How would you measure adoption to raising your own flesh and blood?
Could adoption ever measure up to actually giving birth and/or raising your own child that is made up of your and your significant others genetics?
Do you think a parent could ever have as strong of a bond with an adopted child as their own newborn child; this question would especially apply to women, considering giving birth is hard work with such a priceless reward. I also imagine how proud a father feels that he made a contribution to creating something as special as continuing his own bloodline and watching the child grow up with his own genetics and develop similar characteristics as his.
Art, it sounds like you’ve made your mind up on the issue, and that is fine, but I think you might want to spend a little time with an adoptive father and ask him.
A couple of famous folks who adopted their children: John McCain, Bob Hope, George Burns, Joseph (father to Jesus), John Denver, Walt Disney, Nicole Kidman …
A couple of famous adopted kids: Faith Hill, Bill Clinton, Gerald Ford, Jesse Jackson, Eric Dickerson, Nat King Cole …
Now, you may not think every person listed above is the cat’s pj’s, but each one of them have made a direct impact on our society.
We would be diminished as a people if those folks had not been adopted or adopted a little child. Seriously, before you close the door totally, call the local agency and ask to talk to an adoptive dad.
How to Improve Corporate Governance in China with Online Training
With China’s Basic Standard for Enterprise Internal Control (C-SOX or “China SOX”) coming into effect soon, many companies in China are struggling to develop an appropriate training plan for how to educate their workforce about this new rule.
The biggest challenge for companies adopting China SOX is to improve their corporate governance. For China SOX to really succeed, companies have to embrace sound corporate governance as a concept and adopt it as a business strategy.
Training programs are needed to help drive the corporate governance principles mandated by the Basic Standard for Enterprise Internal Control. But given the complexity of corporate governance and its many aspects, where should companies start?
Online training (e-learning) is a powerful tool to improve corporate governance. Here are 5 ways that e-learning can help improve corporate governance and lead to China SOX compliance:
1) Good content. Start with relevant content developed by corporate governance experts. The courseware should be relevant to Chinese companies and provide an overview of the main benefits and implementation strategies of good corporate governance. Users should be able to take the e-learning course at their own time and at a reasonable length (a best practice is to break up the courses into 10 – 15 minute modules).
2) Segment your user base. With e-learning, you can provide targeted information to specific users. The benefit of this is that you can provide exactly what the learner needs, no more and no less. Considering the complexity of corporate governance, many employees just need to know the basics. However, top managers will need much more detail on how to implement corporate governance principles.
3) Delivery system. Use a learning management system (LMS) or similar tool to deliver the content to your users. That way, it is easy to track and manage and the training can be centrally administered, no matter how large and dispersed the organization. In addition, the LMS can be used as a communication tool and document repository.
4) Reporting. Unlike traditional classroom training, powerful reports can quickly be generated from e-learning. This helps for analysis and evaluation of your training results, ROI and reach. Detailed analytics are possible once you have done the training several times and can match it up against business results (in this case, compliance with China SOX).
5) Cycle as needed. Training is only effective if it is reinforced over time. Online learning means that you can provide reinforcement in small amounts to your audience to make sure they are keeping up. The marginal cost of additional training is basically zero, which makes it much more cost effective than traditional instructor-led training.
Since the early ’90s, Americans have adopted nearly 70,000 Chinese children. With thousands of them now at an age to appreciate returning to the homeland, heritage tours have brought adoptees and their families to China, presenting an unequaled opportunity for bonding and sharing identity issues. “Found in China” follows six Midwestern families as they observe contemporary trends and ancient Asi…
The Simple Language for Adoptive Families books were created by a fellow adoptive mom in the great hope of helping adoptive families connect with the new child in their lives. Each book contains approximately 250 translated words and phrases that are recommended most by families who have previously adopted internationally. In addition to the translations, the words and phrases are written in an ea…
Gay Adoption. I need good sourses for information about it! How do you stand on the topic?
In debate class I was assigned Pro Gay Adoption- which I do not agree with, so its not my easiest topic…. I need information or sites other than wikipedia that give info about homosexual adoption. Also I would love your opinion on Homosexual adoption, pro or anti Adoption, and why.
Based on a popular play, Peck’s Bad Boy entertains with classic family humor that will put smiles on children’s and adult’s faces alike. The story is a model for future family films: a young adopted boy tries to be good but his disruptive cousin cause him to get in trouble. Jackie Cooper is the cute little tike that the hardships come so unjustly put upon. While cracking up the audience, Peck’s Ba…
Possessing only scant amounts of war propaganda, Mariners of the Sky is the touching story of a naval officer who adopts a boy who is orphaned when his parents are tragically killed. The officer, played by the affable William Gargan, takes good care of the child, despite the low expectations of the child’s surviving relatives. The film then becomes charmingly absurd, because the child is kidnapped…
On Christianity, Fundamentalism, Spanking, And What Constitutes Child Abuse
In his article, Conservative Protestantism and the Corporal Punishment of Children, in the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion (JSSR), Ellison (2001) takes up the issue of Conservative Protestants and spanking. One point that he reiterates almost ad nauseam is that such conservative religious adherents are far more likely than the general public to support corporal punishment of children. A second theme repeatedly revisited is that it is not necessarily reasonable to call such behavior abusive.
I must state from the start that this is not a dispassionate topic with me. I am an education professor and also a seminary graduate, a trained chaplain, and a minister. Further, my background traces its path though the Jesus Movement, which attracted many “refugees” from the “hippie days” of the late 60’s and early 70’s. As a Jesus Freak, I was firmly fixed in the fundamentalist milieu from which the Jesus Movement grew. When I married my Jesus Freak sweetheart in the mid 70’s, we began working on a family. When children came, we followed the teachings of the fundamentalist Christian “gurus” and were quite strict with our children. I saw much of the same in our church associations-all young adults with kids, all towing the line in regards to child discipline. I have no doubt that what I saw and was rapidly accepting bordered on abuse-which was one of the reasons I repudiated fundamentalism when my sons were quite small.
My concern, simply put, is with children whose parents might be considering placing them in daycare at a fundamentalist church or school, or folks who read the books of conservative Christian “pro-family psychologists” offering advice on childrearing. I hope to show that fundamentalism naturally places children at danger and naturally tends to abusiveness.
In due course, I shall take up the issue of whether “spanking” encouraged by fundamentalist Christian leaders amounts or leads to abuse and whether, therefore, it is wise for a parent to turn to such teachers for instruction in childrearing or entrust the care of their children to fundamentalist childcare and educational institutions. First, however, it might be instructive to consider precisely why parents under the spell of fundamentalist tutors might adopt a program of corporal punishment. There are four predominant reasons indicated in the literature.
First, there is the issue of biblical inerrancy. Fundamentalists believe and teach that the Bible is completely without error on any topic upon which it speaks. It is the “court of no appeals.” Second, fundamentalist writers, teachers, and preachers are well armed with many biblical proof texts demonstrating that “sparing the rod” is not the best approach. Thirdly, fundamentalists expound an extreme authoritarian, male dominated, and hierarchical view of family life. Lastly, the fundamentalist view of humanity is such that humans are viewed as sinful and hell-bound by nature. This rebellion must be addressed. The best way to save one’s child from hell is by “beating the hell out of him or her.”
In Grevens’ Spare the Rod: The Religious Roots of Punishment and the Psychological Impact of Physical Abuse (1991) the notion of using physical abuse to “break the child’s will” is explored. It is the parental responsibility to break the will so that the child will conform to the parent’s wishes, thereby learning obedience to God. How much force must be applied? Most fundamentalist commentators state that the parent must remain fairly emotionless and turn a deft ear to the protests of the child. The child must be struck repeatedly until s/he begins crying profusely, for that is the sign of a broken will-the objective of striking the child in the first place.
Grevens demonstrates through much anecdotal evidence that the whole notion is fraught with difficulties. Although there are several guidelines concerning the need to strike the child with an object and not the hand and to have a “cooling down period” before administering the punishment and, most importantly, to express in some physical way how much the child is loved after s/he has been beaten, it tends to backfire. Citing examples of well-known Christians reflecting on their childhood, a picture emerges of children waiting during the “cooling off” period, making deals with God, and pleading with God that they would not be beaten again. As for the love part, Ruth Wilkerson Harris (sister of evangelist David Wilkerson) in her book, It was Good Enough for the Father: The Story of the Wilkerson Family (1969), recounts how the Wilkerson childern, had to face the “humbling” of embracing their father after a beating and saying, “I love you Daddy. Forgive me for disobeying.”
Capps, in Religion and Child Abuse: Perfect Together (JSSR, 1992), points out that this mixture of anger, pain, beating, and love is very confusing to children. They likely come to view the ritual as a pain filled affair necessary to gain the parent’s love. They must surely long for a love that might, someday, be unconditional, with no beatings attached. They plead for God to deliver them. God doesn’t. As much anecdotal evidence indicates, as adults, such children do not thank God that they had a parent willing to inflict physical punishment on them and many grow up with a very confused image of God. They have been taught that God is all-powerful, yet God did not rescue them when they pleaded with God for mercy.
An interesting view of all of this emerges from BIOLA University’s Rosemead School of Psychology. The study in question is reported in BIOLA’s Journal of Psychology and Theology. It is important to remember that we have not at this point answered the question of whether spanking is abusive in any substantive sense. The BIOLA article, Religiosity and the Risk of Perpetrating Child Physical Abuse: An Empirical Investigation (2005), authored by Dyslyn and Thomsen agrees that Conservative Protestants (the denominational listing in the article lists denominations usually considered evangelical/fundamentalist) are more likely to engage in corporal punishment. However, the authors do not see spanking as abusive. Their study, while finding Conservative Protestants to have the highest score on a test of likely abusive behavior, states that the differences between the Conservatives, Mainline Protestants, Catholics, and unaffiliated are not statistically significant.
One might argue that there is some practical significance in Conservatives obtaining the highest score, but that would be shaky ground. Methodologically, there are problems in that the test used is attitudinal and was given mainly to college students without children. Also, the college environment from which the sample was taken is not described, so it is hard to generalize. In addition, the study flies in the face of considerable anecdotal evidence. Most importantly, BIOLA stands for the Bible Institute of Los Angeles. One might suspect some researcher bias.
So, we come full circle. Everyone seems to agree that fundamentalists, or those leaning that direction, are more likely than most to resort to corporal punishment. Further, the lion’s share of child developmentalists see spanking as a harmful thing-associated with undesirable child, adolescent, and adult outcomes (Ellison, 2001). The question then is, When is the line crossed? Is all spanking abusive? When I was part of the fundamentalist world, what I knew about and saw were some pretty stout spankings administered to children as young as six months old. I saw lots of spankings with paddles. [Remember, you were encouraged to use a "neutral(?)" object. The hands were used to give love. The notion was that the child would not associate the object with the parent.] In answering the question about spanking, and abuse, I turn now to a fascinating study from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The study, reported on the Medpage Today website (Heavy Spanking Predicts Overt Child Abuse, 2008), revealed the following results:
1. Parents who spanked were 2.7 times more likely to engage in overt abusive behavior than non-spankers.
2. Parents that spanked with a belt or paddle or another object as opposed to their hands had triple the odds of becoming abusers (remember the “neutral” object theory?).
3. For each additional spanking per year, there was a 3% increase in the likelihood of yet stronger punishments being used in the home. (When I was in the fundamentalist church, it was not unusual for children to receive two or three spankings a day.)
4. The report stated, “This is the first study to demonstrate that parents who report spanking children with an object and who frequently spank children are much more likely to report harsh punishment acts consistent with physical abuse.
All of these conclusions seem to have implications for children placed in a fundamentalist Christian environment. Associated Content, in a May 2007 posting, The Effects of the “No Spanking Law” on Child Abuse in Sweden, discusses a law passed in Sweden in the 1970’s that made spanking a civil offence. Before the law, the family violence child death rate in 1970 was 18%. In recent years it has been 0%. By 1981, only 26% of Swedish parents supported spanking. Now it is less than 11%. In 1996, there were 57 reported cases of child abuse per 100,000 people. At the same time in the US that figure stood at 4,500/100,000.
Clearly, spanking and child abuse are connected. It also seems clear that in their propensity to support corporal punishment, fundamentalism and fundamentalist environments could likely put children at risk for abuse. It is something concerned parents would do well to bear in mind. They must ask: Is it a risk I am willing to take?
Lesbian Step Families: An Ethnography of Love explores five lesbian step families’definitions of the step parent role and how they accomplish parenting tasks, cope with homophobia, and define and interpret their experiences. An intensive feminist qualitative study, the book offers guidelines for counselors and lesbian step families for creating healthy, functioning family structures and environm…
Here is a sampling of what you will discover inside The Single Parenting Primer: How to be a Terrific Single Parent–Discover what and whom single parents are as individuals and as a group. –Learn how to nurture close connections and bonds and the roles and responsibility that come along with single parenting. –How to solve behavioral problems and encourage confidence. –Discover all the differ…
Adorable teacup yorkie puppies free to good homes They are pure breed, which are updated on all their plans, have also been weaned and dewormed, very socialized at least once a week, have also been tested for liver worms so they were especially with children, and perform as well with other animals, they love to perform along and love to deal with much love and passion, which are normally held twice a week and are always checked by a veterinarian, are perfectly healthy, even by e-mail (seeker.keyshla @ yahoo.com) for more info. Thanks applicant, who is 12 weeks, respectively, than just give them a good loving home for adoption.
Adorable Yorkie Puppies free to good cup homes They are pure breed, they are during all of their plans, have also been weaned and dewormed, very socialized at least once a week, also have been tested for liver worms so they were especially children, and perform as well with other animals, like to be pulled on the love to deal with much love and passion, are generally maintained twice a week and are always checked by a veterinarian, are perfectly healthy, even by e-mail (seeker.keyshla @ yahoo.com) for more info. Applicant thanks
is 12 weeks, respectively, I just gave you a good loving home for adoption.
Inside The Ultimate Chow Chow Care Guide: How to Care and Love a Chow Chow, you will learn:–How you can tell if the chow is a true “pure bred” when he’s purchased–Discover how to avoid having your chow being a stubborn mule (yeah, you know what I mean!)–Learn exactly how to care for your chow chow–Why they pace when you’re grabbing for the leash–If they actually get along with other animals …
The deep snow hangs so loosely on the sides of these mountains, that great masses often fall into the plains below, with a noise like thunder.Wild snow storms also come on, and the passes in the mountains become so blocked up and covered over, that it is impossible to find them out….
