Football-related concussions and their long-term health effects are a topic of controversy and a focus of sports journalism. Players at all levels, from high school to professional, frequently suffer mild brain injuries, despite helmet innovations and rules instituted to discourage certain kinds of helmet-to-helmet contact.
Estimates of the prevalence of childhood depression range from 1% to 2% of all children in the United States, and for adolescents this figure may be as high as 8%. While public awareness of this issue is growing, the long-term economic costs of childhood psychological trauma are largely unknown.
The U.N. Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, one of the “Palermo protocols” adopted in 2000, was an attempt by the international community to address the growing problem of human trafficking. Since then, significant national and international resources have been devoted to its enforcement.
Obesity presents serious health risks at all ages, but is particularly worrisome in children and youth. In addition to having a greater chance of becoming obese in adulthood, obese children and adolescents are also more likely to contract cardiovascular diseases compared to their peers.
The concept of merit pay in education is simple enough: Bonuses are given to educators who succeed at their jobs based on agreed-upon criteria, which can include the results of standardized tests, evaluations or other measures. Merit pay has received support as part of the federal “Race to the Top” initiative, and a number of state and local efforts have included such programs. As with many education reform initiatives, however, criticism isn’t lacking.
Since the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan and the 2003 start of the Iraq war, hundreds of thousands of U.S. soldiers have served increasingly long and difficult deployments overseas. Beyond the physical risks troops face, their absence can have significant negative impacts on family members.
