Displaying items by tag: Children

In response to US parents not knowing what to do with their children who had been sent home from closed schools, Verses for Zion (VfZ)was born, a biblically-rooted project connecting Christian children to Israel, as an opportunity to engage them in a multigenerational project with parents and grandparents. Now, as summer is starting and schools that had opened are closing again, it offers parents a way to add meaning and substance to their children's extended vacation. VfZ, the brainchild of an Orthodox Israeli Jew and an evangelical Christian pastor in Texas, aims to give children the opportunity to learn more about God, His Word and His people. One mother said, ‘It entrenches children’s faith and deepens their understanding of God, the Bible and how that relates to us today through Israel.’

A children's illustrator and an author started a conversation about death, after being told the subject was ‘off the table’. ‘Where is Uncle Al?’ is for 4- to 7-year-olds. Author Eva Hubs and artist Sarah Harrison published the book after being encouraged by health professionals. The book is about hope not darkness, from a Christian and Buddhist perspective. It centres on Lily, who hears about Uncle Al but is given different answers when she asks where he is. Sarah says we pretend to know about death and stop exploring it, so Lily asks adults questions that they find difficult to answer. A childhood bereavement charity comments that stories play an important role in helping children make sense of death. The book’s pictures and words feed children's imaginations, making them feel less isolated, when they are very alone with their grief.

The Centre for Global Policy (CGP) has called on European governments to intervene urgently on behalf of 750 children of EU member states citizenship who are held in IS detention camps in Syria. CGP’s latest report said that urgent intervention and support was needed. The report, entitled ‘The children of IS detainees - Europe's dilemma’, was based on research that focused on two camps in northeast Syria where 70,000 women and children are being detained. At least 12,000 of the detainees are foreign nationals. While public opinion in EU member states is strongly opposed to repatriating IS members and affiliates, the report emphasised, ‘Leaving them in these camps will not keep anyone safe’.

Many of England's pupils are set to miss six months of lessons. There is a call for the Government to organise a task force to prevent the potential inequality around children's education. Pray for practical, workable plans to ensure that children can continue to reach their full potential. English schools and colleges must submit their estimated grades for GCSE and A-levels by 12 June. Pupils will be ranked from highest to lowest in achievement. Exam regulators have issued guidance on how to make the process as fair and accurate as possible. Many pupils are nervous about their estimated grades. Pray for those unsure of achieving the grade 4 or above needed in maths and English. May peace replace panic. Plans for all primary children to return before the summer have been dropped. The education secretary said there was a cautious, phased return to school: ‘if schools had the capacity, they could take more pupils if they chose.’

Home should be the safest place. But for child victims of online sexual exploitation, it is far from safe. Lockdown has meant being locked in with their abusers, with no way to escape. As you read this, western predators from the UK are paying to livestream the sexual exploitation of children from the Philippines. Tragically, this vile crime is growing. In almost two thirds of cases in the Philippines, children are abused by their own families - like Maarko, who, aged just seven, became a victim performing ‘shows’ for sex offenders in the UK to watch. The pandemic creates a perfect storm for increased child sexual exploitation online. Children are locked in with their abusers, and western predators are at home with more time to spend online. Global law enforcement is reporting that child sexual abuse sites are crashing due to increased demand during lockdown.

The big debate over the past few days has been whether it is safe to open schools to children other than those of key workers or classed as vulnerable. Many are saying, ‘We need to get children back into education, but a locally managed approach using testing and tracing is the only way.’ There will never be ‘no risk’. In a world where Covid-19 remains present in the community, it is about how we reduce that risk, just as we do with other kinds of daily dangers, like driving and cycling. To judge whether schools are safe enough to open, there need to be data with which to make informed decisions. Pray for concurrent accurate monitoring to be developed at local levels to tell us what the daily number of new cases and rate of transmission is. May actual, reliable numbers be what drives policy.

Any child sold for sex is a victim of sex trafficking. Since 2006, IJM South Asia has rescued 1000+ survivors from sex trafficking, seen over 500 criminals restrained and trained over 30,000 police, government officials, and NGOs. Sex trafficking survivors have described being beaten and forcibly injected with narcotics. This is continuing during lockdown. There is particular concern about the rise of online sexual exploitation of children during the pandemic. It is highly possible that seasoned human trafficking criminals will exploit the current situation. Please pray against this increased exploitation. Pray also for safety and security for the survivors of sex trafficking now thriving and living independently; many are now unable to work in lockdown and risk falling back into desperate poverty. Pray that IJM can maintain contact with these survivors in their network, and provide what is needed to keep them safe.

Europeans are relaxing coronavirus restrictions for children, with Spain allowing under-14s out of their homes from this week. Holland’s primary schools reopen next month, and French children aged 5 to 11 will return to school on 12 May, but with a limit of 15 pupils per class. The following week, older children will return in selected year groups. Angela Merkel warned that Germany may be rushing its lockdown exit as physical distancing is relaxing and smaller shops reopen. She said Germany remained ‘on the thinnest ice’ despite early achievements. Belgium has a detailed plan to lift coronavirus restrictions gradually, starting on 4 May, when fabric shops will open in order for people to comply with requirements for children over 12 to wear masks on public transport. From 11 May all shops and schools will reopen, with limited pupils in each class.

The new relationships and sex education regulations, normalising same-sex relationships and gender fluidity to children as young as three, could become compulsory from September. However, schools are closed. The legally-required consultations with parents to determine schools’ policies have not taken place. Parents have the right to have their views heard, and have children educated in line with their religious belief. Many believe that the implementation of the regulations should be postponed until there have been proper consultations and reviews. An online petition has now been launched for the postponement of the implementation until parents have opportunities to have their views heard. To see the petition, click the ‘More’ button.

On 24 March India shut its £2.3 trillion economy, closing businesses and issuing strict stay-at-home orders to over a billion people. The lockdown, due to end on 14 April, has been extended as the virus spreads through dense communities and new clusters of infection are being reported daily. The sudden lockdown threw the lives of millions of children into chaos. Tens of thousands are calling helplines daily, and thousands are going to bed hungry. India has the largest child population in the world (472 million). The lockdown has impacted 40 million children from poor families. Everyone must stay home - but what about the street children? Where do they go? Officially Delhi has over 70,000 street children, but the real number is much higher. Pray for the millions of homeless children on streets, under flyovers, or narrow lanes and bylanes. See