Half of parents want cane brought back in schools
Telegraph (UK) 16 Sep 2011Some 49 per cent of mothers and fathers are in favour of corporal punishment to crack down on the worst offenders, it was revealed. The vast majority of parents also want the greater use of other back-to-basics discipline measures including detention, expulsion and forcing badly behaved children to write lines. Even a fifth of secondary school pupils themselves support the reintroduction of caning or smacking. The disclosure comes amid claims from Michael Gove, the Education Secretary, that “adult authority” has been eroded in too many schools.http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/8767389/Half-of-parents-want-cane-brought-back-in-schools.html
Mail Online (UK) 8 Nov 2011Becoming a father really can help men ditch bad habits, a study has found. Men who become dads for the first time tend to steer away tobacco, alcohol even crime, say researchers from Oregon State University. The conclusions were drawn from a 19-year study of more than 200 at-risk boys aged between 12 and 31 looking at how their anti-social behaviour changed over time. While previous studies have shown how marriage can effect a man’s negative behaviour, this is the first to isolate the additional impact of fatherhood. Lead researcher David Kerr, said: ‘This research suggests that fatherhood can be a transformative experience, even for men engaging in high risk behaviour.’He added that parenthood – in addition to adulthood – could be seen as ‘an independent factor in predicting decreases in crime, alcohol and tobacco use.’ The findings, published in the Journal of Marriage and Family also highlight how men who become fathers in their late 20s and early 30s show a greater willingness to embrace fatherhood and shed negative lifestyle choices compared with men who father children in their teens.http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2058895/Smoking-alcohol-crime-drop-men-dads.html#ixzz1d9Pyz5NU
You were right!US media 5x more likely to promote same-sex marriage viewpoints Pew Research Center 17 June 2013 In a period marked by Supreme Court deliberations on the subject, the news media coverage provided a strong sense of momentum towards legalizing same-sex marriage, according to a new study by the Pew Research Center. Stories with more statements supporting same-sex marriage outweighed those with more statements opposing it by a margin of roughly 5-to-1.In the coverage studied, the central argument among proponents of same-sex marriage was one of civil rights. Arguments against were more varied, but most often voiced the idea that same-sex marriage would hurt society and the institution of traditional marriage.Almost half (47%) of the nearly 500 stories studied from March 18 (a week prior to the Supreme Court hearings), through May 12, primarily focused on support for the measure, while 9% largely focused on opposition and 44% had a roughly equal mix of both viewpoints or were neutral. In order for a story to be classified as supporting or opposing same sex marriage, statements expressing that position had to outnumber the opposite view by at least 2-to-1. Stories that did not meet that threshold were defined as neutral or mixed. http://www.journalism.org/analysis_report/news_coverage_conveys_strong_momentumAnd from NZ
Lianna Rebolledo was just 12 years old and out walking near her home in Mexico City when she was suddenly abducted by two men and brutally raped. The attackers left the young girl half dead, her face and neck horribly disfigured. What the attackers did not know is that they also left Lianna with the stirrings of a new life within her.https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/woman-who-chose-life-after-brutal-rape-at-12-has-no-regrets-says-her-daught?utm_source=Christian+Concern&utm_campaign=3e68d51e5e-WN-2015-06-20&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_9e164371ca-3e68d51e5e-127299873
Irish Examiner 15 September 2016Family First Comment: This is a superb read.“…The solution for women is to formally recognise, once and for all, that mothers working in their homes are among the most vital workers in any economy. The vast majority of mothers would choose to take time out or go part-time in their children’s early years if they could. At some point official feminism must ask itself why it finds this desire so dangerous and discountable.”#mothersmatterWith a number of “maternal feminist” organisations like Mothers at Home Matter and All Mothers Work and the new Women’s Equality Party, Olorenshaw, a former lawyer and trade union activist, is tackling head-on the grotesque devaluation of motherhood. She puts it like this: “The reality is stark: mothers are, in gradual steps, losing the rights, freedom and economic ability to raise their own children, within the patriarchal and capitalist project.” She describes this as “market-driven environmental and social destruction”.…The fatwa against maternal essentialism was explained for me years ago by childcare guru Penelope Leach: Motherhood loses women status so its importance is too dangerous to admit. But where does this society-wide fear of motherhood come from? Fear of the power and love of mothers. Gambotto-Burke nails it: “fear of sensitivity, fear of what men identify as weakness, fear of mutability, fear of chaos, fear of intimacy”. Olorenshaw brilliantly shows how motherhood, the very giving and sustaining of life, is being erased from public discourse. The Midwives Alliance of North America recently made a play to erase the word “woman” from its literature and replace it with “birthing person” and “pregnant person”. What next? Chest-feeding instead of breast-feeding, she suggests. Olorenshaw brings this right back to Plato’s Republic which saw babies removed from their mothers and mothers made to breastfeed any baby other than their own. A shiver of fear ran through me as I typed that last line.This is what we are still up against in Western culture: The demand that our babies and children be taken away from us and reared by persons unknown. Whenever it is suggested that children suffer when their parents do not have enough time for them — such as in the report prepared by Cork University with the citizens’ participation unit of the Department of Children and Youth Affairs which was leaked a couple of weeks ago — there is hysteria in case it will make “working mothers” feel guilty. How about all the other things such evidence might tell us, such as that parents’ work in the home is vital to children’s mental and physical health and deserves support, not stigma and the risk of poverty? But you won’t get this response from Official Feminism. Instead you’ll get demands for more and better childcare places.…The solution for women is to formally recognise, once and for all, that mothers working in their homes are among the most vital workers in any economy. The vast majority of mothers would choose to take time out or go part-time in their children’s early years if they could. At some point official feminism must ask itself why it finds this desire so dangerous and discountable.READ MORE: http://www.irishexaminer.com/viewpoints/columnists/victoria-white/why-are-mothers-working-in-their-homes-not-seen-as-vital-to-society-421041.html
Daily Mail 11 May 2016Family First Comment: Safeguards? Yeah right!“It went ahead despite improvements in the woman’s psychological condition after ‘intensive therapy’ two years ago, and even though doctors in the Netherlands accept that a demand for death from a psychiatric patient may be no more than a cry for help.”#RejectAssistedSuicideA former victim of child sex abuse has ended her life under Dutch euthanasia laws because she could not live with her mental suffering.The woman, in her twenties, was given a lethal injection after doctors and psychiatrists decided that her post-traumatic stress disorder and other conditions were incurable.It went ahead despite improvements in the woman’s psychological condition after ‘intensive therapy’ two years ago, and even though doctors in the Netherlands accept that a demand for death from a psychiatric patient may be no more than a cry for help.The woman, who has not been named, began to suffer from mental disorders 15 years ago following sexual abuse, according to the papers released by the Dutch Euthanasia Commission. The timescale means she was abused between the ages of five and 15.News of her death angered anti-euthanasia MPs and disability campaigners in Britain. One Labour MP said it meant sex abuse victims were now being punished with death.It comes at a time of continued controversy over assisted dying in Britain. A steady flow of people from this country travel to die legally at the Dignitas clinic in Switzerland, and judges and the courts appear to be leaning in favour of making it legal to help someone to die.Details of the Dutch case were released by authorities anxious to justify euthanasia laws and to demonstrate that mercy killings are carried out under full and correct medical supervision.The papers said that the woman, who was killed last year, had post-traumatic stress disorder that was resistant to treatment. Her condition included severe anorexia, chronic depression and suicidal mood swings, tendencies to self-harm, hallucinations, obsessions and compulsions.She also had physical difficulties and was almost entirely bedridden. Her psychiatrist said ‘there was no prospect or hope for her. The patient experienced her suffering as unbearable’.However, the papers also disclosed that two years before her death the woman’s doctors called for a second opinion, and on the advice of the new doctors she had an intensive course of trauma therapy. ‘This treatment was temporarily partially successful,’ the documents said.READ MORE: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3583783/Sex-abuse-victim-20s-allowed-choose-euthanasia-Holland-doctors-decided-post-traumatic-stress-conditions-uncurable.html
NZ Herald 3 January 2018Family First Comment: Good coverage in the NZ Herald of our polling on family dinners Almost all Kiwis with children believe having dinner together regularly is a vital part of family life – yet for those struggling to make ends meet doing this at least five times a week is tough.An estimated 98 per cent of Kiwi families with children believed having a regular family dinner was important, but only 45 per cent of the most deprived families did this five or more nights a week.In comparison almost 60 per cent of the least deprived families had dinner five or more nights a week.The findings, in a Curia Market Research poll, commissioned by Family First NZ, found of 1000 Kiwis surveyed 67 per cent of Kiwis who did not have children, believed a family dinner was important.A gender split was obvious with 80 per cent of women saying family dinners were very important, compared with 55 per cent of men.Oxford University research, released this year, showed that the more often people eat with others the more likely they are to feel happy and satisfied with their lives.Author and professor of the experimental psychology department at Oxford University Robin Dunbar said it was known that social networks were key in combating mental and physical illness.“A significant proportion of respondents felt that having a meal together was an important way of making or reinforcing these social networks.“In these increasingly fraught times, when community cohesion is ever more important, making time for and joining in communal meals is perhaps the single most important thing we can do – both for our own health and wellbeing and for that of the wider community.”READ MORE: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?objectid=11968686&ref=twitter
Society for the Protection of Unborn Children 11 July 2018Family First Comment: Compulsory reading for anyone who is concerned for the health and wellbeing of women…www.chooselife.nzHere are ten reasons why allowing the abortion pill to be taken at home is dangerous and must be opposed.1. Complications for medical abortion are commonThere has been much talk of medical abortion being “safe” and “easy”. However, medical abortion isn’t just taking a pill that makes the baby disappear. As the stories of women promoting home abortion illustrate, a medical abortion causes cramping, heavy bleeding and nausea. As Marie Stopes said on their website (on a page that has now been taken down), it is normal to experience “bleeding and strong cramps (like period pains) that can last for several weeks.” Other side effects include “diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, warm flushes, chills, headaches and pains. Medical abortion can also worsen symptoms of migraines and asthma in some people.”Marie Stopes also lists the rare but possible complications: haemorrhage, infection, failed abortion, incomplete abortion, thrombosis and death. And some of these are not as rare as Marie Stopes may wish to suggest. For later medical abortions, after 13 weeks gestation, the proportion of incomplete medical abortions that needed subsequent surgical intervention varies widely between studies, ranging from 2.5% in one study up to 53% in a UK multicentre study. Even for early medical abortions, up to 9 weeks gestation, the RCOG reports (p41) a Finnish study that found 6% of women needed subsequent surgical intervention compared with less than 1% of those having surgical abortions. And, contrary to claims by the Scottish Government, medical abortions are not safer than surgical. A study of 42,600 first trimester abortions in Finland (where there is good registry data, unlike in the UK) found that six weeks post abortion the incidence of complications after medical abortion was four times higher than after surgical abortion – 20% compared to 5.6%.With all these possible side effects and complications, how is removing abortion from medical supervision, while continuing to promote it heavily to women, in any way a good idea? Women may be unaware that their abortion is incomplete and may therefore only seek medical help when infection develops. Taking the second pill outside of medical supervision will compound this.2. The precise time interval is importantThere has been much focus on the desirability of taking the pill at home, so that women can choose a convenient time to induce their abortion. “If I had been able to take the second abortion pill at home, I would have been able to access everything I needed,” says Claudia, the woman fronting the home abortions campaign. “I wouldn’t have been rushed and panicked and worried about going through an abortion in a taxi, and I could have taken the pill in the place and time that was right for me.” Well, actually, no. The precise time interval between taking mifepristone (the first pill) and taking misoprostol (the second) is critically important in the effectiveness of the regimen and directly affects how likely the woman is to experience a failed drug-induced abortion and require surgery. Misoprostol is recommended to be taken 24 to 48 hours after taking mifepristone, otherwise its effectiveness is significantly lowered. Yet there is nothing to stop a woman taking the second pill outside the recommended hours if she is outside of medical supervision. Research has shown that, unsurprisingly, women prefer a short time frame between the pills, and so may inclined to take the second pill less than 24 hours after the first. But this leads to a significantly increased failure rate with one study finding that nearly one out of every three to four women who took buccal misoprostol shortly after the mifepristone failed to abort.This means that removing control over the timing of misoprostol administration, allowing women to take it at a time ‘convenient for them’, will increase failure rates, complications and need for subsequent surgery. (Of course, we ourselves would never see as ‘failure’ the survival of the baby, as opposed to a baby already dead failing to leave the woman’s body. Some babies do survive after the first pill is taken, and some women have a change of heart and refuse to take the second pill, hoping their baby is still alive.3. The precise manner of taking the drugs is importantThe precise way in which the drugs are taken also affects failure rates. The popular image of the abortion pill is of taking it orally, like a painkiller, but actually, vaginal and buccal administration is generally recommended over oral. Oral administration of misoprostol combined with the recommended low dose of mifepristone is not as effective in emptying the uterus after the unborn child has died and results in a higher failure rate, but is nonetheless preferred by women over the other methods. The second visit to a hospital or clinic builds in an important safety feature by allowing for direct observation and monitoring of the administration of misoprostol at a precise time and in a precise way after mifepristone administration. Many people (offensively) compare medical abortion to miscarriage management, but it should be noted that although medical treatment for miscarriage may be self-administered, it only requires a dose of misoprostol, not mifepristone, so timing and manner of administration are not as significant.4. No control over who takes it or whereThe second visit also means there is medical control over who is taking the abortion pill, and where. Once a pill has left the clinic, there is no way of knowing who is going to take it, and whether they are doing so freely, or under coercion. There is also no control over where it is being taken. All the talk has been about a woman taking the pill in her home (and that’s what the Welsh and Scottish Governments have changed the guidance to allow), but once it has left the clinic, it can be taken anywhere – in a school, in the back of a car, or, irony of irony, in the backstreets. There is also nothing to stop it being taken at the wrong stage of gestation, which can be very dangerous for the woman.5. Keeping abuse victims away from authoritiesAll of these points about who is taking the pill and where lead to genuine concerns that the abortion pill is useful for those who want to keep women away from the authorities as much as possible – for example, the victims of abuse or women who have been trafficked.6. “Home” could mean anythingFor all the talk about women being able to take the pill in the “comfort of their own home” there has been no discussion as to what this means in practice. In fact, unlike ‘hospital’ and ‘general practitioner’s surgery’ there are no specifications or requirements as to what is classed as a home. It could vary from a palace to a caravan or a tent or houseboat. There is no requirement for any inspection process to be carried out of the ‘home’ in order to evaluate and confirm a specific and agreed standard, or to confirm the availability of equipment which may be necessary if required for a medical emergency or even for basic comfort during the abortion ‘procedure’. This includes even such basic things as a bed, pillows, towels, a sick bowl, a working toilet, hot and cold running water, heating, lighting, a working telephone in case of an emergency…There are just no requirements at all, and no way of enforcing them if there were.7. Home could be miles away from a hospitalAs there are possible complications with a medical abortion, one might expect, on the part of those advocating such abortions, some concern for women being able to get to hospital in the case of an emergency. However, with their rhetoric about transport difficulties in coming into the clinic for the second pill, proponents of home abortion argue that it should be available to precisely those women who would have difficulty getting to a hospital! It is dangerous to give women medical abortion if they are not easily available for follow-up contact or medical evaluation.8. Leaving women aloneThe Scottish guidance makes it clear that another adult should be at home with a woman while she is suffering the effects of the abortion pill. But how is such a check to be carried out? The second adult could be anyone aged 16 or over or even someone very old and frail and incapable of supervising a medical abortion. It could foreseeably be an abusive partner – or even a pimp – who may have no consideration for the pregnant woman’s care other than the desire that she abort this baby and be seen to have done so. Moreover, an adult is neither a medical professional nor a registered medical practitioner. There is no requirement for any standard of first aid qualification or medical knowledge in case of emergency or simply that the person care for the pregnant woman whilst she suffers the adverse effects of the drug she has taken. The Welsh Government has not even specified that an adult be present.9. The psychological effect of aborting at homeWe know that a medical abortion can be deeply traumatic, and physically very painful for women who endure it, whatever the circumstances. Even the BBC programme Abortion on Trial, though generally very sympathetic to abortion, made this clear: several of the women described the horrific physical pain of a medical abortion, and the distress of having to see the dead baby. One participant said: “I wish someone had told me I would see the product of the pregnancy”, while another described passing the baby in the shower. We know from the testimony of those who have counselled women through Abortion Recovery Care and Helpline (ARCH) that the place where an abortion happens can trigger traumatic flashbacks. How much worse is this when the place is your own home, rather than an anonymous clinic you can leave behind? The psychological fallout of having to see, and flush away, the baby yourself is severe. How can promoting this be in the best interests of women?10. Trivialising abortionFinally, allowing abortions to take place at home trivialises abortion. Of course, this is bad for babies, but it is also bad for women. It will inevitably lead to women being told that they can easily opt for abortion, when that might not be what they truly want. It makes it more likely that they will be coerced into abortions, and left to deal with the aftermath by themselves. Abortion being treated as something that can be done over the weekend with no medical supervision, rather than as a serious procedure with genuine risks and side-effects, means women’s health is being sacrificed to an ideology that only cares about widening abortion access at all costs.READ MORE: https://www.spuc.org.uk/news/blog/2018/july/home-abortions-are-ideologically-driven-and-dangerous-for-women-heres-ten-reasons-why
Feminist Current 25 July 2020Family First Comment: Excellent commentary…“But perhaps the most tragic mistake this ad commits is that it does not comprehend the reality of pornographic material circulating online today, just two clicks away. Dark web aside, the regular pornographic content accessible by non-premium Pornhub visitors is documented rape, torture, and sadism perpetrated on female bodies − many of them minors. They are real human beings, who often will struggle with trauma and PTSD for life as a result of their experience in the sex trade. This is what porn is about, and there is no trace of it in this superficial, harmful, naïve ad. No, children should not be watching porn. But that content doesn’t magically become harmless the moment an individual turns 18.”We know porn consumption harms children. But is it fine, as a New Zealand PSA implies, if it is watched only by adults who understand the acts they see on film are “not real”?In June, the government of New Zealand launched a public advertising campaign to warn about the consequences of pornography on minor consumers.The ad shows a male and a female porn actor walking up to a house, naked, to inform the shocked mother who opens the door that her young son is consuming pornography from all the available electronic devices in the house. They tell her this is harmful for the boy as, “he does not know how relationships actually work,” and because, in porn, they don’t talk about consent. The female porn actress, “Sue,” tells the mother she and her partner “usually perform for adults, but your son’s just a kid.” The male actor, “Derrick,” stresses that he “would never act like that in real life.” The distressed mother is prompted to talk to her son “about the difference between what you see online and real-life relationships.”Derrick and Sue are presented as attractive, friendly, responsible, even funny. They are “performers” who enjoy what they do. Pornography is presented as nothing more than a performance of two consenting adults for an adult public. (Noteworthy that the ad only involves the mother, not the father — or both parents — confirming family gender stereotypes that give fathers no responsibility, in terms of raising children.)Ulrica Stigberg and Maria Ahlin interviewed Lars Olsson, professor of neuroscience at the Karolinska Institutet of Stockholm, for their 2016 book, Visual drug: On kids, youth, and online porn, (Visuell drog: Om barn, unga och nätporr). He explained that the brain of a young person is fragile and far from being consolidated and structured. The dopamine release system works like this: when something very emotionally impactful (positive or negative) hits us, the brain looks for a system to “restore balance.” The brain does this by lowering the level of reaction, inhibiting the emotional response to a given stimulus. In short, to protect us from strong emotions, our brain makes us less responsive, making us insensitive to a certain stimulus (which, in turn, can potentially lead to addiction). The result is that we end up feeling indifferent or bored with something that initially excited us. Easy access to and high consumption of pornography means that, often, whatever was initially arousing and led to an orgasm becomes “boring.” Soon enough, the brain will need to go a step further in order to receive the same level of dopamine release. This is why the research conducted on people who developed an addiction to pornography for Visual Drug finds a personal journey from hardcore pornography, escalating to porn featuring violent/humiliating sex, rape, rape of people with mental and/or physical handicaps, rape of children (including infants), and passive or active incest. It is easy to understand why it is crucial to protect young people from accessing pornography.But there is more. A 2018 investigative report conducted by the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet based on criminal cases related to gang rapes found that 70 per cent of the rapists were between 15 and 20 years old, while the victims’ average age was 15. In some cases, both the perpetrators and the victims were younger than 15. In April, Metro spoke with Norfolk Police Chief Constable Simon Bailey, the national police lead for child protection, who reported “a new group of young men aged between 18 and 26” brought up on porn, and began to no longer be stimulated by “regular porn,” so moved on to child abuse imagery.READ MORE: https://www.feministcurrent.com/2020/07/25/growing-up-on-porn-harms-youth-but-the-harms-of-pornography-dont-end-there/
Last week the East African Community (EAC) — the five-nation bloc that includes Burundi — called in a statement for talks to ease tensions and to ensure “the realisation of a peaceful, free and fair electoral process.” Related The president, a former rebel leader from the Hutu majority who has been in power since 2005, has come under intense international pressure to withdraw from the June 26 presidential poll. Burundi Crisis: African Leaders Speak on it “They have come to listen to all parties in the conflict, and to try to propose ways out of crisis,” said Burundi’s foreign ministry spokesman Daniel Kabuto. African leaders in Burundi for political crisis talks The EAC also called on Burundi to “ensure that the electoral process does not lead to humanitarian crisis”, noting that tens of thousands of Burundians have already fled into neighbouring nations fearing violence. The rights group details how people arrested for allegedly taking part in demonstrations have been mistreated to extract information. Burundi, where a 13-year civil war between Tutsis and Hutus ended only in 2006, has been rocked by violent protests since the CNDD-FDD designated Nkurunziza to stand in what critics say is in defiance of the constitution and the Arusha accords which ended the war–AFP East African foreign ministers arrived in Burundi Wednesday following days of deadly demonstrations against a third term bid by President Pierre Nkurunziza, the government said. Protesters have defied calls to end demonstrations, after more than a week of running battles in which at least 13 people have been killed, including police. Ministers from neighbouring Rwanda and Tanzania, as well as Kenya and Uganda, were in the capital Bujumbura for talks. Museveni assures East African region on Burundi crisis agreement