Pediatricians turn away from circumcision
The United States is the only country that routinely circumcises baby boys for non-religious reasons
CNN, U.S.A.
March 1, 1999
ATLANTA (CNN) -- American pediatricians are turning away from the practice of routine circumcision, concluding that doctors have no good medical reason to perform the procedure.
The United States is the only country in the world that routinely removes the foreskins of infant boys. Critics of circumcision got additional ammunition Monday from the American Academy of Pediatrics, a leading medical organization.
The academy concluded the benefits "are not compelling enough" for circumcision to be routinely administered.
A newborn winces in pain after a circumcision
Monday's statement, published in the March edition of the journal Pediatrics, was the academy's first in 10 years on the practice. But in recent years, medical societies in Canada, Britain and Australia have come out in opposition to routine circumcision.
Critics have long contended that removing the foreskin from the penis is traumatic, medically unnecessary and may reduce sexual pleasure later in life. As one critic, Dr. George Denniston, put it: "Who are we to question mother nature?"
Canadian researchers, whose study was published in this week's Journal of the American Medical Association, studied the heart rates and crying patterns of babies during different stages of circumcision.
In fact, in the study they found the babies suffered so much trauma that they stopped the study part way through.
The results were so compelling that they took the unusual step of stopping the study before it was scheduled to end rather than subjecting any more babies to circumcision.
One baby stopped breathing for 25 seconds from the trauma of having part of his foreskin severed. More..
Circumcision study halted due to trauma
CNN, U.S.A., December 23, 1997
ATLANTA (CNN) -- A new study found circumcision so traumatic that doctors ended the study early rather than subject any more babies to the operation without anesthesia.
The researchers discovered that for those circumcised without anesthesia there was not only severe pain, but also an increased risk of choking and difficulty breathing.
The necessity of circumcision is the subject of increasing debate , but the traditional reasons for the operations have always been prevention. More ..
The sexual abuse by women of children and teenagers
BBC, UK TV Programme - Panorama - BBC1 - 10 pm Monday, 6th October 1997
The sexual abuse of children by women was once thought to be so rare it could be ignored.
In this programme the victims tell a different story.
This was a vivid and horrific programme in which the victims of sexual abuse by women told disturbing stories of emotional and physical damage:
- Rape and attempted murder of a 12 year old boy by a 19 year
old girl
- Rape and abuse of a 12 year old boy over a two year period by
a 28 year old mother of four
- Rape and abuse of boys by their mother
- Rape and abuse of girls by their mother
- Women taking a lead role in pornographic violence and abuse
- Children abused by nuns
- Children abused at playgroup
- Boy abused by lesbians
It was acknowledged that the scale and nature of these attacks had been severely underestimated and there were examples of women using excessive force with implements such as chair legs and cutlery. More ..
What about girls? Are they really not aggressive?
Nina S. Mounts, Ph.D., The Ohio State University
Human Development and Family Life Bulletin
A Review of Research and Practice
Volume 3, Issue 2, Summer 1997
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The War Against Boys
The Boston Globe, by Christina Hoff Sommers, is a philosopher and well-known writer on feminism, October 24, 1996
Johnathan Prevette, the 6-year-old punished for kissing a classmate, is not alone. When a Worcester mother picked up her son from school recently, the teacher told her that he had been made to sit in the "time-out chair." He had violated the behavior code by hugging other students. "He's a toucher," the teacher said. "We are not going to put up with it."
The mother was startled, not by her son, who is loving and likes to hug, but by the school for punishing him. Her son is 3. More ..
They're Courting Disaster
The Toronto Sun, by Heather Bird, April 23, 1996
In a free society, shouldn't adults have the right to make fools of themselves in open court? After all there are no legal protections against embarrassment. Court can be closed and publication bans ordered when there is a basis in law. It cannot happen as a safeguard against hurt feelings.
And, in an open court proceedings, hurt feelings and embarrassment occur on a regular basis. Part of it is intentional, as in the shame associated with a public dressing-down. Social shunning still has the power to alter behaviour. More..
Dad gets 6 months
Abducted son to Mexico and U.S. in custody battle
The Toronto Sun, Gretchen Drummie, February 24, 1995.
A Scarboro dad abducted his son and took him out of the country for 3 1/2 years has been jailed for six months. More ..
Infidelity--It may be in our genes. Our Cheating Hearts
Devotion and betrayal, marriage and divorce: how evolution shaped
human love
Time Magazine, 1995, By Robert Wright, August 15, 1994.
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