On Second Thought

Our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters learn that with marriage comes the inevitable deluge of nosy questions about having children.

300 Children An Hour Dying Of Hunger

Here's an actual presidential issue, gentlemen. This is credited to the AP and Huffington Post:

Nearly half a billion children are at risk of "devastating and irreversible" damage from malnutrition, including stunted growth and undeveloped brains, according to a new report released by Save the Children. This "hidden crisis" kills more than 300 children every hour of every day and affects one in four children worldwide, according to the report.

Chronic childhood malnutrition has been called a "silent killer," as it is often not listed as a cause of death and does not benefit from as much attention as high-profile campaigns targeting malaria or HIV/AIDS.

Soaring food prices have left children particularly vulnerable. According to the Press Association, one-third of parents reported that their children did not have enough to eat, and one-sixth said that their children skipped school in favor of work. Chief executive of Save the Children Justin Forsyth outlined the gravity of the situation:

"Every hour of every day, 300 children die because of malnutrition, often simply because they don't have access to the basic, nutritious foods that we take for granted in rich countries," he said.

The Little Characters!

To better understand how to teach children to be happy and develop "habits of character," Harvard child psychologist Dan Kindlon, author of Raising Cain: Protecting The Emotional Life Of Boys, surveyed teenagers and parents and interviewed kids, parents, teachers, and school administrators. It's important to note that most of the families in the study were middle income and above.

The 12% who made the cut as children of character didn't manifest these "deadly syndromes":

* they did not drink, or smoke cigarettes or marijuana;
* they were not depressed, mean, spoiled, or self-centered;
* they did not suffer from eating problems;
* they said it was wrong for thirteen year olds to have sex; and
* they worked to their intellectual potential in school without being overly driven.

These "family behaviors and expectations" were common to the 12%:

* their families frequently ate dinner together;
* their parents were not divorced or separated;
* they had to keep their rooms clean;
* they did not have a phone in their room; and
* they did community service.

Since that leaves a decisive majority of 88%, it's likely that few children or parents will read those lists without feeling judged, and perhaps inclined to say that there are some things, especially clinical depression, which are beyond the reach of values education. Kindlon's point is not to stigmatize children but inspire parents. The hard and hopeful truth he has revealed is that the grownup outlook and behavior manifested in the last four points tend to give kids the advantages of the first five.

Hat tip to the Newsletter of the National Assn. of Episcopal Schools

Helps Explain Congress, Too

According to experts, toddlers aren't as smart as they look:

Three-year-olds neither plan for the future nor live completely in the present. Instead, they call up the past as they need it.

"For example, let's say it's cold outside and you tell your 3-year-old to go get his jacket out of his bedroom and get ready to go outside," [doctoral student Christopher] Chatham explained. "You might expect the child to plan for the future, think 'OK it's cold outside so the jacket will keep me warm.' But what we suggest is that this isn't what goes on in a 3-year-old's brain. Rather, they run outside, discover that it is cold, and then retrieve the memory of where their jacket is, and then they go get it."