Suggests that mastering the toilet is a significant step for young children, and one of childhood's earliest rites of passage. Suggests that in learning to control body functions, toddlers step toward independence, self-reliance and personal responsibility. Urges child care workers to work with parents to identify a child's readiness and to agree…

Presents a parenting construct with criteria for differential child-protection solutions (confidential adoption, adoption with contact, and out-of-home placements). Proposes that parents' moral aspect be central in child-protection judicial proceedings. Suggests that this construct may facilitate line between assessing or accusing parents and…

Examines conflicting conservative-religious and liberal-humanist ideologies affecting public education. Citizens are divided, due to competing visions of a traditional and new America, parallel and purposive social structures, and modern and postmodern families. Both sides want to bolster parental authority and increase governmental/agency…

Details the story of John Singer, who resisted Utah State directives regarding the education of his children for six years, and subsequently was shot to death in a confrontation with law enforcement officers in January 1979. Suggests that the State of Utah had little real concern for the Singer children but was interested only in confirming its…

Describes how three principles of leadership presented by Heifetz (1994) in "Leadership Without Easy Answers" can be translated into the leadership parenting of young children. Focuses on distinguishing between child-rearing issues that require parents to act as trainers versus those demanding a problem-solving role, on responding to…

Today's teachers are increasingly becoming targets of violence, incivility, and tortious acts by minor students. Some teachers have successfully sued threatening students in civil court for punitive damages. About 13 states have made assaulting a teacher a felony. Some tort theories hold parents liable for their children's misbehavior. (Contains…

Surveyed 7th graders at the beginning and end of the school year to examine factors in three domains (intrapersonal, interpersonal, and personal competencies) influencing the increase in alcohol use throughout 7th grade. Factors from all three domains significantly predicted increases in alcohol use. Lack of parental monitoring and perceived ease…

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the development of a theory of maternal postpartum role collapse. The influences of traditional role theory and symbolic interactionism are presented. The development of the maternal postpartum role collapse theory emerged from the study of postpartum depression among African-American women (Amankwaa, 2000).…

Emerging research suggests that exposure to environmental pollutants, prenatally and in early childhood, may contribute significantly to diseases and disabilities. For example, exposures to mercury or lead early in life can impact the nervous system and brain, potentially contributing to learning, behavioral, and developmental disabilities. The…

Background: It is important to determine how programmes serving the individual with intellectual disability may also help to reduce stress in parents of adult children with intellectual disabilities. The aim of this study was to test whether parents who frequently watch their children at Special Olympics (SO) competitions report less stress than…

In this article, we report some of the findings of a study of the perceptions of secondary teachers about their experiences as full-time second-year teachers in urban public schools. The frustrations felt by this groups of teachers emerged as a strong theme; it is the nature of these frustrations that we explore in this article.

This report is the result of a 2-year effort to solicit, produce, and analyze feedback from over 1,500 adults across the United States about what National Education Goal 6--the literacy and lifelong learning goal--meant to them. Part I is a synthesis of adult learner perspectives on Goal 6. It first describes the four purposes that drive adults'…

No effective system existed in an Illinois state child welfare agency to provide post legal education and training to every parent who had adopted a sexually abused, attachment disordered child through this agency. Adoptions were failing because post placement support and training was not available to parents who had adopted special needs…

Written for parents, this book discusses four steps for dealing with children's difficult behavior. The book is divided into two parts. Part 1, "The Building Blocks," discusses baseline perspectives parents need to establish in order to effectively deal with difficult behavior. Topics covered include: (1) parents' dual roles as caregivers and…

As the AIDS epidemic grows, society is faced by a growing number of children who are born HIV infected. Unfortunately, little systematic research has been conducted which addresses the psychological and social ramifications of HIV status disclosure to children. While most parents prefer not to inform the child of the illness, most clinicians favor…