Step 5: Final Draft

The Sooner, The Better

Providing All Children With an Earlier, Quality Start, Will Guarantee a More Prosperous Future.

Our nation is making a tragic mistake. Insufficient funding for early childhood programs is creating a downward spiral in our society. This great nation’s future hangs in the balance, and ignoring the problem will only devastate America’s future even more. State and federally funded programs offer children early learning opportunities. By providing children with the tools they need to be successful, America will reap the benefits sooner than one would expect. Although additional funding for early childhood programs would require more money from taxpayers, assisting these non-profit programs would be beneficial because it would educate parents, help children with special needs, offer quality preschool education to every child, and help our economy by increasing employment rates.

Parent education is vital to healthy child development and success. The majority of parents have no prior child development experience or education. Parents as Teachers is a national organization dedicated to educating parents. It provides parents with tools and resources necessary to raise a healthy child. The Parents as Teachers parent educators are specially trained in a child’s development from ages 0-5. They conduct monthly home visits and assess the child’s physical, cognitive and social development by interacting with the parent and child. They educate and provide parents with printouts of ideas and activities that help their child be successful in every area of development.

Programs such as Parents as Teachers give children a better chance in life. Many important opportunities are missed by families who do not participate in programs such as this one. Some children have developmental delays that are not recognized until they are enrolled in school at 5 years of age or even later. Parents as Teachers educators are trained in recognizing delays, and if diagnosed at an early age, may aid in preventing a child from being put in special education programs later in life ("What is...").

A study performed by Edward Zigler, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology; Judy Pfannenstiel, M.A., President and Senior Research Associate; and Victoria Seitz, Ph.D., Research Scientist, proves that the Parents as Teachers (PAT) program aids children in school readiness. The PAT program has proven many beneficial results. It has shown to aid in the overall relationship between parent and child by training parents in positive “parenting practices.” Furthermore, younger siblings born later also benefited from the good parenting characteristics taught by the program (Zigler 3, 16).

Additionally, the longer the duration of PAT program participation, the better the results showed in overall success for involved families. This is also due to the fact that parent participants were oftentimes more likely introducing books to their children than non-participants. Parents were also more likely to register their child for a Pre-K learning program, which better prepared them for kindergarten and overall school readiness (Zigler 8). All the benefits, of this federally funded program, have been thoroughly researched and proven by experts. More importantly, many families' lives have been touched by this program. However, the PAT program is in need of additional funds, because many families are placed on a waiting list when trying to join the program. There just aren't enough parent educators to fill the demand.

A child’s brain develops and learns through involvement and exposure to different life experiences. The more a young child is actively involved and participating in repetitive learning activities, the stronger the brain will be and develop (Gonzales 95). The first three to five years of a child's life is the most optimal time for learning. A child’s brain grows at a tremendous rate in the first three years of life. In that short amount of time, a child’s brain has already produced billions of cells and has had trillions of synapses, or brain connections. In fact, in all the years of a human’s life, the brain is most active in the very beginning. There are many factors in a baby's brain development, and it starts from the time of conception. Once a baby is born, environment plays a huge role in brain development. Additionally, proper nutrition is also an important aspect of strong brain growth ("When Is..."). So many different things affect a young child's development, and this is the best time to teach, when the brain is so pliable.

According to The National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families, a child’s brain grows at an enormous rate in the first five years of life. In fact, the brain grows to about 90 percent of an adult size by its 5th birthday ("When Is..."). Knowing this, why does the public school system wait until a child is five years old to begin funding the teaching and learning process? If a child’s brain grows and learns the best in the first five years of life, then we should assume that would be the best time to educationally enrich it.

A small child's brain yields more brain connections than is required for normal function. Real life moments are what develop synapses. The brain eventually regulates itself and the amount of synapses it needs are dependent on past activity. It will "prune" synapses that aren't frequently utilized (Gonzales 95). Now we can better understand the importance of early learning experiences and how they really do affect the brain's development process. The more educational experiences children are exposed to, the more the brain can fully adjust and take in.

Some organizations believe that everything aside from the current public school education system should be parent, not government, responsibility. Government funding of early childhood programs has its opposition. The opponents of more government funding have a completely different philosophy on the topic of early educational learning programs. They do not believe that early education is helping all children, and if not all the children are being uplifted by these programs, they don’t feel that public funding should be implemented. Furthermore, many opponents are afraid that early childhood programs, such as head start, or universal preschool, could become mandatory for every child.

One example is Darcy Olsen, President and CEO of the Goldwater Institute, and opponent of additional government funding of early education programs. She believes that early education makes little difference for “main stream children.” Her philosophy is that, in most cases, only lower income children will ultimately benefit from a universal preschool system (2). Olsen's focus seems to be mainly on children from middle income-earning families. Furthermore, Darcy Olsen is against government funded full day kindergarten. She argues that it isn't benefiting a wide enough spectrum of children to warrant a full time program (8).

Universal preschool education would not just benefit children who have special needs. Experts in the field of education have recognized the benefits for all children, even those who don’t come from less fortunate households. Gifted children come from all types of backgrounds, including higher income families. According to James Gallagher, an exceptional and gifted child educator, early education settings are a good way to recognize children who are becoming uninterested with typical preschool activities (231). This would be a chance to discover and recognize a gifted child at an earlier age. Recognizing a gifted child prevents a child from missed learning opportunities and becoming uninterested in school.

John Stossel, Catherine Brosseau, and Andrew Kirell with ABC News recently reported on a story called: Universal Pre-K: This Whole Thing Is a Scam. Does Free Preschool for Every Child Deserve Taxpayer Money? The story was based on the many people who side against government funded preschool education and the waste of money involved. The story participants are convinced that families can do a better job with their kids than potential government funded programs (Stossel). Some believe that if the current public school system has failed the nation’s children, they have little faith that government funded Pre-K will be any better. In their opinion, this is a waste of tax payer dollars.

The economical benefits alone are more than enough to warrant early learning programs (Heckman 449). The benefits of universal preschool are exceedingly great. With an earlier start at education, there will be lower high school dropout rates, more jobs, and a high return rate for the taxpayers (Oppenheim 9-16). In effect, investing in programs that give children an earlier start at their education will cause a dramatic decline in crime rates, and cause less people to be dependent on public assistance programs such as cash assistance and food stamps. In addition, the children who get an earlier, quality start in school will be more likely to succeed. The overall need of dependency-based, government funded programs will be eliminated.

Linda Jacobson, editor for Education Week, reviewed a study performed in Chicago twenty years ago. She found that the economical return was ten times the amount originally invested in the children it was meant to benefit. Society earned the benefits by keeping kids out of jail and in school later on in their lives (8). The economical benefits are boundless, and this has been proven in this article. By investing in children at a young age, society will bring in the benefits in a vast amount of ways in the future. By neglecting a child’s education when he is best able to learn, our society is neglecting our nation in the long run. As James Heckman so brilliantly describes it, "Early learning begets later learning and early success breeds later success. (3)"

A good example of success for early childhood intervention programs proves true in Texas. The state's public, state funded Pre-K system started in 1984, and today has the highest rate of young participants of all states (“State Profiles”). In recent years, Texas started a new method for early childhood educators to measure and assess Pre-K skills for their students. Prior to the new program there were a lot of bugs in the system. With the new grading plan in place, they were able to see which skills were important to help prepare students for the eventual 3rd grade state-wide assessment tests, and to see which expectations in Pre-K were important for future school success. Experts began to see how vital early education was for their district (Brown 3). More states should take the initiative that Texas and many others have, and implement a state funded Pre-K program within the public school system.

Prevention is the key. The current education system is not working. Real evidence proves that a child’s brain is the most active and capable of learning in the first 5 years of its life. Government funding for an earlier start is not only a desire for our nation’s children, but a necessity. Educating parents and recognizing learning disabilities at an earlier age are vital for family and academic achievement. By giving them a head start in the right direction, the benefits for our society will be limitless. Economic crisis or not, if this nation wants to prevent any more economical decline, it’s got to start with the little people. They are the future. Let’s invest in them.







Works Cited





Brown, Christopher, Mowry, Brian. "Preparing for Change: A Case Study of Successful Alignment Between a Pre-K Program and K-12 Education." Childhood Education 85.3 (2009): 173-178. ProQuest Education Journals. ProQuest. UAF. Rasmuson Library. Fairbanks, AK.. 3 Apr. 2009 http://www.proquest.com/


Gallagher, J James. "Another Opportunity-Preschool Education. " Roeper Review 29.4 (2007): 231. ProQuest Education Journals. ProQuest. UAF. Rasmuson Library. Fairbanks, AK.. 7 Mar. 2009 http://www.proquest.com/


Gonzalez-Mena, Janet. Eyer, Widmeyer Dianne. Infants, Toddlers, and Caregivers: A Curriculum of Respectful, Responsive Care and Education. 8th Ed. Boston: McGrawHill, 2009.

Heckman, James J. “Invest in the Very Young.” Ounce of Prevention Fund. (2002): 1-9. First Search. ERIC. UAF. Rasmuson Library. Fairbanks. AK. 26 April 2009. http://www.eric.ed.gov/

Heckman, James J., and Dimitriy V. Masterov. "The Productivity Argument for Investing in Young Children." Review of Agricultural Economics 29.3 (Fall 2007): 446-493. Business Source Premier. EBSCO. Rasmuson Library, Fairbanks, AK. 2 Apr. 2009 http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=buh&AN=25654170&site=ehost-live.

Jacobson, Linda. "Pre-K Offers Economic Value Into Adulthood, Study Finds." Education Week. 11 Jun 2008: 8. ProQuest Education Journals. ProQuest. UAF. Rasmuson Library. Fairbanks, AK.. 7 Mar. 2009. http://www.proquest.com/en-US/


Oppenheim, Jerrold, MacGregor, Theo. "The Economics of Education: Public Benefits of High-Quality Preschool Education for Low-Income Children. Building Communities for Change.” Arkansas Advocates for Children & Families. (Nov. 2002): 1-32. First Search. ERIC. UAF Rasmuson Library, Fairbanks, AK. 5 Mar. 2009 http://www.eric.ed.gov/


Olsen, Darcy. “Assessing Proposals for Preschools and Kindergarten: Essential Information for Parents, Taxpayers, and Policymakers.” Goldwater Institute. Policy Report #201. (8 Feb. 2005.): 1-43. Mar. 2009 http://www.goldwaterinstitute.org/AboutUs/ArticleView.aspx?id=920

"State Profiles: Texas." Pre-K Now. 3 April 2009. http://www.preknow.org/resource/profiles/texas.cfm

Stossel John, Brosseau Catherine, and Kirell Andrew. “Universal PreK: This Whole Thing Is a Scam.” ABC News. 13 March 2009. http://abcnews.go.com/2020/Stossel/story?id=7070646&page=1
“What Is Parents as Teachers.” Parents as Teachers National Center. 30 March 2009. http://www.parentsasteachers.org/site/pp.asp?c=ekIRLcMZJxE&b=272093



“When Is the Brain Fully Developed? FAQ’s” ZERO TO THREE: National Center for Infants, Toddlers and Families. 5 Mar. 2009 http://www.zerotothree.org/site/PageServer?pagename=ter_key_brainFAQ


Zigler Edward, Pfannenstielv Judy and Seitz Victoria. “The Parents as Teachers Program and School Success: A Replication and Extension." The Journal of Primary Prevention. (March 2008) 29. 103-120. SpringerLink. UAF Rasmuson Library. Fairbanks, AK. 19 March 2009. http://www.springerlink.com

Week 12 - Essay #3 Final Draft

How Green Can Fairbanks Be?
Reducing and Recycling Waste- One Tin Can at a Time.

The Oberlin College Recycling Program's website states that, "In a lifetime, the average American will throw away 600 times his/her adult weight in garbage. If you add it up, this means that a 150-lb. adult will leave a legacy of 90,000 lbs of trash for his/her children." That is a scary fact. And waste is becoming prevalent in many areas of the Fairbanks North Star Borough. Local residents should be reducing and recycling their garbage in efforts to prevent waste. Recycling sites need to be available in a variety of accessible areas, such as transfer sites; however, local transfer sites are not offering enough recycling options for patrons. Although the city of Fairbanks has a current recycling program, local dump sites should have more visible, dedicated recycling areas because it would prevent the waste of recyclable items, encourage more people to recycle, and aid in local recycling awareness.

The Fairbanks North Star Borough has a total of fourteen transfer sites. These dump sites are made available for borough residents to dispose their garbage and reusable items. Each location has a general area for reusable items. On the Fairbanks North Star Borough’s Solid Waste Division’s website: brush, metal, batteries, used oil, aluminum, and propane are the items they offer for disposal and recycling. ("Transfer Sites") According to ILACSD.org, the following items should be recycled: aluminum cans, steel cans, corrugated cardboard, white office paper, mixed paper, glass, newspaper, plastic, appliances/electronics, motor oil, and miscellaneous items such as tires. ("Recyclable Items")

Alaska landfills are becoming overgrown with reusable items. Fairbanks area residents are missing a great opportunity. By not having enough recycling options at local dump sites, a mountainous amount of waste is being produced. Each reuse area should offer options to recycle every item on the ILACSD.org’s list. If borough residents are offered more recycling choices at each transfer site, less waste will be produced, and more items will be recycled. None of the FNSB transfer sites offer containers for paper, newspaper, plastic, cardboard, or glass. All are highly used items amongst all borough residents. By offering a few additional bins, the borough would be preventing a tremendous amount of waste, and possibly create a few jobs in the process.

For more convenience and better collection possibilities, the Fairbanks North Star Borough community should invest in heavy duty, outdoor multi-sort containers to encourage regular recycling. These containers should be placed at each transfer site and emptied as much as needed to allow for more recyclables. After close observation, maintenance workers can decide how often the containers should be emptied. Some sites may require more attention than others. This would all depend on local traffic in an out of the transfer site. In every recyclable area there should be a sign posted with a customer service contact number. This will give residents an opportunity to let waste services know if the area needs attention.

Many Fairbanks residents don’t know where or how to recycle. Some may know how, but going out of their way seems like more of an inconvenience. Instead of wasting everyday household items, offering additional recyclable containers at local transfer sites would encourage more people to waste less. This would also be the perfect approach to take common excuses away from the average trash dumper. With more recycling options, most typical excuses would be eliminated.

Local awareness is vital for recycling success. Additional signs and advertisements should be placed at the transfer sites and other busy areas around town to aid in local awareness. Advertisements can be placed in local papers to help inform borough residents of the newly available recycling containers. Educating the public of the importance of recycling, and the consequences of not, is vital to local awareness and waste prevention. Once this begins, routines and habits will change. Recycling will become tradition amongst most families. Children will witness their caregiver’s recycling acts. In some families, younger members will even have the opportunity to aid in the recycling process, which will change the way of life for future generations. Recycling awareness is an important part of implementing a new recycling culture.

Just like one-stop shops around the Fairbanks area, transfer sites should be a one-stop shop for waste management. How can we expect people to start recycling, while the current system is not practical enough? Fairbanks area residents should not have to travel to 10 different locations just to recycle their garbage. It shouldn't be so difficult to go green.

Local transfer sites must meet the new demands of our world, and become more eco-friendly. Once the option to recycle is available for all items, residents will be more likely to utilize the newly available options. Active recycling may not take off right away, but eventually local awareness will spread and recycling will become a way of life for all borough residents. Fairbanks can feel confident that it’s doing its part in helping the environment, preventing waste, and starting a culture of waste prevention.

Works Cited

"Recycling Facts." Oberlin College Recycling Program. 30 Mar. 2009http://www.oberlin.edu/recycle/facts.html

“Recyclable Items.” ILACSD.ORG. 30 Mar. 2009 http://ilacsd.org/recycle/r_items.php

“Transfer Sites Recycling/Disposal Opportunities.” Fairbanks North Star Borough. 30 Mar. 2009 http://co.fairbanks.ak.us/SolidWaste/Default.htm

Week 11 - Step 4 Workshop for Elizabeth Allen

Workshop for Part 4
(Same questions as for draft #1)
Overall1. What do you like best about the paper?

I really like the fact that I learned so much. I also like how much detail and examples she has put in to it.

2. Email the author and ask for one particular concern that s/he had about the draft. Examine that area and see if you can offer the author helpful suggestions.
Elizabeth was a little concerned about her sources and when she is supposed to cite them.

Thesis3. Does the author clearly express his/her opinion of the topic in the thesis? What argument does the thesis make?

Even with all its benefits, nuclear power is not a safe alternative.

4. What group of people agrees with the author?

Those who are against nuclear power.

What group disagrees with the author?

Those who are in favor of nuclear power.

5. Does the paper have an argumentative thesis statement using ALTHOUGH and BECAUSE?
Yes, at the end of the first paragraph.

Content6. On a scale of 1 to 10, how interesting did you find this paper to read? Be brutally honest! (Friends don’t let friend turn in boring essays!)

I found Elizabeth’s 2nd draft much more interesting than the first one. I would give her a 7 on the interesting scale.

7.Where can the author more fully develop ideas, either by providing examples or explaining/clarifying concepts for the reader? Be specific (e.g. “the 3rd is dullsville”; “the conclusion is really vague”).

I feel that Elizabeth should cite more sources of where she got her information from... even when she isn’t quoting an author. Any information she has obtained from another source, should be cited.

I think that she should be more aware of her punctuation in some areas. My word program picked up some mistakes automatically.

Also, Elizabeth doesn’t seem like she is completely convinced of her stance, according to her first paragraph. I would consider revising it a bit. Maybe taking out so many possible benefits of nuclear power and more thesis support.
Maybe you could add a paragraph or two with counter arguments from a specific source or two. That would also help meet the length requirements.

8.What kinds of objections might someone who disagrees with the author’s point of view raise? If there are none, go back to #3. That nuclear power has some good points.

9.Has the author dealt with these objections? Yes, she has listed the positive points of nuclear power.

10.Is the relationship between each paragraph and the thesis clear? If not, what suggestions do you have for the author to improve the connection? Yes, I think she does a good job of revealing all of them nuclear power downfalls.

Style11. Are there easy transitions from one paragraph to the next, or does the author jump from topic to topic? Yes, it transitions easily.

12. Does the opening of the essay capture the reader’s attention? How so? If not, what suggestions can you make that might strengthen the opening?
It still doesn’t seem to grab my attention. Maybe a fact about nuclear energy might grab my attention more.

13. Does the concluding paragraph serve to bring the discussion to an end that logically follows from the thesis and its direction?
It’s a good summary of the entire paper. It flows well.

Research14. How many different sources are cited in the paper (don’t look at Works Cited; look at the parenthetical citations. The medium does not matter.)
I found 6.

15. Does the author rely heavily on just 1 or 2 sources, or does the author equally use all of the sources to support the paper’s thesis?
She doesn’t rely heavily on just 1 or 2, no. She uses a variety of them throughout her paper.

16. Does the author have more quotes in his/her paper than personal opinion? No.

17. Are there any sources listed on the Works Cited that are not cited within the body of the essay? (This is a no-no)
Yes, Elizabeth should cite (in her paper) every one of her “works cited” sources.

18. Is all the information retrieved from research, including opinion, ideas, paraphrases, quotes, and statistics, cited with in-text (parenthetical) citations? If not, list specifics of what needs to be cited (friends don’t let friends turn in plagiarized papers).
I think there are a lot of places that she needs to add in the citations. Any information that she received from another source, needs to be cited in her paper.

19. All quotes in research papers should be commented upon. Does the author comment after every quote? If not, help the author decide what the underlying reason behind putting the quote in the paper was.
Yes.

Week 11: Step 4 Rough Draft 2

The Future is in Their Hands

By Making a Difference in a Child's Life Today - It Will Guarantee a Better Tomorrow

“Early learning begets later learning and early success breeds later success, just as early failure breeds later failure.” (Heckman 3)

Our Nation is making a tragic mistake. Insufficient funding for early childhood programs is creating a downward spiral in our society. This great Nation’s future hangs in the balance, and ignoring the problem will only devastate America’s future even more. State and federally funded programs offer children early learning opportunities. By providing children with the tools they need to be successful, America will reap the benefits sooner than one would expect. Although additional funding for early childhood programs would require more money from taxpayers, assisting these non-profit programs would be beneficial because it would educate parents, help children with special needs, offer quality preschool education to every child, and help our economy by increasing employment rates.

Parent education is vital to healthy child development and success. The majority of parents have no prior child development experience or education. Parents as Teachers is a national organization dedicated to educating parents. It provide parents with tools and resources necessary to raise a healthy child. The Parents as Teachers parent educators are specially trained in a child’s development from ages 0-5. They conduct monthly home visits and assess the child’s physical, cognitive and social development by interacting with the parent and child. They educate and provide parents with printouts of ideas and activities that help their child be successful in every area of development.

Programs, such as Parents as Teachers, give children a better chance in life. Children and parents who do not participate in a program such as this one, miss many important opportunities. Some children have developmental delays that are not recognized until they are enrolled in school at 5 years of age or even later. Parents as Teachers Educators are trained in recognizing delays, and if diagnosed at an early age, may aid in preventing a child from being put in special education programs later in life. ("What is...")

A study performed by Edward Zigler, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology; Judy Pfannenstiel, M.A., President and Senior Research Associate; and Victoria Seitz, Ph.D., Research Scientist, proves that the Parents as Teachers (PAT) program aids children in school readiness. The PAT program has proven many beneficial results. It has shown to aid in the overall relationship between parent and child by training parents in positive “parenting practices.” Furthermore, younger siblings born later also benefited from the good parenting characteristics taught by the program. (Zigler 3, 16)

Additionally, the longer the duration of PAT program participation, the better the results showed in overall success for involved families. This is also due to the fact that parent participants were oftentimes more likely introducing books to their children than non-participants. Parents were also more likely to register their child for a Pre-K learning program, which better prepared them for kindergarten and overall school readiness. (Zigler 8) All the benefits, of this federally funded program, have been thoroughly researched and proven by experts. More importantly, many families' lives have been touched by this program. However, the PAT program is in need of additional funds, because many families are placed on a waiting list when trying to join the program. There just aren't enough parent educators to fill the demand.

"Experiences activate nueral pathways, and information in the form of chemical signals get stored along the pathways. Repeated experiences strengthen specific pathways." (Gonzales 95)

The first three to five years of a child's life is the most optimal time for learning. A child’s brain grows at a tremendous rate in the first three years of life. In that short amount of time, a child’s brain has already produced billions of cells and has had trillions of synapses, or brain connections. In fact, in all the years of a human’s life, the brain is most active in the very beginning. There are many factors in a baby's brain development, and it starts from the time of conception. Once a baby is born, environment plays a huge role in brain development. Additionally, proper nutrition is also an important aspect of strong brain growth. ("When is...") So many different things affect a young child's development, and this is the best time to teach, when the brain is so pliable.

According to The National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families, a child’s brain grows at an enormous rate in the first five years of life. In fact, the brain grows to about 90 percent of an adult size by its 5th birthday. ("When is...") Knowing this, why does the public school system wait until a child is five years old to begin funding the teaching and learning process? If a child’s brain grows and learns the best in the first five years of life, then we should assume that would be the best time to educationally enrich it.

A small child's brain yields more brain connections than is required for normal function. Real life moments are what develop synapses. The brain eventually regulates itself and the amount of synapses it needs are dependent on past activity. It will "prune" synapses that aren't frequently utilized. (Gonzales 95) Now we can better understand the importance of early learning experiences and how they really do affect the brain's development process. The more educational experiences children are exposed to, the more the brain can fully adjust and take in.

Some organizations believe that everything aside from the current public school education system should be parent, not government, responsibility. Government funding of early childhood programs has its opposition. The opponents of more government funding have a completely different philosophy on the topic of early educational learning programs. They do not believe that early education is helping all children, and if not all the children are being uplifted by these programs, they don’t feel that public funding should be implemented. Furthermore, many opponents are afraid that early childhood programs, such as head start, or universal preschool, could become mandatory for every child.

One example is Darcy Olsen, President and CEO of the Goldwater Institute, and opponent of additional government funding of early education programs. She believes that early education makes little difference for “main stream children.” Her philosophy is that, in most cases, only lower income children will ultimately benefit from a universal preschool system. (2) Olsen's focus seems to be mainly on children from middle income-earning families. Furthermore, Darcy Olsen is against government funded full day kindergarten. She argues that it isn't benefiting a wide enough spectrum of children to warrant a full time program. (8)

Universal preschool education would not just benefit children who have special needs. Experts in the field of education have recognized the benefits for all children, even those who don’t come from less fortunate households. Gifted children come from all types of backgrounds, including higher income families. According to James Gallagher, an exceptional and gifted child educator, early education settings are a good way to recognize children who are becoming uninterested with typical preschool activities. (231) This would be a chance to discover and recognize a gifted child at an earlier age. Recognizing a gifted child prevents a child from missed learning opportunities and becoming uninterested in school.

John Stossel, Catherine Brosseau, and Andrew Kirell with ABC News recently reported on a story called: Universal Pre-K: This Whole Thing Is a Scam. Does Free Preschool for Every Child Deserve Taxpayer Money? The story was based on the many people who side against government funded preschool education and the waste of money involved. The story participants are convinced that families can do a better job with their kids than potential government funded programs. (Stossel) Some believe, that if the current public school system has failed the nation’s children, they have little faith that government funded Pre-K will be any better. In their opinion, this is a waste of tax payer dollars.

“On purely economic grounds, the case for early childhood intervention is strong.” (Heckman 449)

The benefits of universal preschool are exceedingly great. With an earlier start at education, there will be lower high school dropout rates, more jobs, and a high return rate for the taxpayers. (Oppenheim 9-16) In effect, investing in programs that give children an earlier start at at their education will cause a dramatic decline in crime rates, and cause less people to be dependent on public assistance programs such as cash assistance and food stamps. In addition, the children who get an earlier, quality start in school will be more likely to succeed. The overall need of dependency-based, government funded programs will be eliminated.

Linda Jacobson, editor for Education Week, reviewed a study performed in Chicago twenty years ago. She found that the economical return was ten times the amount originally invested in the children it was meant to benefit. Society earned the benefits by keeping kids out of jail and in school later on in their lives. (8) The economical benefits are boundless, and this has been proven in this article. By investing in children at a young age, society will bring in the benefits in a vast amount of ways in the future. By neglecting a child’s education when he is best able to learn, our society is neglecting our nation in the long run.


A good example of success for early childhood intervention programs proves true in Texas. The state's public, state funded Pre-K system started in 1984, and today has the highest rate of young participants of all states. (State Profiles) In recent years, Texas started a new method for early childhood educators to measure and assess Pre-K skills for their students. Prior to the new program there were a lot of bugs in the system. With the new grading plan in place, they were able to see which skills were important to help prepare students for the eventual 3rd grade tate-wide assessment tests, and to see which expectations in Pre-K were important for future school success. Experts began to see how vital early education was for their district. (Brown 3) More states should take the initiative that Texas and many others have, and implement a state funded Pre-K program within the public school system.

Prevention is the key. The current education system is not working. Real evidence proves that a child’s brain is the most active and capable of learning in the first 5 years of its life. Government funding for an earlier start is not only a desire for our nation’s children, but a necessity. Educating parents and recognizing learning disabilities at an earlier age are vital for family and academic achievement. By giving them a headstart in the right direction, the benefits for our society will be limitless. Economic crisis or not, if this nation wants to prevent any more economical decline, it’s got to start with the little people. They are the future. Let’s invest in them.

Works Cited

Christopher Brown, Brian Mowry. "Preparing for Change: A Case Study of Successful Alignment Between a Pre-K Program and K-12 Education." Childhood Education 85.3 (2009): 173-178. ProQuest Education Journals. ProQuest. UAF. Rasmuson Library. Fairbanks, AK.. 3 Apr. 2009


Gallagher, J James. "Another Opportunity-Preschool Education. " Roeper Review 29.4 (2007): 231. ProQuest Education Journals. ProQuest. UAF. Rasmuson Library. Fairbanks, AK.. 7 Mar. 2009 http://www.proquest.com/

Gonzalez-Mena, Janet. Eyer, Widmeyer Dianne. Infants, Toddlers, and Caregivers: A Curriculum of Respectful, Responsive Care and Education. 8th Ed. Boston: McGrawHill, 2009.

Heckman, James J. “Invest in the Very Young.” Ohio School Readiness. 1-8. 30 Mar.2009. http://www.schoolreadiness.ohio.gov/documents/resources/120205brochure.pdf

Heckman, James J., and Dimitriy V. Masterov. "The Productivity Argument for Investing in Young Children." Review of Agricultural Economics 29.3 (Fall 2007): 446-493. Business Source Premier. EBSCO. Rasmuson Library, Fairbanks, AK. 2 Apr. 2009 http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=buh&AN=25654170&site=ehost-live.

Jacobson, Linda. "Pre-K Offers Economic Value Into Adulthood, Study Finds." Education Week. 11 Jun 2008: 8. ProQuest Education Journals. ProQuest. UAF. Rasmuson Library. Fairbanks, AK.. 7 Mar. 2009


Oppenheim, Jerrold, MacGregor, Theo. "The Economics of Education: Public Benefits of High-Quality Preschool Education for Low-Income Children. Building Communities for Change.” Arkansas Advocates for Children & Families. (Nov. 2002): 1-32. First Search. ERIC. UAF Rasmuson Library, Fairbanks, AK. 5 Mar. 2009 http://www.eric.ed.gov/


Olsen, Darcy. “Assessing Proposals for Preschools and Kindergarten: Essential Information for Parents, Taxpayers, and Policymakers.” Goldwater Institute. Policy Report #201. (8 Feb. 2005.): 1-43. Mar. 2009 http://www.goldwaterinstitute.org/AboutUs/ArticleView.aspx?id=920

"State Profiles: Texas." Pre-K Now. 3 April 2009. http://www.preknow.org/resource/profiles/texas.cfm

Stossel John, Brosseau Catherine, and Kirell Andrew. “Universal PreK: This Whole Thing Is a Scam.” ABC News. 13 March 2009. http://abcnews.go.com/2020/Stossel/story?id=7070646&page=1

“What is Parents as Teachers.” Parents as Teachers National Center. 30 March 2009. http://www.parentsasteachers.org/site/pp.asp?c=ekIRLcMZJxE&b=272093



“When is the Brain Fully Developed? FAQ’s” ZERO TO THREE: National Center for Infants, Toddlers and Families. 5 Mar. 2009 http://www.zerotothree.org/site/PageServer?pagename=ter_key_brainFAQ


Zigler Edward, Pfannenstielv Judy and Seitz Victoria. “The Parents as Teachers Program and School Success: A Replication and Extension." The Journal of Primary Prevention. (March 2008) 29. 103-120. SpringerLink. UAF Rasmuson Library. Fairbanks, AK. 19 March 2009. http://www.springerlink.com

Week 10 Reading Response

The essay, “On Covers of Many Magazines, a Full Racial palette Is Still Rare” by David Carr on page 649 of Everything’s an Argument, was full of facts and figures. This was an essay that, in my opinion, was fully evaluative. David Carr’s essay is explaining certain racial trends in today’s magazine industry. In addition to David Carr’s facts and figures, he also provided visual statistical graphs specifying different magazine’s racial tendencies.

This essay did not surprise me in anyway. The facts, as they are shown in this article, seem understandable to me. It seems that many magazines are out purely for sales, and that makes perfect business sense to me. There are magazines, as this article explains, that are specifically designed for the black female audience. One could then assume that a magazine, such as Cosmo, is designed for the average white female. Surely the African-American targeted magazines wouldn’t feature a white person on their cover, so shall we assume that they are being biased?

The article was featured in a newspaper’s business section rather than the lifestyle section, because it is more about the demographics and sales aspect of the topic. The lifestyle section would be more geared toward the articles that are usually provided inside a magazine, and not the information researched about those who are reading, and which audience is being targeted more so.

If this article had been featured within the pages of a lifestyle section, it would have had a different tone to it. I don’t think it would have gone into so much depth of the sales and statistics covering the race of the cover models. It would have been more based on how racial targeting is affecting its readers.

Week 10 - Essay #3 Rough Draft

How Green Can Fairbanks Be?
Reducing, Reusing, and Recycling Waste - One Tin Can at a Time.

The Oberlin College Recycling Program's website states that, "In a lifetime, the average American will throw away 600 times his/her adult weight in garbage. If you add it up, this means that a 150-lb. adult will leave a legacy of 90,000 lbs of trash for his/her children." That is a scary fact.
Waste is becoming prevalent in many areas of the Fairbanks North Star Borough’s community. Local residents should be reducing, reusing, and recycling their garbage in efforts to prevent waste. Recycling sites need to be available in a variety of accessible areas, such as transfer sites; however, local transfer sites are not offering enough recycling options for patrons. Although the city of Fairbanks has a current recycling program, local dump sites should have more visible, dedicated recycling areas because it would prevent the waste of recyclable items, encourage more people to recycle, and aid in local recycling awareness.

The Fairbanks North Star Borough has a total of 14 transfer sites. These dump sites are made available for borough residents to dump their garbage and other reusable items. Each location has a general area for reusable items. On the FNSB Solid Waste Division website: Brush, Metal, Batteries, Used Oil, Aluminum, and Propane are the items they offer for disposal and recycling. According to ILACSD.org, the following items should be recycled: aluminum cans, steel cans, corrugated cardboard, white office paper, mixed paper, glass, newspaper, plastic, appliances/electronics, motor oil, and miscellaneous items such as tires.

Alaska landfills are becoming full of reusable items. Fairbanks area residents are missing a great opportunity. By not having enough recycling options at local dump sites, a mountainous amount of waste is being produced. Each reuse area should offer options to recycle every item on the ILACSD.org’s list. If borough residents are offered more recycling choices at each transfer site, less waste will be produced, and more items will be recycled. None of the FNSB transfer sites offer containers for paper, newspaper, plastic, cardboard, or glass. All are highly used items amongst all borough residents. By offering a few additional bins, the borough would be preventing a tremendous amount of waste, and possibly creating a few jobs in the process.


The Fairbanks North Star Borough community should invest in heavy duty, outdoor multi-sort recycling containers. These containers should be placed at each transfer site, and be emptied as much as needed to allow for more recyclables. After close observation, maintenance workers can decide how often the containers should be emptied. Some sites may require more attention than others. This would all depend on local traffic in an out of the transfer site. In every recyclable area, there should be a sign posted with a customer service contact number. This will give residents an opportunity to let waste services know if the area needs attention.

Many Fairbanks residents don’t know where or how to recycle. Some may know how, but going out of their way seems like more of an inconvenience. Instead of wasting everyday household items, offering additional recyclable containers at local transfer sites would encourage more people to waste less. This would also be the perfect approach to take common excuses away from the average trash dumper. With more recycling options, most typical excuses would be eliminated.

Local awareness is vital for recycling success. Additional signs and advertisements should be placed at the transfer sites, and in other busy areas around town to aid in local awareness. Advertisements should be put in local papers. This would help inform borough residents of the newly available recycling containers. Educating the public of the importance of recycling, and the consequences of not, is vital to local awareness and waste prevention. Once this begins, routines and habits will change. Recycling will become tradition amongst most families. Children will witness their caregiver’s recycling acts. In some families, younger members will even have the opportunity to aid in the recycling process, which will change the way of life for future generations. Recycling awareness is an important part of implementing a new recycling culture.

Just like one stop shops around the Fairbanks area, transfer sites should be a one stop shop for waste management. How can we expect people to start recycling, while the current system is not practical enough? Fairbanks area residents should not have to travel to 10 different locations just to recycle their garbage. It shouldn't be so difficult to go green.

Local transfer sites must meet the new demands of our world, and become more Eco-friendly. Once the option to recycle is available for all items, residents will be more likely to utilize the newly available options. Active recycling may not take off right away, but eventually local awareness will spread, and recycling will become a way of life for all borough residents. Fairbanks can feel confident that it’s doing its part in helping the environment, preventing waste, and starting a culture of waste prevention.


"Recycling Facts." Oberlin College Recycling Program. 30 Mar. 2009
http://www.oberlin.edu/recycle/facts.html

“Recyclable Items.” ILACSD.ORG. 30 Mar. 2009 http://ilacsd.org/recycle/r_items.php

“Transfer Sites Recycling/Disposal Opportunities.” Fairbanks North Star Borough. 30 Mar. 2009 http://co.fairbanks.ak.us/SolidWaste/Default.htm

Week 10 - Step 3 Workshop for Elizabeth Allen

Workshop for Part 3


Overall
1. What do you like best about the paper? Be specific.
I liked the information provided. I now understand what fossil fuel is. ;) I also learned the pros and cons of both types of energy sources.


2. Email the author and ask for one particular concern that s/he had about the draft. Examine that area and see if you can offer the author helpful suggestions.
Elizabeth's concern was for her grammar, and I did the best that I could to help her via email.

Thesis
3.Does the author clearly express his/her opinion of the topic in the thesis? What argument does the thesis make?
I was a bit confused by Elizabeth's first paragraph. I wasn't quite sure which was her thesis. I now understand that she is against nuclear energy. Her last sentence of the first paragraph led me to confusion, because it seemed that she was in favor of nuclear power.

4. What group of people agrees with the author? What group disagrees with the author?
Groups in favor of nuclear energy may tend to disagree with her.


5. Does the paper have an argumentative thesis statement using ALTHOUGH and BECAUSE?
Yes, she does.


Content
6. On a scale of 1 to 10, how interesting did you find this paper to read? Be brutally honest!
I would give her essay a 5 on *my* interesting scale. Elizabeth's essay was interesting, but scary. After reading her essay, I am quite certain that I am scared of nuclear energy. I would hate for major populated areas to become infected with cancer, or even die because of radiation leaks. It seems that all energy sources have adverse effects, and her essay didn't give me a solid foundation of which is better overall. Also, if she broke up some of her paragraphs a bit, and fixed some grammatical errors, I'd find her essay more interesting.


7.Where can the author more fully develop ideas, either by providing examples or explaining/clarifying concepts for the reader?
Elizabeth gave good ideas and examples of historical and current events concerning energy sources.

I do have a suggestion. I'd like to see Elizabeth cite more sources in her paragraphs. For example, in paragraph two, more research information on the greenhouse gas emissions, and where she got that information from. I'd like more proof for her claims.



8.What kinds of objections might someone who disagrees with the author’s point of view raise? If there are none, go back to #3.
They may argue that by not using nuclear energy, the traditional sources will run out, and cause too much greenhouse gas emition damage.




9.Has the author dealt with these objections?
She has dealt with possible outcomes of nuclear energy, potential terrorist attacks, and pricey installation problems. Also, she has gone in depth of possible adverse effects of radiation exposure.


10.Is the relationship between each paragraph and the thesis clear? If not, what suggestions do you have for the author to improve the connection?
I would suggest that Elizabeth change the location of her thesis, and put it in the end of the first paragraph - to make it more clear which side she agrees with. Aside from the main thesis, I would add the counter arguments later in the paper, and take them out of the first paragraph.

Style
11. Are there easy transitions from one paragraph to the next, or does the author jump from topic to topic?
Elizabeth could probably break up some of her longer paragraphs. This would make it easier to read. I've seen a couple of spots where she could have started with a new paragraph. When she gives different examples, she could start a new paragraph to keep the reader more interested.




12. Does the opening of the essay capture the reader’s attention? How so? If not, what suggestions can you make that might strengthen the opening?
When I saw coal and nuclear power, I automatically lost interest. I am ignorant in this subject. Maybe by adding a more dramatic starter sentence, like a scary fact might draw one in.




13. Does the concluding paragraph serve to bring the discussion to an end that logically follows from the thesis and its direction?
Yes, it does, and I like her last paragraph.




Research
14. How many different sources are cited in the paper (don’t look at Works Cited; look at the parenthetical citations. The medium does not matter.)
I found 4 citations.


15. Does the author rely heavily on just 1 or 2 sources, or does the author equally use all of the sources to support the paper’s thesis?
Elizabeth should cite missing sources for some of the information provided.


16. Does the author have more quotes in his/her paper than personal opinion? No.


17. Are there any sources listed on the Works Cited that are not cited within the body of the essay? (This is a no-no)
I cannot find many of the works cited sources in the essay.



18. Is all the information retrieved from research, including opinion, ideas, paraphrases, quotes, and statistics, cited with in-text (parenthetical) citations? If not, list specifics of what needs to be cited (friends don’t let friends turn in plagiarized papers).

Where did you find the following information? That's a source citation opporunity.


"On March 28th, 1979 the Three Mile Island Unit 2 nuclear power plant outside of Middletown, Pennsylvania had a incident, when a feed water pump stopped working, the pump allowed the steam generators remove heat from the core; after that happened the reactor shut down creating pressure, leading to much pressure that caused the core of the reactor to overheat."

I see a lot of works sited sources that you could be added into your essay... where necessary.



19. All quotes in research papers should be commented upon. Does the author comment after every quote? If not, help the author decide what the underlying reason behind putting the quote in the paper was.
I don't see any quotes in her paper.

Step 3: Research Draft #1

“Early learning begets later learning and early success breeds later success, just as early failure breeds later failure.”
- James J. Heckman, Ph.D.

Our nation is making a tragic mistake. Insufficient funding for early childhood programs is creating a downward spiral in our society. This great Nation’s future hangs in the balance, and ignoring the problem will only devastate America’s future even more. State and Federally funded programs offer children early learning opportunities. By providing children with the tools they need to be successful, America will reap the benefits sooner than one would expect. Although additional funding for early childhood programs would require more money from taxpayers, assisting these non-profit programs would be beneficial because it would educate parents, help children with special needs, offer quality preschool education to every child, and help our economy by increasing employment rates.

Parent Education is vital to healthy child development and success. The majority of parents have no prior child development experience or education. ‘Parents as Teachers’ is a national organization dedicated to educating parents. They provide parents with tools and resources necessary to raise a healthy child. The ‘Parents as Teachers’ Parent Educators are specially trained in a child’s development from ages 0-5. They conduct monthly home visits and assess the child’s physical, cognitive and social development by interacting with the parent and child. They educate and provide parents with printouts of ideas and activities that help their child be successful in every area of development.

Programs, such as ‘Parents as Teachers,’ give children a better chance in life. Children and parents, who do not participate in a program such as this one, miss many important opportunities. Some children have developmental delays and are not recognized until they are enrolled in school at 5 years of age or even later. ‘Parents as Teachers’ Educators are trained in recognizing delays, and if diagnosed at an early age, may aid in preventing a child from being put in special education programs later in life.

A study by performed by Edward Ziglar, Judy Pfannenstiel and Victoria Seitz proves that the ‘Parents as Teachers’ (PAT) program aids children in school readiness. The PAT program has proven many beneficial results. It has shown to aid in the overall relationship between parent and child by training parents in positive “parenting practices.” Additionally, the longer the duration of program participation, the better the results showed in overall success for involved families. Parent participants of the PAT program were more likely reading to their children and also more likely to enroll their child in preschool, in effect, aiding in “subsequent academic achievement and school readiness.”

The first three to five years of a child's life is the most optimal time for learning. A child’s brain grows a tremendous amount in the first three years of life. In that short amount of time, a child’s brain has already produced billions of cells and has had trillions of synapses, or brain connections. In fact, in all the years of a human’s life, the brain is most active in the very beginning. According to Zerotothree.org, The National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families, a child’s brain grows at an enormous rate in the first five years of life. In fact, the brain grows to about 90 percent of an adult size, by its 5th birthday. Knowing this, why does the public school system wait until a child is five years old to begin funding the teaching and learning process? If a child’s brain grows and learns the best in the first five years of life, then we should assume that would be the best time to educationally enrich it.

Universal preschool education would not only help children from lower income households. Experts in the field of education have recognized the benefits for all children, even those who don’t come from less fortunate households. Gifted children come from all types of backgrounds, including higher income families. James J Gallaher, an exceptional and gifted child educator, writes “If we believe in early admittance to school, this is a fine way to identify potential early admitters who have become bored with bead stringing and drawing pictures and wish to exercise the reading and math skills that they already have developed.” This would be a chance to discover and recognize a gifted child at an earlier age. Recognizing a gifted child prevents a child from missed learning opportunities and becoming uninterested in school.

According to Harvard graduate Jerrold Oppenheim and former teacher and social worker Theo MacGregor , founders of Democracy and Regulation, the benefits of universal preschool are exceedingly great. With an earlier start at education, there will be lower high school drop out rates, more jobs, and a high return rate for the tax payers. In effect, investing in programs that give children an earlier start at learning will cause a dramatic decline in crime rates, and cause less people to be dependent on public assistance programs such as cash assistance and food stamps. In addition, the children who get an earlier, quality start in school will be more likely to succeed. The overall need of dependency based, government funded programs will be eliminated.


Linda Jacobson, editor for Education Week, reviewed a study performed in Chicago twenty years ago. She found that the economical return was ten times the amount originally invested in the children it was meant to benefit. Society earned the benefits by keeping kids out of jail and in school later on in their lives. The economical benefits are boundless and this has been proven in this article. By investing in children at a young age, society will bring in the benefits in vast amount of ways in the future. By neglecting a child’s education when they are best able to learn, our society is neglecting our nation in the long run.


Some organizations believe that everything aside from the current public school education system should be parent, not government, responsibility. Government funding of early childhood programs has its opposition. The proponents have a completely different philosophy on the topic of early educational learning programs. They do not believe that early education is helping all children and if not all the children are being uplifted by these programs, they don’t feel that public funding should be implemented. One example of this is Darcy Olsen, President and CEO of the Goldwater Institute and opponent of additional government funding early education programs, believes that early education makes little difference for “main stream children.”

John Stossel, Catherine Brosseau, and Andrew Kirell with ABC News recently reported on a story called: ‘Universal Pre-K: This Whole Thing Is a Scam. Does Free Preschool for Every Child Deserve Taxpayer Money?’ The story was based on the many people who side against government funded preschool education and the waste of money involved. The story participants are convinced that families can do a better job with their kids than potential government funded programs. Some believe that if the current public school system has failed the nation’s children, they have little faith that government funded pre-k will be any better. In effect, this is a waste of tax payer dollars.

The opportunity to make a difference for this nation’s future is now. Now is the time to change its direction. The current education system is not working. Real evidence proves that a child’s brain is the most active and capable of learning in the first 5 years of its life. Government funding for an earlier start is not only a desire for our nation’s children, but a necessity. By giving them a head start in the right direction, the benefits for our society will be limitless. Economic crisis or not, if this nation wants to prevent anymore economical decline, it’s got to start with the little people. They are the future. Let’s invest in that.

Works Cited



Gallagher, J James. "Another Opportunity-Preschool Education. " Roeper Review 29.4 (2007): 231. ProQuest Education Journals. ProQuest. UAF. Rasmuson Library. Fairbanks, AK.. 7 Mar. 2009 http://www.proquest.com/

Jacobson, Linda. "Pre-K Offers Economic Value Into Adulthood, Study Finds. " Education Week 11 Jun 2008: 8. ProQuest Education Journals. ProQuest. UAF. Rasmuson Library. Fairbanks, AK. 7 Mar. 2009 http://www.proquest.com/

Oppenheim, Jerrold, MacGregor, Theo. "The Economics of Education: Public Benefits of High-Quality Preschool Education for Low-Income Children. Building Communities for Change.” Arkansas Advocates for Children & Families. (Nov. 2002): 1-32. First Search. ERIC. UAF Rasmuson Library, Fairbanks, AK. 5 Mar. 2009 http://www.eric.ed.gov/


Olsen, Darcy. “Assessing Proposals for Preschools and Kindergarten: Essential Information for Parents, Taxpayers, and Policymakers.” Policy Report. 8 Feb. 2005 http://www.goldwaterinstitute.org/common/files/multimedia/920.pdf

Stossel John, Brosseau Cathering, and Kirell Andrew. “Universal PreK: This Whole Thing Is a Scam.” ABC News. 13 March 2009. http://abcnews.go.com/2020/Stossel/story?id=7070646&page=1

Zero to Three. “When is the brain fully developed. FAQ’s” ZERO TO THREE: National Center for Infants, Toddlers and Families. 5 Mar.2009 http://www.zerotothree.org/site/PageServer?pagename=ter_key_brainFAQ

Ziglar Edward, Pfannenstielv Judy and Seitz Victoria. “The Parents as Teachers Program and School Success: A Replication and Extension. The Journal of Primary Prevention. (March 2008) 29. 103-120. SpringerLink. UAF Rasmuson Library. Fairbanks, AK. 19 March 2009. http://www.springerlink.com

Week 9 - Grammar Girl Response

Grammar Girl’s advice has been helpful in all areas of my writing. Last time I listened to her advice, I learned wrong ways to use commas. This week’s episode, #49, taught about run on sentences. Grammar Girl explains that a lot of people may believe that run on sentences are really long sentences, but she goes on to show that there is more to run on sentences than meets the eye. She explains that run on sentences are those which do not have enough punctuation. Run on sentences can be long and short. Without correct punctuation, these types of sentences can confuse a reader, and can actually change the meaning of certain sentences.

I know that I do not have a major problem with using run on sentences. I am sure that I have created a run on sentence a time or two, but I think overall I’m pretty good at avoiding them. I have more trouble using the correct punctuation every time, and knowing which punctuation would be best. I know where the needed pauses are and why we need punctuation to help the sentence make more sense to the reader. Grammar Girl’s advice will help me avoid unnecessary run on sentences in the future.

Essay #2 Final Draft

Misdiagnosed and Over-Medicated

Today an estimated six million American children are currently taking some sort of psychiatric medication. According to Frontline’s Marcela Garviria, 1 million of those are being treated specifically for a condition called bipolar disorder. In the past decade, pediatric mental illness diagnosis has risen a surprising 4,000%, and in most of those cases the children were diagnosed as bipolar. Although mental illnesses are evident among children in today's society, misdiagnosis is causing kids to become over-medicated because parents are not giving doctors correct information, doctors are too often offering a quick fix, and medical professionals are failing to accept new alternative treatments.


Some parents, who feel that their child’s behavior is beyond their control, will find a physician that will prescribe medication for their child. A child who has been misdiagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder, for example, and takes medication for it - will become lethargic and zombie-like. This, in effect, will make the parents’ job easier. They no longer have an energetic child who will present a challenge. Some parents, when in the doctor’s office, will actually exaggerate their child’s symptoms, so the doctor will be more likely to prescribe the quick fix medication. Unnecessary medication will indeed transform their child, and create adverse side effects. Unfortunately, this is one example of parents providing doctors with misinformation for personal gain.


If parents cannot figure out how to control their kids, there are doctors who can provide the perfect, fix-it quick, pill. Unfortunately, The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders published by the American Psychiatric Association, provides no information of how to diagnose bipolar disorder in children, yet every day doctors are prescribing medication for children to aid in mental health issues, providing a quick fix for parents. Rebecca Riley died of a psychiatric drug overdose at only 4 years of age. In Katie Couric’s story featured on CBS 60 Minutes, she reported that Rebecca was diagnosed with bipolar disorder at the tender age of 2. According to her mother, Rebecca “had difficulty sleeping and seemed hyperactive.” The doctor prescribed Rebecca to ingest 10 pills a day, because supposedly “she was driving her mother insane.” Realistically, Rebecca died from drugs that were meant to give her mother more peace and sanity.


Still, to this day, little clinical research has been done on children and the long term effects of most psychiatric drugs are still unknown. Parents and doctors continue to make the decision to medicate children, without any attempt to utilize alternative treatments first. There are many available alternative treatments that don’t get enough consideration or credit. According to the National Mental Health Information Center, some alternative treatments include: nutrition & diet, counseling/self-help, expressive therapies, and relaxation techniques.


The psychiatrists prescribing these medications claim that these mental disorders have always been around, but they are just now recognizing symptoms and treatments for them. Since there are no actual tests for psychiatric disorders, doctors are admittedly hypothesizing. Every case is different and doctors must experiment with a variety of adult medication in each individual case. Their goal is to see how the patient reacts to a specific medication. This is done through behavior evaluation, usually performed by parents. Doctors can then provide a diagnosis.

Dr. Kiki Chang, M.D., Assistant Professor and Director of Mood Disorders at Stanford, is researching, and a proponent to, the early detection and prevention of bipolar disorder. Dr. Chang uses “neuroimaging” to detect brain reactions. His research shows that a specific part of the brain of a potential bipolar child is actually smaller than that of healthy child. His philosophy includes putting a child, who is at higher risk of developing the disorder, on medication sooner. He believes that this may actually prevent a development of the full blown disorder.

Professor of Psychiatry Joseph Biederman, MD of Harvard University is a highly respected child psychiatrist who advocates medicating children. According to The Boston Globe, child psychiatrist Dr. Biederman believes and advocates that bipolar symptoms can develop in a newborn baby thus warranting future treatment.

Long term side effects are still unknown, because there hasn’t been enough data collected; however, short term effects of medicating children are being recognized. Some of these adverse effects can become permanent even when the medication is discontinued. Tics, involuntary body spasms, are one side effect of some psychiatric medications. Even after discontinuing the medication causing them, in some cases the tics have continued, thus becoming a permanent side effect. Other side effects include dependency, weight gain, diabetes, and anxiety. Additional medications are usually prescribed to counteract these side effects.

Sedated, overmedicated, and misdiagnosed, children are being drugged by parents and doctors on a daily basis. Unfortunately, some parents are taking the easy way out and providing doctors with false or exaggerated information in hopes of a quick solution, and most doctors are willing to provide it. Obviously some children truly need psychiatric medications, but the majority of the medicated population isn't being offered alternative treatments. Doctors are prematurely diagnosing and offering medication as a first resort and while short term side effects are recognized, what will be the long term effects 20 years from now?





Garviria, Marcela. “The Medicated Child.” Frontline. 8 Jan. 2008. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/medicatedchild/

DSM-IV – TR Index “Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders” http://www.dsmivtr.org/

Couric, Katie. “What Killed Rebecca Riley.” CBS NEWS 30 Sep. 2007.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/09/28/60minutes/main3308525.shtml

National Mental Health Information Center. “Alternative Approaches to Mental Health Care” SAMHSA http://mentalhealth.samhsa.gov/publications/allpubs/KEN98-0044/default.asp

Chang, Kiki., and Pedersen, Lisa. “Offspring Studies Seek Early Markers.” 10 Apr. 2003. http://www.bpkids.org/site/DocServer/changoffspringstudies.pdf?docID=143

Allen, Scott. “Backlash on bipolar diagnosis in children, MGH psychiatrist’s work stirs debate.” The Boston Globe 17 June 2007. http://www.boston.com/yourlife/health/diseases/articles/2007/06/17/backlash_on_bipolar_diagnoses_in_children/

Week 7&8 - Reading Response #3

The United States distributes fliers to inform its employees of the diverse population that reside in America. Their goal is to educate people who are ignorant of different cultures in attempt to avoid religious and racial discrimination. Their goal of distributing this helpful information is to regain respect for all nationalities regardless of their religion. They also want to inform their workers that not all people wearing a head covering are going to create terrorism.

Unfortunately, due to the 9/11 attacks, crimes have been committed against people who resemble a Middle Eastern person with an Islamic religion faith. That fact is sad, but is realistic discrimination. By educating people, the government’s hope is to prevent anymore discrimination or prejudice among its employees.

The pictures in this visual argument are important for the overall point, because they show real people who are here in America wearing some sort of head covering. Their purpose in displaying the pictures is to give some common ground to the viewer. One picture shows a child who would relate to parents. A second picture shows someone graduating and that would relate to a lot of viewers as well. By helping the viewer relate with the people pictured, they hope to make them more accepting of the harmless head wear.

Without the actual pictures, this flyer would be pointless. By just having text on the flyer it wouldn’t show the reader what exactly they are intending to portray. People need a mental image if they are going to make fair judgments and by seeing actual people wearing the head coverings, they may be more tolerant.

Being provided by the ‘American Arab Anti discrimination Committee’ gives this visual argument more credibility, because it is backed by an official group of people who recognize the prejudices in American today. They are a real group working to prevent discrimination. It wouldn’t be enough if it were put together by just one person.

Week 7&8 - Reading Response #2

In “Gay Asian-American Male Seeks Home,” Han’s essay is clear that he is against the way Asian men are portrayed in the media and America in general. He does not appreciate how Asian men are portrayed not only to look weak, but undesirable as well. Being a gay Asian male is even worse in his opinion, because the combination of being gay and Asian makes the stereotype even worse.

In his opinion, our society and media portrays white men as masculine. Now over the past few years, Han believes that even gay, white men are made to look like super studs. He doesn’t like that the Gay American male gets the respect while the Gay Asian Male is being rejected not only by American culture, but their own Asian culture as well. It appears, after reading this essay that it’s bad enough to be “marginalized” down to nothing in today’s American society, but the Asian community rejects them as well.

He explains the influences around the Asian gay males have caused them to conform to the “stereotypes” given to them. It has also led them more vulnerable to “unsafe sex” and diseases because they don’t have enough support available to them. In his opinion, it is apparent that gay, Asian males are getting the short end of the stick.

Han’s essay provides interesting information. Admittedly, I am a bit ignorant to Asian culture, but I don’t agree with his point of view. I can’t think of one gay Asian male, I have seen, from any TV related media. When I imagine an Asian male, I think of Jackie Chan or Bruce Lee, both are strong, fearless and masculine.

Week 7&8 - Reading Response #1

The essay written by Myriam Marquez, “Why and When We Speak Spanish in Public,” provides good reasons for different ethnic groups not speaking English in public. Myriam explains that her family has been in the United States for over the past 40 years. Her family speaks and understands English; however, two reasons they speak Spanish in public are to keep close to their cultural traditions by using their native language, and out of pure “respect” for one another.

Myriam acknowledges the feelings that some non-Spanish speakers may have. She realizes that there are people who get offended when her family, or other Spanish speaking people, converse in their native tongue while in public. Undoubtedly, there are paranoid people who think that anyone not speaking English, in their presence, might actually be gossiping about them. While she accepts that fact, she promises to stay true to her heritage, and to be respectful to her family regardless of her location.

Even though she is determined to continue speaking publicly to her family in Spanish, Myriam is also considerate of non-Spanish speakers as well. She explains that if a non-Spanish speaker is in her family’s presence, she will willingly change to speaking English to avoid being inconsiderate. She is also respectful to non-Spanish speaker friends or acquaintances who are around her, because she will not converse in Spanish with another Spanish speaker who is also present. She said that it’s “rude” for people to do that.

There are many non-English speakers in the United States, and Americans should be more tolerant and understanding of that fact. By not accepting another person’s language in public, they are basically expecting that individual to deny their culture and heritage. If there were two Americans in a foreign country, it would seem right for them to speak English to one another, even in public, if that is what feels most comfortable for them.

Week 7&8 - Grammar Girl Response

I found Grammar Girl’s Comma Splice Episode very helpful. I didn’t know what a comma splice was before listening and reading her advice about them. I now understand that comma splices are considered comma mistakes. I learned a few things that I didn’t know before that episode.

I learned that commas shouldn’t be used to divide, what could be two separate sentences. I know that I have made the mistake of using a comma when I should have been using a period or a semi-colon. I have over used commas in the past for exactly that reason. I didn’t fully understand what commas were for, until now.

The next time I write a paper, I will be more conscience of comma splices. I will be more careful not to add a comma where it doesn’t belong. Commas are meant to give better meaning to a sentence by adding a pause and to prevent confusion. I now realize that periods and semi-colons are made for the same reason. I need to be sure that I am using the right punctuation for its originally intended purpose. I will look deeper into my writings, and make sure that I don’t make anymore comma splice offenses. I will add either a period or a semicolon in the spots necessary. I can also add a coordinating conjunction after a comma, if it makes sense within the sentence.

Looking back at my previous essays, I notice there were times that I made comma splice mistakes. The article by Grammar Girl will hopefully prevent anymore major mistakes in the future, on my part. Her proofreading tips will also help me catch future comma splices. I have found each episode to be a great learning experience and very helpful for my writing skills.

Week 6 - Research Project Source List and Thesis Statement

Although additional funding for early childhood programs would require more money from tax payers, assisting these non-profit programs would be beneficial because it would educate parents, help children with special needs, offer quality preschool education to every child, and help our economy by increasing employment rates.


1. Schaub, Maryellen. "The Expansion of Early Childhood Education." American Journal of Education 115.2 (Feb. 2009): 337-341. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. UAF Rasumson Library, Fairbanks, AK. 27 Feb. 2009 http://libapps.uaf.edu:2060/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=36188502&site=ehost-live.

This article was written by Maryellen Schaub. Maryellen is a sociologist at Penn State University. She specializes in children, family and education. In this article she reviews two books which are about early childhood education. This article is helpful for my research project because it is showing how much the early childhood industry has grown in recent years. This would be beneficial in proving of the importance of it as our country is slowly realizing and implementing it.



2. Swiniarski, Louise. "Starting School Early in Britain: A Model for Universal Preschool Education." Early Childhood Education Journal 35.1 (Aug. 2007): 19-24. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. UAF Rasmuson Library, Fairbanks, AK. 27 Feb. 2009 http://libapps.uaf.edu:2060/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=25779607&site=ehost-live.

This article is a great example of Great Britain’s early childhood educational practices. It also has a lot of helpful information including the benefits of early learning from real research. The author is a professor at Salem State College in the Education Department. The schooling for Britain’s children starts as early as age 3 and has even started providing schooling starting at birth.



3. Howes, Carollee, et al. "Ready to learn? Children's pre-academic achievement in pre-Kindergarten programs." Early Childhood Research Quarterly 23.1 (Mar. 2008): 27-50. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. UAF Rasmuson Library, Fairbanks, AK. 27 Feb. 2009 http://libapps.uaf.edu:2060/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=28688812&site=ehost-live.

This article was researched and written by seven professionals in the field of early childhood. It provides real data which shows results all over the spectrum of early learning starting before the age of 5. Not only does it read all the results collected by the observers, but it also shows the quality of the observers themselves. This study also seems to conclude that the quality of the program made a difference in overall academic outcome of the children involved.



4. Diamond, Karen E., Hope K. Gerde, and Douglas R. Powell. "Development in early literacy skills during the pre-kindergarten year in Head Start: Relations between growth in children's writing and understanding of letters." Early Childhood Research Quarterly 23.4 (Dec. 2008): 467-478. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. UAF Rasmuson Library, Fairbanks, AK. 27 Feb. 2009 http://libapps.uaf.edu:2060/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=35611112&site=ehost-live.

This article is research that studied the early development of literacy skills in pre-k programs. This is helpful to my research as it shows that early learning opportunities are beneficial at an earlier stage than what is currently offered in most states. The authors are part of Purdue University’s Child Development and Family Studies department.



5. Gormley Jr., William T., Deborah Phillips, and Ted Gayer. "Preschool Programs Can Boost School Readiness." Science 320.5884 (27 June 2008): 1723-1724. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. UAF Rasmuson, Fairbanks, AK. 1 Mar. 2009 http://libapps.uaf.edu:2060/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=33219878&site=ehost-live.


This article is based on the Oklahoma universal preschool system which is based in the school system. This article is featured in the ‘Science’ magazines education section and the authors are experts in behavioral and education areas. It’s also featured in Early Childhood Research Quarterly. It also provides a visual graph which shows the actual achievement results among pre-k before entering kindergarten. It proves that kids who participate in this school based preschool system, were more ready for kindergarten than those who did not. http://libapps.uaf.edu:2149/cgi/content/full/320/5884/1723



6. Mead, Sara. "A Foundation for Success." American School Board Journal 195.11 (Nov. 2008): 25-29. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. UAF Rasmuson Library, Fairbanks, AK. 1 Mar. 2009 http://libapps.uaf.edu:2060/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=34633109&site=ehost-live.

Sarah Mead is the Senior Research of the New American Foundation. Her article takes an in-depth look at the benefits of quality preschool programs. The title is: “High quality pre-k programs can narrow achievement gaps and improve students’ chances in elementary schools.” This hits at the center of my argument for my research paper. “Quest for Quality,” one section of her article emphasizes the importance of quality programs for all. By providing quality pre-k programs for all children regardless of income, our nation will only see improvements.



7.
"PRE-K/EARLY CHILDHOOD." American School & University 80.3 (Nov. 2007): 22-30. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. UAF Rasmuson Library, Fairbanks, AK. 1 Mar. 2009 http://libapps.uaf.edu:2060/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=27714530&site=ehost-live

This article provides designs and school additions for pre-k programs in regular elementary schools. Pictures are actual designs and completed additions at these schools. It also includes information such as price for additions to the building, design team, completion date and photographer. This is super exciting information for my research project. This information is provided by SHW Group and they are education architects.


8. Bartik, Timothy J. “The Economic Development of Early Childhood Programs.” W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research. 25 Jan. 2008.
http://www.upjohninst.org/early_childhood_full_report-2-28-08.pdf


This article is helpful in providing economic benefits of early childhood programs. The researcher is the senior economist at W.E. Upjohn Institute. This will help in my research because it helps bring home the fact that teaching children at an earlier stage life will actually benefit our economy. His study shows that for every $1 spent on early childhood, society can expect at least 5 times in return.



9.Karoly, Lynn A. Bigelow, James H. “The Economics of Investing in Universal Preschool Education in California.” The Rand Corporation. 2005. http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/2005/RAND_MG349.pdf

This above article provides real research done in effort to show the investment benefits of a universal pre-k program in California. It shows the financial gain of preschool investment by tax payer dollar. It includes the effectiveness for advantaged and disadvantaged children. Not just disadvantaged children benefit from quality preschool programs. This research was provided by the Rand, a non-profit corporation.



10. Toppo, Greg. “Universal preschool students perform better.” USA TODAY. 26 June 2008. http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2008-06-26-preschool-universal_N.htm

This article by USA Today summarizes a study conducted by Georgetown University. The study was performed on 3,500 kindergarten students in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Oklahoma has had state-funded preschool for the past 18 years. Their findings concluded that kids who completed the universal preschool program were on average 5-9 months ahead of the students who did not, depending on the subject area.



11. Hawley, Theresa, Ph.D. “How Early Experiences Affect Brain Development, Second Edition.” Zero To Three http://www.zerotothree.org/site/DocServer/startingsmart.pdf?docID=2422

This article provides important information about how the brain develops in the early years. It clarifies how early experiences affect a child for the rest of their life. It drives home my point of why kids should start learning at an earlier age than what is currently required. The article is provided from a well known resource among all early childhood professionals, called Zerotothree.org.



12. “Quality: The Critical Need for Pre-K.” Pre-K Now. April 2008. http://www.preknow.org/documents/presentations/Quality_Pre-K.pdf

This presentation explains the importance of quality pre-k programs across the USA. It gives statistics of quality pre-k programs. This also provides information of how to measure quality pre-k. It provides visual graphs that show which states provide quality pre-k and which do not. Pre-K Now is a non profit organization which advocates the need for pre-k programs across the United States starting for 3 and 4 year olds.


13. Wesson, Kenneth A. “Early Brain Development and Learning.” Science Master. Nov 2003. http://www.sciencemaster.com/columns/wesson/wesson_early_01.php

Kenneth Wesson is neuroscience education consultant and is a brain specialist. He works with educators from preschool to university level in brain development and learning issues. This article helps me by providing information about crucial brain development learning opportunities in the early years. He goes into describing how the brain of a child works in the early, most important years of their life.



14. Kuhl, Patricia Dr. “Childhood Development: Early Learning, the Brain and Society.” Research Channel. 9 Feb. 2008. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fcb8nT0QC6o

Dr. Patricia Kuhl is co-director of the Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences at the University of Washington. This video emphasizes the importance learning opportunities from experts in the field. It was televised at the University of Washington, and provided by the alumni association. This will help in my research proving the importance of early learning in children, the earlier the better.


15. Parents as Teachers. “Analysis Correspondence between Parents as Teachers Standards and the Head Start Performance Standards.” Parents as Teachers http://www.parentsasteachers.org/atf/cf/%7B00812ECA-A71B-4C2C-8FF3-8F16A5742EEA%7D/HS-EHS%20correspondence%20analysis%20final%20version.pdf

Parents as Teachers is a non profit organization that provides parent and child learning opportunities from before a child is even born. This program provides parents with information on crucial early childhood development. The article provides information comparing the standards of the Parents as Teachers organization to the Head Start Performance Standards nationwide. This proves helpful in my research to provide more information on Parents as Teachers and why it isn’t just an empty home visiting session. More funding for this program would only benefit our society.

Causal Essay # 2 - Rough Draft

Misdiagnosed and Over-Medicated

Today an estimated six million American children are currently taking some sort of psychiatric medication. According to Frontline’s Marcela Garviria, 1 million of those are being treated specifically for a condition called bipolar disorder. In the past decade, pediatric mental illness diagnosis has risen a surprising 4,000%, and in most of those cases the children were diagnosed as bipolar. Although mental illnesses are evident among children in today's society, misdiagnosis is causing kids to become over-medicated because parents are not giving doctors correct information, doctors are too often offering a quick fix, and medical professionals are failing to accept new alternative treatments.


Some parents, who feel that their child’s behavior is beyond their control, will find a physician that will prescribe medication for their child. A child who has been misdiagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder, for example, and takes medication for it - will become lethargic and zombie-like. This, in effect, will make the parents’ job easier. They no longer have an energetic child who will present a challenge. Some parents, when in the doctor’s office, will actually exaggerate their child’s symptoms, so the doctor will be more likely to prescribe the quick fix medication. Unnecessary medication will indeed transform their child, and create adverse side effects. Unfortunately, this is one example of parents providing doctors with misinformation for personal gain.


If parents cannot figure out how to control their kids, there are doctors who can provide the perfect, fix-it quick, pill. Unfortunately, The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders published by the American Psychiatric Association, provides no information of how to diagnose bipolar disorder in children, yet every day doctors are prescribing medication for children to aid in mental health issues, providing a quick fix for parents. Rebecca Riley died of a psychiatric drug overdose at only 4 years of age. In Katie Couric’s story featured on CBS 60 Minutes, she reported that Rebecca was diagnosed with bipolar disorder at the tender age of 2. According to her mother, Rebecca “had difficulty sleeping and seemed hyperactive.” The doctor prescribed Rebecca to ingest 10 pills a day, because supposedly “she was driving her mother insane.” Realistically, Rebecca died from drugs that were meant to give her mother more peace and sanity.


Still, to this day, little clinical research has been done on children and the long term effects of most psychiatric drugs are still unknown. Parents and doctors continue to make the decision to medicate children, without any attempt to utilize alternative treatments first. There are many available alternative treatments that don’t get enough consideration or credit. According to the National Mental Health Information Center, some alternative treatments include: nutrition & diet, counseling/self-help, expressive therapies, and relaxation techniques.


The psychiatrists prescribing these medications claim that these mental disorders have always been around, but they are just now recognizing symptoms and treatments for them. Since there are no actual tests for psychiatric disorders, doctors are admittedly hypothesizing. Every case is different and doctors must experiment with a variety of adult medication in each individual case. Their goal is to see how the patient reacts to a specific medication. This is done through behavior evaluation, usually performed by parents. Doctors can then provide a diagnosis.

Dr. Kiki Chang, M.D., Assistant Professor and Director of Mood Disorders at Stanford, is researching, and a proponent to, the early detection and prevention of bipolar disorder. Dr. Chang uses “neuroimaging” to detect brain reactions. His research shows that a specific part of the brain of a potential bipolar child is actually smaller than that of healthy child. His philosophy includes putting a child, who is at higher risk of developing the disorder, on medication sooner. He believes that this may actually prevent a development of the full blown disorder.

Professor of Psychiatry Joseph Biederman, MD of Harvard University is a highly respected child psychiatrist who advocates medicating children. According to The Boston Globe, child psychiatrist Dr. Biederman believes and advocates that bipolar symptoms can develop in a newborn baby thus warranting future treatment.

Long term side effects are still unknown, because there hasn’t been enough data collected; however, short term effects of medicating children are being recognized. Some of these adverse effects can become permanent even when the medication is discontinued. Tics, involuntary body spasms, are one side effect of some psychiatric medications. Even after discontinuing the medication causing them, in some cases the tics have continued, thus becoming a permanent side effect. Other side effects include dependency, weight gain, diabetes, and anxiety. Additional medications are usually prescribed to counteract these side effects.

Sedated, overmedicated, and misdiagnosed, children are being drugged by parents and doctors on a daily basis. Unfortunately, some parents are taking the easy way out and providing doctors with false or exaggerated information in hopes of a quick solution, and most doctors are willing to provide it. Obviously some of these children truly need psychiatric medications, but the majority of the medicated populations aren’t being offered alternative treatments, which could potentially help the root of the problem. Doctors are prematurely diagnosing and offering medication as a first resort and while short term side effects are recognized, what will be the long term effects 20 years from now?




Garviria, Marcela. “The Medicated Child.” Frontline. 8 Jan. 2008

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/medicatedchild/





DSM-IV – TR Index. “Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders”

American Psychiatric Association


http://www.dsmivtr.org/

Couric, Katie. “What Killed Rebecca Riley.” CBS NEWS 30 Sep. 2007.


http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/09/28/60minutes/main3308525.shtml

National Mental Health Information Center. “Alternative Approaches to Mental Health Care.”SAMHSA


http://mentalhealth.samhsa.gov/publications/allpubs/KEN98-0044/default.asp




Chang, Kiki., and Pedersen, Lisa. “Offspring Studies Seek Early Markers.” 10 Apr. 2003.

http://www.bpkids.org/site/DocServer/changoffspringstudies.pdf?docID=143



Allen, Scott. “Backlash on bipolar diagnosis in children, MGH psychiatrist’s work stirs debate.”

The Boston Globe 17 June 2007.

http://www.boston.com/yourlife/health/diseases/articles/2007/06/17/backlash_on_bipolar_diagnoses_in_children/