Hurricane Preparedness: How To Keep Your Kids Safe and Calm

Posted on September 13, 2018

As we get into Hurricane season, parents and caregivers to talk to their children about hurricanes and take immediate steps to keep kids safe. Save the Children is the national leader for children in emergencies offers tips:

Prepare Your Kids Now for a Hurricane

Talk about the Hurricane Take time to explain to your children that a hurricane is a natural event and not anyone’s fault. Using simple, age-appropriate words and explanations about what disasters are or what happened during a disaster can give them a sense of understanding and control. Let them know your top priority is to keep them safe.
Reassure Kids: Let your children know you’re planning ahead to keep them safe. Reassure them that during an emergency, many caring adults — including parents, teachers and first responders — will be working to keep them safe.
Identify Evacuation Routes: Find out if you live in Hurricane Lane’s evacuation area, and assess your risks from a storm surge, flooding or wind damage. Together with your kids, identify the best evacuation routes, so you can all be ready to evacuate quickly and safely.
Fill out Contact Cards: Make Emergency Contact Cards for all your children, which include three emergency contacts that any first responder or caregiver can reach out to, in case you are separated during the hurricane. Since local power and phone service can be disrupted during emergencies, it’s also important to have one out-of-town contact. Practice learning these numbers with your children.
Pack a ‘Go-Bag’: Put together a “Go Bag” with each of your children, which can include a favorite stuffed animal and the comforts of home, as well as an emergency contact card and activities to pass the time, like books or games, if you need to evacuate to a shelter. Every family should also have an emergency preparedness kit, complete with nonperishable food items, a flash light, medicine and other medical supplies, water and personal hygiene items like baby wipes and hand sanitizer.

What to Do During Hurricane Lane

Evacuate If Instructed To Do So: Evacuate if told to do so by local authorities, or if you feel unsafe. If advised to evacuate, avoid flooded roads and watch for washed-out bridges. Local officials may close certain roads, especially near the coast, when effects of the hurricane reach the coast.
Stay Indoors, If Not Evacuated: If you are not advised to evacuate, or are unable to do so safely, stay indoors, away from windows, skylights and doors. Continue to monitor weather reports and do not go outside until the storm has passed.

What to Do After Hurricane Lane

Limit Media Exposure: Protect children from seeing too many sights and images of the hurricane, including those on the internet, television or newspapers.
Ensure Utilities Are Available: Before children are returned to areas impacted by Hurricane Lane, make sure utilities, such as electricity and plumbing, are restored and living and learning spaces in homes, schools, and child care facilities are free from physical and environmental hazards.
Involve Children In Recovery: After a hurricane, let children help in clean-up and recovery efforts in age-appropriate ways, as this participation may increase their sense of control over the situation.

Godspeed, Parents!

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News

International Day of the Girl Aims to End Sad Stats of Girls, Globally

Posted on October 12, 2017

October 11 is the International Day of the Girl, a campaign launched by the United Nations dedicated to highlighting barriers and empowering girls to reach their full potential.

It is a movement meant to bring attention to advocacy projects and initiatives around the world to promote the education, safety and security of young girls globally.

Specifically, the mission is “to help galvanize worldwide enthusiasm for goals to better girls’ lives, providing an opportunity for them to show leadership and reach their full potential.”

On this day, activist groups come together under the same goal to highlight, discuss, and take action to advance rights and opportunities for girls everywhere.

It’s also a national day of action to elevate awareness of gender justice and youth rights.

In 2015 when leaders signed up to the UN Sustainable Development Goals – the Global Goals – they made a promise – to empower all girls.

Although there has been progress, the Global Goals campaign call for keeping the pressure on world leaders deliver and every girl grows up healthy, safe, empowered and able to fulfill her dreams.

Also to coincide with the day, the Save the Children nonprofit released a study which revealed that biased views on the value of girls and their roles within the classroom and society begin to show as early as fourth grade. The global humanitarian organization surveyed boys and girls in the United States and the West African nations of Sierra Leone and Côte d’Ivoire and found that a striking number of young boys – and even many girls – believe fathers rule the household, boys are smarter than girls and girls need less school than boys.

“Girls are worth far more than what the world tells them,” Carolyn Miles, president & CEO of Save the Children of the data which found, among other things, that 17 percent of American fourth graders believing a man would make a better boss than a woman. “Globally, we know that girls are more likely than boys to miss out on school, experience violence and live in poverty. That is why we need to invest in their education and do everything possible to delay early marriage and motherhood. By providing children equal opportunities and access to learning, every girl can realize what she’s truly worth.”

In 2017, girls around the world are still frequently marginalized in their families, communities and societies because of who they are or where they were born. They face discrimination, lack equal opportunities and earn less money – their lives and futures aren’t given the value they deserve. Save the Children’s analysis revealed that a girl under 15 is married every seven seconds.

Also, to commemorate this annual day, 30-year old Oxford University graduate, director MJ Delaney teamed up with Project Everyone in partnership with UNICEF and the Bill & Melinda Gates, to create a new video to raise awareness of the #FreedomForGirls campaign which has been created to support Inernational Day of the Girl

The video features girls from all walks of life and different nations around the globe dancing and lip-syncing to Beyonce’s song, “Freedom’”. The Group also calls for action on some of the biggest challenges girls face like access to education, child marriage and the threat of violence”.

Last year, the group asked people to share #WhatIReallyReallyWant for girls and women – this year it wants everyone to raise their voice for freedom.

WATCH THE CAMPAIGN’s VIDEO

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Tips

5 Hurricane Irma Prep Tips For Families

Posted on September 8, 2017

Hurricane Irma has just tore through many Carribbean islands and disaster recovery effort there is underway. The dangerous storm is heading toward the Southeast United States.

Parents and caregivers who live in the impact area should talk to their children about the hurricane and take immediate steps to keep them safe.

Here are our tips for parents from the folks at Save The Children:

Prepare Your Kids Now for Hurricane Irma

1. Talk about Hurricane Irma: Take time to explain to your children that a hurricane is a natural event and not anyone’s fault. Using simple, age-appropriate words and explanations about what disasters are or what happened during a disaster can give them a sense of understanding and control. Let them know your top priority is to keep them safe.

2. Reassure Kids They will be Safe: Let your children know you’re planning ahead to keep them safe. Reassure them that during an emergency, many caring adults — including parents, teachers and first responders — will be working to keep them safe.

3. Identify Evacuation Routes: Find out if you live in Hurricane Irma’s evacuation area, and assess your risks from a storm surge, flooding or wind damage. Together with your kids, identify the best evacuation routes, so many you can all be ready to evacuate quickly and safely. Keep up-to-date with weather reports, evacuate if instructed to do so, and stay away from windows or doors if you cannot evacuate safely.

4. Fill out ICE Cards: Make In Case of Emergency (ICE) Cards for all your children, which include three emergency contacts that any first responder or caregiver can reach out to, in case you are separated during the hurricane. Since local power and phone service can be disrupted during emergencies, it’s also important to have one out-of-town contact. Practice learning these numbers with your children.

5. Pack a ‘Go-Bag’: Put together a “Go Bag” with each of your children, which can include a favorite stuffed animal and the comforts of home, as well as an ICE Card and activities to pass the time, like books or games, if you need to evacuate to a shelter. Every family should also have an emergency preparedness kit, complete with nonperishable food items, a flash light, medicine and other medical supplies, water and personal hygiene items like baby wipes and hand sanitizer.

You can learn more about preparing your kids for emergencies at Save The Children.

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BumpNews

DC’s infant mortality rate is among highest and lowest worldwide depending on zipcode

Posted on May 7, 2015

During the uprisings in Baltimore in recent days, those from the wealthy parts of that city said they could not relate to the struggles of Baltimore City residents protesting in the streets.

They live in different worlds though their located minutes apart.

Similarly, down the street in Washington, DC, children born in its poorest section, Ward 8, are about 10 times more likely to die than those born in the wealthiest area.

Those findings can be found in Save the Children’s 16th annual Mothers’ Index assesses the well-being of mothers and children in 179 countries showing where they fare best and where they face the greatest hardships.

When comparing world capitals, Washington DC ranked among the highest in infant mortality rate compared to other capital cities in wealthy countries, mainly because there is a high birth rate in the poorest parts of the city and a high infant mortality rate.

But the richest Wards rank among the world cities with the lowest infant mortality rate.

Ward 3 had just 1.2 deaths per 1,000 in 2012, ranked among cities like Tokyo and Stockholm, Meanwhile, the birth rate in Ward 8 is 24 babies died in 2012 compared to only one in Ward 8.

This shocking conclusion is why this video released by Save The Children to bring awareness to the disparity even locally is on point. WATCH!

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