Rating: 
Summary: a must read...
Review: a very difficult topic to cover, but one which is broadly researched and well presented.
Rating:
Summary: An Answer To Preventing Violence
Review: Do you know how to prevent child murderers? Is there an end to the cycles of violence that touch our lives - in our neighborhoods and in the news? Wouldn't you like to know there are people that have ways to help prevent this violence? Robin Karr-Morse and Meredith S. Wiley have given us a map to start finding these solutions. If you believe in the future of the children in this country - READ THIS BOOK!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Book, Easy to Read, and Very Informative
Review: Extensive biblography, the book lists programs which its goal is to help prevent violence. It also lists resources which you can contact for -data on the status of children, -infomation on programs that work, -infomation on early brain developemnt & community advocacy and the roles of fathers in child development. The book also go in depth on what factors may cause violence in children and teenagers.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Book, Easy to Read, and Very Informative
Review: Extensive biblography, the book lists programs which its goal is to help prevent violence. It also lists resources which you can contact for -data on the status of children, -infomation on programs that work, -infomation on early brain developemnt & community advocacy and the roles of fathers in child development. The book also go in depth on what factors may cause violence in children and teenagers.
Rating: 
Summary: Certainly, they're not serious?
Review: I used to love this book. The romantic idea of mothers who never left their children to cry, who were kind and smiling and caring all of the time. Happy families who were trully non-violent in every way... So what happened? I had a child of my own. Now I am angry and disgusted that this kind of bull-twad ever got printed in the first place! And by people who claim to be "experts". You see, it appears that in this day and age, the word "expert" has come to mean people who have studied and have some theory in their heads. It doesn't mean they have children of their own, or that they would even know what to do with one! There is a looming problem behind the sugar coated ideas in this book and it's a major one -they don't coincide with the real world that we all live in! Never leave a child to cry? Well just how in the world are you going to accomplish that with any semblence of a sane life intact? Teach your children to be completely non-violence pacifists, that the world is generally a good place and you should always be nice to others? Are you kidding? Why would you lie to your children like that? One only has to go to high school to see how many of these soft, gentle kids wind up killing themselves, because their good menaing parents who taught them nothing but love, forgot to teach them that sometimes you just have to hit back. Perhaps if we taught rage and violence with responsibilty instead of fluffy love and cuddles all the time, our children would be able to survive. I am amazed how many books out there say things like "children can become mixed up with the wrong friends and go astray", or "suicide can happen in any family". Sorry people, but if these things happen in your family, you went horribly wrong. And if you think employing the techniques in this book will raise strong, resillient children who can handle whatever life throws at them -then you'd better think again very logically while looking at the world around you. Do you honestly think we are going to fix violence in the school-yard by being afraid of violence? In this book they talk about the biological changes in the minds of chidlren as they grow up. Aparantly if you leave your child alone their brain structure changes to become less receptive to fear. What this book fails to ask is that if this change in brain structure of a baby adapting to its environoment is really a bad thing. Yes, my child is less receptive to fear, but then again that's what I wanted. A child that is not so nervous and afraid -one that I know will be able to survive one day when I am not around. It is certainly true that babies can become biologically harder, but this is a desireable thing for the world we live in. How about writing a book on the brain changes of children who are brought up so unrealistically soft, and how they have become receptive to every little tweek and push? Also the focus on 0-3 years as the all important part of someone's life is horrible. The rest of your life doesn't matter? So people, if you had a bad toddeller-hood, give up, because it's been hard-wired into your brain and you have no hope? What a horribly limiting context they have place the human spirit in! While this book rattles on about how bad post-natal depression is, does anybody bother to mention that applying such self-sacrificing tactics with your children will make you more likely to get depressed? You see people have bee raising children for thousands of years. Do we just ignore their advice because some new-fad psychologists have come along with a theory that didn't exist twenty years ago and wont exists in twenty years time? You see in reality, if you bash and rape your kids, they will probably be violent and agressive individuals (who still have hope of finding happiness), but if you let your kids scream to sleep every night, you will only end up with a 3 month old that can sleep through the night. Enough said.
Rating:
Summary: Does this realy happen?
Review: I was assigned to read this book for a college class and I began reading it before the class even started. I have been reading the book at night before I go to bed, and I cant up it down. It has been the best book I have ever read.
Rating:
Summary: Should be required reading for all parents to be
Review: I wish I could praise this book enough. I stayed up very late many nights because of the compelling content. All people considering having children should read this book to make them better parent BEFORE the fact. It simply confirmed everything that I "knew" in my heart... we need to intervene with our children from the moment we even consider having sex... and also that we need to totally re-vision what we want our society to be. At the rate we are going, we will sink faster than the Titanic and the toll will be greater than we could ever imagine.
Rating:
Summary: A Monumental Book
Review: If there is one book that could potentially change the direction of public policy regarding children's issues, this could be it. The authors delve into recent research into brain development. They presents their findings in a clear, understandable form. This research is then associated with what this means to our society. A case study, regarding a 16 year old boy who murdered an 84 year old man, weaves its way through the book so readers can relate the data to a real person.
This book examines how recent studies using PET and MRI scans and other methods allow us to better understand the human brain. Most of the crucial brain development occurs before a child reaches three years old. During those years, the human brain is programmed to adapt to its environment. Frontal lobe activity can be stimulated by parental involvement. A lack of this activity can lead to lifelong depressed behavior. What a baby is exposed to, or not exposed to, determines how the brain forms and how the brain is apt to operate for the rest of life.
A child who does not find empathy by the age of three is likely to have difficulty showing empathy towards others. A person without consideration for others has a much greater tendency to drift towards anti-social behavior such as violent crime. A baby growing up in a withdrawn or hostile environment may begin life at a signficant disadvantage.
The policy debate this creates is enormous. "Liberals" may call for taking steps to see that babies' brains are properly stimulated during the critical formulative years. Outreach programs to pregnant women and families with babies should provide information on good parenting techniques. There should be high quality child care with programs that stimulate babies' brain developments. Early education opportunities should reach the pre-school age. "Conservatives" may call for getting families to focus more of their energies on their children.
This is a fascinating book. Anyone interested in children should learn much from this book.
Rating:
Summary: A Monumental Book
Review: If there is one book that could potentially change the direction of public policy regarding children's issues, this could be it. The authors delve into recent research into brain development. They presents their findings in a clear, understandable form. This research is then associated with what this means to our society. A case study, regarding a 16 year old boy who murdered an 84 year old man, weaves its way through the book so readers can relate the data to a real person.
This book examines how recent studies using PET and MRI scans and other methods allow us to better understand the human brain. Most of the crucial brain development occurs before a child reaches three years old. During those years, the human brain is programmed to adapt to its environment. Frontal lobe activity can be stimulated by parental involvement. A lack of this activity can lead to lifelong depressed behavior. What a baby is exposed to, or not exposed to, determines how the brain forms and how the brain is apt to operate for the rest of life.
A child who does not find empathy by the age of three is likely to have difficulty showing empathy towards others. A person without consideration for others has a much greater tendency to drift towards anti-social behavior such as violent crime. A baby growing up in a withdrawn or hostile environment may begin life at a signficant disadvantage.
The policy debate this creates is enormous. "Liberals" may call for taking steps to see that babies' brains are properly stimulated during the critical formulative years. Outreach programs to pregnant women and families with babies should provide information on good parenting techniques. There should be high quality child care with programs that stimulate babies' brain developments. Early education opportunities should reach the pre-school age. "Conservatives" may call for getting families to focus more of their energies on their children.
This is a fascinating book. Anyone interested in children should learn much from this book.
Rating:
Summary: Dangerous assumptions
Review: Not too long ago, public hangings were a popular form of family entertainment. Arguments between friends or neighbours frequently resulted in murders. Most children had seen a person die, and disease claimed many lives. Wars were rampant.
Now we have these "experts" arise from their university degrees and tell us that the world is degrading into violence and disorder. Certainly if they have looked a little further than their own insecurities, they would realise that we actually live in a much safer world than we ever did! The "good old days" were not actually as good as these people seem to think they were, and we are at much less risk of violence than any other era.
Never before has a civilisation been so obsessed with violence, and their fear of it. In the past, it was accepted as part of life. But now we warn parents and their children to fear themselves and their own capabilities. This is ludicrous.
50 years ago, we had war. In many countries of the world, the slaughter continues, and here we are, afraid because our children are killing video game charaters! A few rare children shoot up their schools and we call this an epidemic! Disturbed children have always existed and always will. This is life, and we can't promote fear all over a nation because of a few highly damaged individuals.
I find the notion that a mother who does not smile enough at her child, or who smacks her children, or who allows them to cry to sleep, is creating a child who will kill others, a complete joke. The fact that it is even suggested is outragous. If these social workers and their ilk are so concerned about saving lives, why don't they direct their efforts at the things in the world that really are devastating. Children in the world are victims or wars, rape and real atrocities, yet these psychologists continue to beat around the bush and blame TV and games for violence, when they could be concerntrating on things that really matter.
Underneath the soft words and thoughtless approach though, lies a more serious element. To make our future children so afraid by labelling them defenceless and installing the fear of violence in them, we are only creating children who feel powerless and weak. And we all know that children who feel weak and inadequate are much more likely to become violent or suicidal than confident ones. These social workers are inflicting their own troubled pasts and fears on the future generations.
This book is a joke. And it might be a very dangerous one indeed.
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