Safe Environment For Children Research Articles

IMPLEMENTATION OF THE SYSTEM OF MONITORING AND ASSESSMENT OF THE QUALITY OF EDUCATION IN THE TERRITORIAL COMMUNITIES

The article examines the process of decentralization as a basis for the implementation of reforms in education, which are due to the entry of Ukraine into the European educational space. It was revealed that over the years of implementation of the administrative reform in the communities, the experience of effective management of education has been gained; a new methodical service system was created; there was an understanding of the need to discuss the issue of the quality of education with parents, teachers, and the public. After all, the issues of the quality of education remain relevant even in such a difficult period that Ukraine is currently experiencing. It was found that the education quality system is impossible without a modern, comprehensive system of assessment of both the quality of education as a whole and all its components separately. The vision of the future of education and science of Ukraine, as one of the strategic goals, defines the obligation for children to acquire quality education in accordance with the principles and approaches of the National Academy of Sciences. It was determined that the problems of assessing the quality of school education are discussed by practitioners of school management, who state that there are two directions of assessing the quality of school education. One is related to the development of quantitative analysis based on statistical observation data, external evaluation of educational achievements, the second - to the shift of priorities in evaluating the quality of school education from the process to the result. Also, in school education, there is a lack of development of an effective mechanism for measuring and evaluating the quality of elements of the educational process. The factors that, according to experts, principals, teachers and parents, have the greatest influence on the quality of education have been identified: cooperation between participants in the educational process; safe environment for children; sufficient qualification of teaching staff. It is justified that it is possible to assess the quality of education using monitoring procedures, the purpose of which is to forecast and plan the development of education; determination of the effectiveness of the use of community funds and resources; comparison of educational institutions of the same community. It was concluded that monitoring should be based on the principles of systematicity, expediency, transparency of monitoring procedures, responsible attitude to their activities of the subjects participating in the preparation and monitoring. Evaluation of monitoring results will reveal the effectiveness of the educational process, weaknesses and problems.

UAP Values Reflected in Selected COVID-19 Themed Digital Literature for Children and Young Adults

Digital Literature for Children and Young Adults (LCYA) reveals children and young adults’ experiences in the real world from their perspectives. It also portrays that most children and young adults face complex and enormous challenges in this digital world to find their true selves, potentials, and future, particularly during this COVID-19 pandemic. The goal of this LCYA is in line with Jesuit’s Universal Apostolic Preferences (UAP), which “commit to promoting a healthy and safe environment for children and young people so that they can develop their full potential as human beings.” Therefore, this research scrutinizes Universal Apostolic Preferences (UAP) values reflected in selected COVID-19-themed Digital Literature for Children and Young Adults (LCYA). Importantly, Digital Literature is a Garden of Eden for digital natives, Gen-Z, and digital readers where they can access literary texts from their smartphones, tablet, and laptop. These issues are essential to be discussed because children and young adults are the future generations, the future world, and future humanity. This pandemic should be seen from a different perspective, for this condition has encouraged us to take care of ourselves and others, especially children and young adults. Importantly, those digital works are also reminders that children’s and young adults’ energy and spirit can bring love and changes to our planet. This research attempts to develop our empathy in understanding the loneliness, misery, and suffering of others during this difficult time. Digital Literature and Literature for Children and Young Adults (LCYA) discourses are suitable for use since this research uses digital short stories highlighting children and young adults’ lives during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Zaštita škola u zonama sukoba u pojasu Gaze prema međunarodnom humanitarnom pravu

The paper has discussed the violation against education facilities in Gaza Strip from the International Humanitarian Law (IHL) perspective 1 , explaining the challenges and the impact of armed conflict on education rights. The paper will identify those violations and will propose methodologies to improve the adoption of the IHL against them. Moreover, it will discuss the policies to decrease the impact of those violations and propose techniques to respond to the threats against children's rights within the war duration. It will be analyzed the applied IHL in the protection of the education system in Gaza Strip from the attack which happened in 2021 by exploring the efficiency of the IHL impartially. In this research, a qualitative approach has been adopted as a primary source in exploring how educational institutions should be protected within IHL (which should be respected) during attacks. As per the descriptive study, the research will investigate the importance of protecting children's educational institutions in armed conflict situations. The assessment of child protection was considered in the escalation of Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip in May 2021. The main source of data has been collected using different media such as Telephone-based semi-structured interviews, E-mail correspondence, documentary review, and agencies working in child protection in Gaza Strip; in addition, other secondary sources have been considered, such as desk review, reliable journalism, and published academic research. Continuous military operations throughout Gaza Strip compose dramatic challenges to getting highly qualified education in a safe environment for children. The air strikes and rocket attacks prevented 637,1952 students from being in school in a safe environment (Jeanne, 2008). Other reports addressed that Israeli airstrikes destroyed over 184 schools in 2021 3and caused partial or severe damage to others. As addressed in other reports, the students and the academic staff have suffered from different cases of depression and expressed their fears of asymmetric warfare in addition to being under blockage (OCHA, May 2021). Regarding the laws governing educational facilities and institutions' protection, IHL still has some space for improvement that can be addressed and applied in the future to enhance them (Adam, 2011). It is known that numerous kid fatalities and schools suffered partial or total destruction as a result of military activities. On the same, it is documented that the levels of violence against educational organizations and schools hit unheard-of levels in the last ten years.

Informed Parents- Safe Environment for Children

Objective: Childhood injury is a significant public health problem. This study aimed to evaluate the awareness of families about accident/injury risks both indoors and outdoors and provide counselling within the scope of parent education by using tools related to environmental safety. Material and Methods: This study was a two-centered, prospective study conducted with the participation of parents with children under the age of five. Initially, a preliminary assessment was made using a questionnaire. Then, face-to-face training was provided using an infographic brochure from the “Basic Information for Families for Child Health and Safety in the First 5 Years” booklet created by the Child Health Association (https:// cocuksagligidernegi.org/). Parents were given a “Safety Checklist” so they could assess child safety at home. In the third and sixth months, families were called and asked questions again about their attitudes and behaviors towards preventing accidents/injuries. Results: A total of 157 parents were included in the study. It was determined that the rates of safe behavior in-car safety, sleep safety, toy safety, kitchen and bathroom safety, and indoor arrangements increased statistically. Conclusion: Family counseling and education can lead to behavioral change to create a safe environment for children and prevent accidents/ injuries. Multifaceted initiatives are more likely to successfully reduce injuries at home and increase the effectiveness of education with the use of infographic materials, continuity of education, preparing checklists to be applied at home and sharing them with families.

The social protection of children in the activities of the government organizations in east of Ukraine

Summary The article examines the organization of local governments in the system of social protection of children in communities. The biggest challenge for the authorities, during an armed conflict is to create a safe environment for children and for those families who have lives in situation and need social assistance. As the analysis of theoretical and practical material and legislation shows, the support of international standards for child protection by the government contributes to reforms in Ukraine, which leads to the search for additional resources in communities and beyond. The author defines the concept of «social protection» as a set of statutory guarantees and actions by public authorities aimed at equalizing the situation of citizens regardless of age with other members of society in cases of social, political and other risks. A brief description of the legal framework, which determines the need for social protection of children, as well as a list of government agencies responsible for identifying a child in need of social protection. The author characterizes the groups of risk factors to which children are exposed in a peaceful life, and which are exacerbated in extreme situations. The protection of children in the study is presented in the form of circles that create a protective environment and which are violated or become fragmentary in emergencies. Necessary conditions for the social protection are the establishment and development of interaction and partnership between local governments, the executive branch, socio-pedagogical institutions and public organizations; creation of a system of social services in the territorial community, including for the protection of children. This is especially true in the context of the ongoing the military conflict in Eastern Ukraine, when threats increase tenfold and resources, unfortunately, are limited.

Group-based parenting education programs and their influence on protective factors for child abuse and neglect

The main purpose of the current study was to investigate the influence of group-based parenting education programs on protective factors that prevent child abuse and neglect. The group-based parenting education programs that were chosen in this study were a family literacy program, a parent-child interaction program, and a child safety and welfare education program. All participant families showed promising results in enhancing family functioning/resiliency, social support, concrete support, knowledge of parenting and child development, and nurturing and attachment and families attending different parenting education programs showed significantly different improvement in concrete support, social support, and knowledge of parenting and child development. In addition, families with different demographic characteristics showed significantly different improvement in all five protective factors. The presence of five protective factors can reduce the likelihood of abuse and neglect and group-based parenting education can help provide safe environments for children by supporting families.

Формирование предметно-пространственной среды детских игровых площадок в г. Москве

The analysis of the subject-spatial environment of children’s playgrounds is presented. Their special importance in the formation of a comfortable, stable and safe environment for children is highlighted. The importance of selecting play equipment for playgrounds is indicated not only based on its availability and accessibility, but also based on the age-specific characteristics of the child’s perception of the environment. The scheme of using different types of children’s play equipment is proposed, depending on the age of the child (the type of child’s play). The reasons for the lack of interest of children (4–7 years old) are revealed) to the installed gaming equipment and their preferences. The subject-spatial environment is analyzed on the example of 20 playgrounds in the Maryino district of Moscow. The principles of selection of equipment in accordance with the age category of the child, and the problems of spatial placement of this game equipment, designed for children of different ages, on the playground are considered.

The Local Governments as a Subject of the Child Protection System in the Local Community

The article examines the organisation of local governments in the system of social protection of children in the process of decentralisation of power and the formation of united territorial communities. The biggest challenge for the authorities, after agreeing with communities and approving long-term plans, is to create a safe environment for children, who have risks and might need social assistance. As the analysis of scientific and theoretical-practical material shows, the state is now actively cooperating in this direction with international organisations and non-governmental organisations that develop projects such as «Together. Social services for families in the community» (Semikina, 2020). So, directions of the reform of social services are accessibility, overcoming difficult life circumstances, guardianship and care of children. The term «community» can be defined as an area, community of interested of people and local government and administrative-territorial unit. In the Law of Ukraine «On Social Services», the description of relevance of social services in the community and the purpose of the centre of social services as central and local authorities are specified. To conclude, the interdepartmental activities of state and public organisations related to children’s protection systems, the establishment of an interdepartmental commission aimed at identifying the children affected by violence and circumstances that may threaten their lives and health have been revealed. Thus, local governments can be considered to be part of the system of social protection of children. the establishment and development of interaction and partnership between local governments, the executive social institutions and public organizations that strengthens protection of children can be considered to be the necessary conditions for the effectiveness of the aforementioned activities.

Anteprojeto de Design de Interiores de um berçário para crianças de até três anos de idade em uma Igreja Evangélica de João Pessoa – PB

The Montessori method stimulates autonomy and freedom, helping the child in his personal and educational development, hence the need to have a physical environment that contributes to the successful application of this methodology. In this context, the present study aimed to develop a preliminary project of interior Design applied to nursery rooms and rest rooms for children up to three years old, located in an evangelical church in the city of João Pessoa-PB. The study was developed based on the guidelines of the Montessori method, observing the Sanitary Surveillance guidelines, the basic infrastructure parameters for early childhood education institutions and the João Pessoa Code of Works, as well as the principles of anthropometry, color psychology and aspects of artificial lighting. The methodology of the research was based on the bibliographical survey and data collection, which served as a basis for the elaboration of the needs program, the definition of the concept and the preliminary study, to enable the development of the preliminary Design of the environments. The result obtained was the creation of playful, adequate and safe environments for children’s development that meet the requirements of the Montessori method and the normative parameters in force.

16. Obesity Surveillance: An Investigation of Health Policy and Programs in Ontario

Today, childhood obesity is one of the most important challenges our society faces. The objective of this research project is to contribute to ongoing academic discussions of how to address issues of childhood obesity. To accomplish this goal, this project investigates the historical development of policies and educational programs regarding childhood obesity issued by the government of Ontario and Halton District School Board. In particular, this project explores the following questions: 1) Is there evidence of childhood obesity in Ontario and/or the Halton region? 2) What educational programs, policies, or action plans has the Ontario government and Halton District School Board established to target childhood obesity? 3) Are existing policies, educational programs, and action plans of health promotion considering children as a vulnerable population thereby maintaining a safe environment for children? Specifically, this project speaks to policy makers and educators by examining the risks and social impacts of policies and programs. For example past surveillance techniques created to collect statistics of childhood obesity, develop policies, and evaluate educational programs have been criticized for scrutinizing persons through a process of monitoring, analyzing, and comparing (Rich 2010) as well as breaching persons’ rights to privacy (Haggerty and Ericson 2000). Overall this project will contribute to ongoing academic discussions regarding how best to address childhood obesity because evidence drawn from past policies, educational programs and action plans can be used to develop more effective means of impacting childhood obesity while also being mindful of the potential risks of surveillance based educational programs.

Social work for separated children seeking asylum in the Republic of Ireland: setting the standard for child-centred care and protection

ABSTRACTIn response to the unhealthy, threatening living arrangements separated children seeking asylum were provided with in Ireland in the early 2000s, the Social Work Team for Separated Children committed itself to replacing the inadequate care with care that truly meets the needs of children. However, the transition to the level of service provided today has only been achieved after years of criticism and a slow, steady commitment to transparency. Increased levels of discretion afforded to the social workers has led to an evolving definition of the best interest of the child and given rise to a child-protection service that provides safe environments for children to thrive and grow. This report serves to briefly sketch the history of the service, outline several distinctive features of the service, and place the service in a broader European context.

Regulatory Compliance and Safety of Child Care Centers

Source: Crowley AA, Jeon S, Rosenthal MS. Health and safety of child care centers: an analysis of licensing specialists’ reports of routine, unannounced inspections. Am J Public Health. 2013; 103(10): e52– e58; doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2013.301298Investigators from Yale University examined reports from unannounced licensing inspections of child care and group child care centers in Connecticut in order to determine factors associated with regulatory compliance. Inspection reports from visits to centers caring for children <6 years old between 2006 and 2008 were reviewed. Investigators examined the association between regulatory compliance and the following factors of interest: (a) accreditation by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), (b) center funding source, (c) compliance with a weekly child care health consultant visit, (d) compliance with 20 hours of child care provider continuing education, and (e) median household income of the area where the child care center was located.The study team grouped 72 regulations into 9 categories that pertained to all child care centers and 4 that pertained only to centers providing infant and toddler care. The 9 categories pertaining to all centers were outdoor safety, indoor safety, indoor health, child and staff documentation, emergency preparedness, child physical health, child supervision, program documentation, and educational programming. The infant and toddler categories were indoor safety, outdoor safety, health, and development. Overall compliance with each category of regulation was calculated. Regression analysis was used to identify the association of each of the 5 factors of interest with compliance in each of the regulatory categories.A total of 676 child care centers were inspected during the study period. A high degree of compliance (>96%) was found for child physical health (eg, nutritious meals), child supervision for preschool children, program documentation (eg, posting a license), and educational programming. Child care centers serving all ages were noncompliant most frequently (48%) with the regulation requiring a hazard-free playground. Infant and toddler centers were most frequently noncompliant with regulations in indoor safety and health categories. For example, 28% of infant and toddler centers had choking hazards such as plastic bags and balloons within the reach of children.Compliance with the regulation requiring evidence that each full-time provider has completed 20 hours of continuing education per year was the factor most strongly associated with compliance with other regulatory requirements. NAEYC accreditation and child care location in areas with higher household income were also significantly associated with increased compliance for some of the regulatory categories. There were no consistent associations between child care funding source and compliance.The authors conclude that continuing education for child care providers is an important intervention to improve the health and safety of children in child care centers and that analysis of licensing reports can assist efforts to improve the quality of child care.Dr Dougé has disclosed no financial relationship relevant to this commentary. This commentary does not contain a discussion of an unapproved/investigative use of a commercial product/device.According to the 2012 Report from Child Care America, over 15 million children under the age of 6 years require child care.1 This represents more than half of such children in the United States in 2013. Since so many families rely on child care for their children, it is imperative that centers that care for their children are healthy and safe. Each state has developed its own set of regulations.The data from this study came from inspection reports of child care centers in Connecticut. Although the study determined the frequency of noncompliance with regulations and which characteristics were most associated with increased compliance, the results may not be applicable to other states that may have more or less stringent regulations or differing frequency of inspections of child care centers.The results of this study indicate that the there is room for improvement for child care centers to demonstrate that they are providing a healthy and safe environment for children. To improve, national health and safety performance standards such as Caring for Our Children could be adopted.2 The adoption of these guidelines could ensure uniformity of regulations across the nation. In the meantime, pediatric providers can counsel families to pay attention to compliance with continuing education requirements for child care staff, the safety of the indoor environment for infants and toddlers, and potential playground hazards when considering a child care center.Playground safety is an area of major import, both within and without day care centers. More than 200,000 playground injuries/year occur in children <14 years of age; almost half of these are severe (eg, fractures).3 Physicians can join parents in advocating for hazard-free playgrounds.

The relevance of environmental health and the scope of pediatric environmental health specialty units

In the last decades there has been an important decrease in infant mobidity and mortality, but these achievements are not equally distributed across the whole population. Children are one of the most susceptible groups due to their unique vulnerabilities to environmental factors. Unhealthy environments, indoor pollution, poor drainage, inadequate waste disposal, and many others, are significant environmental risk factors to children. Currently, Chile is experiencing an advanced demographical transition, a situation that requires a precise approach to guarantee that the population has an adequate health status. It is important to take care of children, since their present health status will condition their health as adults. Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Units are structures specialized in pediatric conditions related to the environment, formed by an interdisciplinary and highly specialized team. These centers provide assistance, information and treatment, promote research, educate health care providers or the public, and report problems to authorities. Health authorities should emphasize the importance of having a safe environment for children and encourage efforts to reduce exposure to environmental hazards promoting healthy behaviors, education and awareness at all levels of society .

La importancia de la salud ambiental y el alcance de las unidades de pediatría ambiental

In the last decades there has been an important decrease in infant mobidity and mortality, but these achievements are not equally distributed across the whole population. Children are one of the most susceptible groups due to their unique vulnerabilities to environmental factors. Unhealthy environments, indoor pollution, poor drainage, inadequate waste disposal, and many others, are significant environmental risk factors to children. Currently, Chile is experiencing an advanced demographical transition, a situation that requires a precise approach to guarantee that the population has an adequate health status. It is important to take care of children, since their present health status will condition their health as adults. Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Units are structures specialized in pediatric conditions related to the environment, formed by an interdisciplinary and highly specialized team. These centers provide assistance, information and treatment, promote research, educate health care providers or the public, and report problems to authorities. Health authorities should emphasize the importance of having a safe environment for children and encourage efforts to reduce exposure to environmental hazards promoting healthy behaviors, education and awareness at all levels of society .

Government’s action plan will help create safer environments for children

Government’s action plan will help create safer environments for children

Factors Influencing the Physically Active Leisure of Children and Youth: A Qualitative Study

A phenomenological framework guided data collection and analysis of the prevalent influences on attitudes and behaviors of elementary, junior, and secondary school students towards their physically active leisure. Twenty-two students participated in individual in-depth interviews. Parental influence and outdoor play effected choice and level of physically active leisure for elementary students. Opportunities for organized and non-structured physically active leisure and friends were significant for junior students. Academic responsibilities and organized physically active leisure were influential for secondary students. Common threads were parental influence and the belief that the students were too old to start new activities. These findings highlight the importance of providing opportunities in safe environments for children and youth to participate in a variety of structured and non-structured forms of physically active leisure.

Keeping the hospital environment safe for children

A distinct responsibility of healthcare staff and, in particular, children’s nurses is to provide a safe environment for children and their families while in hospital. Indeed, the nurse’s UKCC (1992) Code of Professional Conduct states, ‘Each registered nurse, midwife and health visitor shall act, at all times, in such a manner as to safeguard and promote the interests of individual patients and clients.’ After reading this article, you should be able to: ■ understand the principles of safety in a child’s environment or an environment where children are cared for; ■ understand ways of preventing accidents or incidents occurring; ■ demonstrate an understanding of hazard observation and risk management; ■ reflect in your own areas of practice what your own responsibilities are and how to go about promoting a safe environment for children and families.

Studying Child Abuse, Neglect, and Exploitation in Middle School Social Studies

or many years, child abuse and neglect were largely F unaddressed issues. Although awareness of child maltreatment has increased, estimates regarding the pervasiveness of abuse indicate that the victimization of children remains critically underreported, with the vast majority of cases never reaching the attention of professionals (Crosson-Tower 1999; Finkelhor 1984). Although under the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act of 1974; the Child Abuse Prevention, Adoption, and Family Services Act of 1988; and various state laws, children are entitled to services regarding and protection of their emotional and physical safety, the provision of these services is dependent on whether people intervene on behalf of children who are at risk. Creating caring and safe environments for children requires a communitywide effort in which open discussion is fostered and the taboo and secrecy of abuse are overcome by awareness and motivated intervention. In this article we explore the study of child maltreatment in the middle school social studies classroom for the purposes of alerting young people to the problem of abuse and initiating them into their civic role as advocates for those who need protection and safety.

What do mothers tell their children about stranger-danger? The place of health education and the creation of safer environments for children

The aim of this paper is to raise issues about the role of education in teaching children to keep themselves safe from the risks posed by ‘strangers’. It presents qualitative data obtained from interviews with mothers living in one area in Leeds, UK, in order to explore what children are told about strangers, and whether mothers think that children will act on that information. The findings indicate that mothers do understand the complexity of the concept of ‘stranger’ and also that a major threat comes from non-strangers. Conveying this message to children is difficult, however, and leaves parents anxious about what to tell children at the appropriate age. Training to help parents with this task may be useful, but given the dubious efficacy of education, it is necessary also to consider how a more ‘child-friendly’ and supportive environment could be created. This would involve policy on transport, childcare and penal issues and more long-term preventive measures, in order to prevent abuse and violence toward children occurring in the first place.

Critically ill children: the case for short-term care in general intensive care units.

This paper contests the claim that all children should be nursed in paediatric intensive care units (PICUs). Although there is an undoubted need for prolonged care to be undertaken within PICUs, they are a scarce resource and many children's critical illness is of short duration. Following a discussion on the negative aspects of transferring a critically ill child this paper then establishes how a general intensive care unit (GICU) can maintain-awareness and standards which make it a safe environment for children with a short-term critical illness, as well as contribute towards future management and practice.