What Is Pediatric Physical Therapy?

Pediatric physical therapy is a healthcare profession that encompasses evaluation and treatment of infants, toddlers, children and adolescents. It's very important to discover and treat problems in children on time. Research proves that early intervention works well with many pediatric diagnoses including but not limited to ADHD/ADD, ataxia, autism, brachial plexus injuries like Erb's palsy, cerebral palsy, developmental coordination disorder, developmental delays, down syndrome, gait abnormalities, muscular dystrophy, neurological impairments, orthopedic conditions, plagiocephaly, premature birth, scoliosis, sensory processing disorder, torticollis, toe walking, and traumatic brain injuries.

Physical therapists' entry level degree has changed throughout the years. It started with the bachelor's, continued to the master's, and now its the doctorate in physical therapy. Now little patients are treated by highly professional people with the highest possible degree.

Did you know that not every pediatrician specializes in child development? Only 15% of pediatricians are such specialists. Also, it is easy to miss signs of developmental delays during routine visits. That is when pediatric physical therapists can help.

Physical therapy evaluation usually starts with observation of child's appearance, movements, activities, behaviors. It may then continue to neurological and orthopedic exam, and it continues to testing with peer-reviewed assessment tools like Peabody Developmental Motor Scales - 2 (PDMS-2). The scores are then carefully calculated and conclusions are drawn as to whether the child requires physical therapy intervention.

To treat children, therapists may utilize stretching, strengthening, thermal treatments, aquatic therapy, and joint mobilization. However, children do not usually even notice that they undergo "therapy". They are engaged in games and activities thus they have lots of fun while exercising and working on improvement of their health.

Another important part of pediatric physical therapy is family education with home exercise programs. Family plays a crucial role in fast recovery and progress in therapy. To insure carryover, exercises need to be practiced daily.

It is convenient to have pediatric physical therapist come to children's houses to provide care in the natural environment where the children spend most of their time. Home pediatric physical therapy companies are happy to help their little patients. If you or somebody you know have a child that may benefit from pediatric physical therapy, research and find a home pediatric physical therapy company providing services in your area.

Besides watching and taking care of children's physical health, pediatric physical therapists always screen kids for potential problems in other areas like speech pathology, occupational problems, as well as learning and behavioral delays. If necessary, they may refer their little patients to other specialists in child development. That is how every aspect of child development is covered, and children can grow happy and healthy.

The Five Domains of Kindergarten Readiness

Ready for school? The National Education Goals Panel defines school readiness through five domains or pillars: Physical and Motor Development, Social and Emotional Development, Approaches to Learning, Language Development, and Cognitive Development.

A Closer Look at the Five Domains of Kindergarten Readiness

Physical and Motor Development refer to a child's physical development, physical abilities, and living environment. Areas such as growth rate and physical fitness, fine and gross motor skills, and general health and care-giving environment all need to be considered when addressing readiness for school.

It should be noted that each child's growth in these areas is highly individualized and often occurs at uneven levels, making assessment challenging for schools, educators, and parents. Regardless, physical well-being and motor development are central factors to a young child's early learning experience.

Social and Emotional Development refer to a child's self-esteem and their behavior when interacting with peers and adults. Framed from early-age interactions with parents and caregivers, the ability to form and sustain social relationships with adults and friends is central to a child's preparedness for school.

Factors such as a child's ability to listen to other points of view, provide help and support for friends, and the desire to make new friends positively influence a child's social and emotional development.

Approaches to Learning refer to a child's range of attitudes, habits, and learning styles. These are strongly influenced by temperament, gender, and cultural background. While perhaps the least researched readiness domain, understanding a child's learning style and beginning teaching when a child is ready to learn can greatly influence social, emotional and cognitive interactions.

Learning styles vary widely and are influenced by a child's cognitive abilities, approach to the learning process, openness to and curiosity about new tasks and challenges, task persistence and attentiveness, and capacity for invention and imagination.

Language Development is the acquisition of linguistic forms and procedures and the social rules and customs for acts of expression and interpretation. Language ability is generally divided into two areas: verbal language and literacy.

Verbal language skills include listening, speaking, and vocabulary. Literacy refers to the whole act of extracting meaning from printed symbols, which occurs far before a child begins "reading." Literacy skills include literature awareness, print awareness, and the writing process. Literacy is a highly valued dimension of early childhood learning where many unprepared children have difficulty.

Cognitive Development refers to a child's knowledge of their physical world, as well as the objects and their relationships. Encompassed within cognitive development are skills including representational thought (the ability to think about things not currently present), problem-solving, mathematical knowledge, social knowledge, and imagination.

Cognitive development is far more than recognizing shapes, colors, and letters of the alphabet -- it is how children think and understand the world around them.

The Most Important Factors For School Readiness

According to recent data from the Santa Clara County Partnership For School Readiness, most kindergarten teachers spend an inordinate amount of time on the non-academic pillars during class time. Teachers stated that they could more easily develop academic skills (Cognitive Development and Language Development) if they didn't need to focus on areas like Social and Emotional Development.

Certainly, children need to be physically healthy to begin school, but making sure they're emotionally ready may be just as important as knowing their A, B, C's.

While each of the five kindergarten readiness domains need to be considered, a recent study by Northwestern University and the American Psychological Association finds that children who enter kindergarten with a mastery of elementary mathematics and reading skills are more likely to experience future academic success!

Don't stop practicing the math and phonics skills just yet!

Sexually Abused Children - There IS Hope!

PART 1: Warning - This article may be inappropriate for younger readers. Please seek the permission of a parent or guardian before reading further.

Lately, I'm hearing a lot about suicide or suicide attempts. It's becoming increasingly clear to me, however, that what I'm hearing about even more often is childhood sexual abuse.

It's everywhere.

Some might say this epidemic of childhood sexual abuse is another "sign of the Apocalypse." After all, the Scriptures declare: "...in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away," (2 Timothy 3:1-5). Hmmm...lovers of selves...disobedient to parents...without natural affection...lovers of pleasure...they may even have a form of godliness. Wow. Certainly, with Satan's track record for hating and murdering children throughout history, it's a pretty good guess that he could have his hand in this current epidemic, too.

Epidemic? Perhaps. Based on reported cases, US Justice Department statistics reveal that one in every four girls and one in every six boys (2.78 million guys) will be sexually abused before the age of eighteen.

JESUS: LORD OF THE SEXUAL PREDATORS?

The media is filled with stories about childhood sexual abuse involving everyone from ministers to siblings. Just this morning, a headline screamed that an Abilene minister was sentenced for sexually abusing a foster child. Though most Christians will likely find quite appalling the stories and statistics I've recently been pouring over, one thing we cannot forget - one thing that we absolutely MUST bear in mind - is that Jesus died for sex offenders, too.

I know. I know. I cringed as I was reminded of that fact. I recall a man angrily declaring, "I hope there's an exceedingly hot place in Hell for child abusers!" Even within our prisons, child sex offenders are looked upon as being the worst of the worst. But let's remember, in most cases, child abusers were once sexually molested, precious little children, too.

The cycle must be broken.

I firmly believe that there are some God-fearing Christians reading this right now who are struggling with personally sexually abusing children and that he - or she (about 60% of male survivors report at least one of their perpetrators was/is female) - needs to know that God loves them with an everlasting love and NOTHING can separate them from that love.
Jesus is the way out. Friends, you CAN get help. Your life is a struggle and you've known all along that something just wasn't "right" in your life. Let's deal with it. NOW! There's a reason why every one of us is the way we are. We are receptacles but yours is NOT an insurmountable problem. In the same way your problem has gotten gradually worse, it really CAN get better.

In addition, I am certain that there are scores of readers who were victims of childhood sexual abuse. You need to know that there is no shame. You are not guilty. You are not "damaged goods" and God desires to empower you and use the story of your life to encourage many, many others who have believed the devil's lies. There is an army just like you - an army looking for leadership - who needs to know the way out. Jesus is the WAY, working through you. Lead them out, back onto the battlefield where you can all make a difference as wounded, yet overcoming, soldiers. The planet is covered with people like you who need help. Go on and break the cycle. Yes, YOU!

To those who are neither sex offenders (who may even disdain those who commit these acts), or victims of childhood sexual abuse (who cannot relate to the emotional suffering they are experiencing that is impacting virtually every other aspect of their lives), I ask that you read this article, gather the facts, and ask that God would break your heart for both the abusers and the abused. This issue DOES involve you.

According to Ephesians Chapter 6 in the Holy Bible, our battle is NEVER against people, but against demonic forces at work in people's lives. We must see those who hurt people as hurting people. Let us perceive them as we would a child playing on a playground, oblivious to the rabid dog approaching. Do we get angry at the child or run to their defense with prayer, encouragement and counsel?

WHAT ONE SURVIVOR SAYS

Here's what one survivor of childhood sexual abuse had to say about her journey toward victory after being abused by a minister in her church: ...abuse touched every aspect of my life - emotional, physical, relational and spiritual. I lived with a victim mentality for over thirty years until I learned to be a survivor.

I was angry with everyone, and afraid to trust anyone. Shame and guilt became my constant companions, convincing me that I somehow encouraged the abusers' advances. I built protective barriers to avoid loving and being loved.

It seemed as though my body defied me by bringing unsolicited sexual advances, thus becoming my own worst enemy. I took revenge against my body, forcing it to make restitution for its disloyalty as I smoked, drank, and over-ate my way to false comfort.

Because adults betrayed and humiliated me, I became rebellious, refusing to submit to authority. I kept intimate relationships at bay for fear someone I cared about would learn my secret.

Because some of my abusers were "upstanding" members in the church clergy, I couldn't trust a God who seemed indifferent to my suffering and who allowed adults to abuse me. I was afraid of that kind of love, so I rejected God and the counsel of the church.

I suffered silently for more than thirty years before it became imperative that I face the issues of sexual abuse in my life. I couldn't carry the burden and pain alone. I had to face the past, deal with the hurts and learn to live in the present. The "protective tools" I selected as a twelve-year old abused child - anger, bitterness and refusal to forgive - caused me more pain rather than relief, since I longed for love, acceptance and affirmation.

I didn't want to forgive, however, because forgiving my abusers seemed to reduce the significance of the crime and their need for punishment...I felt warranted in my desire for justice... I did nothing to cause the abuse - it wasn't my fault. However, I was responsible for my refusal to forgive and my willingness to hate and harm rather than to love using healthy boundaries. I was wrong for judging all people as evil because of the crimes of a few. Refusing to forgive, to accept and receive love and to constructively deal with my anger and fear was hurting me, not my abusers. I had to stop running from my longings for loving relationships.

This realization sent me into a fierce battle - a matter of life and death. I felt I was teetering on the ledge of sanity versus insanity by the tips of my fingers, my body dangling above the abyss of despair. I was afraid of change, but even more afraid of the pain I carried. But I didn't try to hide from the truth this time.

I understood the abuse was so invasive it would be a lifelong recovery process. Just the thought of letting go of the anger and the grief was hard to bear so I prayed...Eventually, God eliminated the pain from my past, but I'm yet learning to deal with the present, which is strongly influenced by my past.

DEFINING CHILDHOOD SEXUAL ABUSE

Here's one appropriate definition: "Any sexual activity initiated by a peer or adult without consent is abuse, including physical, visual or verbal stimuli." As a rule of thumb, it's when a person invades the physical or psychological realm of a child or touches them sexually. This invasion results in the child suffering physical and/or psychological damage.

I talked with the father of three young daughters who, after viewing a pornographic video while his girls were sleeping, hit 'rewind' and went to bed. He was horrified the next morning as he walked in on his innocent little girls, still in their pajamas, huddled around the TV, eating Lucky Charms, watching daddy's erotic film. Twenty years later, the girls have had multitudes of unnecessary personal, sexual and relational burdens to bear, including teen pregnancy and other psychological issues. Granted, they may have wound up that way anyway, but as I relay that story to you, I cannot help but wonder if we, as a society, aren't just as guilty of the sexual abuse of our nation's children as we expose them to all sorts of off-color, even blatantly sexual examples from the immodest fashions of pop-singers to adult sit-coms and sexual content in films and printed subject matter. Children should not have to try and process the garbage we feed them by way of the media. We adults are having a hard enough time processing all the junk we're exposed to.

Many people don't realize that they have, in actuality - by definition - been sexually abused. See, the term 'sexual abuse' encompasses a wide variety of inappropriate actions from so-called "victimless" crimes like voyeurism and indecent exposure, to child molestation, incest and rape. Voyeurism and indecent exposure are often "gateway crimes" that can start an offender down the path to more serious action.

Here's a myth-buster: Contrary to popular belief, the perpetrators of sex offenses are NOT acting out of sexual desires; their primary motive is simply POWER. Child abusers may become so demonically oppressed that they give way to a stronghold and begin to seek domination - CONTROL - over others who are easy prey. When one abusive act fails to satisfy, they find themselves wanting more. The acts can often become so dangerous that nothing short of taking a human life will stop the urge. To sex offenders, victims are not seen as being real people, but as OBJECTS to be dominated.

A MAJOR SOCIAL ISSUE

How pervasive is sexual abuse of children? It's estimated that there are 60 million child rape survivors in the USA today. Children with disabilities are 4 to 10 times more vulnerable to sexual abuse than their non-disabled peers (Source: National Resource Center on Child Sexual Abuse, 1992). Long term effects of child abuse include fear, anxiety, depression, anger, hostility, inappropriate sexual behavior, poor self esteem, tendency toward substance abuse and difficulty with close relationships. (Source: Browne & Finkelhor, 1986).

Adolescents with a history of sexual abuse are significantly more likely than their counterparts to engage in sexual behavior that puts them at risk for HIV infection, according to Dr. Larry K. Brown, Rhode Island Hospital. According to Dr. Brown, "These results suggest two things. Abused kids need adequate counseling around abuse issues. A lot of these kids keep re-experiencing the anxiety and trauma for years." The second issue, he said, is that "most therapy does not address current sexual behavior" and the anxieties that sexually abused adolescents experience. (Source: Larry K. Brown, M.D., et al, American Journal of Psychiatry 2000).

Did you know that, among both adolescent girls and boys, a history of sexual or physical abuse appears to increase the risk of eating disorders? Abused girls were more dissatisfied with their weight and more likely to diet and purge their food by vomiting or using laxatives and diuretics. These girls were also more likely to restrict their eating when they were bored or emotionally upset. This finding suggests that abused girls might experience higher levels of emotional distress, possibly linked to their abuse, and have trouble coping. Food restriction and perhaps other eating disorder behaviors may (reflect) efforts to cope with such experiences. (Source: Stephen A. Wonderlich, M.D., et al, University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences in Fargo, Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 2000).

The secnd part on this subject is available to anyone who is interested.
Simply write team1min@our-tonw.com and type ABUSE2 in the SUBJECT BAR.

Every blessing,
Michael Tummillo
http://www.YourTown4Jesus.com

Physiotherapy For Children Below 18 - 4 Must Knows For Caregivers

For those who are under the age of 18 years, a children's physiotherapist would be required to deal with any kind of problem that needs this sort of therapy. Sometimes children injure themselves and this calls for physiotherapy too.

1. What requires the physiotherapist's assistance
If the problem is not due to an illness or a disorder by birth, then there is usually an injury that is not healing that calls for the help of a physiotherapist. These problems could be broken bones, sprains, injuries to joints or even surgery related problems. Unlike the fully grown adult body, a child's body is still developing and needs to be taken care of properly to ensure that the defect does not hamper their growth progress and their activities. If this is neglected it will retard the child's motivation too and the child will feel left behind and not even try to better his performance.

2. How does a children's physiotherapist begin treatment?
Just like treatment for adults, even for children the first and foremost thing to be done is a proper diagnosis of the problem. Once the physiotherapist has ascertained the root of the problem then the therapy begins. The therapist has to consider sever factors in the treatment of children such as emotional and mental health, nutrition and eating habits, motor skills and the growth and development of the child physically.

A pediatrician studies the early development of an infant from birth to see if the muscles are developing properly. In new borns this is essential of the neck muscles to see if the head is supported sufficiently and if the child can raise the head. The movements of a child are a clue to the development of the organs, muscles and bones. If the growth rate is satisfactory it is fine, but if this is lagging behind for some reason then the cause will have to be found out and treatment started to ensure that the growth rate is enhanced and brought to the normal category soon.

3. Areas of physiotherapy for children
Children sometimes require therapy with regard to their speaking abilities and language development too. Other areas that need therapy are the lungs and chest therapy, therapy for the bones or orthopedic therapy and massage of the affected areas. Children of different age groups require physical therapists to help them with various problems. A physiotherapist helps kids with posture education, safe stretches, joint manipulation, mobilization and exercises. They also have methods of assisting children and helping them to live with and cope with down syndrome, dyspraxia, multiple sclerosis, muscle weakness, allergies, headaches, injuries of the spine, cystic fibrosis, cerebral palsy and many other disorders and diseases that effect children.

4. Manual methods of physiotherapy
Those who have undergone training in physiotherapy and are fully qualified in this method of treatment, use massage therapy to sooth the areas that are affected and also to strengthen muscles and bones and to get rid of the pain in the affected areas. Apart from the massage they also use equipment like ultrasound instead of injections, narcotics and drugs to relieve the discomfort and pain and also swellings. Qualified physiotherapists also train parents to use the different techniques to help their children especially if it is difficult to find a physiotherapist in the areas where they reside.

Physiotherapy for children encompasses many areas that are required for the development of children, like the circulatory system, respiratory system, muscles and bones and tendons. This will assist the child in their growth and well being right through their life.

Hope For the Girl Child

There can be hope for the girl child in terms of a bright future if we can tackle one of the greatest challenges of human existence i.e. the challenge of gender discrimination and bias. Only gender equality with total women empowerment can ensure a safe and secure future for the girl. When women are healthy, educated and free to take the opportunities of life, they prosper. When women prosper in life the family in turn flourishes and flourishing families with assertive women in charge ensure bright future for the baby girl.

Hope for the girl child: The necessity of strong and healthy women

Children who are the future wealth of a nation can flourish and thrive only when women in the family and the society are healthy, educated and independent in terms of making informed choices about their life. But the situation is far from ideal. Women are facing extreme hardships and marginalization because of gender based discrimination and bias. They are subjected to innumerable forms of violence and hardships. Majority of Women in large parts of the world are weak and are subjected to a life which is totally dependent on others. She faces domestic violence, falls in the trap of commercial sexual exploitation and faces the brunt of harmful traditional practices such as early marriage, premature pregnancy, female genital mutilation etc. The negative consequences of all this is faced by the baby girl. The practice of girl child feticide, infanticide, low enrollment into education, abuse and a life of misery and deprivation is what that is in offering for the girl child when women are weak and they are not able to take care of their children.

Hope for the girl child: Women empowerment and protective home environment

So any optimism for the girl child development and progress depends upon the total empowerment of women. Gender based equality can ensure the resurgence of strong and assertive women and in such circumstances we can see the real flourishing of the baby girl. Totally empowered women will share a relationship of equality with their partner. This in turn will lead to a positive reinforcement where the girl child will be adequately taken care in a secure and protective home environment. We can see that empowerment of women and the girl child is a mutually inclusive phenomenon where the development of women can lead to the development of the girl child and this in turn leads to further empowerment and development of women. In fact such positive cycles once generated will carry on in a continuous manner.

Hope for the girl child: Elimination of child labour

Child labour is one of the main reasons why children don't go to school and waste their precious childhood. A girl child most often falls prey to child labour in her own home in the sense that she is put into a condition where she has look after all the household chores from a very young age. This curtails any chance of education. In many cases the baby girl is also forced to contribute to the primary means of earning for the family. Therefore either she ends up working as a child labour outside her home or participates in running the household and becomes a hidden child labour. Elimination of child labour often requires innovative income-generating ideas for parents who rely on their children for income. Economic development, training and loans for parents help give children the freedom to enjoy their childhoods and complete their education without exploitation. Elimination of child labour in either of the above mentioned forms is only possible if we can make the family unit viable economically and educate them further to keep their girl child in school.

Hope for the girl child: The Role of government and other structures of society in elimination of child labour

To make the family unit viable economically and give a future to the baby girl, social organizations, government bodies and other structures of the society should work at the ground level and provide facilities or avenues for gainful employment for the parents. This can also include credit and micro level finance facilities to start up small scale enterprises at the local level. These types of facilities to the parents can reduce child labour and ensure the completion of primary and secondary education of the girl child. Empowering parents, especially mothers, with income-generating skills and by providing them with loans for small businesses and market access for their products should be taken up in a massive scale so that we can prevent the young women labour. Education of the parents, the family and the society is also necessary where it has be clearly communicated that the baby girl should go to school and how her education is important for the family and society. Further parental education should also include communication against the repressive customs, traditions and mindset of the society which leads to the discrimination against the baby girl. There should be also some incentives planned to keep the girl child in the school.

Hope for the girl child: Supportive home environment is a must

A difficult and less supportive home environment is the prime reason why young women don't go to school. High illiteracy rates among women and lower school attendance rates among young girls, especially at the secondary level, constitute discrimination against the girl child. Unreasonable workloads in the home, preferences for sons, a disregard for the rights of girls, early marriage, child labour, poverty, and the threat of violence keep too many young women from completing their education and trap them and their families in cycles of poverty. The other major hindrance against a good home environment for the girl child is the regressive gender beliefs, customs and traditions. In fact most boys, men and women know that young women are overloaded with work but little is done to help girls in any possible way or take a share in their workload. This is due to beliefs about gender and the role of a girl, and to the economic situation of the family, society and the nation as well. Here the need is to engage men and boys to create gender parity: encourage them to contribute to the work of household chores and to challenge violence and gender roles and traditions that are unjust and harmful.

Hope for the girl child: Strengthen the family unit to remove girl child labour

Young women empowerment and hope for the baby girl in terms of a better future is only possible if we strengthen the family unit and provide a secure, protective and caring home environment for the girl child. The family needs to be made economically viable. Once this happens then we can free the young women from the child labour that she is put into. Further through parental education and training we can eradicate regressive and repressive customs, traditions and mindset which make the society biased against the girl child. These parental education and training programmes should go into specifics and discus every aspect about the girl child development and empowerment including the nutritional and healthcare requirements, education, recreation and free time for the girl, sexual and reproductive rights and protection against sexual abuse. To keep the girl child in school incentives can be planned and actually the economic support to the family should be tied up with the criteria of girl education. The positive benefits from all these programmes can be seen as a change in the home environment where parents will provide a loving and secure environment for the girl child to grow and blossom. She would be taken care in terms of her nutritional and health requirements and she will be sent to school with a progressive mindset. Further this will foster a secure environment where the parents and elders will be vigilant against sexual or other kind of abuse against the girl including violence. The girl child will thus grow in a home environment which is supportive to her needs in every possible way.

Concrete steps that is required in providing a congenial home environment for young women includes empowering families economically to prevent worsening poverty and the harmful consequences of child labour and exploitation; providing adequate health services and abuse prevention systems to protect children; educating all girls, boys, men and women on rights of children, rights of women and human rights, as well as their roles and responsibilities in upholding these rights through preventing violence and discrimination and building gender equity in the home, community and nation.

Hope for the girl child: The perils of girl institutions

We have to be very clear on one fact that there is no substitute to a caring, secure and protective home environment which is vital for the girl child to grow and prosper. The young women institutions run by the state or other structures of the society can act as a temporary measure but they can never replace a home environment which gives the real hope for a girl child. These institutions cannot provide the humane touch which is very much required for the emotional and psychological growth of the child. However, even as temporary solutions, these institutions deserve attention as they are often rife with abuse and neglect. This is due to the poor education and harmful attitudes of staff that do not encourage girls in careers or education; many girls end up pregnant, married early or exploited in prostitution after leaving such institutions at the age of 15. They end up in situations which are no good for the individual self or the society. The staff of these institutions cannot replace parents as they end up neglecting their wards in one way or the other intentionally or unintentionally. It has been seen that girls who grow in these institutions never transform into mature and strong women who are self-empowered.

Hope for the girl child: Role of government in handling girl institutions

The government and other bodies in the society should ideally work with a goal to eliminate such institutions completely and integrate the orphaned back into the society. But for this even the society has to respond back by being liberal enough to provide a home for the orphaned. Meanwhile it would also serve well to make the staff and supportive system in the girl institutions to be gender sensitive. Any kind of discrimination and bias in these instructions should be dealt with strongly. On the other hand necessary training and education should be imparted to the staff in these organizations so that they can provide an environment which is at least conducive for positive growth of the girl child.

Therefore the work of the government is cut out in terms of improving the quality of these institutions while working to make them obsolete. To achieve this goal the government with the help of the other supportive structures of the society must initiate children into safe family environments as soon as possible, support families, build gender equality, and teach parents a rights-based approach to parenting and new parenting skills that will enable their girl children to be self-confident and successful. Further to bring real benefit for the girl child in terms of a positive future, the government should Support the formation of community based abuse prevention activities, including child protection committees, mentoring programmes, provision of day care centres for children of working parents, and psychological, legal and social support to families and orphaned children.

Hope for the girl child: Commercial exploitation of women

An economically defunct family unit becomes a breeding ground for all kind of wrong things happening against the young women and it cannot provide any future for girl child. The wrong things include the horror of commercial exploitation of women. When a home does not remain a secure, caring and protective environment for the girl child then we can see the havoc it can create on the life of the girl. Vested interests that exist in the society utilize this weakness to their advantage and push the girl child into sex trade and commercial exploitation through sex trade. If we want to stop this problem then the work should begin at the family level. We have to make the family unit viable economically and we need to further give training and education to the parents in parenting and issues related to girl child care. Commercial exploitation of young women either through sex trade or through any other kind of labour should be strictly prohibited and strong laws should be made against them.

Hope for the girl child: The choice of an alternative life

Young women who have fallen in the trap of commercial exploitation should be rescued and given a chance to start life afresh in terms of education, nutrition and healthcare. Women who are already into sex trade can be persuaded back to a normal life if we can provide them a viable alternative which is economically attractive and which brings them back to a life of dignity in the society. Any half measures at this level won't work and they won't provide any hope for girl child. Here what we need to understand is the fact that prostitution of girls sexually exploits girls and traps them in cycles of poverty and abuse. Fundamentally, the basis of this exploitation is the unequal power and economic balance between a girl child and a male adult. Individuals, social organizations and government should work with women and children in the sex trade to empower them with alternative income choices, raise awareness of the harms of the sex trade and educate their families and communities to protect and prevent children from entering and repeating the same cycle.

Hope for the girl child: The needs of the baby girl

The needs of the baby girl include the needs of the physical, emotional, psychological and intellectual realms. The girl child needs a home environment which is caring and which provides love to her. It should be an environment which is secure and protective. Her physical needs are related to adequate nutrition and healthcare. Further time for recreation and play develops her physically and education makes her ready for a bright tomorrow. Whenever the girl child has been asked about her needs, she has expressed her desire for more committed teachers, clean water, parental involvement in her education, and treatment with the same respect as boys in school. In fact what a young woman is asking for is a life of equality and dignity where she gets equal opportunity to pursue her goals and dreams in life. The government and the other supportive bodies of the society should take up the issue of adequately funding initiatives to ensure girl child rights; improving school curricula, providing incentives to girls' education and ensuring free, compulsory and quality inclusive education for all children. To provide a bright future for girl child the governments should formulate policies based on the Millennium Development Goals, the Dakar Framework for Action and the United Nations Girls' Education Initiative goals of gender parity in primary and secondary education.

Hope for the girl child: The Apathy of the state

The apathy of the state can be seen in actions that it has taken for girl child empowerment. Most of the times there is huge gap between the international treaties and protocols that has been agreed upon and the actual ground implementation of these treaties and protocols for young women empowerment. It has been seen that most of the times laws and policies are formulated without checking the ground realities. We need to understand the fact that unless we have a strong framework for action at the grass root levels, no laws and policies or other measures can bring hope for girl child. The state should involve the people to implement its laws and policies. It needs to initiate grass root campaigns with other structures and bodies of the society for making the girl child empowerment to succeed. Let me throw some more light on the appalling ground situation. Over the last 10 years, 189 countries have adopted the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action with strong recommendations to improve the status of the girl child. The Millennium Development Goals have again focused the world attention on the girl and the necessity of gender equity for the alleviation of poverty. Yet today, while the international community has seen great progress, governments are still struggling to fulfill their commitments. In order to protect the rights of girls and provide hope for girl child, governments must uphold the Convention on the Rights of the Child, gender inequity must be addressed, and all people must be sensitised to children and women rights. Moreover Government should work with social organisations and commit to adequately recording social statistical data by separating records of women and girls, men and boys, and create indicators and monitoring systems to track the status of the girl child.

Hope for the girl child: Framework for action at the state and international level against gender inequality

Framework for action at the state and international level against gender inequality must begin by the member states of the United Nations upholding international treaties and enforcing laws, especially for the prevention of gender-based violence. In this regard it is particularly important for all member states to enforce the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and its Optional Protocol, and the Convention on the Rights of the Child and its two Optional Protocols, with funding and accountability mechanisms. The member states should also ensure that all citizens understand the provisions of such international conventions. Further, eradication of gender inequality and empowerment of the women and girl child is only possible through a framework for action which involves the grass root structures of the society which includes the family and the community. The approach should be bottom up and not top bottom. The needs and issues should be identified at the local level and then through the local bodies the state and the international community should chip in resources as per the broad policy frameworks agreed upon. Only reaching the needy directly can help solve the problem and bring some optimism for the future of the girl child. Action should be to empower people at the ground level through various methods including training and education. Throwing bread crumbs here and there would not serve the purpose at all.

Hope for the girl child: Uphold child rights

The role of the state, social organizations and other progressive structures of the society becomes very important in upholding the rights of the child through education and training as well through strict enforcement of laws and policies at the ground level. The girl child should have the basic right to live a life of equality and dignity in all possible ways. In this regard the right to nutrition, healthcare and education in a caring, protective and secure environment is one of the fundamental rights that should be available to all children including the baby girl. Further to uphold the girl child rights and bring hope for girl, massive gender sensitization campaigns should be initiated at every level of the society especially at the grass root levels. The need is to eradicate the regressive customs, traditions and beliefs from the society and inject a new mindset which is progressive, just and which is based on the principles of gender equality.

Hope for the girl child: Track the status of the baby girl development

Just planning and implementing the laws and policies is not going to bring us the necessary results in terms of real hope for girl child. It is also necessary for us to track the status of the girl child empowerment programmes at various levels to understand the gaps that exist between the actual plans and the ground level results that have been achieved. In this regard the government should collaborate with social organizations and other structures in the society to bring out concrete data which can show the results of young women empowerment programmes in a transparent way. If we don't initiate such measures then all the precious resources that go into these programmes will remain unaccounted and this will create a breeding ground for corruption and other malpractices. More importantly tracking the status of the girl child and girl empowerment programmes will give a real picture of the impact of policies and programmes pursued by the government towards creating a society which is just and gender neutral. Further the action required by the governments also includes documenting the statistics of women and girl child abuses and making that information popularly known.

Hope for the girl child: The work that is multidimensional

The work towards young women empowerment is multidimensional in nature. It involves work at the ground level at the very basic unit of the society that is the family. From the family then it moves upward to encompass the locality, the region, the society, the nation and the international community. Unless all these levels are integrated we would not be able to achieve genuine and true results. The girl child empowerment work involves spreading the doctrine of gender equality through education and training of the family and the society. It also involves activities towards eradicating the regressive customs, traditions and beliefs in the society which acts as the breeding ground for gender based discrimination and bias. The work also involves in taking up action plans in terms of providing facilities and opportunities for nutrition, healthcare, education and employment for women and the girl child. The work towards gender equality will not be complete unless measures are taken up for stopping all kind of abuse and violence against women and the girl child. This has to be strongly dealt within the framework of stringent laws and regulations and their enforcement. More than formulating new laws it is necessary to enforce the existing laws so that crimes against humanity like girl child feticide, infanticide, sexual abuse, rape and violence can be rooted out from the society. This needs a twin approach. The basic and most fundamental approach would be to prevent the crime through gender sensitization. This can be achieved through education and training. Meanwhile the second approach should focus on dealing stringently with the perpetuator of a crime. As I said before, the work towards gender equality and hope for the girl child is multidimensional and it needs the active involvement of the society at every level for success.

Finally once again let me reemphasize the fact that education of young women is one of the most effective methods of girl child empowerment as well as national growth and development. Young women education helps in protecting girls from discrimination and violence, helps in strengthening the family as a unit and helps in eradicating poverty, corruption and malpractices from the society.

The Six Responsibilities of Parenting

Over the last thirty-five years I have noticed the role of parent somewhat changing. From strict to more lenient, from nurturing to smothering, from encouraging to fearful. I think back to the things I did as a child and a teen and compare them to the things I allow my kids to do and what other parents seem to be letting their children do. Frankly, I don't know how my mother wasn't a complete nervous wreck.

I often feel like parents today have forgotten what parenting is all about. The job of a parent is to provide guidance and knowledge to the child and raise him or her to be a productive upstanding citizen. It isn't to give them everything they want, or shield them from disappointment, or run around like crazy to make sure they are happy. Here are six obvious responsibilities of parenting that seem to be forgotten in this age of helicopter parenting.

Basic Needs Everyday Water, food, clothing and shelter need to be provided to your child every single day. That's not to say it has to be served in a formal dining room and everyone has to eat together. I'm just saying that there needs to be food, water, clothing, and a roof overhead. Pretty obvious I know but sometimes people are unable to provide these basic needs to their children. As a parent, if you know about it and can do something about it, help it. Otherwise these children have a major strike against them in life.

Cognitive, Emotional, and Physical Health Cognitive refers to the way the brain works to think and figure out problems. Emotional health can be made stronger through high self-esteem and a good self-concept. Lastly, physical health is accomplished mostly through healthy diet, regular exercise and good hygiene. In order to make sure your child's cognitive, emotional, and physical healths are taken care of you have to work on them every day. Challenge your child to solve problems, let them know that it is okay to make mistakes and limit their intake of sugar, video games and television. Teach your child about washing up and brushing teeth and wiping thoroughly after going to the bathroom. It's hard work but as your child grows into a healthy, happy adult who feels good about themselves, it will prove worthwhile.

Social Needs Must Be Met Human beings are social beings. It is important to expose your children to both other children and other adults that value the child. Extended family can be an important influence in a child's life. Plan trips to visit grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. Visit playgrounds and parks in your area. Make play dates with the other children in your child's class. All of these activities will help your child learn to interact with others and feel comfortable with themselves.

Protection Is Priority #1 First and foremost as a parent you have to keep your child safe. You start by childproofing your home when they are babies, you buy helmets and knee pads when they learn to ride a bike or skate, you insist that they wear a seat belt every single time they ride in a car, and you talk to them about the dangers of drugs, alcohol, cigarettes and sex.

What we also have to do that parents aren't doing as much of nowadays is let go and let our little birds fly out of the nest. When you over-protect your children, you cripple them for life. They never learn that it is okay to fall down, make mistakes or get hurt. Then they grow up afraid - fearful of trying anything that may not work out well. Fearful adults are never happy, successful adults.

Interest and Attention Everyday It isn't necessary (or even healthy) to spend all day with your child but it is vital to spend some time every day giving your full attention and individual interest to your child. I understand this can be difficult for parents with full-time jobs and more than one child but the effort is worth it. Even if you spend only ten or fifteen minutes with your child, listening to a story or what they did that day. This is quality time that will show your child how important they are.

Foundations of Education A child learns more in the first five years of life than at any other time and parents are a child's most important teachers. As a parent it is your duty to teach your children the foundations of like education. Social education includes teaching to share and wait your turn. Basically how they should interact with others. Moral education covers the important questions of whether or not it's okay to steal or hurt someone else or damage other people's property. Religious or spiritual instruction depends entirely on you and your family's beliefs. Lastly cultural education encompasses traditions and holidays that are practiced by your family, your nationality or your religion. Obviously passing down these values and beliefs are vital to the growth of your child as well as being fun to share.

As you can see, parenting is a huge responsibility and not something that should be entered into without proper thought. It can be tricky to walk the line between permissive parenting and overbearing, overprotective parenting. If you are thinking about becoming a parent you should be sure that you are prepared to fulfill these responsibilities and if you are already a parent, this can be an easy way to measure how well you are doing as a parent.