The inspiring stories of 45 young heroes who have made an impact on our planet. Forty-five young people from around the world (including twelve from the U.S. and four from Canada) are doing something every day to make the world a better place. They discovered issues that concerned them and did something about it. With skills ranging from singing, drawing, and painting to fund-raising, public demonstrations, and events, they have fought climate change and pollution, and worked to protect animals and their natural habitats. This inspiring book also includes reference materials and suggestions on how readers can get involved.

Children live in rapidly changing times that require them to constantly adapt to new economic, social, and cultural conditions. In this book, a distinguished, interdisciplinary group of scholars explores the issues faced by children in contemporary societies, such as discrimination in school and neighborhoods, the emergence of new family forms, the availability of new communication technologies, and economic hardship, as well as the stresses associated with immigration, war, and famine. The book applies a historical, cultural, and life-course developmental framework for understanding the factors that affect how children adjust to these challenges, and offers a new perspective on how changing historical circumstances alter children's developmental outcomes. It is ideal for researchers and graduate students in developmental and educational psychology or the sociology and anthropology of childhood.

This book deals with the implementation of the rights of the child as enshrined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 21 countries from Europe, Asia, Australia, and the USA. It gives an overview of the legal status of children regarding their most salient rights, such as the implementation of the best interest principle, the right of the child to know about of his/her origin, the right to be heard, to give medical consent, the right of the child in the field of employment, religious education of children, prohibition of physical punishment, protection of the child through deprivation of parental rights and in the case of inter-country adoption. In the last 25 years since the Convention on the Rights of the Child was adopted, many States Parties to the Convention have made great efforts to pass legislation regulating the rights of the child, in their commitment to the improvement of the legal status of the child. However, is that enough for any child to live better, safer, and healthier? What are the practical effects of this international as well as many national instruments in the everyday life of children? Have there been any outcomes in terms of improvement of their status around the world, and improvement of the conditions under which they live, since the Convention entered into force? In tackling these questions, this work presents a comparative overview of the implementation of the Convention, and evaluates the results achieved.

The acclaimed program for fostering empathy and emotional literacy in children—with the goal of creating a more civil society, one child at a time Roots of Empathy—an evidence-based program developed in 1996 by longtime educator and social entrepreneur Mary Gordon—has already reached more than a million children in 14 countries, including Canada, the US, Japan, Australia, and the UK. Now, as The New York Times reports that “empathy lessons are spreading everywhere amid concerns over the pressure on students from high-stakes tests and a race to college that starts in kindergarten,” Mary Gordon explains the value of and how best to nurture empathy and social and emotional literacy in all children—and thereby reduce aggression, antisocial behavior, and bullying.

Tick, tick says the clock; The clock ticks in seconds, in minutes, hours, then onto days and weeks; from weeks to months and then to years; years pass onto centuries; then to millennia. The journey of man, in the same vein, begins from the fetus; then grows to childhood, a young adult and to a full grown individual. Change transcends from conception to the birth; sometimes it is born daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly and yearly but surely it {change} goes on and on. The world changes from the smallest community, continuously like the hand of the clock, sometimes in ways that are unpredictable as to stop the frequency of such a change. The birth and growth of a next generation is paramount and independent of the changes that go on. Therefore, even if the formula for successfully grooming a 3G child in a 3G world may differ, the Principles for breeding a successful and constructive generation should be same regardless of the altitude and magnitude of change - even the methods of application may vary. Serena K. Benson Erondu

Meet the inventive kids who are coming up with ways to save the world in this fascinating, nonfiction Level 3 Ready-to-Read, part of a series of biographies about people “you should meet!” Have you ever wondered what you could do to change the world? Find out how kids are helping the environment, inventing incredible medical devices, aiding the homeless, designing apps so other kids won’t ever have to eat alone in the cafeteria, and more! Learn all about what they’ve come up with and how their ideas are changing lives in this story of four amazing kids everyone should meet! A special section at the back of the book includes extras such as biographies of famous young inventors and contemporary activists plus interesting ideas for other ways that kids can change the world. With the You Should Meet series, learning about amazing people has never been so much fun!

Advice for raising resourceful, resilient, and responsible children--based on the latest child development research. “Success” is a popular buzzword in discussions about children. But instead of prescribing what success looks like for kids, we should be making sure that they develop the skills they will need to become “doers”—people who proactively seek out what they want in life. Raising Can-Do Kids offers parents hands-on, proven ways to raise kids who embrace the uncertain and challenging adventure that is growing up.

This series motivates kids to take charge of their interests, talents, and goals!

Children and youth, regardless of their ethnic backgrounds, are experiencing lifestyle choices their parents never imagined and contributing to the transformation of ideals, traditions, education and adult-child power dynamics. As a result of the advances in technology and media as well as the effects of globalization, the transmission of social and cultural practices from parents to children is changing. Based on a number of qualitative studies, this book offers insights into the lives of children and youth in Britain, Japan, Spain, Israel/Palestine, and Pakistan. Attention is focused on the child's perspective within the social-power dynamics involved in adult-child relations, which reveals the dilemmas of policy, planning and parenting in a changing world.

“On some days your dreams may seem too far away to realize… Listen to the whispers of those that came before...” People throughout history have taken giant steps toward improving the world—but even the smallest step makes a difference. A wonderful and inspiring gift, Giant Steps to Change the World encourages readers to follow in the footsteps of those who came before, to reject fears of inadequacy, and to ponder what they can contribute to society.