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Tag: children

  • Divorce and life insurance: How to make sure your family stays protected – MoneySense

    Divorce and life insurance: How to make sure your family stays protected – MoneySense

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    When it comes to life insurance, specifically, reviewing and potentially updating policy and beneficiary information should be the first step post-divorce. Most people who are married name their spouse as their primary beneficiary. Whether or not the divorce is contentious, they will likely want to update this to a new beneficiary. However, depending on the divorce agreement, there may be circumstances where the former spouse remains a beneficiary, as a way to provide financial support on the expenses they agreed to contribute towards.

    Canadians can also name their children or other dependents as the primary beneficiary or beneficiaries. If the beneficiary is a minor, you will need to appoint a trustee, who would manage the funds of the trust until the child is old enough to do so.

    You might also need to make further adjustments to the policy. It’s helpful to consult the professionals who are supporting you through your divorce, whether that’s your licensed life insurance advisor, estate planning specialist, accountant or lawyer. Some things to consider include:

    1. Who will pay for the policy going forward?

    To ensure your family’s insurance coverage stays intact, set clear expectations on who will pay for the policy. It’s worth noting that the owner of the life insurance policy does not need to be the same individual as the payor.

    2. Is your insurance coverage sufficient?

    After reviewing your financial obligations and identifying expenses that your former spouse is covering (partially or completely), does your life insurance policy provide enough coverage for your family? You may need to discuss purchasing additional temporary coverage if your debt load has increased. This applies to your critical illness and disability insurance policies, as well.

    3. Is there cash value in the policy?

    Some permanent policies accumulate cash value over time. The owner of the life insurance policy may decide to leverage the policy’s cash value as a loan for emergency cash-flow purposes or to fund a planned expense. The caveat is that the death benefit of the policy is generally reduced by that policy loan until the money is paid back. Whole life insurance policies typically have consistent premiums and generally guaranteed cash value accumulation, while universal life insurance offers flexible premiums and death benefits but with fewer guarantees. Universal life policies allocate a portion of your premiums towards the life insurance itself, while the remainder is divided between savings and investment components, which must be regularly monitored to ensure they are performing. Depending on the policy and its duration, the cash value of a life insurance policy may need to be considered as an asset in the divorce agreement.

    In addition, reviewing your policy is important to keep track of payment cycles or any other conditions that may prevent your policy from coming into effect when needed.

    Get personalized quotes from Canada’s top life insurance providers.All for free with ratehub.ca. Let’s get started.*This will open a new tab. Just close the tab to return to MoneySense.

    Step 3: Turn your focus to your future

    Once you’ve sorted out your financial obligations and reviewed your insurance policies, it’s time to look forward. Here are a few steps that can help protect your future as well as the future of your beneficiaries in the case of a divorce:

    • A policy that insures your ex-spouse can be kept in force voluntarily, or you can get new policies to help provide financial protection for your dependents. This is especially important if you’re counting on your ex-spouse’s support payments for living expenses.
    • Recent divorcé(e)s may also want to consider disability and critical illness insurance. Life takes lots of unexpected turns, and these types of insurance can help ease your mind so you can focus on your family and/or recovery.
    • If a court orders it or if it’s integrated into your divorce agreement, a policy can be required to remain in effect as part of a divorce settlement or as part of a spousal or child support agreement.
    • A new policy may be issued to replace an existing policy because it better meets the needs of both parties.
    • Secure your own separate life insurance policy to ensure your children or other dependents are financially protected, especially if your ex-spouse’s financial situation isn’t stable. Life insurance coverage generally lapses when payments are missed.

    Don’t be afraid to ask for help

    You don’t have to do all of this alone. If you need help to organize your finances, divide up assets (including intangible ones like a life insurance policy) or explore new options, don’t hesitate to consult a professional. They can provide guidance and ensure you have proper protection for your family.

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    Michael Aziz, CFA, CFP

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  • 3 strategies to support inclusive learning

    3 strategies to support inclusive learning

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    Key points:

    The Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA), passed in 1975, ensures that eligible children with disabilities receive free public education along with the services they need to succeed. The IDEA act also guarantees that students with disabilities have the right to engage in the Least Restrictive Learning Environment (LRE) that best meets their individual needs.

    The LRE ensures that students under IDEA are offered equitable access to education alongside their non-disabled peers. Under these requirements, special education students should be in the same classrooms as their peers to the maximum appropriate extent. The goal isn’t to make sure that special education students are in the mainstream classroom as much as possible, but to allow students to engage in a classroom setting that is the most beneficial to their academic success and development and to have equal opportunities to their peers. This requires some training for educators on how to create more inclusive classrooms.

    Strategies for educators to support inclusive learning

    Inclusive classrooms are classrooms where students with diverse abilities and backgrounds learn together in a mainstream classroom setting. To maintain an inclusive learning environment, it is critical that educators have effective strategies to ensure that all students, regardless of their abilities, are given the opportunity to thrive academically.

    Here are three strategies for educators to support inclusive learning:

    1. Foster a collaborative classroom culture

    A collaborative classroom culture encourages students to work together and appreciate the unique perspectives that their peers bring to the table. Educators can create this culture through tactics such as group projects or peer tutoring programs. Other activities like circle time, where students have the opportunity to share their thoughts and experiences, can also help foster mutual understanding and respect. Collaboration not only helps to create a sense of community and belonging inside the classroom, it also prepares students for the real world that values teamwork.

    2. Professional development

    To enhance educators’ capacity to support diverse learners and inclusive classrooms, they need ongoing training and professional development opportunities. Having regular professional development training helps educators to learn more ways to best serve their students.

    3. Differentiated instruction

    Offering tailored teaching methods, materials and assessment strategies can help students to better understand the curriculum. Students learn in various ways, and offering materials at different difficulty levels, providing visuals or offering kinesthetic activities ensures that all students can engage in the classroom.

    Why special educators are essential

    Expertise

    Special educators play an important role in ensuring the effectiveness of inclusive classrooms. They have the expertise, training, and resources to address the diverse needs of students, especially those with special needs.

    Teaching methods and materials

    In an inclusive classroom, special educators can tailor their teaching methods and materials to meet the abilities and preferred learning styles of students. This ensures that every student has access to individualized support that suits their unique needs.

    IEP familiarity

    Special educators are also trained to create Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) for students who have special needs. IEPs describe how a student learns, how they demonstrate what they are learning, and what educators can do to help a student learn more effectively. They are tailored using input from general and special education teachers, parents, school administrators, and the students themselves. Having an IEP can also help to determine if a fully inclusive classroom environment is the right fit for a specific student.

    Behavior management

    Behavioral difficulties are often a challenge in inclusive classrooms. Special educators have the necessary training to manage students with behavioral issues and can help maintain a productive learning environment in the classroom.

    While special educators are important in driving the success of inclusive classrooms, they also face challenges such as being responsible for too many students.

    Pros and cons of inclusive classrooms

    The pros and cons of inclusive classrooms have been heavily debated and can vary with each individual circumstance or classroom.

    Inclusive education has benefits for both students with disabilities and for their peers as it promotes social integration, cultivates empathy, and exposes students to those with diverse abilities. Studies have shown that inclusive education can lead to improved academic outcomes for both students with disabilities and their peers.

    While inclusive classrooms have many benefits, there are also drawbacks that often dissuade schools and classrooms from adopting an inclusive classroom environment. Meeting the needs of students with varying abilities and offering individualized support can be challenging for teachers, especially in larger class sizes. Resource allocation can also be a concern because special education students often need support staff, specialized teaching materials or technology.

    Inclusive classrooms are not a one-size-fits-all environment. By working with special education students alongside their peers, with an appropriate IEP in place, educators can tailor their teaching to better serve each student. While an inclusive classroom might not be the best fit for every student, every student should have the opportunity to participate in the learning environment that allows them to gain the most from their education.

    Latest posts by eSchool Media Contributors (see all)



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    Lesley Slaughter

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  • 5-Ingredient “Lemon Melting Potatoes” Will Change How You Make Potatoes Forever

    5-Ingredient “Lemon Melting Potatoes” Will Change How You Make Potatoes Forever

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    Crispy outside + fluffy inside = perfection.
    READ MORE…

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    James Park

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  • Keeping children safe on social media: What parents should know to protect their kids

    Keeping children safe on social media: What parents should know to protect their kids

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    Social media CEOs got grilled by Senate lawmakers this week in an emotional and often heated hearing about the dangers their platforms pose to children — sexual predators, videos encouraging suicide and glorifying eating disorders, bullying and addictive features, just to name a few.

    Republican and Democratic senators came together in a rare show of agreement throughout the hearing, though it’s not yet clear if this will be enough to pass legislation such as the Kids Online Safety Act or other proposed measures intended to protect kids from online harms.

    Even with apparent bipartisan unity, making laws and regulating companies takes time. What are parents — and teens — supposed to do in the meantime? Here are some tips on staying safe, communicating and setting limits on social media — for kids as well as their parents.

    There’s already, technically, a rule that prohibits kids under 13 from using platforms that advertise to them without parental consent: The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act that went into effect in 2000 — before today’s teenagers were even born.

    The goal was to protect kids’ online privacy by requiring websites and online services to disclose clear privacy policies and get parents’ consent before gathering personal information on their kids, among other things. To comply, social media companies have generally banned kids under 13 from signing up for their services, although it’s been widely documented that kids sign up anyway, either with or without their parents’ permission.

    But times have changed, and online privacy is no longer the only concern when it comes to kids being online. There’s bullying, harassment, the risk of developing eating disorders, suicidal thoughts or worse.

    For years, there has been a push among parents, educators and tech experts to wait to give children phones — and access to social media — until they are older, such as the “Wait Until 8th” pledge that has parents sign a pledge not to give their kids a smartphone until the 8th grade, or about age 13 or 14. Some wait even later, like 16 or 17.

    But neither social media companies nor the government have done anything concrete to increase the age limit.

    “There is not necessarily a magical age,” said Christine Elgersma, a social media expert at the nonprofit Common Sense Media. But, she added, “13 is probably not the best age for kids to get on social media.”

    The laws currently being proposed include blanket bans on the under-13 set when it comes to social media. The problem? There’s no easy way to verify a person’s age when they sign up for apps and online services. And the apps popular with teens today were created for adults first. Companies have added some safeguards over the years, Elgersma noted, but these are piecemeal changes, not fundamental rethinks of the services.

    “Developers need to start building apps with kids in mind,” she said.

    Some tech executives, celebrities such as Jennifer Garner and parents from all walks of life have resorted to banning their kids from social media altogether. While the decision is a personal one that depends on each child and parent, some experts say this could lead to isolating kids, who could be left out of activities and discussions with friends that take place on social media or chat services.

    Another hurdle — kids who have never been on social media may find themselves ill-equipped to navigate the platforms when they are suddenly allowed free rein the day they turn 18.

    Start early, earlier than you think. Elgersma suggests that parents go through their own social media feeds with their children before they are old enough to be online and have open discussions on what they see. How would your child handle a situation where a friend of a friend asks them to send a photo? Or if they see an article that makes them so angry they just want to share it right away?

    For older kids, approach them with curiosity and interest.

    “If teens are giving you the grunts or the single word answers, sometimes asking about what their friends are doing or just not asking direct questions like, ‘What are you doing on Instagram?’ but rather, ‘Hey, I heard this influencer is really popular,’” she suggested. “And even if your kid rolled their eyes it could be a window.”

    Don’t say things like “Turn that thing off!” when your kid has been scrolling for a long time, says Jean Rogers, the director of the nonprofit Fairplay’s Screen Time Action Network.

    “That’s not respectful,” Rogers said. “It doesn’t respect that they have a whole life and a whole world in that device.”

    Instead, Rogers suggests asking them questions about what they do on their phone, and see what your child is willing to share.

    Kids are also likely to respond to parents and educators “pulling back the curtains” on social media and the sometimes insidious tools companies use to keep people online and engaged, Elgersma said. Watch a documentary like “The Social Dilemma” that explores algorithms, dark patterns and dopamine feedback cycles of social media. Or read up with them how Facebook and TikTok make money.

    “Kids love to be in the know about these things, and it will give them a sense of power,” she said.

    Rogers says most parents have success with taking their kids’ phones overnight to limit their scrolling. Occasionally kids might try to sneak the phone back, but it’s a strategy that tends to work because kids need a break from the screen.

    “They need to an excuse with their peers to not be on their phone at night,” Rogers said. “They can blame their parents.”

    Parents may need their own limits on phone use. Rogers said it’s helpful to explain what you are doing when you do have a phone in hand around your child so they understand you are not aimlessly scrolling through sites like Instagram. Tell your child that you’re checking work email, looking up a recipe for dinner or paying a bill so they understand you’re not on there just for fun. Then tell them when you plan to put the phone down.

    Social media platforms that cater to children have added an ever-growing array of parental controls as they face increasing scrutiny over child safety. For instance, Meta unveiled parental supervision tools last year that lets parents set time limits, see who their kid follows or is followed by, and allows them to track how much time the minor spends on Instagram. It does not let parents see message content.

    But as with similar tools on other platforms such as TikTok, the feature is optional, and both kids and parents have to agree to use it. In order to nudge kids toward agreeing to set up the controls, Instagram sends a notice to teens after they block someone, encouraging them to let their parents “supervise” their account. The idea is to grab kids’ attention when they might be more open to parental guidance.

    By making the feature optional, Meta says it is trying to “balance teen safety and autonomy” as well as prompt conversations between parents and their children.

    Such features can be useful for families in which parents are already involved in their child’s online life and activities. Experts say that’s not the reality for many people.

    U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said last year it’s unfair to expect parents to manage what their children do with rapidly evolving technology that “fundamentally changes how their kids think about themselves, how they build friendships, how they experience the world — and technology, by the way, that prior generations never had to manage.”

    Putting all of that on the shoulders of parents, he said “is just simply not fair.”

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  • Keeping children safe on social media: What parents should know to protect their kids

    Keeping children safe on social media: What parents should know to protect their kids

    [ad_1]

    Social media CEOs got grilled by Senate lawmakers this week in an emotional and often heated hearing about the dangers their platforms pose to children — sexual predators, videos encouraging suicide and glorifying eating disorders, bullying and addictive features, just to name a few.

    Republican and Democratic senators came together in a rare show of agreement throughout the hearing, though it’s not yet clear if this will be enough to pass legislation such as the Kids Online Safety Act or other proposed measures intended to protect kids from online harms.

    Even with apparent bipartisan unity, making laws and regulating companies takes time. What are parents — and teens — supposed to do in the meantime? Here are some tips on staying safe, communicating and setting limits on social media — for kids as well as their parents.

    There’s already, technically, a rule that prohibits kids under 13 from using platforms that advertise to them without parental consent: The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act that went into effect in 2000 — before today’s teenagers were even born.

    The goal was to protect kids’ online privacy by requiring websites and online services to disclose clear privacy policies and get parents’ consent before gathering personal information on their kids, among other things. To comply, social media companies have generally banned kids under 13 from signing up for their services, although it’s been widely documented that kids sign up anyway, either with or without their parents’ permission.

    But times have changed, and online privacy is no longer the only concern when it comes to kids being online. There’s bullying, harassment, the risk of developing eating disorders, suicidal thoughts or worse.

    For years, there has been a push among parents, educators and tech experts to wait to give children phones — and access to social media — until they are older, such as the “Wait Until 8th” pledge that has parents sign a pledge not to give their kids a smartphone until the 8th grade, or about age 13 or 14. Some wait even later, like 16 or 17.

    But neither social media companies nor the government have done anything concrete to increase the age limit.

    “There is not necessarily a magical age,” said Christine Elgersma, a social media expert at the nonprofit Common Sense Media. But, she added, “13 is probably not the best age for kids to get on social media.”

    The laws currently being proposed include blanket bans on the under-13 set when it comes to social media. The problem? There’s no easy way to verify a person’s age when they sign up for apps and online services. And the apps popular with teens today were created for adults first. Companies have added some safeguards over the years, Elgersma noted, but these are piecemeal changes, not fundamental rethinks of the services.

    “Developers need to start building apps with kids in mind,” she said.

    Some tech executives, celebrities such as Jennifer Garner and parents from all walks of life have resorted to banning their kids from social media altogether. While the decision is a personal one that depends on each child and parent, some experts say this could lead to isolating kids, who could be left out of activities and discussions with friends that take place on social media or chat services.

    Another hurdle — kids who have never been on social media may find themselves ill-equipped to navigate the platforms when they are suddenly allowed free rein the day they turn 18.

    Start early, earlier than you think. Elgersma suggests that parents go through their own social media feeds with their children before they are old enough to be online and have open discussions on what they see. How would your child handle a situation where a friend of a friend asks them to send a photo? Or if they see an article that makes them so angry they just want to share it right away?

    For older kids, approach them with curiosity and interest.

    “If teens are giving you the grunts or the single word answers, sometimes asking about what their friends are doing or just not asking direct questions like, ‘What are you doing on Instagram?’ but rather, ‘Hey, I heard this influencer is really popular,’” she suggested. “And even if your kid rolled their eyes it could be a window.”

    Don’t say things like “Turn that thing off!” when your kid has been scrolling for a long time, says Jean Rogers, the director of the nonprofit Fairplay’s Screen Time Action Network.

    “That’s not respectful,” Rogers said. “It doesn’t respect that they have a whole life and a whole world in that device.”

    Instead, Rogers suggests asking them questions about what they do on their phone, and see what your child is willing to share.

    Kids are also likely to respond to parents and educators “pulling back the curtains” on social media and the sometimes insidious tools companies use to keep people online and engaged, Elgersma said. Watch a documentary like “The Social Dilemma” that explores algorithms, dark patterns and dopamine feedback cycles of social media. Or read up with them how Facebook and TikTok make money.

    “Kids love to be in the know about these things, and it will give them a sense of power,” she said.

    Rogers says most parents have success with taking their kids’ phones overnight to limit their scrolling. Occasionally kids might try to sneak the phone back, but it’s a strategy that tends to work because kids need a break from the screen.

    “They need to an excuse with their peers to not be on their phone at night,” Rogers said. “They can blame their parents.”

    Parents may need their own limits on phone use. Rogers said it’s helpful to explain what you are doing when you do have a phone in hand around your child so they understand you are not aimlessly scrolling through sites like Instagram. Tell your child that you’re checking work email, looking up a recipe for dinner or paying a bill so they understand you’re not on there just for fun. Then tell them when you plan to put the phone down.

    Social media platforms that cater to children have added an ever-growing array of parental controls as they face increasing scrutiny over child safety. For instance, Meta unveiled parental supervision tools last year that lets parents set time limits, see who their kid follows or is followed by, and allows them to track how much time the minor spends on Instagram. It does not let parents see message content.

    But as with similar tools on other platforms such as TikTok, the feature is optional, and both kids and parents have to agree to use it. In order to nudge kids toward agreeing to set up the controls, Instagram sends a notice to teens after they block someone, encouraging them to let their parents “supervise” their account. The idea is to grab kids’ attention when they might be more open to parental guidance.

    By making the feature optional, Meta says it is trying to “balance teen safety and autonomy” as well as prompt conversations between parents and their children.

    Such features can be useful for families in which parents are already involved in their child’s online life and activities. Experts say that’s not the reality for many people.

    U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said last year it’s unfair to expect parents to manage what their children do with rapidly evolving technology that “fundamentally changes how their kids think about themselves, how they build friendships, how they experience the world — and technology, by the way, that prior generations never had to manage.”

    Putting all of that on the shoulders of parents, he said “is just simply not fair.”

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  • This 6-Ingredient Gnocchi Alfredo Is My Family’s Most Requested Dinner

    This 6-Ingredient Gnocchi Alfredo Is My Family’s Most Requested Dinner

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    I like to make a similar Parmesan cheese sauce, toss it with pillowy store-bought potato gnocchi, and bake it all together in a cast iron skillet until browned and bubbling. To make this too, you only need six ingredients (most of which you might have on hand) and 30 minutes total before you’re sitting down to a delicious dinner.



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    Christine Gallary

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  • Meta, TikTok and other social media CEOs testify in heated Senate hearing on child exploitation

    Meta, TikTok and other social media CEOs testify in heated Senate hearing on child exploitation

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    Sexual predators. Addictive features. Suicide and eating disorders. Unrealistic beauty standards. Bullying. These are just some of the issues young people are dealing with on social media — and children’s advocates and lawmakers say companies are not doing enough to protect them.

    On Wednesday, the CEOs of Meta, TikTok, X and other social media companies went before the Senate Judiciary Committee to testify at a time when lawmakers and parents are growing increasingly concerned about the effects of social media on young people’s lives.

    The hearing began with recorded testimony from kids and parents who said they or their children were exploited on social media. Throughout the hourslong event, parents who lost children to suicide silently held up pictures of their dead kids.

    “They’re responsible for many of the dangers our children face online,” Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, who chairs the committee, said in opening remarks. “Their design choices, their failures to adequately invest in trust and safety, their constant pursuit of engagement and profit over basic safety have all put our kids and grandkids at risk.”

    In a heated question and answer session with Mark Zuckerberg, Republican Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley asked the Meta CEO if he has personally compensated any of the victims and their families for what they have been through.

    “I don’t think so,” Zuckerberg replied.

    “There’s families of victims here,” Hawley said. “Would you like to apologize to them?”

    Zuckerberg stood, turned away from his microphone and the senators, and directly addressed the parents in the gallery.

    “I’m sorry for everything you have all been through. No one should go through the things that your families have suffered,” he said, adding that Meta continues to invest and work on “industrywide efforts” to protect children.

    But time and time again, children’s advocates and parents have stressed that none of the companies are doing enough.

    One of the parents who attended the hearing was Neveen Radwan, whose teenage daughter got sucked in to a “black hole of dangerous content” on TikTok and Instagram after she started looking at videos on healthy eating and exercise at the onset of the COVID lockdowns. She developed anorexia within a few months and nearly died, Radwan recalled.

    “Nothing that was said today was different than what we expected,” Radwan said. “It was a lot of promises and a lot of, quite honestly, a lot of talk without them really saying anything. The apology that he made, while it was appreciated, it was a little bit too little, too late, of course.”

    But Radwan, whose daughter is now 19 and in college, said she felt a “significant shift” in the energy as she sat through the hearing, listening to the senators grill the social media CEOs in tense exchanges.

    “The energy in the room was, very, very palpable. Just by our presence there, I think it was very noticeable how our presence was affecting the senators,” she said.

    Hawley continued to press Zuckerberg, asking if he’d take personal responsibility for the harms his company has caused. Zuckerberg stayed on message and repeated that Meta’s job is to “build industry-leading tools” and empower parents.

    “To make money,” Hawley cut in.

    South Carolina Sen. Lindsay Graham, the top Republican on the Judiciary panel, echoed Durbin’s sentiments and said he’s prepared to work with Democrats to solve the issue.

    “After years of working on this issue with you and others, I’ve come to conclude the following: Social media companies as they’re currently designed and operate are dangerous products,” Graham said.

    The executives touted existing safety tools on their platforms and the work they’ve done with nonprofits and law enforcement to protect minors.

    Snapchat broke ranks ahead of the hearing and is backing a federal bill that would create a legal liability for apps and social platforms that recommend harmful content to minors. Snap CEO Evan Spiegel reiterated the company’s support on Wednesday and asked the industry to back the bill.

    TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew said the company is vigilant about enforcing its policy barring children under 13 from using the app. CEO Linda Yaccarino said X, formerly Twitter, doesn’t cater to children.

    “We do not have a line of business dedicated to children,” Yaccarino said. She said the company will also support Stop CSAM Act, a federal bill that makes it easier for victims of child exploitation to sue tech companies.

    Yet child health advocates say social media companies have failed repeatedly to protect minors.

    Profits should not be the primary concern when companies are faced with safety and privacy decisions, said Zamaan Qureshi, co-chair of Design It For Us, a youth-led coalition advocating for safer social media. “These companies have had opportunities to do this before they failed to do that. So independent regulation needs to step in.”

    Republican and Democratic senators came together in a rare show of agreement throughout the hearing, though it’s not yet clear if this will be enough to pass legislation such as the Kids Online Safety Act, proposed in 2022 by Sens. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee.

    “There is pretty clearly a bipartisan consensus that the status quo isn’t working,” said New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez, a Democrat. “When it comes to how these companies have failed to prioritize the safety of children, there’s clearly a sense of frustration on both sides of the aisle.”

    Meta is being sued by dozens of states that say it deliberately designs features on Instagram and Facebook that addict children to its platforms. New Mexico filed a separate lawsuit saying the company has failed to protect them from online predators.

    New internal emails between Meta executives released by Blumenthal’s office show Nick Clegg, the company’s president of global affairs, and others asking Zuckerberg to hire more people to strengthen “wellbeing across the company” as concerns grew about effects on youth mental health.

    “From a policy perspective, this work has become increasingly urgent over recent months. Politicians in the U.S., U.K., E.U. and Australia are publicly and privately expressing concerns about the impact of our products on young people’s mental health,” Clegg wrote in an August 2021 email.

    The emails released by Blumenthal’s office don’t appear to include a response, if there was any, from Zuckerberg. In September 2021, The Wall Street Journal released the Facebook Files, its report based on internal documents from whistleblower Frances Haugen, who later testified before the Senate. Clegg followed up on the August email in November with a scaled-down proposal but it does not appear that anything was approved.

    “I’ve spoken to many of the parents at the hearing. The harm their children experienced, all that loss of innocent life, is eminently preventable. When Mark says ‘Our job is building the best tools we can,’ that is just not true,” said Arturo Béjar, a former engineering director at the social media giant known for his expertise in curbing online harassment who recently testified before Congress about child safety on Meta’s platforms. “They know how much harm teens are experiencing, yet they won’t commit to reducing it, and most importantly to be transparent about it. They have the infrastructure to do it, the research, the people, it is a matter of prioritization.”

    Béjar said the emails and Zuckerberg’s testimony show that Meta and its CEO “do not care about the harm teens experience” on their platforms.

    “Nick Clegg writes about profound gaps with addiction, self-harm, bullying and harassment to Mark. Mark did not respond, and those gaps are unaddressed today. Clegg asked for 84 engineers of 30,000,” Béjar said. “Children are not his priority.”

    ___

    Associated Press writer Mary Clare Jalonick contributed to this story.

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  • Tech CEOs to testify about child online safety at Senate hearing

    Tech CEOs to testify about child online safety at Senate hearing

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    Tech CEOs to testify about child online safety at Senate hearing – CBS News


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    The CEOs of Snap, TikTok, X, Meta and Discord are expected to testify at a Senate hearing Wednesday to discuss steps their companies are taking to protect children on their platforms. CBS News’ Jo Ling Kent sat down for an exclusive interview with two senators spearheading the effort to hold tech companies accountable for endangering kids.

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  • Tech leaders to testify on social media safety for kids

    Tech leaders to testify on social media safety for kids

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    Tech leaders to testify on social media safety for kids – CBS News


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    CEOs from five of the biggest tech companies are set to testify on what they’re doing to protect children who use their social media platforms. Jo Ling Kent speaks to a woman whose daughter died by suicide following sexual exploitation by online predators.

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  • The UK says it will ban disposable vapes, curb flavored e-cigarettes aimed at kids

    The UK says it will ban disposable vapes, curb flavored e-cigarettes aimed at kids

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    LONDON — Britain’s government will ban the sale of disposable vapes and limit their cornucopia of flavors to prevent children from becoming addicted to nicotine, officials said Monday. It also plans to stick to a contentious proposal to ban today’s young people from ever buying cigarettes.

    It is currently illegal to sell vapes or tobacco to children under 18 in the U.K., but officials say that youth vaping has tripled in the past three years, and that cheap, colorful disposable vapes in flavors like bubblegum and candy floss are a “key driver.”

    “You talk to any parent or teacher, they’ll talk to you about the worrying rise in vaping among children,” Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told reporters. “Children shouldn’t be vaping, we don’t want them to get addicted. We still don’t understand the full long-term health impacts of vaping. So it is right we take strong action to stamp this out.”

    Disposable vapes, or e-cigarettes, are behind an alarming rise in vaping among children under 18, Sunak said, with 9% of 11 to 15-year-olds now using vapes, according to figures provided by the government.

    The nicotine contained within them can be highly addictive, officials said. Withdrawal sometimes causes anxiety, trouble concentrating and headaches.

    The government said it will introduce new powers — expected to come into effect next year — to restrict flavors that are “specifically marketed at children,” and ensure that manufacturers use plainer packaging and shops move the products out of sight of children. New fines will also be introduced for shops that sell vapes illegally to children.

    Adults who wanted to use vapes as a tool to quit smoking would still be able to access vape kits, Sunak said.

    “We have got the balance right, supporting adult smokers to stop smoking … but targeting all the things that make sure children don’t have access to vapes,” he said.

    Sunak’s government also said it will push on with a plan announced last year to gradually raise the minimum age to buy cigarettes, so that no one born after Jan. 1, 2009 can ever legally buy them.

    Health experts welcomed the idea. However, it outraged some members of the Conservative Party who viewed it as excessive state intervention.

    The plan was modeled on a proposal in New Zealand that was scrapped late last year after a change of government in that country.

    The number of people in the U.K. who smoke has declined by two-thirds since the 1970s, but some 6.4 million people, or about 13% of the population, still smoke, according to official figures.

    Last month, France’s National Assembly unanimously approved a bill to ban single-use, disposable electronic cigarettes to protect young people attracted by their flavors.

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  • New Research Finds Volume Alone Does Not Predict Quality Outcomes in Pediatric Cardiac Surgery

    New Research Finds Volume Alone Does Not Predict Quality Outcomes in Pediatric Cardiac Surgery

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    Newswise — SAN ANTONIO (January 28, 2024) — A study of pediatric heart surgery centers across the United States has demonstrated that, when it comes to successful surgery, it’s not just the size of the program that matters in determining quality outcomes. 

    Historically, hospitals with a “low volume” of pediatric heart operations—in this case, those that perform 103 surgeries or fewer a year—have been associated with worse outcomes for patients. However, a team led by D. Chauhan, MD, from WVU Medicine Children’s Heart Center found that “overperformers” and “underperformers” exist in all volume categories. 

    “Contrary to conventional wisdom regarding the relationship between institutional volume and quality outcomes, there are high-performing low-volume centers in pediatric cardiac surgery, for even the most complex operations,” said senior author Christopher Mascio, MD, a pediatric cardiothoracic surgeon, professor, and executive director at WVU Medicine Children’s Heart Center. “There are also underperforming high-volume programs. Judging program quality is more complex than a single volume number.”

    The team examined a total of 25,749 heart operations performed by 235 pediatric hospitals across the country. They divided the centers into three volume categories: low-volume (103 or fewer cases per year), mid-volume (104 to 194 cases per year), and high-volume (more than 194 cases per year). They included only “on-pump” procedures—meaning, those that used a cardiopulmonary bypass machine, which takes over temporarily for the heart and lungs while the operation is performed. 

     

    According to coauthor J. Hunter Mehaffey, MD, an assistant professor and director of cardiac surgery research at WVU, the study included variables commonly used and validated in evaluating risk in pediatric cardiac surgery including age, race, birth weight, genetic diagnosis, history of re-operation, the urgency of the procedure, the patient’s length of hospital stay before the surgery, and the presence of heterotaxy (an abnormal arrangement of the internal organs).

    Looking at hospital mortality rates, the researchers found that all three volume groups had both “overperforming” and “underperforming” hospitals. For six “benchmark” operations as defined by The Society of Thoracic Surgeons, they found no statistically significant difference in hospital mortality when comparing low- and mid-volume centers to high-volume centers.  

    The benchmark operations included tetralogy of Fallot repair, arterial switch with ventricular septal defect (VSD), arterial switch without VSD, Glenn and Fontan procedures, and truncus arteriosus repair.

    This new research study will be presented at The Society of Thoracic Surgeons’ 2024 Annual Meeting in San Antonio, Texas. The Society selected the presentation as its 2024 James S. Tweddell Memorial Paper in Congenital Surgery.

    Underscoring the study’s importance, Dr. Mascio added, “When parents consider which center is best for their child, there are many other factors at play, including care team coordination, proximity, surgical team, and personal interactions. The time is ripe for the congenital community to develop better methods for evaluating program quality. We hope this contribution provides a nidus for continued discussion around this issue, providing a voice to programs of all sizes.” 

     

    # # #

    Founded in 1964, The Society of Thoracic Surgeons is a not-for-profit organization representing more than 7,700 cardiothoracic surgeons, researchers, and allied healthcare professionals worldwide who are dedicated to ensuring the best possible outcomes for surgeries of the heart, lung, and esophagus, as well as other surgical procedures within the chest. The Society’s mission is to enhance the ability of cardiothoracic surgeons to provide the highest quality patient care through education, research, and advocacy.

     



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  • I’ve spent 20 years studying how to raise successful kids—here’s the most ‘overlooked’ skill I tell parents to teach

    I’ve spent 20 years studying how to raise successful kids—here’s the most ‘overlooked’ skill I tell parents to teach

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    As a psychologist, I’ve spent nearly 20 years studying how to care for and raise good humans. The overlooked skill I always teach new parents is how to build inner efficacy.

    Inner efficacy is an individual’s belief in their own capacity to do what it takes to meet their goals. Self-esteem might say, “I’m amazing!” but inner efficacy says, “I have what it takes to figure this out and achieve what I set out to.”

    Kids with a strong sense of inner efficacy are more likely to challenge themselves and put in the effort. Rather than blaming external circumstances or some immutable lack of talent for their failures, they’ll focus on factors that are within their control.

    Research shows that kids gain inner efficacy from four sources:

    1. The experience of getting things right

    For this to happen, kids have to be challenged at the right level. Pushing them into educational experiences they’re not ready for can be counterproductive.

    Whenever they worry about not being able to do something, you can promote a growth mindset by telling them: “You’re not there, yet.”

    2. Watching others get it right

    It’s important that kids see others they consider similar to themselves, in at least some specifics (like age, race or ethnicity, gender identity, interests), achieving similar goals.

    The peer modeling doesn’t have to come from people exactly like our unique child, but watching a much older child of a different race and gender accomplish something might not have the same effect.

    3. Reminders that they have a history of getting things right

    The stories we tell ourselves about the past create our sense of competence about the future.

    Studies show that people who lean into optimism, have a growth mindset, and believe in themselves often don’t have such different past experiences than their pessimistic peers. They just remember successes more vividly than failures.

    4. A sense of calm in their bodies

    If children feel stressed, queasy, or anxious when faced with challenges, it can be difficult to perform without taking care of that physiological response first.

    Teaching our kids self-soothing practices like mindful breathing will go a long way to help them become competent at whatever they focus on.

    How to help kids build inner efficacy

    1. Encourage them to try at something they’re not immediately good at.

    Instead of saying “Practice makes perfect,” because we know that’s not always true — and we’re not actually looking for perfection — remind your child that “Effort makes evolution.”

    2. Clarify to correct.

    Don’t just mark mistakes with a red pen and say, “Wrong again, pal.” Instead, try restating, rephrasing, changing the question, clarifying directions, and going over previously learned skills.

    Even with young children who point to a red apple and say “blue,” you can say, “Oh, yes, blueberries are blue, and this is a red apple” instead of just correcting them or saying, “That’s not blue, silly.”

    3. Praise with specificity when it’s earned.

    When we say “Good job!” it’s got be sincere and specific. Tell kids when you recognize their real effort, persistence, creativity, independence, and competence.

    You don’t have to completely erase “good job” from your vocabulary. Just add a bit more detail, like, “Good job applying that chess opening you just learned.”

    4. Point out strategy.

    Help kids draw the line between the action and the achievement. If your child does a good job writing an essay they’ve outlined, for example, you can say, “I noticed you made an outline. I bet that’s one reason you did so well.”

    Or, alternatively, you might need to say, “I noticed you didn’t do an outline. It can be really tough to write an essay when you don’t have an outline. Let’s try writing one together.”

    When kids understand that their failures aren’t due to permanent limitations, there’s an opening for future achievement.

    Dr. Aliza Pressman is a developmental psychologist with nearly two decades of experience working with families. She is an assistant clinical professor in the Division of Behavioral Health Department of Pediatrics at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital, where she is cofounding director of The Mount Sinai Parenting Center. She holds a BA from Dartmouth College and is the author of “The 5 Principles of Parenting: Your Essential Guide to Raising Good Humans.” Follow her on Instagram @raisinggoodhumanspodcast.

    Want to land your dream job in 2024? Take CNBC’s new online course How to Ace Your Job Interview to learn what hiring managers are really looking for, body language techniques, what to say and not to say, and the best way to talk about pay. Get started today and save 50% with discount code EARLYBIRD.



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  • Single Dose Typhoid Conjugate Vaccine (TCV) Provides Lasting Efficacy in Children

    Single Dose Typhoid Conjugate Vaccine (TCV) Provides Lasting Efficacy in Children

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    Newswise — A single dose of the typhoid conjugate vaccine, Typbar TCV®, provides lasting efficacy in preventing typhoid fever in children ages 9 months to 12 years old, according to a new study conducted by researchers at University of Maryland School of Medicine’s (UMSOM) Center for Vaccine Development and Global Health (CVD) and led by in-country partners at the Malawi-Liverpool Wellcome Trust (MLW) Clinical Research Programme.

    Results from the phase 3 clinical study were published today in The Lancet.

    The research team enrolled more than 28,000 healthy children in Malawi and randomly assigned about half the group to receive the TCV and the other half to receive a meningococcal capsular group A conjugate (MenA) control vaccine. During the more than four years of follow-up, 24 children in the TCV group and 110 in the MenA group developed typhoid fever, which was confirmed via blood culture. That resulted in an efficacy of 78.3 percent in the TCV group, with one case of typhoid prevented for every 163 children vaccinated. TCV was effective in all age groups and over the study period – which ended in 2022 – vaccine efficacy remained strong, decreasing by only 1.3 percent per year.

    Typhoid fever causes more than 9 million illnesses and at least 110,000 deaths worldwide every year, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa and southeast Asia. It is a contagious bacterial infection that occurs from consuming contaminated food or beverages. Symptoms include nausea, fever, and abdominal pain that, if left untreated, can be deadly.

    “These findings have significant implications for identification of the contribution of TCVs in the control and potential elimination of typhoid fever in endemic settings,” wrote the authors of a commentary published in The Lancet alongside the study.

    In May 2023, the Malawi government launched a national rollout of the TCV in children under 15 years. Going forward, all children in Malawi will receive TCV at nine months of age as part of the routine immunization schedule.

     “The newly published study supports the long-lasting impacts of a single shot of TCV, even in the youngest children, and offers hope of preventing typhoid in the most vulnerable children,” said Kathleen Neuzil, MD, MPH, CVD Director, the Myron M. Levine, MD, DTPH, Professor in Vaccinology at UMSOM and coauthor of the current study.  “We could not have had a better partner in this endeavor than MLW, whose long-standing excellence in typhoid research and strong surveillance infrastructure made this study possible.”

    “The CVD’s outstanding record of generating data to accelerate public health decisions continues with this landmark study,” said UMSOM Dean Mark T. Gladwin, MD, Vice President for Medical Affairs, University of Maryland, Baltimore, and the John Z. and Akiko K. Bowers Distinguished Professor. “The research could not come at a more critical time when Malawi and other African countries are struggling with climate change, extreme weather events and increased urbanization patterns, which are likely to contribute to increases in enteric diseases, including typhoid.”

    TyVAC is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Typbar TCV® is licensed by Bharat Biotech International Limited, Hyderabad, India.

    About the University of Maryland School of Medicine

    Now in its third century, the University of Maryland School of Medicine was chartered in 1807 as the first public medical school in the United States. It continues today as one of the fastest growing, top-tier biomedical research enterprises in the world — with 46 academic departments, centers, institutes, and programs, and a faculty of more than 3,000 physicians, scientists, and allied health professionals, including members of the National Academy of Medicine and the National Academy of Sciences, and a distinguished two-time winner of the Albert E. Lasker Award in Medical Research. With an operating budget of more than $1.2 billion, the School of Medicine works closely in partnership with the University of Maryland Medical Center and Medical System to provide research-intensive, academic, and clinically based care for nearly 2 million patients each year. The School of Medicine has more than $500 million in extramural funding, with most of its academic departments highly ranked among all medical schools in the nation in research funding. As one of the seven professional schools that make up the University of Maryland, Baltimore campus, the School of Medicine has a total population of nearly 9,000 faculty and staff, including 2,500 students, trainees, residents, and fellows. The School of Medicine, which ranks as the 8th highest among public medical schools in research productivity (according to the Association of American Medical Colleges profile) is an innovator in translational medicine, with 606 active patents and 52 start-up companies. In the latest U.S. News & World Report ranking of the Best Medical Schools, published in 2023, the UM School of Medicine is ranked #10 among the 92 public medical schools in the U.S., and in the top 16 percent (#32) of all 192 public and private U.S. medical schools. The School of Medicine works locally, nationally, and globally, with research and treatment facilities in 36 countries around the world. Visit medschool.umaryland.edu

    About the Center for Vaccine Development and Global Health at the University of Maryland School of Medicine

    For over 40 years, researchers in the Center for Vaccine Development and Global Health (CVD) have worked domestically and internationally to develop, test, and deploy vaccines to aid the world’s underserved populations. CVD is an academic enterprise engaged in the full range of infectious disease intervention from basic laboratory research through vaccine development, pre-clinical and clinical evaluation, large-scale pre-licensure field studies, and post-licensure assessments. CVD has created and tested vaccines against cholera, typhoid fever, paratyphoid fever, non-typhoidal Salmonella disease, shigellosis (bacillary dysentery), Escherichia coli diarrhea, nosocomial pathogens, tularemia, influenza, coronaviruses, malaria, and other infectious diseases. CVD’s research covers the broader goal of improving global health by conducting innovative, leading research in Baltimore and around the world. Our researchers are developing new and improved ways to diagnose, prevent, treat, control, and eliminate diseases of global impact, including COVID-19. In addition, CVD’s work focuses on the ever-growing challenge of antimicrobial resistance.

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  • Protester throws papers on court, briefly disrupts Australian Open match between Zverev and Norrie

    Protester throws papers on court, briefly disrupts Australian Open match between Zverev and Norrie

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    MELBOURNE, Australia — A pro-Palestinian protester threw papers onto an Australian Open court and briefly disrupted a match between Alexander Zverev and Cameron Norrie on Monday before being stopped by other spectators.

    Olympic champion Zverev said he didn’t feel unsafe but questioned why it took several minutes for security to react, leaving it to tennis fans to intervene.

    “When something like this happens, it shouldn’t be another fan dragging the other person out,” he said, noting that security at Melbourne Park was usually very tight, including for the players. “It should be the security guys … there quite quickly.”

    Protesters threw anti-war pamphlets onto at least two courts and also near the entrance to the tournament site.

    At Zverev’s match, a woman wearing a face mask threw anti-war pamphlets from the stands onto the court behind the baseline during the sixth game of the third set on Margaret Court Arena.

    Printed in black on the white pages was the message “Free Palestine” and “While you’re watching tennis bombs are dropping on Gaza.”

    Ball kids gathered up the papers and the match continued after security escorted the protester away.

    Zverev won the match 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (3) to advance to a quarterfinal against No. 2-ranked Carlos Alcaraz.

    Norrie, who was serving in the game that was halted, also said he didn’t feel threatened.

    “Those things happen nowadays,” he said. “There were a couple of fans that actually helped out. But yeah, I don’t think anyone felt threatened or anything.

    “It was all right. I managed to hold my serve that game, so yeah.”

    Tennis Australia confirmed two spectators stopped the protester on Margaret Court Arena “and we appreciate their actions.”

    “Venue security was deployed (and) the individual was subsequently evicted from the event,” organizers said in a statement. “Anyone seeking to disrupt the event — as we saw tonight — will be removed.”

    In a statement, Victoria state police said officers were notified that a small group of people threw pamphlets onto Margaret Court Arena, Kia Arena and elsewhere on the tournament site.

    Police said two women, aged 35 and 36, were detained but released without charge.

    Zverev said he wasn’t aware what the protest was about until he was told at a news conference.

    “There’s obviously a lot going on in the world and a lot of quite bad things happen. I understand some people are frustrated,” he said. “Of course, a tennis match has nothing particularly to do with it.”

    Zverev said security was so tight for players that he’d been stopped while trying to access the gym from the locker room without his accreditation.

    “On-site where the players’ area is, is extremely strict,” he said. “Even today, I played obviously five sets, four hours. They wouldn’t let me into the gym because I forgot my credential in the locker room.

    “What are you doing? You’re protecting players from players? That’s not really the whole point. Something like this happens and it takes three, four minutes for somebody to show up.”

    A group behind the protest said pro-Palestinian activists stopped play on multiple courts by dropping the pamphlets and playing loud audio of bombs dropping in Gaza.

    The Israel-Hamas war began with Hamas’ attack in southern Israel on Oct. 7. Palestinian militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took about 250 hostages back to Gaza.

    The Palestinian death toll from the war has soared past 25,000, the Health Ministry in the Gaza Strip said Sunday.

    ___

    AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis

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  • New Criteria for Sepsis in Children Based on Organ Dysfunction

    New Criteria for Sepsis in Children Based on Organ Dysfunction

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    Newswise — Clinician-scientists from Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago were among a diverse, international group of experts tasked by the Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM) with developing and validating new data-based criteria for sepsis in children. Sepsis is a major public heath burden, claiming the lives of over 3.3 million children worldwide every year. The new pediatric sepsis criteria – called the Phoenix criteria – follow the paradigm shift in the recent adult criteria that define sepsis as severe response to infection involving organ dysfunction, as opposed to an earlier focus on systemic inflammation. The new pediatric sepsis criteria and their development are presented in two papers published in JAMA on January 21, 2024, and concurrently announced at the SCCM Critical Care Congress in Phoenix, Arizona.

    “The last pediatric sepsis criteria were developed nearly 20 years ago and were based on expert opinion, whereas the new criteria we derived are based on data from electronic health records and analysis of more than 3 million pediatric healthcare encounters from 10 hospitals around the world, including in low-resource settings,” said lead author of one of the papers L. Nelson Sanchez-Pinto, MD, MBI, critical care physician at Lurie Children’s who co-led the data group of the SCCM task force with Tellen D. Bennett, MD, MS, at the University of Colorado. “We used a machine learning approach to narrow down elements that were most effective in identifying children at high risk of dying from organ dysfunction in the setting of an infection. The criteria we developed rely on four systems – cardiovascular, respiratory, neurological and coagulation. These criteria are better than the old ones at identifying children with infections at higher risk of poor outcomes and are globally applicable, including in low-resource settings.”

    Dr. Sanchez-Pinto is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Preventive Medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, as well as Warren and Eloise Batts Research Scholar at Lurie Children’s. His data-driven work to derive the new sepsis criteria was funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

    The SCCM leadership team that assembled the task force on pediatric sepsis included Lauren Sorce, PhD, RN, CPNP-AC/PC, FCCM, FAAN, Founders’ Board Nurse Scientist and Associate Director of Nursing Research at Lurie Children’s, as well as Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. Dr. Sorce has since been named President of SCCM.

    The pediatric sepsis task force also included Elizabeth Alpern, MD, MSCE, Division Head of Emergency Medicine at Lurie Children’s and Professor of Pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

    Research at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago is conducted through Stanley Manne Children’s Research Institute, which is focused on improving child health, transforming pediatric medicine and ensuring healthier futures through the relentless pursuit of knowledge. Lurie Children’s is a nonprofit organization committed to providing access to exceptional care for every child. It is ranked as one of the nation’s top children’s hospitals by U.S. News & World Report. Lurie Children’s is the pediatric training ground for Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

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  • Mexican Meatball Soup Is Exactly What You Need Right Now

    Mexican Meatball Soup Is Exactly What You Need Right Now

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    So warm, so cozy.
    READ MORE…

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    Marissa Gencarelli

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  • Texas students who took flight with their imaginations rewarded for their creativity

    Texas students who took flight with their imaginations rewarded for their creativity

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    Texas students who took flight with their imaginations rewarded for their creativity – CBS News


    Watch CBS News



    After Sonja White’s first-graders last year told her their one wish was to fly on a plane, she went full throttle on the pretend, creating travel documents and boarding them on their imaginary flight in the classroom. Southwest Airlines took note of their creativity and invited the class to its Dallas headquarters. Steve Hartman has the story in “On the Road.”

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  • Scientists warn 1-in-3 kids with meningitis suffer permanent brain damage

    Scientists warn 1-in-3 kids with meningitis suffer permanent brain damage

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    One in three children who have been diagnosed with bacterial meningitis experience permanent neurological disabilities as a result of the infection, scientists have warned.

    Meningitis causes inflammation in the layers of tissue that surround the brain and spinal cord. The infection can be caused by bacteria or a virus, although the bacterial infection is usually considered to be more dangerous. Indeed, bacterial meningitis can be life-threatening and requires immediate medical attention.

    In the U.S., roughly one in 100,000 people—or roughly 3,000 individuals—are diagnosed with bacterial meningitis every year, according to Boston Children’s Hospital. Many are children.

    Photo of a child in a hospital bed receiving antibiotic treatment for bacterial meningitis. The condition can be life-threatening and, according to new research, can leave one in three of those children infected with permanent brain damage.
    gorodenkoff/Getty

    Even if it is treated effectively with antibiotics, bacterial meningitis can inflict permanent damage on the brain, including hearing loss and neurological issues. And, according to a new study, published in the journal JAMA Network Open, these permanent disabilities affect one in three infected children.

    “When children are affected, the whole family is affected,” Federico Iovino, associate professor in medical microbiology at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden and one of the authors of the current study, said in a statement. “If a 3-year-old child has impaired cognition, a motor disability, impaired or lost vision or hearing, it has a major impact. These are lifelong disabilities that become a major burden for both the individual and society, as those affected need health care support for the rest of their lives.”

    By analyzing data from the Swedish quality register on bacterial meningitis from 1987 to 2021, the team was able to compare over 3,500 cases of childhood infection with just over 32,000 matched controls in the general population. Over a 23-year period, the team saw that those who had been diagnosed with bacterial meningitis were consistently more likely to develop neurological disabilities, such as cognitive impairment, vision or hearing loss, motor impairment, seizures, behavior disorders or structural damage to the head. This equated to one in three individuals who had been infected as children, compared to one in 10 who had not.

    “This shows that even if the bacterial infection is cured, many people suffer from neurological impairment afterwards,” Iovino said.

    This is the first study to assess the burden of bacterial meningitis on populations in this way, the authors say. Using this data, they hope to accelerate research into treatments and prevention strategies for this life-changing infection.

    “We are trying to develop treatments that can protect neurons in the brain during the window of a few days it takes for antibiotics to take full effect,” Iovino said. “We now have very promising data from human neurons and are just entering a preclinical phase with animal models. Eventually, we hope to present this in the clinic within the next few years.”

    Is there a health problem that’s worrying you? Do you have a question about meningitis? Let us know via health@newsweek.com. We can ask experts for advice, and your story could be featured in Newsweek.