Many Pregnant Women May Be Harming Fetuses

As we discussed in class there are several abnormalities that can be caused by teratogens. Smoking, drinking, consuming metals, and taking prescriptions are just some things that can be consumed by pregnant women that can harm the fetus. In this article pregnant women in southwestern Oregon participated in a nation study on harmful substances to fetuses. The study pointed out 94% of children exposed to drugs and alcohol in the womb will have mental health issues. 40% will need special education and 60% will end up in the criminal justice system. After the study was presented a group in Douglas County only 50% of them quit drinking while they were pregnant.

Studies have been conducted throughout the years proving that several factors can cause health problems, physical deformaties, and mental problems. I think it is crazy for a pregnant woman to subject her baby to things like smoking and drinking when it can cause problems for the rest of the baby's life.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39226119

Sex Education in Schools

There is a debate going on between the Helena Public Schools and parents over whether or not to introduce a new sex-ed program for all grades(k-12). In first grade, educators would teach children about homosexuality, and by fifth grade, kids would learn about the different types of intercourse. The new program would begin teaching kids in elementary school in hopes of raising awareness and lowering teen pregnancy numbers as well as STDs. Some parents and other opponents say that the new curriculum begins at too young of an age, that the language is too graphic for young children, and that by talking about sex, it will make kids want to start exploring sex earlier. Others say that Sex Education should be left out of school completely, and that it is up to parents to discuss the topics with their own chilren.

Personally, I think that beginning Sex Ed at a younger age is a good idea. I think teenagers take sex too lightly and don't really consider the consequences of their actions until they are faced with a difficult situation like a pregnancy or a disease. I think that educating kids about sex at a young age, using age-appropriate terms, could be extremely beneficial. I don't think that teaching kids about sex will push them into taking part in sexual activity any earlier. It will just help them to make informed decisions when they do decide they are ready to have sex.

Here are a couple articles written on this subject.
http://helenair.com/news/local/education/article_b7763efe-7395-11df-b7b4-001cc4c03286.html

http://www.krtv.com/news/helena-schools-draft-sex-ed-document-causing-controversy/

Children and technology

According to an article at Sciencedaily.com, children being exposed to new technology, such as video games, also have a new way to learn. According to the article "Patricia Greenfield (UCLA) looked at more than 50 studies of technology's effects on children. She found that media does limit some aspects of their mental skills, but also help improve them in other ways. " It also describes today's children as better multitaskers and better at visual reasoning skills. "However, the changes aren't all positive: while children can cope with complex information, it doesn't always aid learning. For example, one test found that children who watched a version of CNN Headline News with only the news announcer on screen remembered much more detail about the stories than those watching the standard version with mulitple on-screen graphics."

Technology, according to this study also appears to damage critical reasoning and attention span.


What this article states to me is that while video games can create different learning environments for children and technology can help children to learn, educators must continue to develop the best ways to help children and not just show movies or give games to play. Parents must also be aware that giving children the newest technology and letting them run loose may be inhibiting their children and their ability to learn in the future.

http://www.infopackets.com/news/technology/it/2009/20090130_technology_has_mixed_effects_on_child_development_research_suggest.htm