Gifted children are often highly sensitive to their surroundings and are able to readily identify potential solutions to challenges that imperil the environment in which they live. Many gifted children are strong advocates of sustainable living, caring deeply about the world around them and its health in the future. For this reason, parents and…

The "IDRA Newsletter" serves as a vehicle for communication with educators, school board members, decision-makers, parents, and the general public concerning the educational needs of all children across the United States. The focus of this issue is "Education Policy." Contents include: (1) Exciting Advances for Emergent…

Challenging behavior is often a source of frustration for parents. Challenging behavior is defined as any behavior that interferes with children's learning and development, is harmful to children and to others, and puts a child at risk for later social problems or school failure (Bailey & Wolery, 1992; Kaiser & Rasminsky, 2003). Children's…

This paper envisions child care problems in the year 2000 and explores their relationship to policies of today. The population entering parenting age in the year 2000 will bear the scars of the inadequate child care policies of the 1980's. New poor and black parents--many of them born to adolescent mothers in the early 1980's--will have been…

This annotated bibliography of 39 books is designed to tap the rich resource of children's literature to stimulate discussion of violence and of alternative, peaceful ways to resolve conflict. The most important criterion for selection was that issues of violent and nonviolent conflict resolution are presented so that students can examine the…

This article discusses the need for physical protection and care of infants and young children and families. One of the most important preventable challenges to children's physical safety and protection is toxic substances in their environment. Many toxic substances that affect the central nervous system are in drinking water, soil, air, and areas…

Designed for parents of adolescents, this handbook provides drug information and suggestions for parental action regarding children's drug use. The first of seven chapters places adolescent drug use in its social context. Chapter 2 describes home prevention strategies. Chapter 3 focuses on the reasons children take drugs. Chapter 4 describes…

This document is designed to fill major information voids in the field of adoption and to provide prospective adoptive parents with reliable data on which to base decisions. The factbook contains four major types of new information: (1) a frank discussion of the issues concerning adoption -- including costs; tax regulations; transracial adoption;…

This book was written to help parents build on their already existing skills and knowledge in the area of child rearing, become more competent parents, and mobilize their resources to strengthen family functioning. It consists of a series of questions posed by readers of the "Parent Talk Page" of the "Detroit Free Press" newspaper and answers to…

Reports on two longitudinal studies of two-year-old children who were extreme in the display of either behavioral restraint or spontaneity in unfamiliar contexts. Indicates that by age seven most of the restrained group were socially avoidant while the spontaneous children were talkative and interactive. (TW)

Describes the community program support for high-risk families in Hampton, Virginia. Highlights the preventive aspects of the program, targeted primarily for at-risk mothers and children. (HTH)

This practical handbook for anyone who works with traumatized children--teachers, parents, as well as professionals--provides needed information to understand and guide a child suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) through to recovery. It describes the physical and emotional effects of trauma, shows how to recognize maladaptive…

Adolescent-to-parent abuse is a serious social problem that has received limited attention from researchers and service providers. Most knowledge about this type of violence in the family comes from quantitative studies that focus on intrafamilial characteristics, demographic factors, and overall rates of abuse. The aim of this article is to…

The mere act of living in today's society is dangerous to the health and well-being of children and adolescents. The concept of the socially toxic environment is offered as a parallel to the environmental movement's analysis of physical toxicity. Social life is more risky than it was just 40 years ago, and the level of social and cultural poison…

Many believe that America's children are exposed to negative messages by the media--violence, irresponsible sex, and materialism--making it difficult for parents to teach traditional values. Noting that what motivates parents is the desire to teach their children right from wrong while what motivates society is financial profit, this book explores…