Child protection

Child protection (sometimes child welfare) refers to the protection of children from violence, exploitation, abuse and neglect. Article 19 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child provides for the protection of children in and out of the home.

Child protection systems are a set of usually government-run services designed to protect children and young people who are underage and to encourage family stability. While there is no universally agreed upon definition, UNICEF defines a ‘child protection system’ as:

Encountered problems

Child labour

Due to economical reasons, especially in poor countries, children are forced to work in order to survive. Child labour often happens in difficult conditions, which are dangerous and impair the education of the future citizens and increase vulnerability to adults. It is hard to know exactly the age and number of children who work. At least 150 million children under 5 years of age worked in 2004, but the figure is underestimated because domestic labour is not counted.

Children at Risk

Children At Risk is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that drives change for children through research, education, and influencing public policy. Founded in 1989 in Houston, Texas and with an office opened in North Texas in 2011, the organization focuses on the well-being of children and educates legislators on the importance of key children’s issues. While focusing on a variety of issues, the primary issues are human trafficking, food insecurity, education, juvenile justice, parenting, and Latino children. Children at Risk also has a North Texas office in Dallas.

The mission is to improve the quality of life for children through strategic research, public policy analysis, education, collaboration, and advocacy. The organization strives to make children’s needs a priority and to ensure ample resources are available for children and their families to thrive.

History

Children At Risk began in the fall of 1989 when a group of child advocates met to discuss the lack of documentation on the status of children and the absence of strong public policy support for Houston’s children. For over twenty years, Children At Risk has been speaking out and driving change on behalf of our city’s most defenseless youth, led by its original mission ’’To serve as the voice for children.’’ Using the tools of advocacy, Children At Risk works on a broad range of children’s issues, including child welfare, education, child trafficking, juvenile justice, mental and physical health, and parenting. Their efforts are focused where they are needed most: where a significant number of children are affected, and where they can enhance, but not duplicate, the work of others.

At Risk

At Risk is a 1994 film about a woman named Lara, after spending a year in Mexico unsuccessfully trying to save her marriage to Steven, returns to the U.S. to find Max, her lover in this AIDS cautionary tale.

Starring

References

External links

At Risk (2010 film)

At Risk is a 2010 American TV Movie directed by Tom McLoughlin and starring Andie MacDowell and Daniel Sunjata. It is based on the book of the same name by Patricia Cornwell, who has a small role as a waitress.

Plot

Win Garano, an Apache nicknamed "Geronimo", is working for Monique "Money" Lamont in the Boston DA's department. Lamont is running for Governor of Boston using the concept of "at risk" to try to gain votes, saying that everyone is at risk from crime but when she becomes governor it is the criminals who will be at risk. To promote her political campaign she re-opens and assigns Garano to a cold case concerning the murder of a 90-year-old woman 35 years previously, demonstrating to voters that she can clear up old crimes as well as new ones.

Jesus Baptista, a criminal, has recently been acquitted of drug dealing and arson. One evening he goes to Lamont's house and lies in wait for her. At the same time, Garano is visiting his grandmother "Nana", where he sees TV coverage of a press conference called by Lamont, during which she agrees in answer to an aggressive questioner that the investigator on the cold case is called "Geronimo". Upset by this he sends a text to Lamont submitting his resignation but immediately afterwards he receives a text threatening Nana's life unless he drops the case. He changes his mind and calls Lamont to tell her that he wishes to continue the investigation. At this point Baptista snatches Lamont and drags her into the house causing her to drop her mobile. Unable to contact her, Garano drives to her house where a fight ensues, resulting in Baptista being shot dead by Garano. Evidence is discovered that Baptista had apparently been paid to kill Lamont. Facts about the cold case are difficult to find and police corruption is suspected. It then emerges that there is a connection between the murder and the attack on Lamont.

At Risk (book)

At Risk is a 1988 book by Alice Hoffman about Amanda, an 11-year-old girl who contracts AIDS from a blood transfusion.

Characters

Plot

Amanda lives with a typical suburban family in the town of Morrow, Massachusetts until she comes down with a fever and a blood test for AIDS returns as positive. She contracted it from an unscreened blood transfusion during surgery, 5 years before. Her world is turned upside down. As the news spreads, other parents, fearful of their own children catching it, cut off contact with the family. Fear spreads among her peers, who are uneducated as to the nature of sex and believe that AIDS can be spread by skin contact or using the same toilet seat. Her principal decides to counter this by giving the whole school a class-by-class sex-ed talk. Amanda eventually becomes weaker and weaker, having to give up gymnastics, because of this and because of parental fears that using the same equipment could spread the virus to her teammates. Amanda becomes bitter and disillusioned, becoming friends with Laurel, a medium. She decides to have her braces removed, and her father locates a pediatric orthodontist who will see an AIDS patient. While Amanda's death is portrayed to be inevitable, the novel concludes with an open ending - the special friendship between Charlie and Sevrin. Perhaps a more encouraging end that symbolises hope and the eternal aspect of love.