The organization has always been strongly committed to the growth, development and education of children from all walks of life
If you and your children enjoy watching Sesame Street, the long-running educational children’s television series, here’s some exciting news. SeaWorld Entertainment announced on Oct. 22 that it will be opening a second Sesame Place theme park in San Diego, Calif., in spring 2021. The 17-acre facility will be built adjacent to SeaWorld San Diego and…
We are a long way from identifying definitive biomarkers to illness and personalized gene therapies are likely generations away
By Nicole Letourneau and Suzanne Tough University of Calgary Genetics will save the day – that’s the message you see constantly in the media and even in academic literature. But it's a message that can distract us from providing quality care now. Newspapers herald breakthroughs in finding genetic biomarkers for autism. Magazines trumpet finding a…
How we can help our children be comfortable and happy in their own skin
My five-and-a-half-year-old granddaughter has an eye for fashion. She has her favourite outfits and she is fond of accessories. She likes to wear beads like Granny and my earrings are a source of great interest. It’s all very cute and sweet, but I wonder if I should compliment her less frequently on her attire. I…
Sleep apnea becoming disturbingly common in children and adolescents
Sleep apnea, sleep-disordered breathing, and snoring: these are not just things you have to be aware of for you and your partner. These health issues are becoming disturbingly common in children and adolescents. Sleep-disordered breathing, which includes sleep apnea and snoring, affects 12 per cent of children in the United States. This breaks down to…
Ultimately, they want nothing short of a transfer of democratic power to oligarchies of frantic enviro-zealots
Cults obey a logic of their own rather than following the parameters of mainstream logic. Climate zealots who concertedly blockaded bridges and important public roads in order to help the planet against climate change defy common logic. Blockading traffic and at times endangering tens of thousands of commuters to pressure governments to listen to their…
It’s sad when adults choose to be inactive. It’s even sadder when we don’t provide our children the opportunity to establish physically-active lifestyles
Our children have never been more sedentary. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2016, only 21.6 per cent of children and adolescents in the United States aged six to 19 met the recommended 60 or more minutes of moderate-to-vigorous activity at least five times a week. It’s a safe bet that…
For many, having a chance for a successful life means leaving their homes and moving elsewhere – for better education and more job prospects
In communities across Canada – and elsewhere in the world – young people are determined to escape, even if it means committing suicide. It’s a crisis that can be avoided. This summer, CBC Radio reported “yet another spate of suicides” in Attawapiskat, in northern Ontario. The First Nation was briefly famous in 2012 when then-chief…
Young people are getting hooked on vaping, despite the many unknowns. We need to develop effective counter programs before it's too late
In 1973, the band Brownsville Station released the song Smokin’ in the Boys Room. At the time, nearly half of Canadian adults and teens smoked. Reports had been coming out for years about the dangers of tobacco use but smoking was still seen as a cool thing to do. Over the next several decades, the…
Governments need to be careful that benefits don’t discourage social institutions that strengthen families and communities
Parents will receive an increase in the Canada Child Benefit (CCB) this month. The program has been widely credited with reducing child poverty, yet the benefit is not without challenges. The cost-of-living adjustment boosts the maximum compensation for a child under age six to $6,639 annually and maximum compensation for children between the ages of…
Children bind, deepen a commitment and give purpose. Love is the point, the key ingredient
The title ‘philosopher,’ like ‘poet,’ carries prestige that’s usually unearned. I say unearned because many poets, who are supposed to understand beauty, write beauty-free verse, and plenty of philosophers, who are supposed to be wise, counsel unethical foolishness to the world. This sad fact – that so much contemporary philosophy is not merely unwise but…
If you and your children enjoy watching Sesame Street, the long-running educational children’s television series, here’s some exciting news. SeaWorld Entertainment announced on Oct. 22 that it will be opening a second Sesame Place theme park in San Diego, Calif., in spring 2021. The 17-acre facility will be built adjacent to SeaWorld San Diego and…
