Children In Crisis
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Children In Crisis: Expert
Date:
Sat, 9 Nov 2002 09:13:13 -0500
From:
Stephen Tvedten <steve@getipm.com>
Organization: Get Set Inc. (www.getipm.com)
To: Paul Helliker <phelliker@cdpr.ca.gov>
Director, State of California, Department of Pesticide
Regulation
cc: Christine Whitman whitman.christine@epa.gov
Children in crisis: expert
By Caroline Milburn
MELBOURNE
HEALTH and behaviour problems among children have reached frightening levels and a national campaign is needed to avert a looming social crisis, according to WA researcher Professor Fiona Stanley.
But she warned that governments were being seduced into focusing on the ageing population, rather than the more costly and damaging issues affecting children.
Professor Stanley, the director of the Institute for Child Health Research at the University of WA, told a national early childhood conference in Melbourne that rates of childhood crime, neglect, sex abuse, mental health disorders, drug abuse, obesity, type 1 diabetes and teen suicide had worsened since 1970.
The trends had plunged health and education services into crisis and threatened the nation's future prosperity because many child disorders continued into adulthood, she said.
Professor Stanley said governments were in danger of being seduced by publicity about the costs of an ageing population and pressure from scientists and drug companies to pour funds into genetic research.
But the more financially draining and damaging social problem - the growing welfare dependence of children - was largely overlooked, she said.
"These childhood trends are much more tragic, much more worrying than an ageing population," Professor Stanley said.
"They will involve a lifetime of cost whereas an aged person is healthy until they are 70 or 80."
She said some statistics on the deteriorating health and wellbeing of children were alarming.
One in five children aged between 12 and 16 had significant mental health problems, male teen suicide rates had quadrupled since the 1960s and rates of juvenile crime had ballooned.
"A lot of people are very frightened about what's happening to young people, they can see it in their neighbourhoods," Professor Stanley said.
"They're putting big locks on their gates; they are scared about crime. This increase in childhood problems is going to affect every single person in our community, not just the disadvantaged communities."
She said the problems could be turned around by a national early intervention program, similar in scale to Britain's multi-billion-dollar Sure Start scheme.
The scheme provides parent education classes, early childhood education and family support services to help parents.
Professor Stanley said a national strategy needed bipartisan political support and extra funding from corporations and non-government welfare organisations.
Professor Stanley also is chief executive of the Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth, a panel of academics partly funded by the Federal Government to advise it on family issues.
-THE AGE
Well Mr. Helliker, the article is not too surprising, considering that literally hundreds of your "registered" POISONS are now "normally" found in the blood and adipose tissue of all of the children around the world. You have truly intoxicated them all.
Respectfully, Stephen L. Tvedten
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