“Global Children’s Initiative” website

 

“Global Children’s Initiative” website

 

            The Center for the Developing Child at Harvard University uses research to provide each child in the US and around the world with a promising future {Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University, 2010).  Good health and economic security are some of the primary focuses because children cannot function well if they are plagued by illnesses and poverty.  Out of this organization came the Global Children’s Initiative that accentuates three main areas which are:

1)     To educate the people who impact policy about the scientific research regarding health, behavior, and the dynamics of learning.

2)     To support multidisciplinary research and projects in various countries and to explore the components of healthy development and what causes the interference of healthy development.

3)     To create leaders in early child development policy and research in low to middle income countries in order to gain a diverse perspective for the advocacy of children’s rights.

The three areas of activities are early childhood development, child mental health, and children in crisis which are led by faculty of the organization in order to build a larger research base   In the early childhood field the focus is to create quality early childhood  programs around the world and to develop meaningful assessments.  There is research being done to improve the early learning programs in Chile. 

In the areas of mental health there is a concern about the mental health of children globally and if they are actually receiving mental health services.  A study is being conducted about the affects of HIV/AIDS on Rwandan children and what strategies would be helpful for parents.  Also there is a study being done about child abuse and how mental health services are being allocated in some of the Caribbean countries.  There is also a push to study the effects of natural disasters on children who live in Chile and Haiti because earthquakes impacted both countries.  There are a lot of children suffering from malnutrition globally and the Harvard researchers involved with this initiative want to form a collaboration team that is interdisciplinary to help find some solutions.  I think this is a wonderful research group and it is very helpful for teachers because it gives a scientific basis for why some things occur in early childhood.  This site offers much more than just research because it is research in action, because these scientists are actually changing the world by one project at a time. Now I am more inspired to do more scientific research.

References

Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University. (2010). Global children's initiative.

            Retrieved from http://developingchild.harvard.edu/index.php/activities