasing as the months go by.

Using the example given above, you should expect to pay around $41.67 as interest for the first month. This amount will be calculated using the total number of months it will take to pay the mortgage in this case one hundred and twenty months. The interest and the principal are also used in the calculation.

This result will come from multiplying ten thousand dollars with the five percent interest and then dividing with one twenty months.Once you have the above figures, you’ll now come up with a repayment schedule. For instance, if you are using the above example, you would pay around forty two dollars for the interest and around sixty four for the principal in the first month.

These two figures basically will total your monthly pay. As the months proceed, you’ll apply the same formula for calculation of these values. This will go on until you are done repaying the loan.

The amortization calculator can be found online. Most of the software that calculate these amounts can easily be downloaded online. Also, there are programs such as spread sheets you could use. Though the internet can be helpful, sometimes it is good to know how these amounts are calculated.

Categories: Education

Educate your Children about Serious Health Issues

It’s very important to teach your children about serious health issues such as hypertension at a young age.  You can use tools such as this blood pressure chart to visually illustrate hypertension’s importance to your children’s health.  Blood pressure is an integral part of one’s overall health.  Here is some info you may choose to share with your children about blood pressure:

Blood pressure is something that is of concern for everyone. It is one of the leading issues discussed in the health media. The chief concern in today’s world is the effect of hypertension and how it can negatively affect the body. There are many people who realize the important of adjusting their health and overall well being in order to prevent illness.

The first thing that a person should do is understand the importance of diet and how the foods they eat can contribute to lowering or raising their blood pressure. This is not as simple as it sounds. There are many factors that go into creating a well balanced diet. It will be imperative that you look into all of the foods that you are currently eating and determine if they are creating an unpleasant environment for you.

The first thing to think about is how much salt you are taking with your meals. Salt is found naturally in many foods. However, it is often the case that people add additional salt to their meals. This is going to be a problem for most people, its problematic because it increases the amount of sodium that you ingest.

Additionally, it should be remembered that you need to completely change the amount of bad foods. Fried foods, cheese, and meats are all foods that can and often times do contribute to hypertension. It is important to remember that you do not want to completely remove all salt from your diet. Salt is necessary, however you get enough of it from foods so that adding it is almost certainly unnecessary.

A person who is concerned about their healthy should also consider including a decent amount of exercise into your lifestyle. Exercise is perhaps the second most important aspect when it comes to staying healthy. You will want to have a decent amount of cardiovascular exercise. This is the type of exercise that allows you to have the best physical benefit.

What you can do is set up a daily exercise schedule. It is important that you follow this schedule and make sure that it incorporates all of the most important things, such as running or jogging, swimming, or power walking. This will ensure that you have the maximum amount of beneficial exercise.

It is very important to not over do exercise. Any form of physical exertion is going to create stress. What you should look to do is to minimize the danger that is inherent. The best way to do this is to start slowly. This will allow you to determine what is the correct strategy for you.

It is vital that you maintain a good blood pressure level. This will prevent many of the most common diseases from occurring. The two ways to do this are exercise and diet. Once you have set a plan up, it is vital that you follow it. This will ensure that you have the maximum amount of success. Take the initiative and begin the path to good living today.

Categories: Education

Encouraging Independence For Our Teens

Teaching children life skills sounds like a good and prudent thing to do. Still, deep-down I didn’t really want to encourage my children to become independent.

When I look at my oldest, now 21, I see beyond the mascara and her hip haircut to the big blue eyes and fuzzy blond hair of the beautiful baby who made me a mom. My second-born (all 6’4” of him) will always, in my heart, be the chubby little newborn who thrilled me with the fact that he was a boy (a big deal to someone who is one of four sisters that never got the brother they wanted.)

Number three came along six years after her brother, and was the answer to all our prayers. When I look at her, I don’t just see the growing-like-a-weed young teen that she is, but the smiling, ruddy little doll whose siblings carried her around like a prize. And even my youngest, the one who almost didn’t make it and who spent his first month in the newborn ICU attached to tubes and wires and equipment, is strong, solid and insistent on doing things for himself (especially when his mom treats him like her baby.)

We moms cherish our children. We spent many sleepless nights with them when they were crying babies, feverish youngsters and emotional teens. We went without so they could have whatever they needed. After all the years of love and hard work we invested in our children, why would we want to give them up?

As if the thought of letting them go isn’t hard enough, there’s the fact of what’s going on in this world. Releasing a beloved child into the society depicted in our newspapers and on our televisions—one that glorifies drinking, drugs, and sex, and faces a steady barrage of terrorism, war and natural disasters—is pretty darn scary. The thought of even one of those things makes me want to gather my children under my wings and keep them there.

Sure, on the surface, “trying their wings” and other such euphemisms sound good. But there are so many things that can go wrong, so many things we can’t control. Someone once said that becoming a mother means spending the rest of your life walking around with your heart outside your body, and isn’t that the truth? It’s hard enough dealing with the physical and psychological disorders they receive in daily living now. Why would we want to send them out among the wolves?

To me, releasing them out into the world meant:

  • They might make big financial mistakes.
  • They might do things I don’t approve of.

And even worse:

  • They might get physically or emotionally hurt.
  • They might move away, maybe even far away.
  • They might not need me anymore.
Categories: Education,Youth

How To Let The Kids Of The World Find Out About Peace

That was the question, the answer is marketing. Primarily internet marketing. Children of all ages all over the world have a need to find out about peace. Peace can come in a number of forms. Maybe they need to find peace from war, school bullies, mental illness, even parental abuse. They are always on the internet, even if only using their phones. If you have a service and need to get the word out it honestly needs to come through the internet. Whether it’s social media like Facebook or Twitter or just an informational website that gets the word out. Finding the best SEO company will know best how help these children recognize your goal and spread the word for you.

The Importance of the Work of The Peace Corps Volunteers

As an organization the Peace Corps in the US has been in existence since 1961, when it was created by an executive order issued by then President John F Kennedy. since then thousands of young people have traveled all over the world helping people less fortunate than themselves while learning more about their world and the way it works.

At the time the act declared as an organization the Peace Corps was being formed to “ promote world peace and friendship through a Peace Corps, which shall make available to interested countries and areas men and women of the United States qualified for service abroad and willing to serve, under conditions of hardship if necessary, to help the peoples of such countries and areas in meeting their needs for trained manpower”.

What a Peace Corps volunteer in this day and age does varies a great deal. Some still go out in the countryside in counties all over the world and assist the locals with simple everyday tasks like gathering firewood, fulfilling the “trained manpower” mandate. In many countries where reliable electricity and gas supplies are still not always available firewood remains a primary everyday source of heat and method of cooking. These volunteers will live amongst these people sharing their knowledge and learning from their hosts, the intention for the program from the beginning, a peaceful exchange of knowledge and ideas.

Another area where Peace Corps volunteers have become very active is in the field of conservation education. Some of the biggest programs being implemented in 68 different counties around the world by the Peace Corps include the creation of effective and more efficient forms of farming, education about recycling and the implementation of effective recycling programs and basic environmental education to help people learn how they themselves can save their own dwindling ecosystems.

Categories: Education

International Children Peace Prize

During 2003 and 2009 it was not a good time to be a child in the Swat region of Pakistan. The Swat region lies among huge vallies and hills along the Pakistani and Afghanistan borders.  It is an area of great beauty and is even known as the Switzerland of Asia.  However that’s where the good stuff ends when the region fell under the control of the Taliban.

One of the very first rules was to order all the schools to close, as part of an edict designed to stop the education specifically of girls.  When this happened Malala Yousafzai was only eleven years old.  However at great risk to herself she started an anonymous diary on the BBC Urdu’s website.   This blog became so famous she later featured in a couple of New York Times documentaries covering her experiences.

Here’s an extract from the times after the strict Sharia law was relaxed and the ban on the schools was lifted.

Today our teacher asked us how many girls listen to FM radio and most of the girls said that they used to but not anymore. But few girls said that they still listen to it. Girls were of the view that once FM radio transmission is stopped only then peace can return to Swat.

The Taleban say that they use FM radio to propagate teachings of the Koran but commander Khalil after a brief teaching of the Koran subtly switches over to threaten opponents. Announcements regarding fighting, activities and murders are made on FM radio.

During our recess today we saw helicopters flying. The helicopters fly very low over our school. Girls called out to the soldiers and they waved back. Soldiers seem to be tired of waving now.

 

Now however the bravery of this little girl has been recognised and Malala Yousafzai has been nominated for the International Kids Peace Prize which is awarded each year by a Dutch charity called Kidsrights.

You can see all her diaries online at the BBC web site if you search for Malala Yousafzai.  If you are able to watch Iplayer abroad then you can also see the BBC interview that was recorded after the area was returned to normal rule.  The story is quite an inspiration to children and adults across the world many who of course take these basic rights of schooling for granted.

 

 

Teach Kids Peace

Kids and nature

When the Christian messiah, Jesus Christ, made the statement that the kingdom of heaven belonged to children he was definitely on to something; an examination of the living conditions of the mushroom Cordyceps might provide a hint to what one of the world’s most influential teachers, if not the most influential, had in mind. Cordyceps is a genus of ascomyete fungi that has over 400 species of fungi; Cordyceps is also a parasite. The question that many a reader is probably asking at this point is: what exactly does teaching kids peace have to do with parasites? Keep an open mind and read on, maybe, just maybe you will see the connection here.

As a parasite, Cordyceps is essentially abode in insects and plants. When it lodges itself in the body of a host it begins by replacing the tissues of the host, this is manifested by the development of an elongated fruiting body that may be cylindrical in shape branched or even a whole lot of complex designs. Although the term parasite conjures up images of distortion and harvesting where one has not reaped Cordyceps has a saving grace in that its genetic build up has elements that have a medicinal value to them. This is where the connection with teaching kids peace comes in.

As children get to be socialized in the diverse cultures that many of us draw our extraction from, they inevitably come across many shades of individuals. Some of these folks will be inevitably tagged as free loaders, douche bags, the scum of the earth, et al. Remember that as the American hero Martin Luther King put it: do not judge men by the color of their skin but the content of their character, which might be renditioned in the following format for purposes of this article: do not judge men by their appearance but by the content of their character. This is the lesson that ought to be passed on as you teach kids peace. Look at the positive side of people.

Categories: Education

Beware of the Television Programs Shown in Child Care

While many parents believe that submitting a power of attorney form to their local child care center is the best thing that they can do to protect their child’s health and well being while in group care, the reality is that there are many other things that can compromise the long-term health of their child while in this type of scenario.  Parents need to be aware of what kind of television programs are being aired during their child’s stay in child care and be mindful of the impact this can have on their child’s behavior.

The documentary Consuming Kids exposes the long-term effects of letting children watch certain seemingly “safe” television programs while in group child care (or at school).  The bonus footage at the end, showing two different real-life scenarios, is particularly disturbing.

In one scenario, a group of children watches the television program Barney.  Afterwards, the children peacefully play with each other, singing songs and dancing with each other like they saw in the program.  Next, the same group of children watches the television program Power Rangers.  After watching this program, they begin to fight and hit each other violently, have trouble settling down, and scream and yell.  Although Power Rangers is supposedly a child-friendly program, the children obviously picked up violent behaviors in the program and are acting out in real life.

A parent of a child who had watched Power Rangers while in child care would be upset and confused as to why their normally well-behaved child was kicking, screaming, and fighting while at home.  For this reason, parents need to be aware of what programs are being aired in child care.  We need to teach kids peace, not violence.

Categories: Children,Education

Mathematics not Massacres – Getting African Children on the Right Start to Life

One of the unsung tragedies of modern times is the practice unsavory rebel organizations in certain African countries have of recruiting children to fight their battles.  Young children, frequently orphaned by the parties involved, are taken and raised to fight for groups such as the LRA in Uganda.

These children, denied any other role models or authority figures, are taught to support and fight for whatever causes these outfits are battling for. In Sudan, young children of this type – sometimes collectively referred to as the ‘Lost Boys of Sudan’ were drafted into rebel armies.

Rather than going to school to learn mathematics and other life skills, these kids were taught to inflict the horrors they had suffered onto yet more innocent victims.  The horrible spiral of violence, once started, is very difficult to stop.

It is up to responsible governments – with the help of NGO’s – to try to help these poor children back onto the path to a productive and prosperous life.  The most important step that can be taken is to retrieve these children from these outfits – which are basically brutal gangs – and find them safe homes with proper schooling.

With well-balanced loving adult role models, these children can start to heal.  With a proper education – learning the details of ‘Soh Cah Toa‘ in Trigonometry, rather than the ‘Rat Rat Rat’ sound of machine gun fire – these kids have the hopes of obtaining gainful non-violent employment as adults.

Thousands of children growing up learning the arts and behaviors of war is perhaps the most insidious and damaging activity for a countries future.  It is imperative that everyone with the means do their best to save both current and future generations from this scourge – raising and educating kids in peace pays dividends not just for the children but for society as a whole.

 

Categories: Education