The US is 20th out of 21 nations for child welfare...

[jim_julian]

Roger .... Roger .... Roger ....

 

I respect your opinions.

 

I will be eager to hear any modulations thereto after you move to China and have been there for a year or so.

 

America is far from perfect ... we should all strive to perfect her ... but ther is no place I'd rather live.

[AmericanRooster]

This URL gives some information on why Great Britian and the US scored poorly...

 

http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/ar..._child_welfare/

[Rakkasan]

They don't invest as much in children as continental European countries do," he said, citing the lack of day-care services in both countries, and poorer health coverage and preventative care for American children.

 

My opinion for what it's worth...The US has plenty of day care available, the difference is that it is not paid for by the government as it is in these other countries. Perhaps Britain and US expect people to pay their own way, as in you brought the kids into this world and the tax payers should not be responsible for caring for them.

 

The report's authors cautioned that the focus on single-parent families "may seem unfair and insensitive" and noted that many children do well with one parent.

 

My opinion for what it's worth...The above is merely a disclaimer to appease the women can do no wrong crowd.

 

On average, 80 percent of the children in the countries surveyed lived with both parents. Variations were wide, however, from more than 90 percent in Greece and Italy to less than 70 percent in Britain and 60 percent in the United States, where 16 percent of adolescents lived with stepfamilies.

 

My opinion for what it's worth...So we are bad because we don't have enough child welfare, but we are bad because child welfare took custody of 16% of adolescents. Pick one for gods sake, you can't have it both ways, unless of course you work for the UN and are not to be held accountable.

 

The United States finished last in the health and safety category, based on infant mortality, vaccinations for childhood diseases, deaths from injuries and accidents before age 19, and whether children reported fighting in the past year or being bullied in the previous two months.

 

My opinion for what it's worth...Give me a break. kids fight, kids can be bullys, schools require vaccinations before you can attend except for those with religous objections. Let me guess....Hungary, Poland et al, have better reporting and tracking than the US or Britain, I don't think so. As I said this is a UN report which means it isn't worth the paper it is printed on.

 

"I think when you try to compare nations in a report like this, you tend to ignore so many other factors specific to those nations that the comparison becomes somewhat meaningless," Horn said.

 

Thank you Mr. Horn. Apples and Oranges.

 

"But at the statistical level there is evidence to associate growing up in single-parent families with greater risk to well-being -- including a greater risk of dropping out of school, of leaving home early, poorer health, low skills, and of low pay," the report said.

 

My opinion for what it's worth...The ladies aren't going to be happy with that tidbit. You mean "Kids need Dads" in order to grow up healthy and happy. DUH!!!

 

 

Divorce and Fatherhood Statistics

 

50% of mothers see no value in the father's continued contact with his children.

--See "Surviving the Breakup" by Joan Berlin Kelly

 

40% of mothers reported that they had interfered with the father's visitation to punish their ex-spouse.

--See "Frequency of Visitation...." by Stanford Braver, American Journal of Orthopsychiatry

 

63% of youth suicides are from fatherless homes

--U.S. D.H.H.S., Bureau of the Census

85% of all children that exhibit behavioral disorders come from fatherless homes

--Center for Disease Control

80% of rapists motivated with displaced anger come from fatherless homes

--Criminal Justice and Behavior, Vol. 14, p. 403-26

71% of all high school dropouts come from fatherless homes

--National Principals Association Report on the State of High Schools

70% of juveniles in state operated institutions come from fatherless homes

--U.S. Dept. of Justice, Special Report Sept., 1988

85% of all youths sitting in prisons grew up in a fatherless home

--Fulton County Georgia jail populations & Texas Dept. of Corrections, 1992

 

Translated, this means that children from a fatherless home are:

 

5 times more likely to commit suicide

 

32 times more likely to run away

 

20 times more likely to have behavioral disorders

 

14 times more likely to commit rape

 

9 times more likely to drop out of school

 

10 times more likely to abuse chemical substances

 

9 times more likely to end up in a state operated institution

 

20 times more likely to end up in prison

 

 

 

OK, OK, enough of my cynicism,on with the show...

Edited February 15, 2007 by Rakkasan (see edit history)

[david_dawei]

Translated, this means that children from a fatherless home are:

 

5 times more likely to commit suicide

 

32 times more likely to run away

 

20 times more likely to have behavioral disorders

 

14 times more likely to commit rape

 

9 times more likely to drop out of school

 

10 times more likely to abuse chemical substances

 

9 times more likely to end up in a state operated institution

 

20 times more likely to end up in prison

is this worldwide statistics or just for the US?

 

How are other countries doing where single parenting occurs... is it the same issue or are there local factors that cause what we see in the US?

[Randy W]

Translated, this means that children from a fatherless home are:

 

5 times more likely to commit suicide

 

32 times more likely to run away

 

20 times more likely to have behavioral disorders

 

14 times more likely to commit rape

 

9 times more likely to drop out of school

 

10 times more likely to abuse chemical substances

 

9 times more likely to end up in a state operated institution

 

20 times more likely to end up in prison

is this worldwide statistics or just for the US?

 

How are other countries doing where single parenting occurs... is it the same issue or are there local factors that cause what we see in the US?

 

There's nothing like tossing out some blind statistics in order to "prove" a point, whatever it is.

[Rakkasan]

There's nothing like tossing out some blind statistics in order to "prove" a point, whatever it is.

 

I did not post blind statistics. The sources were shown. Here are some others. Additionally, the point being "KIDS NEED DADS". At the risk of repeating myself...

 

"But at the statistical level there is evidence to associate growing up in single-parent families with greater risk to well-being -- including a greater risk of dropping out of school, of leaving home early, poorer health, low skills, and of low pay," the report said.

 

My opinion for what it's worth...The ladies aren't going to be happy with that tidbit. You mean "Kids need Dads" in order to grow up healthy and happy. DUH!!!

 

 

In a study of 700 adolescents, researchers found that "compared to families with two natural parents living in the home, adolescents from single-parent families have been found to engage in greater and earlier sexual activity."

Source: Carol W. Metzler, et al. "The Social Context for Risky Sexual Behavior Among Adolescents", Journal of Behavioral Medicine 17 (1994).

 

"Fatherless children are at a dramatically greater risk of drug and alcohol abuse, mental illness, suicide, poor educational performance, teen pregnancy, and criminality."

Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Center for Health Statistics, Survey on Child Health, Washington, DC, 1993.

 

"Teenagers living in single-parent households are more likely to abuse alcohol and at an earlier age compared to children reared in two-parent households."

Source: Terry E. Duncan, Susan C. Duncan and Hyman Hops, "The Effects of Family Cohesiveness and Peer Encouragement on the Development of Adolescent Alcohol Use: A Cohort-Sequential Approach to the Analysis of Longitudinal Data", Journal of Studies on Alcohol 55 (1994).

 

"...the absence of the father in the home affects significantly the behavior of adolescents and results in the greater use of alcohol and marijuana."

Source: Deane Scott Berman "Risk Factors Leading to Adolescent Substance Abuse", Adolescence 30 (1995)

 

A study of 156 victims of child sexual abuse found that the majority of the children came from disrupted or single-parent homes; only 31 percent of the children lived with both biological parents. Although stepfamilies make up only about 10 percent of all families, 27 percent of the abused children lived with either a stepfather or the mother's boyfriend.

Source: Beverly Gomes-Schwartz, Jonathan Horowitz, and Albert P. Cardarelli, "Child Sexual Abuse Victims and Their Treatment", U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justce and Delinquency Prevention.

 

Researchers in Michigan determined that "49 percent of all child abuse cases are committed by single mothers."

Source: Joan Ditson and Sharon Shay, "A Study of Child Abuse in Lansing, Michigan", Child Abuse and Neglect, 8 (1984).

 

"A family structure index -- a composite index based on the annual rate of children involved in divorce and the percentage of families with children present that are female-headed -- is a strong predictor of suicide among young adult and adolescent white males."

Source: Patricia L. McCall and Kenneth C. Land, "Trends in White Male Adolescent, Young-Adult and Elderly Suicide: Are There Common Underlying Structural Factors?" Social Science Research 23, 1994.

 

" Fatherless children are at dramatically greater risk of suicide."

Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Center for Health Statistics, Survey on Child Health, Washington, DC, 1993.

 

In a study of 146 adolescent friends of 26 adolescent suicide victims, teens living in single-parent families are not only more likely to commit suicide but also more likely to suffer from psychological disorders, when compared to teens living in intact families.

Source: David A. Brent, et al. "Post-traumatic Stress Disorder in Peers of Adolescent Suicide Victims: Predisposing Factors and Phenomenology.", Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 34, 1995.

 

"Boys who grow up in father-absent homes are more likely that those in father-present homes to have trouble establishing appropriate sex roles and gender identity."

Source: P.L. Adams, J.R. Milner, and N.A. Schrepf, "Fatherless Children", New York, Wiley Press, 1984.

 

"In 1988, a study of preschool children admitted to New Orleans hospitals as psychiatric patients over a 34-month period found that nearly 80 percent came from fatherless homes."

Source: Jack Block, et al. "Parental Functioning and the Home Environment in Families of Divorce", Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 27 (1988)

 

"Children living with a never-married mother are more likely to have been treated for emotional problems."

Source: L. Remez, "Children Who Don't Live with Both Parents Face Behavioral Problems," Family Planning Perspectives (January/February 1992).

 

Children reared by a divorced or never-married mother are less cooperative and score lower on tests of intelligence than children reared in intact families. Statistical analysis of the behavior and intelligence of these children revealed "significant detrimental effects " of living in a female-headed household. Growing up in a female-headed household remained a statistical predictor of behavior problems even after adjusting for differences in family income.

Source: Greg L. Duncan, Jeanne Brooks-Gunn and Pamela Kato Klebanov, "Economic Deprivation and Early Childhood Development", Child Development 65 (1994).

 

"Compared to peers in two-parent homes, black children in single-parent households are more likely to engage in troublesome behavior, and perform poorly in school."

Source: Tom Luster and Hariette Pipes McAdoo, "Factors Related to the Achievement and Adjustment of Young African-American Children.", Child Development 65 (1994): 1080-1094

 

"Even controlling for variations across groups in parent education, race and other child and family factors, 18- to 22-year-olds from disrupted families were twice as likely to have poor relationships with their mothers and fathers, to show high levels of emotional distress or problem behavior, [and] to have received psychological help."

Source: Nicholas Zill, Donna Morrison, and Mary Jo Coiro, "Long Term Effects of Parental Divorce on Parent-Child Relationships, Adjustment and Achievement in Young Adulthood", Journal of Family Psychology 7 (1993).

 

"Children with fathers at home tend to do better in school, are less prone to depression and are more successful in relationships. Children from one-parent families achieve less and get into trouble more than children from two parent families."

Source: One Parent Families and Their Children: The School's Most Significant Minority, conducted by The Consortium for the Study of School Needs of Children from One Parent Families, co sponsored by the National Association of Elementary School Principals and the Institute for Development of Educational Activities, a division of the Charles F. Kettering Foundation, Arlington, VA., 1980

 

"Children whose parents separate are significantly more likely to engage in early sexual activity, abuse drugs, and experience conduct and mood disorders. This effect is especially strong for children whose parents separated when they were five years old or younger."

Source: David M. Fergusson, John Horwood and Michael T. Lynsky, "Parental Separation, Adolescent Psychopathology, and Problem Behaviors", Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 33 (1944)

 

"Compared to peers living with both biological parents, sons and daughters of divorced or separated parents exhibited significantly more conduct problems. Daughters of divorced or separated mothers evidenced significantly higher rates of internalizing problems, such as anxiety or depression."

Source: Denise B. Kandel, Emily Rosenbaum and Kevin Chen, "Impact of Maternal Drug Use and Life Experiences on Preadolescent Children Born to Teenage Mothers", Journal of Marriage and the Family56 (1994).

 

"Father hunger " often afflicts boys age one and two whose fathers are suddenly and permanently absent. Sleep disturbances, such as trouble falling asleep, nightmares, and night terrors frequently begin within one to three months after the father leaves home.

Source: Alfred A. Messer, "Boys Father Hunger: The Missing Father Syndrome", Medical Aspects of Human Sexuality, January 1989.

 

"Children of never-married mothers are more than twice as likely to have been treated for an emotional or behavioral problem."

Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Center for Health Statistics, National Health Interiew Survey, Hyattsille, MD, 1988

 

A 1988 Department of Health and Human Services study found that at every income level except the very highest (over $50,000 a year), children living with never-married mothers were more likely than their counterparts in two-parent families to have been expelled or suspended from school, to display emotional problems, and to engage in antisocial behavior.

Source: James Q. Wilson, "In Loco Parentis: Helping Children When Families Fail Them", The Brookings Review, Fall 1993.

 

In a longitudinal study of 1,197 fourth-grade students, researchers observed "greater levels of aggression in boys from mother-only households than from boys in mother-father households."

Source: N. Vaden-Kierman, N. Ialongo, J. Pearson, and S. Kellam, "Household Family Structure and Children's Aggressive Behavior: A Longitudinal Study of Urban Elementary School Children", Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology 23, no. 5 (1995).

 

"Children from mother-only families have less of an ability to delay gratification and poorer impulse control (that is, control over anger and sexual gratification.) These children also have a weaker sense of conscience or sense of right and wrong."

Source: E.M. Hetherington and B. Martin, "Family Interaction " in H.C. Quay and J.S. Werry (eds.), Psychopathological Disorders of Childhood. (New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1979)

 

"Eighty percent of adolescents in psychiatric hospitals come from broken homes."

Source: J.B. Elshtain, "Family Matters... ", Christian Century, Jully 1993.

Edited February 16, 2007 by Rakkasan (see edit history)

[Rakkasan]

Translated, this means that children from a fatherless home are:

 

5 times more likely to commit suicide

 

32 times more likely to run away

 

20 times more likely to have behavioral disorders

 

14 times more likely to commit rape

 

9 times more likely to drop out of school

 

10 times more likely to abuse chemical substances

 

9 times more likely to end up in a state operated institution

 

20 times more likely to end up in prison

is this worldwide statistics or just for the US?

 

How are other countries doing where single parenting occurs... is it the same issue or are there local factors that cause what we see in the US?

These numbers are US numbers. How other countries fair would depend on how and what they track or their ability to track this information. That is the Apples and Oranges part of the equation. That is what Mr. Horn was saying "I think when you try to compare nations in a report like this, you tend to ignore so many other factors specific to those nations that the comparison becomes somewhat meaningless,"

[Ron&Sasa]

When thinking about the children, I was on the island of Tongua in the Vavau group of Tonga. The chidren had no commercial toys and had to help find food for the day from the island and the sea. When I had time to be with the local islanders they where the happiest group of people I have ever met. They would play football with a coconut, or a game I could not understand with palm bows. I guess it is a matter of what the real needs are before anyone can be labeled homeless or in poverty.

[Rakkasan]

When thinking about the children, I was on the island of Tongua in the Vavau group of Tonga. The chidren had no commercial toys and had to help find food for the day from the island and the sea. When I had time to be with the local islanders they where the happiest group of people I have ever met. They would play football with a coconut, or a game I could not understand with palm bows. I guess it is a matter of what the real needs are before anyone can be labeled homeless or in poverty.

I agree. When I was in Nanning, the complex where Zhen lives would be considered "the projects" by US standards, yet everyone I met was happy. They did not have much in the way of material wealth, but appreciated what they did have and were close as family and friends.

[DMikeS4321]

There's nothing like tossing out some blind statistics in order to "prove" a point, whatever it is.

 

In this case, it beats the H*LL out of quoting a U.N. study, wouldn't you agree????

 

Best Regards

[DMikeS4321]

I did not post blind statistics. The sources were shown. Here are some others. Additionally, the point being "KIDS NEED DADS". At the risk of repeating myself...

 

Right the F on, Rak. I'm sick of all this socialist, new world order mumbo jumbo.

 

Let's see... how many people in the world would rather raise their children here in the U.S. than in their home country? How many would trade their health care system for ours? How many of us would want our children to have MORE vaccinations? How many of us would trade our system of easy access to private transportation for a lower youth accident rate?

 

People vote with their feet and a lot of them wait a long time to come here (ring any bells for anyone here?).

[Randy W]

There's nothing like tossing out some blind statistics in order to "prove" a point, whatever it is.

 

In this case, it beats the H*LL out of quoting a U.N. study, wouldn't you agree????

 

Best Regards

 

I think it's pretty much the same, except that the statistics take a lot more time to dig through. Not much in the way of valid conclusions here, just food for thought.

[Ron&Sasa]

Another story about happy children, In Thailand I was building what they called a welfare school. It was a school campus for 1000 children, part of the project was to construct a dam for the water supply. The children where excited to get the job of clearing the area for the new lake. I was watching the children playing while they worked and then I realized that there play was to catch the snakes and snap them at each other. Most of the snakes in Thailand are poisonous. The children where all very happy, they had just a bed to sleep in a place to each and a school to go to.

 

The children in the US have become to materialistic, and never seam as happy as the other children from what we call poor countries.

[DMikeS4321]

This UNICEF report came out yesterday ranking the 21 richest nations on the state of children's welfare in their country. Britain was 21st and the US was 20th.

 

I don't buy it, any more than I buy the pronouncements of the U.N.'s Human Rights Commission, which includes those stalwart defenders of human dignity Saudi Arabia, Cuba, Egypt and Sudan (2005 membership).

 

Political organizations are politically motivated. Anybody who denies this simply isn't paying attention. I can bet that one of the factors used to determine these rankings was state run healthcare, a system that few of us would be happy with. Health and safety statistics that include accidental deaths are unfairly biased against a country that has virtual universal access to private vehicles for those (generally) 16 years of age and older.

 

Too many problems with this politically motivated drivel to mention, but Rak has covered them in detail in his above posts. Suffice it to say, one can ALWAYS use the U.N. as a source of "bash America first" studies and statistics. John Kerry, Al Gore, et al, would be proud.

 

Best Regards

[stacato]

I did not post blind statistics. The sources were shown. Here are some others. Additionally, the point being "KIDS NEED DADS". At the risk of repeating myself...

 

Right the F on, Rak. I'm sick of all this socialist, new world order mumbo jumbo.

 

Let's see... how many people in the world would rather raise their children here in the U.S. than in their home country? How many would trade their health care system for ours? How many of us would want our children to have MORE vaccinations? How many of us would trade our system of easy access to private transportation for a lower youth accident rate?

 

People vote with their feet and a lot of them wait a long time to come here (ring any bells for anyone here?).

 

Rak, Jim, and Mike, I am totally with you on this. The US is considered the NUMBER 1 country in the world by many. For some, to appreciate it, would have to go live in another country (Any country) for a while. I've said it before, it's like the rich kid from Beverly Hills who doesn't appreciate what he has, until he goes to boot camp..

 

You hear that Roger?

 

PS tell that to my step son who we enrolled in high school today, and was received with open arms. My wife tells me that teachers in China hit kids left and right, are always sour faced and right down nasty. She tells me this story about one teacher who tattooed the word 'Thief' (He 'stole' an eraser from another student) on one of the kids faces and the only retribution she suffered was lose her job. You won't hear that from the UN (A totally corrupt organization) would ya?