Why Gun Control is a Children’s Health Issue

We have a special guest blogger today: Becky Richardson, President of Promise the Children!

I want to follow up on Shelby’s report about the recent shootings of children in Chances for Peace in the Midst of Boston Violence.

Death and injury by firearms is a serious health hazard for our nation’s children. According to the Million Mom March, eight children are shot and killed each day and on average one thousand children commit suicide with a gun annually.

I am reading Child Health in America: Making a Difference Through Advocacy by Judith Palfrey, M.D. Dr. Palfrey says in this book “the fiercest special interest group with anti-child health positions is the National Rifle Association.” She goes on to explain that this organization has cleverly and effectively blocked both the regulation of the gun industry and the broad publication of information by our governmental agencies about the hazards and dangers of the use of firearms.
    
However there is good news. The website www.millionmommarch.org gives you the following information:

• The contact information in your state for local chapters that advocate for safety.
  

• Information from the “Brady Report Card” on how your state’s regulations are graded in terms of safety from gun violence.

•  Actions to take in your state to protect children and families from gun violence.

Let’s join together with the Million Mom March and take action to protect our communities from violence!

Decision to Reverse Budget Cuts Will Help MA Children

Deval Patrick (incoming Governor of Massachusetts) pledged today that he will reverse outgoing Governor Mitt Romney’s budget cuts. Patrick’s move will benefit children, by providing millions of dollars for early education and child care programs. From the Boston Globe:

"Overwhelmingly, these broad-based cuts, especially coming mid-year, have a serious negative impact on thousands of Massachusetts residents who have planned for the relief and relied upon the services these programs provide," Patrick said in a statement.

The money that Patrick plans to restore after taking office next month includes funding for preschool and kindergarten programs, domestic violence hotlines, and elder outreach.

Patrick said that slightly higher-than-expected state revenues in November and December paved the way for his decision. His administration will look for savings in the second half of the state’s fiscal year.

For more information on specific programs whose funding was cut--and will now be restored---read this report from the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center.

Movement for Teaching Global Warming in Schools

I have spent a significant amount of time with youth groups around Massachusetts discussing the ramifications of global warming. (This work has been through Promise the Children’s Green Web program). So I was intrigued to read this story in the Washington Post on Tuesday about the effort to bring global warming education to public schools.

"Global warming is a key subject that many educators and scientists say should be, but isn’t, taught in every school…

...Gerry Wheeler, the executive director of the National Science Teachers Association, said he would put global warming at or near the top of the list of must-teach subjects, along with the science of HIV/AIDS."

There are parallels between the movement to teach about global warming and the movement for comprehensive sexuality education. Both are about giving young people access to the basic scientific knowledge they need to make responsible and beneficial choices.