I don’t have any dreams [for the future]. —Nozomi M., living in an institution, Osaka, December 2011 Without Dreams: Children in Alternative Care in Japan In a country with falling birth rates, an aging society, and an alarming population crisis, thousands of children are slipping through the cracks. Japan’s failing foster care system creates a […]
Tag: children
A Spotlight on the Red Light District
When most Californians hear the words “human trafficking,” they imagine a faraway, third-world country. Yet the practice is rampant within the United States –– California ranks among the top four domestic destinations for human trafficking. California is home to an extremely profitable human trafficking industry due to its extensive international borders, easy access to the […]
The Missing Part of Haitian Progress: The Forgotten Children
Haiti is home to 10 million people and the first modern revolution predicated on freedom, equality and justice of all. But among all the nations in the Western Hemisphere, none have faced greater challenges to improve the lives of its children. Yet, the forgotten children of Haiti may offer the very things that Haiti needs […]
To Vax or Not to Vax: This is Not the Question
As the lights of University of Phoenix Stadium darken at the end of Super Bowl 49, health officials are waiting for fallout. Thousands of football enthusiasts traveled to Phoenix, Arizona the weekend of Super Bowl Sunday to share in the festivities. However, before their arrival, Arizona health officials were tracking over 1000 people who may […]
The Not-So-Common Cold: Enterovirus D68
Cold-and-flu season is well under way in California, but this fall, young children in Southern California are being exposed to a different kind of runny nose. Enterovirus D68, also known as EV-D68, was first identified in the state of California in the winter of 1962, when four children were hospitalized with respiratory symptoms that imitated the […]
Children Left Behind: The ADHD Epidemic and Problems in American Education
The morning of October 21st, 2004, a fourteen-year-old named Matthew Hohmann took an Adderall XR pill for ADHD symptoms. His parents saw him down the pill with a cup of water; the next time they saw their son, he was prostrate on the bathroom floor. His lips were blue. He was nonresponsive. Matthew Hohmann died […]
Humanitarian Intervention is a Proactive Approach to Solving the Immigration Crisis
Since last October, the U.S. Border Patrol apprehended over sixty thousand children fleeing abysmal conditions in Central America. These numbers represent an exponential increase in the number of unaccompanied minors seeking refuge in the United States each year from Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador. While some politicians have labeled the situation as a pressing national […]
2014 Nobel Peace Prize Winners Fight to Give Children a Voice and an Education
Last Friday, Malala Yousafzai and Kailash Satyarthi were named the co-winners of the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize. The Norwegian Nobel Committee stated that the two shared the prize for “their struggle against the suppression of children and for the right of all children to an education.” Yousafzai is a 17-year old Pakistani education activist, who […]
Tenure on Trial
In 2012, a study of fifteen year-olds from 34 developed countries ranked U.S. students 17th, scoring 25th in math, 17th in science, and 14th in reading. Yet the U.S. ranked 5th in spending for students. As a student from Los Angeles Unified School District, these dismal scores make complete sense to me. Amid the constant […]