‘We cannot afford to indulge this madness’ by Keith O’Brien – The Telegraph article available here: www.telegraph.co.uk Sign the petition for equal marriage rights at The Coalition for Equal Marriage www.c4em.org.uk And if you do care about marriage equality, please participate in the public consultation that has recently been launched. www.homeoffice.gov.uk Go down to ‘Respond online’ and click the link. = GAY PARENTING STUDIES = Farr, R. H et al. 2010 ‘Parenting and Child Development in Adoptive Families: Does Parental Sexual Orientation Matter?’ APPLIED DEVELOPMENTAL SCIENCE, 14(3), 164–178, 201 Excerpts: “Our findings are also at odds with the notion that only heterosexual adults make capable parents and that lesbian and gay parents are somehow ineffective or harmful.” “From a policy perspective, our results provide no justification for denying lesbian and gay adults from adopting children (Wald, 2006). Indeed, barring adoptions to prospective lesbian and gay parents seems likely to produce a number of undesirable outcomes.” Full Text PDF available here: people.virginia.edu —– Gartrelle, N. et al. 2010 ‘US National Longitudinal Lesbian Family Study: Psychological Adjustment of 17-Year-Old Adolescents’ Official Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics DOI: 10.1542/peds.2009-3153 Excerpts: “Results: According to their mothers’ reports, the 17-year-old daughters and sons of lesbian mothers were rated significantly higher in social, school/academic, and total …
Transcript by www.newsy.com BY EMILY SPAIN Snoring — it wakes us up at night, causes health issues and is usually a problem for adults. But a new study says kids who snore are also at risk. KUSA has the sleep study details. “Those who snored and had sleep apnea as young children were more likely to develop hyperactivity, aggression and emotional problems by age seven.” The study looked at 11000 children over a six-year-period. Parents filled out sleep surveys during their children’s first seven years and then took notes on behavior when kids were around 4 to 7 years old. The results? Here’s the BBC. “…children with breathing issues during sleep were between 40% and 100% more likely to develop ‘neurobehavioural problems’ by the age of seven.” The study’s author says the research shows parents and doctors should start looking for sleep-disorders in children as soon as the child’s first year. CBS has a researcher’s quote “This is the strongest evidence to date that snoring, mouth breathing, and apnea [abnormally long pauses in breathing during sleep] can have serious behavioral and social-emotional consequences for children.” So how does snoring lead to kiddo’s bad behavior? WebMD reports it’s because the kids aren’t getting enough oxygen during a critical time of brain development. One doctor quoted by WMAR says: “For adults, when you have a bad night’s sleep, you don’t function well the next day. This is true for children and adolescents… When they don’t sleep well …
A special video journal on changes to public services, ending with a tribute to Jock Hobbs. For the full text of his speech announcing the changes, background documents and all related media releases, visit www.national.org.nz
