Why simplistic PinkStinks campaign… stinks

I watched a news item today about PinkStinks, a campaign which claims to be sticking up for “real role models” by calling for the boycotting of stores that sell pink toys aimed at girls.

These days it’s so easy to pick on one particular business or a single small thing and call for an all-out boycott or ban, without looking at the bigger picture.

While I have no problem with non-violent direct action and campaigning, I really take issue with parents being coerced into avoiding struggling retailers because of a simple colour choice.

Most people know and agree that gender inequality exists (though not all is bad: we should look for and celebrate the healthy differences between male and female), but surely there’s still a place for little girls to dress as princesses and little boys as soldiers?

It’s interesting that the campaign is targeting pink (girls) despite the fact that both sexes are often stereotyped.

Take this paragraph on the campaign’s web site:

We know the ELC is not the only toy retailer involved in this practice but we believe that by styling its stores as centres of learning the company is making our children a promise it has an absolute duty to live up to.

Do you know something? Retailers are not responsible for teaching our children about the world, about respect, equality, sex, relationships, or indeed anything else.

That’s the parents job (backed up by real centres of learning — schools)

The problem with the PinkStinks campaign is that it implies an absolved responsibility by parents to educate their children with their own morals and values, and how to be independent-minded, respectful and a good citizen in the world.

Now, I am not suggesting that those who started this campaign are bad parents, but is this really worth hurting a company for?

Boycott and campaign against those who seriously exploit workers, children and others through their products or working practices, sure, but why target companies — already struggling in a bad economy — who are just trying to make the most of the Christmas season.

I have friends with young, headstrong kids (and I do mean headstrong) with their own serious opinions (aged 4 and 8 – they’re quite a match sometimes) and yet the girl still likes dressing in pretty dresses (sometimes pink, sometimes with angel/fairy wings). If she grows up to be anything like her mum I don’t believe she’s going to be stereotyped.

Maybe not all kids are like that. If you don’t want your kids to wear pink, don’t let them. Bring them up your way, and explain to them your beliefs and morals.

That’s your job.

But don’t try to harm a business for selling things that a large proportion of the population wants to buy.

It’s worth bearing in mind that the “pink” stereotype does tend to continue into adulthood. Just take a look at the range of gadgets, clothes and makeup targeted at women that’s pink.

Hurting British businesses who, on the grand scale of things, have done little (if anything) wrong, will only hurt more people in the long run.

I am certain my viewpoint won’t be popular with many, but I stand by my belief that we have to take a much more holistic view of gender stereotypes rather than picking on one small thing.

Please don’t boycott the Early Learning Centre this Christmas. They’re an excellent retailer and deserve your custom.

Update: Here’s a fantastic article from Lindsey (who left a comment here): Why every little girl should have the right to choose pink

Are over-the-counter DNA paternity tests ethical?

Hackney, in East London, is one of the first areas in the United Kingdom to allow chemists to sell over-the-counter DNA paternity testing kits.

A short but interesting piece on BBC London News raises the inevitable ethical questions of allowing such easy access to these tests.

Ian Meekins from International Biosciences, manufacturer of the test, is unsurprisingly in favour of the kit which provides “indisputable answers to emotive questions”, claiming that “people have the right to be able to get those answers.”

He may well be right. There is a certain level of choice involved here, although the finances required to receive test results could be a barrier in themselves — the kit costs £30 but a further payment of £119 is required in order to have the test processed.

The method for collecting the DNA samples is simple. Use a separate mouth swab for the mother, the child, and the man who is testing for paternity, and then send the swabs away to be analysed.

That’s the finances and the procedure taken care of, but what about the rights and emotional wellbeing of the child?

Josephine Quintavalle from the ethics organisation Comment on Reproductive Ethics is convinced that children are not being protected.

She said that, most often, the tests are not done for the benefit of the child, and are taken without their consent. It’s disputing, warring couples where the male involved is effectively deciding whether to accept or reject the child.

“We have a duty to protect children and their rights in this instance,” she said.

However, the Hackney chemist selling the kits said that he will provide counselling to those families who need it.

Sadly, in these days, the issue of paternity comes up a lot, and while a kit like this makes it physically easy to determine who the biological father is, we surely have to question whether it’s always the best thing to do.

I am sure there are plenty of situations where men who are not biological fathers are doing a fine job of bringing up children. Granted, there are other issues such as the right for a child, at the appropriate time, to know who their biological parents are, but particularly when very young children are involved, is there potential to do more harm than good in making these sorts of tests so readily available?

Presumably, if trials are successful in Hackney, the test could be rolled out nationwide.

An emotive subject, surely, but I’d be interested to hear your views.

Read the original news story at BBC News Online

Twelve toys of Christmas: under £50 toys a hit this year

Last month’s industry research found that British kids are hankering for sub-£50 toys and games this Christmas.

That’s probably good news for cash-strapped parents.

A few old favourites get makeovers, including LEGO, Monopoly and Transformers.

The Toy Retailers Association found that the average price of a toy on the top dozen list was around £26. That’s £6 less than two years ago.

“With licensed toys combining the fun and familiarity of popular characters as well as collectable, pocket money priced toys making a big comeback this year, we are in for an affordable, family orientated Christmas,” said the association’s chairman Gary Grant.

“The list also reveals a trend towards nostalgic characters and brands which have been updated with a modern twist. Consumers are reverting back to heritage brands which will last longer than the Christmas season.”

The dozen is:

1. Bakugan Battle Pack
2. Battle Strikers Starter Set
3. Ben 10 Alien Force Kevin’s DX Action Cruiser
4. Bendaroos Mega Pack
5. Go Go Pets Hamster
6. GX Racers Tightrope Terror
7. Kidizoom Multimedia Digital Camera
8. LEGO Games 3841 Minotaurus
9. Monopoly City
10. Princess Peppa’s Palace
11. Sylvanian Families Caravan
12. Transformers Movie 2 Voyagers Figures

Full control of kids’ mobile phones now available to British parents

With parents worrying about their children’s use of mobile phones, a new service from Mobile Sentry could be just what they’re looking for.

Claiming to be the UK’s first full parental control system for children’s mobile phones, Mobile Sentry is mobile phone software that allows parents to set up allow/deny contact lists, monitor SMS text messages, block the mobile Internet, install download protection, track the phone via GPS (when available), and report on all communications sent and received.

It might seem a bit “Big Brother”, but it may help those parents who recognise the need for their kids to have a mobile phone but aren’t totally comfortable with them having free reign.

It costs £5.99 per month to keep the service active, and it only works on Symbian-based phones (which includes a lot of the Nokia mobiles and some Sony and Samsung models, but not the likes of the iPhone).

The Mobile Sentry website will even monitor the phone to check that the software hasn’t been uninstalled.

It’s not a foolproof system but, particularly for younger children, could provide the peace of mind that parents need.

Mobile Sentry

CBBC goes “Inside Life”

CBBC will go behind the scenes of the BBC Natural History Unit’s landmark new series, Life, to find out just what it takes to get footage of the world’s most extraordinary wildlife.

CBBC scoured the country in search of 10 secret agents to embark on 10 fact-finding assignments across the UK to report back to the Life team.

The budding naturalists set to work on their assignments but what they don’t know is a secret mission awaits and they will each be sent on a once-in-a-lifetime adventure.

As the CBBC agents head off to the four corners of the globe the excitement begins to show as the challenge of the mission sets in. From Alaska to Madagascar, getting up close and personal with polar bears and hands on with lemurs, the CBBC agents get to work alongside the world renowned Natural History Unit as they endeavour to get the perfect shot.

This epic adventure offers a chance of a lifetime for the 10 agents who all keep a video diary and report back their exploits, all with the same goal: to find out what it takes to get the shot and capture the moment as they take the CBBC audience on their journey Inside Life.

Inside Life is ten half-an-hour programmes narrated by Barney Harwood.

Look below for full details of each programme and interview with each “secret agent”:

Polar Bears

Agent – Louise
AKA – Lou
Age – 14
Destination – Alaska, USA
Mission – Film polar bears in the freezing Arctic

Lou loves adventure and is set the challenge of getting top survival tips for the Life team to help them survive filming in the Arctic. She has no idea when she meets a real arctic explorer that she is about to become one herself in pursuit of polar bears in the freezing cold winds of Alaska.

How has your experience reporting for Inside Life changed you?
It has definitely made me more aware of the world and just how fragile our environment is. When I saw the Arctic ice melting with my own eyes, instead of just reading about it, it became much more real to me.

What was your scariest moment?
We had a panicky moment when a polar bear decided to investigate us, and we had to dash into the truck, but I wasn’t really scared because I was so excited to see it so closely! My scariest was probably the flight from Fairbanks to Kaktovic, which was in a tiny old 20-seater plane. It was really bumpy and my ears were very painful!

What was your most exciting moment?
Landing in Kaktovic – I looked out of the window and I saw complete whiteness, then as we got lower I started to see individual pieces of ice floating on the sea, and that is when it really hit me that I was actually going to land, in the Arctic! There were polar bears on the runway when we landed, and that was when I saw them for the first time, it was incredible.

Tell us the most interesting fact you learnt?
Oh, the amount of camera equipment you need to take to film polar bears in the Arctic for two weeks, six airport trolleys loaded higher than me!

Kimodo Dragons

Agent – Isobel
AKA – Izzy
Age – 14
Destination – Komodo Island, Indonesia
Mission– Find and track Komodo Dragons

Izzy’s mission takes her to London Zoo where she learns how to spot tracks and signs of the komodo dragon from their resident expert keeper. Izzy will need her wits about her as she faces numerous challenges in what it takes to be be able to get that shot.

How has your experience reporting for Inside Life changed you?
It has made me aware of how many different opportunities the world has to offer and how big it actually is. It also made me very aware of how fragile some of the world’s ecosystems are, particularly because of the terrible damage we saw to the coral reefs.

What was your scariest moment?
At one point Doug (the cameraman) was making me run along a track to get a shot he wanted, several komodo dragons must have heard this and thought it was a deer running because we were soon surrounded by three large adult dragons looking for a meal. I was the meal. I was terrified.

What was your most exciting moment?
It was all totally amazing. There are so many, while coral reef swimming we spotted a family of clown fish living in a huge anemone, seeing wild dragons in their natural environment and waking up on my 12th birthday on the top deck of the Pearl Fisher to see the moon set and the sun rise over a tropical island.

Tell us the most interesting fact you learnt?
The monkeys on Rinca Island catch the burrowing crabs by dangling their tails into the burrows and pulling out the crabs as if they were fishing.

Gibbons

Agent – Bryony
AKA – Bryony
Age – 12
Destination – Khao Yai, Thailand
Mission – Track gibbons and set up a tree platform to film them

Bryony is given the task of testing out a new filming platform to report back to the Life team. Her head for heights is put on trial when she finds out she is off to Thailand to track and film gibbons in the giant rainforest trees. Scaling the dizzy heights to film gibbons swinging through the jungle canopy and she uncovers some harsh realities on a visit to the local gibbon sanctuary.

How has your experience reporting for Inside Life changed you?
It was my first time in front of real television cameras and I really enjoyed working with the camera crew. I was reminded just how important team work is, and the experience also made me more patient, as I had to repeat things for the camera just to make sure everything was perfect. I discovered just how hard it really is to work in TV, but it definitely has not put me off!

What was your scariest moment?
I don’t get scared of very much, but I have to say that the first time I climbed a tree (in Bristol) and reached the top, it truly was frightening. Surprisingly, even though the trees in Thailand were higher I was less scared climbing. I had great trust in Tim and Pam (production team), so found the whole thing much less scary! As for the animals, none of them scared me, not even the tiger that had been trapped in a cage all its life, you would think it would have scared me going so close up to it, but you could see that it was really very friendly.

What was your most exciting moment?
Definitely revealing the banner with my overseas mission. I had absolutely no clue what was coming and the moment I read it my heart literally skipped a beat! When I climbed the tree in Thailand and saw (even after all those weeks that the camera crew had been out there and got no footage) a family of gibbons, which was what (after all), the whole experience was for.

Tell us the most interesting fact you learnt?
It wasn’t very nice but the most interesting thing that I learnt was about the poaching of gibbons and wild animals for food or money. It was horrible to see just how bad things were, especially the bad treatment of animals that were really gentle and wouldn’t hurt a fly. It was definitely interesting, just not very nice.

Garter Snakes

Agent – Matt
AKA – Matty
Age – 14
Destination – Manitoba, Canada
Mission – Film mass emergence of snakes with a thermal camera

Reptile mad Matt is sent on a mission to investigate how the RAF use thermal cameras to find people and animals, what he doesn’t know is that his knew found skills will be put to the test. Every year, deep in the heart of Canada, thousands of snakes come wriggling out of their dens and Matt’s new skills will be used to reveal some unusual cold blooded garter snake behaviour.

How has your experience reporting for Inside Life changed you?
Since I’ve come back from Canada I feel like a different person, I’m much more confident at doing things than I was, and I want to take part in things much more as well. I’ve been on holiday to Portugal where I have been looking at lizards and snakes and following their tracks in the sand.

What was your scariest moment?
There were no scary moments just enjoyable and exciting ones, that make the adrenalin pump through your veins and makes you want to do it again and again.

What was your most exciting moment?
There were loads of exciting moments but the best were handling the red sided garter snakes, going up in the helicopter and walking around the zoo in Canada looking at all the different animals especially the ones I hadn’t seen or heard of before.

Tell us the most interesting fact you learnt?
One of the most interesting things I saw was the red sided garter snakes side-winding on the snow, another interesting thing was the thermal imaging camera and how it picked up the smallest amount of heat through the undergrowth. The White buffalo was another interesting sight and I enjoyed the story about its history.

Frigate Birds

Agent – Gregory
AKA – Greg
Age – 13
Destination – Tobago, West Indies
Mission – Film Frigate birds from a helicopter

Console-ace agent Greg will need all his gaming skills to capture the tricky shots necessary for the Life team. Using the latest aerial filming equipment from Hollywood it’s up to Greg to film frigate birds from a helicopter.

How has your experience reporting for Inside Life changed you?
Inside Life has changed my approach towards animals and their habitats. It’s shown me how different species treat each other and the world around them. It’s given me an insight into how the parents treat their young compared to other species of life.

What was your scariest moment?
My scariest moment of the experience definitely has to be when I and the film crew were reporting with Steve on a huge slope next to a frigate bird’s nest because either side of us there was a huge drop down to the rocky shore.

What was your most exciting moment?
My most exciting moment was when I went up in a helicopter, high above Tobago. It was my first time in a helicopter and it was the most amazing experience.

Tell us the most interesting fact you learnt?
Just learning about how cameramen work their equipment was incredible for me. Getting to watch them in action I see how much hard work and the extreme lengths that cameramen go to for the right shot. They go where no one has ever gone before and dare to do what no one has ever done before.

Fish Frenzy

Agent – Sam
Age – 14
Destination – Patagonia, South America
Mission – Find and film a giant bait ball

Sam is packed off to South Wales in search of expert advice on spotting dolphins in a bid to help the life team film a bait ball (shoal of fish) out at sea. Spanish speaking Sam has no inkling that his language skills will be needed to complete his assignment in Patagonia.

How has your experience reporting for inside life changed you?
I used to watch nature programs like Planet Earth, and I found them breathtakingly amazing but I didn’t realise just how much it took to capture five seconds. Inside Life has opened my eyes to wildlife in a way I couldn’t have possibly imagined, I thought I knew lots about wildlife but I was barely scraping the surface!

What was your scariest moment?
It was scary when we went up in a tiny four-seater plane to look for whales along the coastline. The takeoff was one of the scariest moments, and I was holding on to my seat for dear life and it didn’t help that the wind was blowing us off course! However the views from up there were amazing and I realised this was a once in a lifetime experience and I tried to enjoy every moment – no matter how turbulent.

What was your most exciting moment?
There are so many moments – when we came face to face with amazing animals on the trip, but for me, the most exciting moment was when we heard that there was a whale in the bay. We ran outside and there was a crowd of people all rushing to catch sight of the whale and take pictures, this made me realise how important Life and Inside Life really are, they will change people’s perspective and views on nature and wildlife altogether, for the better.

Tell us something interesting you learnt?
While in Patagonia we were told of a Southern Right Whale they had found earlier that year with a big harpoon in its side. They wanted to remove the harpoon to give the poor whale some relief and also try to discover who had committed this awful crime. When they inspected the harpoon they discovered that it was really old and rusty and realised that the whale was over 150 years old!

Tigers

Agent – Scarlett
Age – 12
Destination – Bandhavgarh, India
Mission – Record the sound of tigers in the wild

Getting up close and personal is a must to capture the stunning sound of tigers that the Life team require. Scarlett has never been abroad let alone come face to face with wild tigers. Her mission to India includes recording the alarm call sound of the animals that share the forest with these predators.

How has your experience reporting for Inside Life changed you?
When I found out about the mission in India, I was a bit dumbstruck because it came out of nowhere and I couldn’t believe it was going to happen to me. The whole experience has made me more independent, self confident and aware of different our worlds are – India is a very interesting and very hot country!

What was your scariest moment?
The scariest moment was definitely coming across a giant bull elephant when we were trying to film the tigers. I am frightened to death of elephants and they are so huge in real life you just don’t think they are going to be that big so when I saw it my heart kind of froze.

What was your most exciting moment?
There were a few really exciting moments, flying in a plane for the first time, seeing my first tiger up close, out and about in the wild, and seeing the Taj Mahal, it truly is one of the wonders of the world.

Tell us the most interesting fact you learnt?
Tigers are even more beautiful in the wild than in captivity and soon no one will be able to see them like this if we keep taking away their habitat.

Rock Climbing Fish

Agent – Jacob
AKA – Jake
Age – 12
Destination – Hawaii, USA
Mission – Film fish climbing up a waterfall

Jacob is an expert climber and jumped at the chance to check out specialist kit used by the life team. Little does Jacob know that his research will take him to Hawaii on the trail of this remarkable fish, known as a Gobie, with some interesting ocean encounters on the way, and an overactive volcano.

How has your experience reporting for Inside Life changed you?
Taking part in the series has changed the way I see TV, as there is lots of work involved and lots of planning. I really enjoyed working as part of the production team and would love to do something like that in the future. I really enjoyed all technical stuff especially the cameras.

What was your scariest moment?
We had to go out diving at night, so that we could see the manta rays feeding, and it was the scariest part because it was pitch black and you really couldn’t see anything.

What was your most exciting moment?
I hadn’t really seen manta rays before apart from at aquariums in tanks and they look so small. When you see them in the wild they are humungous and swimming all around you it was so exciting.

Tell us the most interesting fact you learnt?
Before I went on the mission I had never heard of it before and I genuinely didn’t believe that gobies could climb until I saw it, and they really do climb up waterfalls, they do it with a sucker underneath their tummy.

Bahamas Reef

Agent – James
Age – 15
Destination – Bahamas, The Caribbean
Mission – Film the sinking of a wreck to form an artificial reef

Gadget fanatic James is sent on an exercise to test out an underwater filming kit. He has no clue that he’ll be using it for real in the Bahamas on his mission to sink a wreck onto the sea bed and turn it into a reef. That is if he can learn to scuba dive first.

How has your experience reporting for Inside Life changed you?
Overall, it was a truly amazing and unforgettable experience, and I’ve gained a lot of confidence. Learning to dive made me more aware of life under the sea and also gave me and my Dad a new hobby.

What was your scariest moment?
My scariest moment was when I had to dive for the first time, it’s not as easy as it looks!

What was your most exciting moment?
It was really exciting when I watched the footage of the boat sink because it meant that all of my hard work and preparation had been worth it and made that moment possible.

Tell us the most interesting fact you learnt?
Whilst I was in the Bahamas I realised that there is so much life underwater and so much more exploring to do.

Madagascar Lemurs

Agent – Billy
AKA – Bill
Age – 14
Destination – Madagascar, Indian Ocean
Mission – Find ring-tailed lemurs behaving badly!

Bill heads to Woburn Safari Park where he is greeted by some cheeky lemurs and their keeper. His assignment is to research their behaviour, but he has no idea his mission won’t be complete until he arrives in Madagascar! The Life team need to track down and film a group of lemurs behaving badly, and Billy is determined to catch the naughty primates red handed.

How has your experience reporting for Inside Life changed you?
It’s the first time that I have been anywhere like Madagascar – it was an amazing experience, the wildlife and the sights and smells it was all really exciting. I really want to travel more, see the world, and see animals in their natural environment.

What was your scariest moment?
The very first time I went to the reserve was pretty scary, because the lemurs were all running around freely. I’d never been so close to wildlife and it took a while for me to get used to them being around me but when I got used to it, it was really interesting to see them.

What was your most exciting moment?
The most exciting part of my trip to Madagascar was when we went up to a peak, near the city; we could see right across the island and the views were amazing!

Tell us the most interesting fact you learnt?
I really enjoyed learning about the country, because Madagascar is unique plants and animals that aren’t found anywhere else in the world.

PhotoBox & ChildLine 2009 Young Photographer of the Year

PhotoBox has partnered with the NSPCC and their ChildLine service to support the Child’s Voice Appeal, which aims to answer every child’s cry for help. With this competition PhotoBox will create a platform for young people to celebrate their talent and passion for photography while raising money for a great cause.

The competition launched on September 8th and aims to capture the world of young people through their own eyes. It will be judged by an expert panel including renowned photographers, Annabel Williams and Charlie Waite along with senior representatives from NSPCC and PhotoBox.

Children are encouraged to enter via youngphotographer.photobox.com and their photographs will be grouped under four age categories – under 8 yrs, 9-12 yrs, 13-15 yrs or 16-18 yrs with different money can’t buy prizes for each.

Prize details for each category:

• Under 8yrs – tickets to the premiere of the new Disney film UP for a family of four on Sunday 4th October 2009
• 9-12yr old – tickets to the premiere as above
• 13-15 – a private screening of Disney’s ‘UP’ for winner and 50 of their friends
• 16-18 – a one to one photography masterclass with Charlie Waite
• Eight runners up; £100 credit to spend at PhotoBox

Some of the prizes have kindly been donated by Disney Pixar, which celebrates the release of its latest 3D animated Blockbuster; UP, landing in cinemas on October 9th.

All competition winners, runners-up and other highly commended entries will win a photo book featuring all winning images. This photo book will also be available to buy at PhotoBox to help raise money for the NSPCC.

PhotoBox UK, Managing Director, Mark Chapman said, “We want to engage with young people to celebrate their passion for photography. We believe we can raise awareness of a remarkable and serious cause by allowing young people to inspire and motivate us with their diversity and talent through photos. We are proud to partner with the NSPCC in this aim.”

Head of Corporate Partnerships at the NSPCC, Tracy Griffin said, “A picture paints a thousand words and for many, an image can express so much more than what can be said. A photographic competition fits in very well with our Child’s Voice Appeal, which aims to answer every child’s cry for help. All funds raised through the photo book from the competition will go towards the NSPCC’s Helpline and ChildLine so that more calls for help can be answered and more unheard voices can be listened to.”

The competition closes on 29th September, with the winners announced on the 1st October.

There’s no such thing as the average Joe Bloggs…

Size is a big issue for 21st Century boys

Female body shapes have long been the subject of analysis and debate, with women from all corners of the world comparing their figures to a pear, apple or string bean. Now, for the first time a boys clothing specialist aims to uncover the truth about the male physique.

Online retailer Joe Bloggs Clothing, is launching a pioneering study, that will delve into the unchartered territory of boys figures, the results of which promise to revolutionise sizing for boys aged 7-16 years old.

The iconic brand will survey 5,000 boys to discover the average height, waist and inside leg measurements for each age group, in a bid to reveal the shape of the 21st Century boys.

Joe Bloggs’ PR and Marketing Director Bushra Ahmed commented, “Joe Bloggs has been a successful boys brand for over 20 years, during that time fashion has changed as boys aged 7-16 years old have become more style conscious than ever before.

“We also know that body shapes have changed dramatically, there’s no such thing as the average Joe Bloggs anymore! As our campaign photograph demonstrates, 15 year-old boys come in all shapes and sizes, so therefore the way we size our clothes must reflect that.

“We will be the first clothing experts to survey this age group and get to the bottom of the sizing issue, making it easier for boys to buy clothes and look good.”

The Photograph

From left to right: Otis (6ft 2inches), Tim (5ft 7inches), Jordan (4ft 11inches) These three boys prove that there’s no such thing as the average Joe Bloggs, all aged 15-16, but very different in size!

The Survey

If you’re a boy aged 7-16 years old, or your son is, then you can take part in this national survey simply by logging onto joebloggsclothing.co.uk. Every boy that takes part will be entered into a free prize draw and could win one of the hundreds of Joe Bloggs prizes on offer.

CBBC gets children cooking as Junior MasterChef is announced

Award-winning CBBC today announces it has commissioned a series of Junior MasterChef and is looking for contestants to take part in the challenge.

Based on the successful MasterChef, and the junior version seen on Children In Need, Junior MasterChef will give some of Britain’s best young cooks the chance to become the Junior MasterChef 2010.

The competition aims to find and encourage talented young cooks who have a flair for making exceptional food from scratch.

In each heat children will be challenged to cook a two-course meal (main and pudding) in just one hour. The range of food will be dictated by the diverse range of children and be based on what they think yummy food is all about.

The 13-part series will have eight heats, two quarter-finals, two semis and a final cook-off with the remaining three children.

The competitors will be aged between nine and 12 years old and have real passion, enthusiasm and potential.

Richard Deverell, Controller, BBC Children’s, said, “It’s wonderful to announce this new series following the success of the special Children in Need episode.

“We hope to inspire children round the country to get cooking in what promises to be an aspirational, fun and enjoyable cooking competition.”

The series will be broadcast in Winter 2009/10.

CBBC is looking for nine to 12 year olds who love cooking to take part in Junior MasterChef. For more information visit www.masterchef.tv. The closing date for applications is 30 September 2009.

New bath and body range gets little Creatures clean naturally

Uses healing powers of African Rooibos

A new range of baby and toddler bath and body toiletries – Creatures – has been created using natural ingredients including remarkable Rooibos from South Africa. Rooibos (pronounced royboss) has been used for hundreds of years by the African “bush people” who realised its powerful healing properties when used in natural remedies.

The paediatrician-tested range combines Rooibos with other natural ingredients like camomile, lavender and aloe vera to create a gentle range of bath products that are PH balanced and hypo allergenic. It uses 100% natural fragrances and colours, and contains no parabens, petro-chemicals or sulphates, making it particularly good for children with sensitive skin, eczema or other skin conditions. None of the products are tested on animals.

The Creatures range features a sweet baby animal on each pack, with drawings by well-known children’s book illustrator John Butler. Each product also contains a different fun fact about the animals, which children will love, ensuring bath time is fun time.

With a beautiful baby elephant on pack, the range for babies is suitable for children aged one month to 14 months. The products are made primarily from Rooibos, aloe vera, lavender and camomile to cleanse, soothe and protect. The range includes:

• Creatures Baby’s Foam Wash (£9.50 for 420ml) – instant natural foam to lather up and gently cleanse away impurities
• Creatures Baby’s Shampoo (£8.50 for 300ml) – for a delicate hair wash that won’t cause tears or irritations; and
• Creatures Baby’s Balm Butter (£9.50 for 220ml) – enriched with Shea Butter, it’s perfect for massaging onto baby to soften, soothe and protect delicate skin.

The toddler range has been specially formulated for children aged 14 months to four years. Featuring an adorable baby giraffe or zebra on pack, the range includes:

• Creatures Toddler’s Body Foam Wash (£9.50 for 420ml) – for natural bathtime fun in a breath-easy formula as no synthetic bubble risers are used (it’s the clever pump that makes the bubbles);
• Creatures Toddler’s Shampoo (£8.50 for 300ml)– to gently cleanse and detangle the messiest toddler hair;
• Creatures Toddler’s Body Mousse (£9.50 for 220ml)– made with jojoba oil, this vitamin-rich, easily absorbed mousse protects skin year round from nasty dry patches; and
• Creatures Toddler’s Hand Wash (£9.50 for 420ml) – perfect for encouraging hand-washing after toilet visits but just as at home in the kitchen to clean up after finger painting.

All of the products are also available for purchase as gift sets in boxes featuring the animal illustrations. The sets include either all of the baby products or the toddler range and cost £35.

The products are available from www.theworldofcreatures.com and www.cuddledry.com.

Bullying Prevention Skills and Techniques for Children

This is a guest post by Mark Lakewood, CEO, a distinguished bullying prevention expert, author, and speaker with over 20 years of clinical experience as a family therapist. He provided clinical and consultation services to school personnel and students on issues of bullying and behavior management. He facilitates the “Standing Up To Bullying” Conference.

Child bullying is a big problem in our schools today. The main difference between child bullying today from the past is the nature of the bullying and the violence that occurs in the aftermath. Cyberbullying is becoming a popular and more destructive form of bullying than traditional bullying. More children today are bringing guns to school to seek revenge on others. Child bullying has been around and will probably remain for years to come.

Unfortunately, we do not have the power to rid the world of bullying. The answer to the issue of child bullying rests within us, especially the victims of bullying. Victims of bullying are never responsible for being bullied. On the contrary, victims of child bullying have the power in themselves to think, behave, and react in ways that limits or eradicates bullying.

As a society, we spend much of our energy identifying and punishing the bully that we fail to spend adequate time empowering the victims of child bullying. We should spend more of our energy on the things that we can control rather than the things that we have limited or no control over.

We need to teach children about the power that they already possess. Let me elaborate on a few issues that parents should teach their children regarding bullying prevention.

Let’s first talk about the characteristics of child bullying.

Typically, bullies and their victims share the same characteristic – low self-esteem. It just depends on whether they internalize or externalize their feelings that will determine if they will become a bully or a victim of bullying. Typically, negative situations and events in the child’s life can trigger low self-esteem. Externalizing feelings can cause some children to become bullies as they attempt to control their environment to compensate for their lack of control in their family.

For instance, if the parents of a child are divorcing and the child is very upset about the divorce, he/she might feel powerless in his/her ability to keep his/her parents together. As a result, the child might take out his/her rage on others for purposes of seeking control to compensate for his/her lack of control over their parents’ impending divorce.

Given the same scenario (parental divorce), some children internalize their feelings by not talking or acting out how they feel. Instead, they become depressed and withdrawn feeling like a failure. Often, they develop a negative image of themselves and their physical appearance. They look at others and the world around them with shaded lens. When a bully validates this child’s feelings about him/herself, this child often reacts negatively to the validation because he/she feels the bully is correct in their interpretation.

Often times, children with high self-esteem do not respond negatively to bullies because they already know that negative personal statements made by the bully are untrue and therefore are unworthy of attention.

As human beings, our behavior, thoughts, and feelings are never dictated or controlled by others, situations, and events unless we allow this to occur. Simply said, others, situations, and events can trigger a reaction based on what we think. For example, if I do not want to go to work today and my car has a flat tire, I might experience happiness because I do not want to go to work. On the other hand given the same event (flat tire), I might want to go to work today to take care of some unfinished business. Because the flat tire might delay or eliminate my chances of getting to work, this situation might cause me anger.

How could the same event in both situations cause two different feelings? It was not the event at all that triggered the feelings. It was what I thought about the event that triggered my feelings. Therefore, manipulating the way we think can alter how we feel.

We have the power to take ownership and control over our thoughts. We however have limited or no control over specific events, situations, and the behavior of others. Sometimes, we attempt to control events, situations, and others but become frustrated when our attempts fail.

Now, how does the paragraph above apply to the issue of bullying prevention?

The main goal of bullies is to get their victims to experience fear, anger, or sadness. Once their victim demonstrates signs of these emotions via the words he/she says, body language, or actions, the bully has complete and total control over him/her.

The bullying will continue until the victim no longer verbally and/or physically displays fear, anger, or sadness in response to the bullying. The bullying will end once the victim responds the opposite of what the bully expects.

How do we get children to react the opposite of what the bully expects?

This is where role-playing comes in handy. Parents should regularly sit down with their children helping them learn to react the opposite of what bullies expect. Often times, this task is much easier when the parent knows what hurtful words or phrases bullies say that makes their children feel fearful, angry, or sad. Using these hurtful words and/or phrases in role-plays will emotionally prepare children when they are approached by bullies.

It is also important to teach children that they have the power to change or affect the agenda of bullies by the words they use. For instance, if a bully calls a child ‘stupid’, the child could defuse the bullying by stating to the bully, “That’s nice”, “How about that”, “Oh, well”, and so forth. The worst thing that the child could do is respond by telling the bully that he/she is stupid or make other negative statements. A negative response will only inflame the situation encouraging further bullying.

In addition, parents should teach and role-play with their children specific forms of body language that differentiates a child with high self-esteem from a child with low self-esteem.

Body language communicates feelings more so than spoken words.

If a child yells at a bully stating that he/she is not bothered by the bully’s behavior, the bully knows that the child is bothered because of the yelling. Lack of eye contact, looking down, slouched posture, lack of hygiene, and low tone of voice can be viewed as symptoms of low self-esteem.

Parents need to teach their children that bullies rarely get angry at them. Bullies are typically angry at themselves and/or events that occurred or are occurring in their own life for which they have limited or no control. Bullies indirectly take out their anger on the ones they could easily control.

Parents should never teach their children to physically fight back when approached by a bully. The problem with fighting back is that children can get themselves into trouble for engaging in physically assaultive behavior.

Think of it this way – bullies rarely throw the first punch. They always entice their victim into throwing the first punch. This way when they are asked who started the fight, the bully could easily and truthfully state that their victim started it. In addition, there are significant legal ramifications that can arise as a result of physically assaultive behavior.

It is important to remember that physical violence typically occurs after a negative verbal interaction. Violence typically is provoked and rarely unprovoked. Therefore to avoid violence, the conflict can and should be defused during the verbal exchange. This is why the words victims say and their body language are so significant and detrimental to the outcome of bullying.

Recent school shootings suggest that the shooters were bullied by their classmates. The bullying subsequently provoked the school violence.

Parents should be cautious when teaching their children to ignore bullies. The problem with ignoring is that the bully knows that his/her behavior is irritating, annoying, and controlling his/her victim. Therefore, the bullying will continue.

Parents should be cautious when teaching their children to report bullying to an adult without first attempting to resolve the conflict on their own. Parents should encourage their children to first attempt to resolve the bullying on their own with the skills taught above. If their children are unsuccessful resolving these issues on their own, they should be encouraged to report the bullying. If their children automatically report the bullying without attempting to defuse the situation on their own, they will be perceived and labeled as a tattle-tale which will encourage the bullying to continue.

Parents need to teach their children the correct definition of the word ‘tattling’. Some children think that reporting child misbehavior to adults is considered tattling. Parents need to teach their children that reporting on others just to see them get into trouble is considered tattling.

A child that reports to his/her parents that his/her brother is picking his nose is considered tattling. Children always need to report to an adult if they were physically, sexually, or verbally harmed by others or if they witnessed others engaging in destructive or illegal behaviors.

It is very easy to feel sympathetic toward victims of child bullying. However, it would be more helpful to the victim if we are more empathic to their needs by empowering them to diffuse bullying on their own. As a result, their ability to defuse the bullying would ultimately raise their level of self-esteem and self-worth.

Author’s Biography

Mark Lakewood, CEO, is a distinguished bullying prevention expert, author, and speaker with over 20 years of clinical experience as a family therapist. He provided clinical and consultation services to school personnel and students on issues of bullying and behavior management. He facilitates the “Standing Up To Bullying” Conference.

The Sleep Fairy: Six steps to get your child to sleep at night

While the summer is nearing an end in the UK, and so tips for helping kids to sleep better in the summer may need to be kept ready for next year’s hot weather, there’s no doubt that general tips for improving youngster’s sleep are always welcome.

Sue Atkins of Positive Parents = Confident Kids has come up with these six simple steps to successful sleep, introducing the concept of the Sleep Fairy:

1. Be reasonable: Make specific, reachable goals that your children can achieve. If you’ve got into a bad habit with your child, give them the goal of only waking up once in a night to earn a visit from the Sleep Fairy.
2. Give clear instructions: Tell your child exactly what they have to do to get a visit. “When I say goodnight, you must stay in your bed and not call out.”
3. Start by rewarding every night: You need your child’s behaviour to change if you’re going to have a good night’s sleep again so reward them every time for up to 30-days to change their pattern. Then, gently move to lots of praise or a sticker chart making it harder to get rewards for sleeping, but by then the new habit will have been established.
4. Move to a more intermittent or random reward system: once you see the behaviour established, tell your children the Sleep Fairy must help other children who have sleep problems. The Sleep Fairy will still visit once in a while (randomly). Or if your child likes patterns and routines then tell them the Sleep Fairy will visit them every Friday night from time to time.
5. Finally, let this system come to an end: once you get your regular hours of sleep help your child to write a letter saying thank you for visiting and helping them, and to say goodbye. Let your child know that the Sleep Fairy must go and help other children who need her now.
6. Children go through stages don’t they? Some stages and upsets bring back old sleep habits and before you know it you’ve moved backwards again. So, bring the Sleep Fairy back. Then move back to every night for a week, going to intermittent for a week and then say goodbye again.

Sue says, “I used to love the Tooth Fairy and other magical things when I was a child and after a spell of sleepless nights with my two children I thought of the Sleep Fairy. The Sleep Fairy pops into a child’s bedroom at night sprinkling her fairy dust and waving her magic wand full of deep sleep and magical dreams.”

“The Sleep Fairy helps little children to sleep all the way through the night. When the child sleeps ALL night without calling out, fussing, or climbing into Mummy’s bed during the night, they receive a special treat from her under their pillow in the morning – just like when the Tooth Fairy visits.”

7 tips for helping kids to sleep better in the summer

Dr Adrian Williams, expert in Sleep Medicine at The London Sleep Centre, has outlined his seven top tips for helping children (and adults) sleep better when the weather is humid.

Research from Mira Showers suggests that over a quarter of children struggle to nod off, and experience a worse night’s sleep in the humid weather.

This leads to them waking up overtired, cranky and upset.

The seven simple tips are:

1. Maintain a sleep conducive environment that is dark, quiet, comfortable and above all cool: A child’s bedroom should remind you of a bat’s cave – bats are champion sleepers, managing around 16 hours a day.
2. Mimic air conditioning in your own home using a fan and ice cubes: Point the fan at the bed or cot with the ice cubes in front and ensure the whole bed gets a turn. Or put the sheets and pillow cases in the fridge for a while so they are chilled.
3. Shower before bed: Give your child a cool shower before bed and don’t dry off fully. Leaving their hair wet will also keep your child’s body temperature lower.
4. Change where you sleep: Sleeping in hammock is cooler, as is a water bed set to 85°F. But if as these aren’t exactly kid friendly, you could set up a bed on or low to the floor, or at least tell them to poke their feet outside the bed.
5. Dress for success: Resist the urge to strip your little ones off to sleep nude in hot weather. Wearing loose fitting cotton shorts and shirt will actually be cooler.
6. Train your body to keep cooler: Air-con stops your body from learning to cope with warm weather, so avoid it during the day and it will help your kids to take the heat in their stride come night-time.
7. Master the basics: Whatever the weather, getting up at the same time, avoiding caffeinated drinks, and not napping too late in the day will help children to sleep better.

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