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Safety 4 Kids

The Safety4Kids blog has been retired. We appreciate the wisdom and support Nancy Davis and everyone at Safety4Kids has brought to the WebMD community throughout the years. Get the latest information about parenting at the Health and Parenting Center. To talk about parenting, you can find members like you on the parenting message boards.

Tuesday, October 2, 2007

Election 2008: Let's Start a Revolution!
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If you read our blog, and we hope you do, then you know at Safety4Kids we worry about everything! We worry about the safety and well-being of children of all ages. We devote much of our time to creating tools that help parents keep their kids safe; we think of it as empowering parents. So here's a question:

How do we empower the teachers as well?

How can we convince our lawmakers that safety and wellness need to be part of the curriculum, alongside reading, writing and math?

Change is not easy. But it is election season--in case you couldn't tell! This is the time to exert pressure on all of the candidates, across party lines, to put the welfare of children at the top of their agenda.

These are extraordinary times and they demand extraordinary measures. We have talked about Internet Safety in this blog, and the scary place the online world can be for some children. Internet Safety is a hot topic and one that gets the attention of the media and therefore the public. It's not as "exciting" to talk about school bus safety and playground safety, but it's all part of the bigger picture.

And then there is the startling and disturbing issue of childhood obesity and the dangerous effects on the health of the child and the impact on the health care system. Diabetes and other diseases, once the purview of older adults, is now very much a concern for overweight children. There is so much in the news about this, and there is some very good work being done to raise awareness and begin to create change. But this is a cultural issue in our country and the problem runs deep. We're gong to have to get organized to get anything done.

At Safety4Kids we are preparing to move forward on the work we began at our National Task Force on Children's Safety in Washington. We want all the candidates to work hard on this, and to be accountable to the children in this country. You'll be hearing from many of our contributors about these important initiatives. We have the support of the PTA, the American Red Cross, and many of our partners and collaborators.

So let's start a revolution! One that's good for children. Let's get them eating healthy foods in school and learning safe habits before it's too late. If you want to join us and raise your voices, then leave a comment, share a story, and tell us what you'd like to see happen in your schools and in your community.

How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before beginning to improve the world. --Anne Frank

(c) Image from Joanne and Daniel. BigStockPhoto.com

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Posted by: Nancy Davis, Safety4Kids at 4:22 PM

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