NEW YORK - Today is "Global Hug Your Kids Day." Michelle Nichols, a former Businessweek magazine columnist, started Global Hug Your Kids Day on the 10th anniversary of the death of her 8-year-old son, Mark, just 11 days after he was diagnosed with brain cancer. She does not want anyone faced with a similar loss to regret not having hugged their child enough.
Moreover, Nichols is convinced that hugs can strengthen kids - and families.
"Life is tough out there, both for the parents and for the kids. Hugs are a physical way of putting your love into action."
Childrens' advocates say the brunt of the current economic and budget difficulties facing the U.S. is being borne more often by children. They say kids need not only hugs, but better policy decisions that show the community cares for them, too.
Sarah Walzer, CEO of the New York-based Parent-Child Home Program, likes the idea of Global Hug Your Kids Day, but says policymakers need to embrace kids in more ways than one.
"Probably everybody in our government at every level needs to be thinking a little bit more about the children in this country and the children who need to be hugged. Because, unfortunately, all of the budget crises at every level of government are really harming children."
Nichols says it's easy to observe the day, but harder to do it every day, and her organization has a website with a "30-Day Hug Challenge" as a motivator. Here's her technique:
"Take that kid and give him a big ol' hug. Tell him, 'I love you! And you matter to me! And you rock my world. I want you to know no matter what else happens today, you matter to me!'"
Nichols says her nonprofit organization changed its name last year from "National" to "Global" Hug Your Kids Day because she sees it as a kind of peace movement.
"This message of hugging your kids, when you think about it, should be on a global scale, because people of every country - even Afghanistan and Africa and China, places of conflict or places that we don't really understand - they love their kids just as deeply as we here in America do."
Parents are also urged to hug their spouse or partner on Global Hug Your Kids Day.
More information is available at www.HugYourKidsToday.com and www.30DayHugChallenge.com.
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October is National Bullying Prevention Month and a recent study showed teens bullied in high school tend to become pessimistic about life prospects.
The study, published in the Journal of Research on Adolescence found students who experienced relational bullying were more likely to develop depressive symptoms and over time became more pessimistic about both academics and career prospects beyond high school. Relational bullying includes things like starting rumors, being deliberately ignored and exclusion from group activities.
Hannah L. Schacter, assistant professor of psychology at Wayne State University in Detroit, said a student's perception of social inadequacy can spread into other parts of life.
"You're receiving a message from your peers that you are someone who doesn't deserve positive treatment, and that may then generalize to these other life domains," Schacter explained. "Now you expect that you're not going to be able to do well academically, or perhaps you won't be able to achieve what you wanted in terms of your work or kind of life plans."
Maryland requires county boards of education to track and report on bullying. This year's report showed there were more than 7,800 incidences of bullying reported during the 2022-23 school year, an increase of 25% over the year prior.
Researchers found students who experienced overt victimization such as direct verbal or physical attacks did not report lower future expectations. Earlier research showed relational victimization had negative effects on elementary students' academic performance and standardized test scores over time. Schacter argued schools need to see the effects of bullying not just as a challenging social issue but also an educational priority.
"As there's been increased recognition of how it can negatively impact teens, more and more schools have, at the very least, adopted anti bullying policies," Schacter acknowledged. "Unfortunately, it's very time intensive, and can be quite costly to implement evidence based large scale school interventions for bullying."
Maryland's State Department of Education adopted a model policy to address bullying, harassment and intimidation in 2009 and has updated it in the years since. Last year the department began offering an online introduction to bullying prevention for educators.
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October is National Bullying Prevention Month and a new study showed teens bullied in high school tend to become pessimistic about their future.
Researchers found adolescents who experienced relational bullying were more likely to develop depressive symptoms and over time became more pessimistic about academics and career prospects beyond high school. Relational bullying includes things like starting rumors, being deliberately ignored and exclusion from group activities.
Hannah L. Schacter, assistant professor of psychology at Wayne State University in Detroit, said a student's perception of social inadequacy can spread into other parts of life.
"You're receiving a message from your peers that you are someone who doesn't deserve positive treatment, and that may then generalize to these other life domains," Schacter explained. "Now you expect that you're not going to be able to do well academically, or perhaps you won't be able to achieve what you wanted in terms of your work or kind of life plans."
The study began with more than 300 9th graders at 38 different high schools across Michigan. Students completed online surveys multiple times per year over three years.
Researchers found students who experienced overt victimization such as direct verbal or physical attacks did not report lower future expectations. Prior research established relational victimization affected elementary students' academic performance and standardized test scores over time. Schacter argued schools need to see the effects of bullying not just as a challenging social issue but also as an educational priority.
"As there's been increased recognition of how it can negatively impact teens, more and more schools have, at the very least, adopted anti-bullying policies," Schacter acknowledged. "Unfortunately, it's very time intensive, and can be quite costly to implement evidence-based large-scale school interventions for bullying."
She added it is important to have strong communication between researchers, policymakers and administrators to address bullying so it is not too burdensome for schools and is backed by what researchers have learned.
Disclosure: Wayne State University contributes to our fund for reporting on Civic Engagement, Education, Environment, and Health Issues. If you would like to help support news in the public interest,
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The biannual Pro-Kid Scorecard from the Children Now Action Fund was released today.
In it, 12 state Assembly members and seven state Senators earned a 100% rating.
Kelly Hardy, senior managing director of health and research at the nonprofit Children Now Action Fund, said the scoring reflects more than how lawmakers vote.
"They voted the right way on health and child welfare, child care, education," Hardy outlined. "They also supported kids in the budget, which is not always an easy thing to do when we've got budget deficits."
The lowest scores hovered around 48%, awarded to lawmakers who voted against certain bills but also voted for proposals like forced outing policies for LGBTQ+ students in schools.
Hardy noted the report is intended to inform voters as they head to the ballot box next month.
"Kids may not vote but we want to elect legislators who do their best to support kids," Hardy explained.
California ranks 35th in the nation for child well-being, according to the latest Annie E. Casey Foundation report and is just above the national average for per-pupil spending on K-12 education.
Disclosure: Children Now/Kids Count contributes to our fund for reporting on Children's Issues, and Youth Issues. If you would like to help support news in the public interest,
click here.
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