Posts Tagged ‘Children’

Helping Children to Understand Alternative Energy

Tuesday, September 28th, 2010

If you have ever spent much time with kids, you know that life is one huge question and answer session. With all the topics they are permanently bringing up, there is no better one to introduce than the topic of our world and how to improve it. A parent could take questions about the sun and turn them into answers about solar energy.

Helping your kids know alternative energy is very valuable.

Alternative energy is energy that does not use oil. Using natural sources such as the sun, air, water, the heat of the earth and waste harvest, energy can be produced that is safer and less pollutive and renewable.

If children by now know what the elements that form the basis of alternative energy are, you can take this information and show them how these things are used to make energy. How do we do this?

Some suggestions are:

When you talk about the sun, you can discuss how power can be derived from the sun using solar panels, that the heat from the sun is stored in panels and then converted to electricity to be used in our homes.

Besides instilling the concept of water safely in children, you can use any discussion about water to clarify how it is used to make energy. Children can know tides, waves and dams; you can clarify how each of these can be used to make electricity. If you want to go further, you can discuss how water passes over turbines to make power, how generators store this energy, and how electricity is produced. Once they know this, you can show them how this concept works with tides and waves as well.

When you are explaining to your children how vital air is for breathing, you can also clarify how it can be converted to power via wind turbines to make safe, clean energy.

Children need to know the danger of steam so that they do not burn themselves, but you can use this opportunity to clarify that steam moves turbines and charges generators that can light our streets and power our appliances.

If you keep the concepts simple, even small children can know. You can illustrate with bits and pieces found around your home, show them pictures and even perhaps bring them to a power plant that uses alternative energy. The thought is to get them interested, aware and appreciative of these sources of energy.

Renewable Energy for Kids: Teaching Children About Renewable Energy

Monday, August 2nd, 2010

Many parents want to teach their children about renewable energy and energy efficiency early in life because once they get in the habit of it, it will be a habit they take up again to follow for the rest of their life. But where should you start when teaching renewable energy for kids?

A excellent start would be defining exactly what renewable energy is. You can suggest they make a list of non-renewable and renewable power sources and build from there. Some examples would be:

Non-Renewable: Oil/Gas, Natural Gas, Coal, Nuclear

Renewable: Solar, Wind, Geothermal, Hydro/Water

Clarify to them how renewable energy comes from natural forces. It is different from fossil fuels as it does not make greenhouse gases or other pollutants.You can further clarify how the mass production of electricity using renewable energy sources has only recently become more standard. Some of the reasons why it’s becoming more standard include: climate exchange caused by pollution and fossil fuels are all being used up and becoming more expensive.A fantastic thought is to teach kids about energy efficiency. Have them make a list of all the powered devices they use for a day such as TV, computer, lights, etc. and for how long, and if possible the wattage of each device. If they can’t get the wattage, you can look up the average wattage for each device for demostration purposes. Do a rough calcuation to show them how much power they’re using in a day.Now have them do an ‘energy conservation’ day where they turn off devices when they’re not using them, turn off lights when not in a room, turn down the heat/AC a couple degrees, etc. Now recalculate the daily wattage and show them how much energy they saved with a few simple changes.A further fantastic thought is show them how installing a solar panel or windmill can generate electricy for their own home. It’s not as expensive as you might reckon. You don’t need an expensive commerical system. You can build your own for $100-200 dollars and your kids could even help if they’re ancient enough. The less they take energy for granted, the better. These education will stick with them (especially at such an impressionable age) and they’ll be using these practices for the rest of their life. Teach renewable energy for kids, the sooner the better!

Bullying, A Real Problem For Our School Age Children

Thursday, July 15th, 2010

Bullying in our society is at epidemic proportions. So many of our youngsters are the victims of bullies at schools and on the streets. Many youth go to bed frightened at night and wake up terrified each morning if they sleep at all, as the result of bullying. Victims live in constant dread for their safety and well being.

By definition bullying is aggressive behavior that is intentional and involves an imbalance of power or strength. Evenly, it is repeated over time and can take many forms. Typically, victims are those kids that don’t seem to “fit in” or appear to be “different”. For example they may be overweight, have developmental or learning problems, or are very passive and unlikely to stand up for themselves and mount any type of self defense.

If you’ve had any experience with bullying you know that it can have tragic affects. In addition to physical abuse, victims can suffer emotional and mental problems as a result. Bullies on the other hand are prone to violence and over time the amount of violence is likely to become more and more intense.

Facts About Bullying

Nearly 6 million kids in America are involved in bullying. They are either the bully, a victim of a bully or in some cases both. Males and females report involvement, though males are much more likely to take part in physical bullying such as punching, hitting, slapping, striking, or pushing. Females are more likely to start rumors, make comments about sex, gossip or try to convince others to exclude a further female.

How Can You Help

If you are the parent of a child between the ages of 6 and 18 then it is very likely that they have experience with bullying either frankly or indirectly. With nearly 30 percent of kids reporting either being bullied or bullying a name, the likelihood is strong that your child at least knows the school bully.

There is permanently strength in numbers. Get different student organizations and clubs involved. Start a series of articles in the school newspaper about “Bully Prevention”. Invite a strong, respected community chief to come and speak on the topic and reinforce the message that it’s “not cool” to bully. Make a support or help group for victims of bullies. The group should contain a mix of student leaders, parents, teachers and administrators. This group should place forward and provide anonymous help and support if necessary.

Remember millions of kids suffer extreme anxiety, depression, loss of appetite, and sleepless nights as the direct result of a bully. Studies show that the long term things of this trauma can be very serious. So even if your child is not involved, your involvement in needed. Overtime you can truly exchange the culture and environment of the school for the better. You will be helping to ensure that every student has an copy opportunity to learn in a safe and secure educational environment without the dread and stress of a bully.

Children, Bullies And Hearing Aids

Friday, July 9th, 2010

We read and hear about children being bullied across the united states on a daily basis. Just recently a young woman took her own life in an effort to get away from bullies. We need to help these children and especially the young children and teens who have to wear hearing aids. It is a crucial time to learn that these children need to be protected and how to protect them.

Children wearing hearing aids are evenly the target of make fun of. This is heartbreaking and we need to help these children. The thought behind this article is to find effectual ways to end the bullying that these children are subject to because we know once they are able to modify into their twenties they are much better suited to protect themselves. Here are three ways to help children who need hearing aids avoid being bullied.

One, give massive support around the house. Children and teens who wear hearing aids need all the like they can get from their immediate family. They need to know that their home provides a loving shelter from the bullying. Support can come in many forms. The support can be a hug and a kiss to the children, it can be long conversations that show you are listening to them or it can be many other ways to show you care.

Two, educate the acquaintances and classmates of the children who wear hearing aids. If the acquaintances of the kids who wear hearing aids know how vital the aids are, they will not make fun of them. Education is the key in this situation. If their acquaintances and classmates know the medical reason around the need for the technology that they are wearing they will end the tough times that they are giving the childen.

Three, tell the kids who wear hearing aids to report any bullying straight away. There is no shame in talking to a teacher and it will stop the bullying in many cases. This is not permanently the sure fire way to stop bullying but it is a excellent first step. Once they have talked with their teachers they also need to report any bullying to their parents as well.

Give like and support to kids and teens who use hearing aids. This is a very tough time in their lives and they need support. As the children slide into adulthood they will not dread wearing the hearing aids in public and they can really support younger people who are wearing them. With some attention and like now, we can start a chain of support that will help end the persecution of young people who wear aids.

Once we achieve help related to hearing we should also focus on eyeglasses and other tools fr shape that children are wearing. Help the youth of the country and you will be helping our country. Give like to the children and you are giving like to the country. It truly is wonderful to help and protect the kids.

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Are We Turning our Children Into Bullies?

Wednesday, June 9th, 2010

Researching for an article, I spent a few weeks in the blogosphere looking for information about the leading presidential candidates. My intention was to learn the candidates’ positions on issues that affect the self-employed. What I found instead shocked me. My search made it painfully apparent that grownups in the blogosphere are no nicer than bullies on an elementary school playground.

I suppose you could look at it as pure genius – Post an article to your blog poking a small fun at individuals, groups, or ideologies that readers like to despise. Then watch the site counter and number of bigoted comments rise. It is the seemingly perfect formula for successful and profitable blogging, but it comes at a greater price.

Words do not stay words forever. They lead to action. In a significance, hateful words will ultimately become the proverbial sticks and stones that do the bone breaking. On a similar note, the Mormon chapel behind my home was vandalized a few weeks ago. Mormon buildings in various states have been vandalized and/or burned over the past month. I don’t know what investigators found as the fire catalyst of the house of worship burned in Arizona, but I believe it was fueled by a rising acceptance of Mormon bashing during this presidential campaign.

A climate of mean-spirited political bantering also encourages our children to tease and bully. Bobby Barvish of The Muslim Forum of Utah calls this “trickle down bigotry”. In a recent interview with me, Mr. Barvish agreed that current prejudices blatantly expressed during our presidential primary campaigns have worsened the atmosphere for law-abiding Muslim Americans and their children.

Don’t particularly care about bigotry toward Muslims or Mormons?

Well, what about your own kids?

Don’t reckon for one minute that we grown-ups can go around name-calling and not expect our nation’s children to do the same. The message we are sending our children is that it is okay to tease, pick on, make fun of, discriminate against, or despise a name because of their name, their religion, their gender, their race, their general beliefs, etc.

According to Washington State Lt. Gov. Barc Owen: “Bullying occurs once every seven minutes on school playgrounds…By the age 24, 60% of identified childhood bullies (are) convicted of a crime.” -http://www.ltgov.wa.gov/speeches/OregonWaSheriffsConference.html

Perhaps a no less perilous bully is now the cyber kind. Cyber bullying was brought to inhabitant attention with the suicide death of midpoint school student, Megan Meier, after being tormented on MySpace. According to polls, 90% of kids say that they have been hurt online in some way. In 2007 alone, 32% of teenagers claim to have been victims of cyberbullying (CNN.com).

If you want to see prime examples of cyber bullying, type Hillary Clinton’s name into a search engine. You’ll find sites whose sole purpose is to make fun of her. (And we wonder why kids today can be so mean…) While you are at it, check out how bloggers treat Mike Huckabee’s sons. (Let’s not descend for belittling a candidate’s religion, midpoint name, heritage, or marital issues. Let’s beat up on their kids to make sure that we have completely desecrated everything that they hold dear.)

Certain subjects should be off-limits out of common decency. Running for office doesn’t give America the right to rip to pieces everything that is sacred or vital to a candidate.

I am not implying that pointing out a candidate’s policies or behavior of which you do not agree amounts to bigotry or cruelty. I am simply saying that leaving comments in blogs or on YouTube proclaiming things like “all Mormons are bunch of #!*% idiots that deserve what they get”, “you can’t trust a candidate whose name sounds like a #&%* terrorist”, or “that woman is an hideous #&!* and needs an exorcism” is ultimately going to lead to more prison over-crowding. (And cyber journalists/commentators posting articles to incite such comments for profit and personal gain are just as terrible if not worse!)

Treat candidates online the way that you would want your children to be treated on MySpace. It is possible to intelligently discuss differences in opinion and philosophy. Doing so will teach our children how to descend problems without resorting to name calling and vulgarity.

To learn more about the things of the politics of despise stay http://workfromhomechoices.com/blog/viral-blogging-what-is-the-price-of-profiting-from-the-politics-of-bigotry-and-despise/