I have been out of touch from NPR the last few days (a good thing for my blood pressure), so I don't know if they did any coverage of that bombshell UN report on children's wellbeing (Linked here): http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/blogs/thelede/posts/ChildPovertyReport.pdf
The results show the US and UK dead last, while the welfare-statist Scandinavians, Netherlands and Spain were all at the top. (I absolutely love Amsterdam, BTW).
It's not that developed welfare states necessarily have happier children, says David Parker of UNICEF.
"I think what we know from history in the U.S.," Parker says, "is that it's not necessarily how the welfare is provided but the nature of the support. One of the key things is that the role of government is important, but the entire society must have at its heart the idea of improving child well-being."
Overall, the story was fair, imo. But it wasn't in-depth at all.
Thanks, Kevan. And semi-kudos to Rob Gifford (must remember to follow his byline in the future). The report was skimpy, as you say. But at least it was mentioned. The New York Times has yet to give this story an inch. As someone who works in public health, I just want to throw up my hands and say, "What's the use?" We Americans love to preach about how "children are our future" and "no child left behind". Then when we get a report measuring just how poorly we're doing as compared to our peer countries, what do we hear from our newspaper of record?...crickets. Grrrrrr!!
In 1960 I spent 4th grade in the Netherlands (outside Lewiden). We didn't have the same level of comfort as in the US, but it was really my happiest childhood year. No TV, didn't miss it a bit. All the kids were rambunxious, we rode bikes everywhere, all the kids had pocket knives, with which we played at school, for which you'd get a police record here. In the most densly populated country on earth, it you were screwing up, some old woman would scream out of an upstairs window: You kids cut that out! It was truly a wonderful place to be a child.
My name is Matthew Murrey and I'm from Florida, but have been living in the Midwest since 1984. I started this blog because no one else was blogging NPR's drift toward the right - and it made more sense than yelling at the radio.
"Q Tips" is an open thread post where you can place general comments or brief notes about NPR.
Comment Guidelines
I make every effort not to interfere with comments - BUT I will generally delete violent, gratuitously vulgar, or obscene posts. I realize it can be a subjective judgment call. Even when you're really angry, try to play nice.
5 comments:
I have been out of touch from NPR the last few days (a good thing for my blood pressure), so I don't know if they did any coverage of that bombshell UN report on children's wellbeing (Linked here):
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/blogs/thelede/posts/ChildPovertyReport.pdf
The results show the US and UK dead last, while the welfare-statist Scandinavians, Netherlands and Spain were all at the top. (I absolutely love Amsterdam, BTW).
What, if anything did NPR say?
Sorry the link was too long to show in one line. Here it is again:
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/
images/blogs/thelede/
posts/ChildPovertyReport.pdf
Mr. Taco, NPR had this:
http://tinyurl.com/3b7xyz
There was one "rebuttal":
It's not that developed welfare states necessarily have happier children, says David Parker of UNICEF.
"I think what we know from history in the U.S.," Parker says, "is that it's not necessarily how the welfare is provided but the nature of the support. One of the key things is that the role of government is important, but the entire society must have at its heart the idea of improving child well-being."
Overall, the story was fair, imo. But it wasn't in-depth at all.
Thanks, Kevan. And semi-kudos to Rob Gifford (must remember to follow his byline in the future). The report was skimpy, as you say. But at least it was mentioned. The New York Times has yet to give this story an inch. As someone who works in public health, I just want to throw up my hands and say, "What's the use?" We Americans love to preach about how "children are our future" and "no child left behind". Then when we get a report measuring just how poorly we're doing as compared to our peer countries, what do we hear from our newspaper of record?...crickets. Grrrrrr!!
In 1960 I spent 4th grade in the Netherlands (outside Lewiden). We didn't have the same level of comfort as in the US, but it was really my happiest childhood year. No TV, didn't miss it a bit. All the kids were rambunxious, we rode bikes everywhere, all the kids had pocket knives, with which we played at school, for which you'd get a police record here. In the most densly populated country on earth, it you were screwing up, some old woman would scream out of an upstairs window: You kids cut that out! It was truly a wonderful place to be a child.
Post a Comment