NEW YORK (AP) — The Boys Scouts of America is considering a dramatic change in its controversial policy of excluding gays as leaders and youth members.
Under the change being considered, the different religious and civic groups that sponsor Scout units would be able to decide for themselves how to address the issue — either maintaining an exclusion of gays or opening up their membership.
The announcement of the possible change came Monday after years of protests over the policy — including petition campaigns that have prompted some corporations to suspend donations to the Boy Scouts.
Under the proposed change, said BSA spokesman Deron Smith, “the Boy Scouts would not, under any circumstances, dictate a position to units, members, or parents.”
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press via thegrio.com
Posts published in “Children”
Quvenzhané Wallis, the 9-year-old Oscar nominated star of Beasts of the Southern Wild, is really enjoying her moment in the spotlight.
She has talked about fashion with Vogue’s guru André Leon Talley. She has also appeared on NBC’s Rock Center, where she boasted that she is a “triple threat.”
Now the pint-size star is gracing the cover of Entertainment Weekly. Wallis made history this month when she became the young nominee in history in the lead actress Academy Award category.
article via thegrio.com
Kareem Dale, Special Assistant to President Obama for Disability Policy (left), with Learning Ally member Henry “Hoby” Wedler (right)
When Kareem Dale, now a special advisor to President Barack Obama, was in high school, all he wanted to do was wrestle. But as a student who was partially blind, that wasn’t easy.
Dale’s school made it possible for him to participate in the sport by creating a rule that wrestlers always needed to be touching their opponent. “It allowed me to wrestle throughout public high school,” Dale said. “That experience of wrestling gave me confidence, it made me healthier, it was really an extraordinary experience.”
But hundreds of other students with disabilities may not have had an opportunity in school sports, a 2010 Government Accountability Office report suggested. The U.S. Education Department’s Office of Civil Rights on Friday is sending school districts a 13-page guidance document that spells out the rights of students with disabilities to participate in school athletics.
But hundreds of other students with disabilities may not have had an opportunity in school sports, a 2010 Government Accountability Office report suggested. The U.S. Education Department’s Office of Civil Rights on Friday is sending school districts a 13-page guidance document that spells out the rights of students with disabilities to participate in school athletics.
President Barack Obama, accompanied by children who wrote to the president about gun violence following last month’s school shooting in the US, signs executive orders. Photograph: Charles Dharapak/AP
Barack Obama signs a series of executive actions in favour of gun control, flanked by children who wrote to him after the killings at Sandy Hook. Their parents or guardians stand behind them. While the children reflect the president’s solemnity, the supervising adults are finding it hard not to grin with pride at their kids’ involvement in this historic occasion.
It might look cynical. It might seem a bit obvious. The imagery here is so crystal clear they might as well have had a big sign saying “Children! Future!” (as they sing at The Simpsons’ Springfield elementary school).
But if you think that you probably haven’t got a child. Or perhaps you rationalised the US’s horror at the shootings that led to this photograph as colossal hypocrisy in the face of alleged massacres of non-American children by military drones. For some on the left it seems Obama is little better than a child murderer himself, while for the gun-toting right, his desire to restrict gun access is an assault on freedoms defined in the 18th-century political discourse that is the Constitution of the United States:
It might look cynical. It might seem a bit obvious. The imagery here is so crystal clear they might as well have had a big sign saying “Children! Future!” (as they sing at The Simpsons’ Springfield elementary school).
But if you think that you probably haven’t got a child. Or perhaps you rationalised the US’s horror at the shootings that led to this photograph as colossal hypocrisy in the face of alleged massacres of non-American children by military drones. For some on the left it seems Obama is little better than a child murderer himself, while for the gun-toting right, his desire to restrict gun access is an assault on freedoms defined in the 18th-century political discourse that is the Constitution of the United States:
“A well regulated Militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to bear Arms shall not be infringed.”
And this is the point of Obama’s photo opportunity with America’s children. The debate about gun control is a debate about history and its burdens. When that amendment was added to the constitution in 1791, the authors surely did not think they were setting down the Ten Commandments of national identity, to be preserved unaltered forever. Or if they did, well … they are dead.
Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA) has joined forces with Sigma Gamma Rho, one of the nation’s largest African American sororities, to help build awareness of career possibilities in science, technology, and engineering among girls and parents in the African American community.
Working with local Girl Scout councils around the country, Sigma Gamma Rho’s alumnae chapters have made GSUSA’s Imagine Engineering Initiative, funded by the National Science Foundation, a focus of the sorority’s annual National Youth Symposium.
Remember how good you felt when Black History Month rolled around and you finally got to learn and talk about significant African American historical figures in school? Well, according to new research published in the Journal of Child Development, affirming a black child’s desire to learn about their race does more than just give them a personal boost, it helps them academically as well.
The study, conducted by Ming-Te Wang and James P. Huguley of the University of Pittsburgh and Harvard University respectively, found that “racial socialization”—teaching kids about their culture and involving them in activities that promote racial pride and connection—helps to offset the discrimination and racial prejudices children face by the outside world.
Olivia Stinson, a sophomore at Winston-Salem State University in North Carolina was recognized as a 2012 L’Oreal Paris International Woman of Worth. Stinson, a business administration major from Charlotte, was honored for creating the Peers Engaged and Networking (PEN) Pals Book Club for the children of incarcerated parents. At age 13, Stinson used a $500 grant to start the project for children aged 12 to 19. The PEN Pals Book Club has evolved into a full support group for the children of parents who are in prison. She has now added a Be a Reader (BEAR) Book club for children aged 2 to 11. The clubs now not only provide books and other school supplies, but also food and other support. Since the program was established, more than 4,000 children have received benefits from the program.
For winning the Woman of Worth distinction, Stinson’s book clubs will receive a $10,000 contribution from L’Oreal Paris. To learn more, check out Stinson’s Huffington Post blog here.
article via jbhe.com
Photos courtesy of YouTube
Doc McStuffins, the star of this year’s breakout children’s show, has been officially dubbed the most sought-after gift this holiday season. The new doll has even unseated Elmo as this year’s must-have holiday toy. The Disney series was introduced in March and has surpassed Dora the Explorer as the top-rated cable TV show for kids, reports the New York Daily News.
Doc McStuffins is a 6-year-old African-American girl who treats sick toys.
Gun control advocates and past victims of gun violence gathered outside the White House on Friday evening urging President Barack Obama to address gun laws. (Photo credit: Jennifer Bendery)
WASHINGTON — Friday’s shooting in Newtown, Conn., put the spotlight on President Barack Obama politically and, for many people, it was personal, as dozens turned up outside the White House gates begging him to take action on gun control. Activists, sympathetic parents, and those affected by gun violence in the past gathered to collectively grieve at the impromptu vigil. They chanted, lit candles handed out by advocacy groups, and pleaded for political action in the wake of the latest episode of gun violence to afflict the nation.
First lady Michelle Obama (C) greets Toys for Tots volunteers during an event at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling on December 11, 2012 in Washiington, DC. The toys were donated by the staff members of the Executive Office of the President to the Marine Corps’ Toys for Tots Campaign. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
First lady Michelle Obama dropped off 900 gifts yesterday as part of a Toys for Tots event in Washington, D.C. An annual drive of the Marine Corps, the campaign received the huge donation from the White House where Mrs. Obama began collecting toys for the program in 2009.
The toys were collected from residents of the White House, including President Obama and the first couple’s daughters Sasha and Malia, in addition to employees, friends and corporate donors.