scholarly journals Children and Parents’ Awareness Regarding Potential Hazards Derived from the Use of Chemical Products in Greece

Author(s):  
Christina Tsitsimpikou ◽  
Nikolaos Georgiadis ◽  
Konstantinos Tsarouhas ◽  
Panagiotis Kartsidis ◽  
Eleni Foufa ◽  
...  

Over the last decades, human activities prompted the high production and widespread use of household chemical products, leading to daily exposure of humans to several chemicals. The objective of this study was to investigate the frequency of chemicals’ use by children and parents in Greece and estimate the level of risk awareness and understanding among them. A total of 575 parents and children were asked to answer an anonymous, closed-ended, validated, and self-administered questionnaire. One-third of the children and almost half of the parents participating in the study believed that commonly used chemical products do not pose any risk to human health or to the environment, despite the product labelling. The majority of both children (61.8%) and parents (70.6%) were informed about product safety via the product labelling. Around 20% in both groups could not differentiate between systemic toxicity and acute lethal effects depicted by pictograms on the label and milder hazards, such as skin irritation. Moreover, the information on hazard and precautionary statements appearing on the label was very poorly perceived. Therefore, as both children and parents seem not to clearly identify the hazards and risks arising from the use of everyday chemical products, targeted awareness policies should be implemented to support the safe use of household products.

2016 ◽  
Vol 118 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-99 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohsen Rasouli Valajoozi ◽  
Nosrat Ollah Zangi

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to compare and find the significance of aesthetic standards related to the packaging design of pure milk among two groups of parents and children in order to help the designers and marketers to identify these two groups of consumers well. Design/methodology/approach – The results of questionnaire were used to get the required data. The selected samples were divided into two groups of 110 parents and children aged between seven and 14 years old who responded to the questions. The subjects were compared and evaluated within the convenience stores in the cosmopolitan city of Tehran based on four independent variables as the influential factors in packaging attractiveness. Data were analyzed through the statistical analysis software using the Independent t-test analysis. Findings – The results of analysis showed that all the variables vary significantly among these two groups. Besides, the importance and priority of variables were determined for each group based on the mean score of each variable. Originality/value – According to the results of this study, it could be concluded that the selection criteria and packaging attractiveness varies among children and parents, and the aesthetic factors of packaging could be used with different priorities for these two groups. And also at the end of research some practical recommendations are presented in order of importance based on parents’ preferences.


Author(s):  
Clive Diaz

This book presents new research on the extent to which parents and children participate in decision making when childcare social workers are involved and it considers two key meetings in depth: child protection conferences and child in care reviews. There is currently a great deal of interest in how social workers can work more effectively with families and in particular give children a voice. There is also considerable public and media interest in the child protection system, in particular relating to how children are safeguarded by social workers. This book will argue that unless we listen to (and act upon whenever possible) the views of children it is very difficult to safeguard and offer them an effective service. The unique selling point of the book will be that it is based on original solid empirical research following interviews with multiple stakeholders across two local authorities in England including children (n=75), parents (n=52), social workers (n=11, independent reviewing officers (n=8) and senior managers (n=7). This book will consider how 10 years of austerity has impacted on the child protection system and it will have a particular focus on how current practice leads to children and parents often feeling oppressed and excluded in decision making about their lives. The book promises to be authoritative and informed on issues on the ground and very relevant to both policy and practice.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Petr Slovak

Although digital technology has the potential to address the challenges of access, engagement, and scalability that psycho-social prevention interventions face when trying to reach families of primary school children, existing research on technology-enabled interventions for families remains limited. The aim of this qualitative pilot study was to investigate the engagement, acceptability, and initial subjective indicators of emotion regulatory effects during 1-week in-situ deployments of a low-cost, bespoke prototype, which has been designed to support children's in-the-moment emotion regulation. This prototype instantiates a novel intervention model that aims to address the existing limitations by delivering the intervention through an interactive object (a `smart toy') sent home with the child, without any prior training necessary for either the child or their carer. Ten families (altogether 11 children aged 6-10 years) were recruited from three underprivileged communities in the UK, and children were given the toy to keep at home for 7-8 days, after which we interviewed each child and their parent about their experience with the toy. Across all 10 families, participants reported that the toy was incorporated into children's emotion regulation practices and engaged with naturally in moments children wanted to relax or calm down. The data suggest acceptability of the toy from both parents and children, strong engagement and indications of emotion-regulatory effects. More broadly, our findings suggest the potential of a technology-enabled shift in how prevention interventions are designed and delivered: empowering children and parents through `child-led, situated interventions', where participants learn through actionable support directly within family life, as opposed to didactic in-person workshops and a subsequent skills application.


2020 ◽  
pp. 146801732094063 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johanna Korpinen ◽  
Tarja Pösö

Summary Competence is an essential part of any decision-making process. In child protection, it is challenged by the controversial nature of child removals and the vulnerable situations which children and parents experience therein. This article examines how and on what grounds social workers view parents and children to be competent to give their informed view in care order proceedings and what they do if doubts about competence arise. The analysis is based on 30 interviews with social workers in Finland. Findings The professional ethos and ethics of social work were embedded in the social workers’ descriptions of children’s and parents’ competence. The social workers were confident that the parents and children (of certain age) were competent to give their informed view about whether to consent to the care order proposal and the proposed substitute home. When they spoke about competence ascribed with hesitation, they described the vulnerability of service users, as well as their attitudes and withdrawal from contact. In the cases, social workers emphasized a strength-based view of children and parents and aimed to ‘talk more’ with them and to ‘give them more time’ to support their right to give an informed view. Applications Social vulnerability and competence should be explored reflectively in relation to decision-making in child protection. A better understanding of their interrelation makes social workers more competent to support the service users’ right to be included in decision-making. Critical awareness is needed to recognize when ‘more talk’ is not enough to realize children’s and parents’ rights.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 193
Author(s):  
Maureen Kendrick ◽  
Elizabeth Namazzi ◽  
Ava Becker-Zayas ◽  
Esther Nancy Tibwamulala

In this study, we address the research question: “How might child-created billboards about HIV and AIDS help facilitate more open discussions between parents and children?" The premise of our study is that there may be considerable potential for using multimodal forms of representation in makerspaces with young children to create more open dialogue with parents about culturally sensitive information. Drawing on multimodal literacies and visual methodologies, we designed a makerspace in a grade 5 classroom (with students aged 9–10) in a Ugandan residential primary school. Our makerspace included soliciting students’ knowledge about HIV and AIDS as part of a class discussion focused on billboards in the local community and providing art materials for students to explore their understandings of HIV and AIDS through the creation of billboards as public service announcements. Parents were engaged in the work as audience members during a public exhibition at the school. Data sources include the billboards as artifacts, observations within the makerspace, and interviews with parents and children following the public exhibition. The findings show that, for parents and children, the billboards enhanced communication; new understandings about HIV and AIDS were gained; and real-life concerns about HIV and AIDS were made more visible. Although these more open conversations may depend to some degree on family relationships more broadly, we see great potential for makerspaces to serve as a starting point for closing the HIV and AIDS information gap between children and parents.


2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 92 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roberta Bosisio ◽  
Manuela Olagnero

The paper presents the findings of a secondary analysis of qualitative research conducted in Turin (Northern Italy) in 2012–2013 on autonomy and responsibility in the relationships between children and parents. A total of 46 parents and 48 children aged 9–13 were interviewed. The secondary analysis focuses on a specific section of the in-depth interview dealing with daily activity contracts. The aim is to investigate children’s participation in everyday life through children’s and parents’ narratives about daily activity contracts. Thematic analysis of this section of the interviews shows that children make room for acquiring such relational and dialogue skills as self-confidence and speaking up, which are recognized to be essential for any level and type of participation. Moreover, children’s and parents’ discourses on daily activity contracts provide an opportunity to “cultivate” participation and autonomy through a sort of alliance between parents and children in decision-making. The question is whether these dialogic attitudes and negotiation abilities are a resource not restricted to the family sphere but which extends to other areas of participation that go beyond the realm of private, protected, and reversible choices.


1993 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 224-233 ◽  
Author(s):  
Penny McCullagh ◽  
Karen T. Matzkanin ◽  
Susan D. Shaw ◽  
Marcela Maldonado

An important issue facing sport psychology researchers as well as practitioners is understanding the motives of children involved in youth sport programs. The present study extended previous work in this area by examining parental perceptions of their children’s motivations and perceived competencies in addition to the typically assessed variables of youth-reported motives and perceived competencies. Eighty-one children and one of their parents from a youth soccer league served as subjects for this study. Results indicated that children and parents alike ranked intrinsic motives such as feeling good and having fun as primary reasons for participation. In addition, both parents and children rated external reasons as the lowest priorities for participation. Multivariate analyses of variance indicated that children rated all the motive subscales more positively than their parents. No significant relationships were found between perceived competencies and motives.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 226-230
Author(s):  
Talha Ashar ◽  
Asma Shakoor ◽  
Mustafa Sajid ◽  
Rabia Zafar ◽  
Mohsin Javaid ◽  
...  

Background: Parents had a great role in prevention of child’s dental decay and special emphasis has been put on the maintenance of child oral hygiene status for achieving optimum health as early childhood caries is regarded as the major dental disease around the world. Our study aimed to evaluate knowledge and awareness of the parents regarding oral hygiene of the children. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted from March 2019 to August 2019 in Nishtar Institute of dentistry, Multan. Total 300 parents of 4 to 9-year-old children were enrolled in the study. Detailed demographics including age, education, and monthly income were recorded. The questionnaire regarding oral health was designed and data was collected through that self-administered questionnaire. Data was analysed by SPSS 24.0. Results: About 7% of Parent’s were uneducated, 38.5% got the school education, 15.5% got the college education and 39% got the university education. Only 32% parents were aware of proper brushing technique while 68% were unaware. 56% parents said that the sweets, chocolates and junk food are not good for oral health while 44% denied this. 46% parents told that their children complained about teeth and 42% parents visited the dentist for their children. Conclusions: There is a need to improve the knowledge and practices of parents and children about the oral hygiene maintenance to aid in reducing the oral health problems in future.


2017 ◽  
Vol 51 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-83
Author(s):  
Marta Stachurska ◽  
Rafał Milewski ◽  
Sylwia Dzięgielewska ◽  
Anna Justyna Milewska

Abstract Health behaviours of preschool children have a considerable impact on the shaping of habits later on in their lives. Parents’ and guardians’ role is to develop positive health patterns and represent exemplary models to be followed by children. The aim of the paper is to present the use of correspondence analysis for the assessment of the relationship between eating habits of parents and children, as well as for the determination of the most common situations in which preschool children consume fast-food products and to find the relationship between the frequency of fast-food consumption and BMI values in preschool children. The tests were carried out with the use of an own survey carried out in kindergartens in Białystok among parents dropping off and picking up children. 149 correctly filled questionnaires were obtained. The statistical analysis employs the chi-squared test and correspondence analysis. Among the tested children, a statistically significant relationship between body weight and sex was obtained. In the group of children and parents consuming fast-foods, a statistically significant relationship between the frequency of children’s and parents’ consumption of the products in question was noticed. A statistically significant relationship between the age of introduction of fast-food products into the child’s diet and their BMI was found. A situation that was statistically significant as far as contribution to frequent consumption of fast-food products by children, i.e. at least once a week (as compared to sporadic), were children and parents shopping together. The relationship between the frequency of fast-food consumption by parents and children was presented in the form of correspondence maps, as well as the relationship between the child’s BMI and the age when the first fast-food product is served, and the relationship between the child’s BMI and the frequency of their consumption of fast-foods. Unfortunately, despite the high awareness among parents of the harmful effects of fast-food products and the widespread health education programmes, a number of the children in kindergartens were overweight or even obese. For this reason, the quality of the educational programmes in kindergartens, as well as in various media outlets, needs to be improved, with emphasis put on their effectiveness, in order to minimise the problem of the occurrence of overweight and obesity in children. It is also important for parents rearing children to pay special attention not only to their children’s menus, but also to foods consumed in the presence of children.


2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 97
Author(s):  
Syifa Syarifah Alamiyah ◽  
Ade Kusuma ◽  
Juwito Juwito ◽  
Didiek Tranggono

As an effort to control and handle COVID-19, the government has issued a school from home (SFH) policy. This policy has forced children to stay at home and carry out learning using digital media. This situation has an impact on increasing the use of digital media and the involvement of parents in children's learning significantly. This study explores the use of digital media in children in Surabaya during the pandemic period and how parents can assist the use of these media. This research uses qualitative methods with in-depth interview techniques. Researchers distributed questionnaires about the use of digital media to 66 parents, and nine parents stated that they were willing to become informants. The results show that in addition to a significant increase in the time to use digital media during the pandemic, the pandemic has also changed the parental assistance and supervision of children. Before the pandemic, the assistance model was carried out more with technical restrictions, in the form of time restrictions, content access, application choices, and the number of data packages (restrictive mediation). However, during a pandemic, the mentoring model was carried out with active mediation through discussions and critical thinking, active together with devices, close surveillance, and monitoring on applications and post online activities (active mediation, co-using, supervision, monitoring). One of the pandemic's positive impacts is the opening of discussion spaces between parents and children, the opportunity to use gadgets together, and opportunities for children and parents to learn digital skills.


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