For MASSPTA

America's Children in Brief: Key National Indicators of Well-Being, 2008
http://www.childstats.gov/ americaschildren/index.asp

It includes a section on Physical Environment and Safety as well as
Health (including data on low birth rate and asthma)

Each year since 1997, the Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family
Statistics has published a report on the well-being of children and
families. The Forum alternates publishing a detailed report, America's
Children: Key National Indicators of Well-Being, with a summary version
that highlights selected indicators. This year, the Forum is publishing
America's Children in Brief; it will publish the more detailed report in
2009. The Forum updates all indicators and background data on its
website ( http://childstats.gov) every year.

Jean Kilbourne, creator of MEF films Killing Us Softly 3 and Slim Hopes, and Diane Levin, who appears in MEF films Mickey Mouse Monopoly, Beyond Good & Evil and the forthcoming Consuming Kids, will be appearing on the Today Show on Wednesday, August 6 between 9 and 10 AM EST to discuss their brand new book, So Sexy, So Soon: The New Sexualized Childhood and What Parents Can Do to Protect Their Kids.

To learn more about Jean Kilbourne, visit www.jeankilbourne.com.
To learn more about Diane Levin, visit www.dianeelevin.com.

Federation Newsline Readers,

Click on http://fcsn.org/publications_ resources/newsline/newsline. php to read the latest edition of Newsline: Summer 2008.

Included in this issue:

*Belonging and Becoming...Opportunities for All â& #128;¢ Spring Gala 2008
*Parent Consultant Trainings
*Educational Proficiency Plans (EPP)
*Finding a Support Group
*Behavioral Health Services for Children
*Book Reviews and much more!

TORONTO STAR July 11, 2008
MEGAN OGILVIE   HEALTH REPORTER
Cases of the deadliest form of skin cancer are soaring among young women in the United States, a trend that some experts say parallels the surge in the multi-million-dollar tanning industry.

Sign up for free Newsletter here: Special Ed Advocate

July 22, 2008 Issue: 448
Skills & Tools: Organizing the File, Record Keeping & Documentation. We explain the importance of keeping and organizing records, documentation, paper trails, and letter writing and we'll show you how to do it.

In This Issue:
Are You Ready to Advocate?
It's Time to Tackle the File - Do it Right!
Assignment #4: Create a Document Management System
Put That in Writing, Please!
How I Got the School to Change My Son's Program & Placement

Newsletter archives and more online: http://www.wrightslaw.com/archives.htm

For Immediate Release June 11, 2008
CCFC Urges Adoption of Democratic Platform Plank on Marketing to Children

Today, the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood (CCFC) sent a letter to the Democratic Platform Committee urging them to adopt "a plank committing to protect our nation's children from the excesses of our marketing-driven media culture." CCFC will send a letter to Republican Platform Committee in the coming weeks.

"Marketing is factor in many of the most pressing problem's facing children today," said CCFC's Director Dr. Susan Linn, author of Consuming Kids: The Hostile Takeover of Childhood. "We urge the Platform Committee to demonstrate their commitment to children by adopting a plank that clearly states that they will work for the rights of children to grow up -- and the freedom of parents to raise them -- without being undermined by negative media messages and harmful marketing."

June 11, 2008

The Chairs of the Platform Committee
The Democratic National Committee
430 South Capitol Street, SE
Washington, DC 20003

Dear Platform Committee Chairs:

We are writing on behalf of the Campaign for Commercial-Free Childhood (CCFC) to ask that the Platform Committee include in the 2008 Democratic Party Platform a plank committing to protect our nation's children from the excesses of our marketing-driven media culture. The health and well-being of America's children depend on our ability as a nation to safeguard them from what has become an onslaught of harmful media and marketing. We submit the following language for consideration by the Platform Committee:

"No strategy to ensure the well-being of America's children and to strengthen America's families can be complete without a plan to protect our children from the excesses of our marketing-driven media culture and the excesses of contemporary marketing practices.  Parents today are rightly concerned that, driven by an almost single-minded focus on financial profit, the nation's media and marketing institutions are teaching young people lessons and values that undermine good parenting and harm children. For all the benefits that the media have brought us, these industries have also contributed to a profound coarsening of our culture with a steady stream of messages that sexualize children, promote unhealthy eating, and glorify violence and materialism. The escalation in marketing targeted directly at children, including babies, has been scientifically linked to some of the most serious public health problems facing our nation: childhood obesity, youth violence, eating disorders, precocious sexuality, the decline in children's creative play, and family stress.

"We want to help parents raise healthy children of good character. In ways consistent with the First Amendment, we will work to foster a healthier media environment for our children. We will work to protect our children from the excesses of marketing. We will protect parents' rights to raise their children without being overwhelmed by negative media messages and harmful marketing strategies"

The CCFC is a non-profit national coalition of health care professionals, educators, advocacy groups, and concerned parents working to counter the harmful effects of marketing to children through action, advocacy, education, research, and collaboration. We thank you for your consideration of this request, and would of course be happy to discuss it with you further. We hope that, whatever language the committee may ultimately adopt, the 2008 Platform will commit the Democratic Party to working to protect our nation's children from damaging media and marketing influences.

Sincerely,
Susan Linn, EdD       Enola Aird, JD
CCFC Director            CCFC Steering Committee
 

Mini-Grants for Service-Oriented Projects for Youth   Pay It Forward Mini-Grants go to one-time-only, service-oriented activities that young people would like to perform to benefit their school, neighborhood, or greater community. Projects must contain a "pay it forward" focus, which is based on the concept of having one person do a favor for others, who in turn do favors for others, and so on, so the results grow exponentially. Maximum Award: $500. Eligibility: K-12 youths. Deadline: applications accepted starting September 15, 2008.
For more information: http://payitforwardfoundation. org/educators/grant.html

NEA Foundation Student Achievement Grants
The NEA Foundation Student Achievement Grants are provided to improve students' academic achievement by engaging them in critical thinking and problem solving that deepen knowledge of standards-based subject matter. The work also should improve students' habits of inquiry, self-directed learning, and critical reflection. Maximum Award: $5,000. Eligibility: practicing U.S. public school teachers, public school education support professionals, and faculty and staff members at public institutions of higher education. Deadline: Oct. 5, 2008.
For more information: http://www.neafoundation.org/ programs/StudentAchievement_ Guidelines.htm

School Improvement Grants for Parent Involvement
Lowe's Toolbox for Education grant program finances school-improvement projects initiated by parents. Maximum Award: $5,000. Eligibility: K-12 schools (including charter, private, and parochial schools) and parent groups associated with a nonprofit, K-12 schools. Deadline: Oct. 17, 2008.
For more information: http://www. toolboxforeducation.com

From Public Education Network Weekly NewsBlast

"Public Involvement. Public Education. Public Benefit."
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To read a colorful online version of the NewsBlast with a larger typeface, visit:
http://www.publiceducation. org/newsblast_current.asp

Creative Economy Council Passes in the Mass. House
Proposal to Create Council: First in the Nation  

Dear Friends,  

This week the Massachusetts House of Representatives passed a bill to create a statewide council on the creative economy.   The council will work with the Office of Economic Development to "develop a statewide strategy for the enhancement, encouragement, and growth of the creative economy in the commonwealth, and to promote through public and private means responsive public policies and innovative private sector practices." 

MAASH thanks Speaker of the House Sal DiMasi, Chairman Dan Bosley and the entire House chamber for taking the national lead in this economic opportunity for our communities.  

Rep. Dan Bosley (D-N. Adams), House Chairman of the Joint Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies, proposed the bill and guided it through the House legislative process.   

"The creation of the first-in-the-nation statewide creative economy council
is a major milestone in the growth of our creative economy.  Through this
council, we will be able to identify strategies, effective practices and
ideas so that the non-profit cultural organizations, the for-profit businesses and creative individuals can thrive.  I am proud to be part of an effort that once again makes Massachusetts a national leader" Chairman Bosley said.  

The council will consist of 23 members including legislators, the director of MAASH, the director of the Massachusetts Cultural Council, and other leaders in the creative economy movement.  

The text of the bill will be posted on the MAASH web site.  

The creative economy council bill now moves to the Senate for consideration.

Thank you,  

Dan Hunter, Executive Director
Massachusetts Advocates for the Arts, Sciences, & Humanities (MAASH)

Intensive Care: Medical Treatment at Schools Is About More Than Band-Aids
School nurses, still alive and well, help their charges stay that way. But now they're also dealing with a bewildering array of chronic illnesses and counseling issues.

Click here to read more on the Edutopia web site.