My new theory on why kids’ needs get such short shrift on Capitol Hill: transportation. Kids can’t offer Bill Frist, Harry Reid or any of the other Congressional bigwigs steeply discounted rides on cushy corporate jets.

Talk about great access! Spokesmen for companies like FedEx and BellSouth told the Washington Post recently that when a member of Congress flies on one of their jets, there is always a company lobbyist along for the ride. I guess an in-flight lobbyist is essential equipment, like those cushions that also function as flotation devices. Wonder what they find to talk about – affordable child care for their parenting workforce? In my dreams.

How can kids compete? All they have to offer is a bumpy thrill ride in a Radio Flyer. Or maybe the loan of a shiny two-wheeler. My son has an awesome bright yellow and purple model called a Huffy Maniac. With the seat all the way up Frist might be able to pedal without hitting his chin with his knees.

I’ve just been editing a story about a great after-school program in Eureka, Arkansas. The program is always scrambling for financial support, so some of the older kids tried to raise money for a trip to Washington, DC to lobby their Congressional delegation. They couldn’t raise enough, so they had to cancel the trip.

Think how much easier it would have been for them if they could have flown the members out to Eureka on a Learjet.

Send comments to susan@connectforkids.org

In this week’s CFK Weekly, Caitlin Johnson linked to a study with the title Vstreet.com A Web-Based Community for At-Risk Teens. My gut reaction was to wonder whether Web-based communities are really the best type of connections for teens to be making (things like cyber sex and stalking for some reason entered my mind).

So, I had to learn a little more about Vstreet.com. At first glance, it looks like a cartoon version of the organizational and living tools that I have in both my home and work offices: an address book, calendar, chat room, bulletin board, art and writing gallery, e-mail access, file cabinets, a series of e-zines, and tips on finding apartments.

It was created by the Northwest Media, Inc., an educational and social learning product developer. An annual subscription to Vstreet.com costs $24 for a single user (organizations – any kind of organization, I was told by the person who answered the phone when I called Northwest Media – can buy subscriptions for as many kids as they like at a cost of $24 each).

Noting that the study of Vstreet was conducted by the same firm that created it, I kind of suspected that the findings might be positive: “Findings showed that the [site] was very effective in improving [user’s] knowledge of apartment hunting skills, their confidence in using these skills, and their comfort in talking to others about looking for an apartment.” Youth also became more interested in using e-mail to stay in touch and were interested in having Web sites designed for their needs.

All that sounds great. But, I have to think that a Web site that doesn’t cost the user a cent could be established to accomplish the same goals: teaching at-risk kids how to find places to live, use e-mail, and connect with their peers shouldn’t really be $24 a year, should it? Apartment guides, e-mail tutorials and positive peer connection sites are all already out there for free. What’s needed is a framework putting all this information together – and a promotional campaign highlighting that the information is readily available in one place. Maybe, I hope, a nonprofit out there already does something this?

The most resounding bit of info I took away from the study was this: “To date, attempts at using the Web to help at-risk youth have been fairly narrow in scope. Sites that merely list resources do not take advantage of the audiovisual or interactive capabilities of the Web. Some sites that focus on specific interests such as jobs or health are not designed for the at-risk population and tend to cover a very limited range of lifeskills.”

It seems to me that those shortcomings should be remedied fast. The Web’s been around long enough.

Send comments to rob@connectforkids.org.

For years, I’ve been aware of WIC (the Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children) as a large, relatively uncontroversial, federal program for low-income mothers and children. WIC provides food support to a very specific population: pregnant women, breastfeeding women, infants, non-breastfeeding women parenting infants, and children under the age of four.

But until today, I never thought for more than a moment about what, exactly, WIC is giving these folks. I figured it would be healthy food – no federally-subsidized Twinkies – and that, within certain parameters, moms in the program would be able to use the assistance as their children’s needs (and whims) dictated.

Turns out that I was right about the Twinkies – but that’s about all. The WIC food “packages” haven’t been changed since 1974, when the program began. And it shows.

You can have a carrot – but only if you are a breastfeeding woman.

Want to substitute yogurt for milk? Sorry, no can do. Tofu? Not for you.

Eggs and cheese, however, take up a lot of space in the WIC food basket. Infants making the move to semi-solid foods have the choice of infant cereal – or infant cereal. No meat, no veg.

Fortunately, the reason I became aware of this weird world of WIC is that the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies has come up with a proposed major overhaul which would, among other things, give low-income moms about $10 a month to buy fresh produce; reduce the egg and cheese allowance in favor of increasing whole grains and other healthy foods; and make other changes intended to encourage breastfeeding and generally bring WIC into line with federal dietary guidelines.
Let’s hope it wins support.

Send comments to susan@connectforkids.org

Episiotomies are a weird topic for me to be blogging about -- but, let’s face it, there’d be no episiotomies without kids. So, they’re fair game. (Plus, they’re all over the news today.) For the men and maybe a few women out there who don’t know what an episiotomy is, it’s when, during a woman’s labor, a doctor makes an incision in the perineum, which is the skin between the opening of the vagina and anus.

“The idea is that the incision will make delivery of a child easier and that a deliberate surgical incision will heal more quickly and with fewer complications than tears that occur spontaneously, minimizing the risk of sexual problems and other complications, such as incontinence,” reports Rob Stein in today’s WP. “Because the procedure has been in widespread use since the 1930s, it has been subject to careful evaluation only fairly recently.”

Say what? A surgery is widely used for 70 years or so, and then we start to examine if it’s safe—yet another medical horse before the cart. Now, a new study by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality indicates that widespread episiotomies should be stopped—the procedure should be used only to speed delivery when the health of the baby is at risk.

“[T]he analysis found that it increases the risk of tissue tears, leading to more pain, more stitches and a longer recovery after childbirth,” reports Stein. “In addition, an episiotomy increases the risk of sexual difficulties later and does not reduce the risk of incontinence, the federally sponsored study found.”

So, it’s risky for mom, for sure. And what about baby’s well-being? The scope of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality study didn’t include specific neonatal outcomes. But, judging by numerous accounts from moms on the Internet, pain and infections make those first few days (and even months) of recovery much more difficult for mother to enjoy and bond with her new bundle of joy. I’d definitely like to see some future research on how a mom’s prolonged recovery after an episiotomy affects her ability to respond to and care for her new child.

What do women out there, especially the ones who’ve had the procedure, think about this issue? I’m sure men have some thoughts, too (look out, someday I’ll blog about the circumcision controversy, too).

Send comments to rob@connectforkids.org.