Ethical Holiday Gift Guide and More...

Do you have a person in your life who is passionate about doing good? Shopping for someone with a bleeding heart and discerning ethical standards can be a challenge, but I've got all the answers for you. My friend Candace asked me to write a blog post on the Top Ten Christmas Gifts for the Philanthropist. This image is a little hint about what you'll find, but go check out the full post on her blog for the details...



Want more PhD in Parenting during the holidays? Check out some of my past posts (and some guest posts) covering things like:

• Quelling Crazed Consumerism


• Is Blogging Your Santa Claus?


• Christmas: a time for cookies, carols, cookies, and conflicting ideals


• Secular Christmas


• Non-sexist Holiday Shopping


• Multilingual and Multicultural Holidays


• Christmas Gifts For Teachers


• Think of the Elves

Is your family getting ready for the holidays? Do you have any fun activities, traditions or celebrations planned?

A Secular Parenting Workshop at a Skeptics' Conference

Today I had the opportunity to present and lead a discussion (along with two early childhood educators) on secular parenting at the Eschaton 2012 conference.  I started the discussion with a look at the Child's Hierarchy of Needs and whether spirituality is truly a need or just one tool or method for meeting our needs. Overall, the focus of my presentation was on the idea that we do not need to give our children religion in order to raise them to be good human beings. All we need is to love them, model respect for ourselves and for others (including our children), and give them the freedom to ask questions and to define or label themselves. During the presentation and discussion we talked about how families can do this and about how we are supported through the Quebec government's new Ethics and Religious Culture curriculum.

These are the slides that I used to guide the discussion, which includes some thoughts, models, examples and books that I'd recommend.

Eschaton2012 parenting beyond belief from Annie Phdinparenting

Here are some links to the books I recommended in the presentation:

• Parenting Beyond Belief (edited by Dale McGowan)


• Raising Freethinkers (by Dale McGowan, Molleen Masumara, Amanda Metskas, Jan Devor)


• The World Needs Your Kid (by Craig Kielburger, Marc Kielburger and Shelley Page)

Are you raising your children without religion? Or raising your children in a religious environment but giving them the freedom to choose their own path?

Do you have questions about parenting without religion?

What about me? (Guest Post)

Choosing to take time off of your career to be with your kids when they are young can have a big impact on your career opportunities. Most parents I know wouldn't give it up for the world, but that doesn't mean that finding your way back into the job market is always seamless, even if you kept working part-time or going to school during those years. After a long search, my partner will be starting a new job this January. His challenge finding a job after being a stay-at-home-dad and graduate student for many years is not unique. Today, I'd like to welcome my friend Holly from The Culture Mom to share her story of balance her career and her children and finding her way.

What about me?

51% to 44%, women in the U.S. are more likely to say that, if free to do either, they would rather have a job outside the home than "stay at home and take care of the house and family." Women's preferences for working outside the home have been consistent in Gallup polling since 2007, and were also evident in 2001; however, at other times in the not-too-distant past -- 1992, 2003, and 2005 -- the majority of women favored the domestic role. – Gallup.com

When my daughter was born 9-1/2 years ago, I looked forward to maternity leave. After working for nearly 13 years, I thought it would be nice to be home to get to know my new child and orientate myself to motherhood. As the days neared, I thought about the things I wanted to do with her and was eager to take some time off work.

Work at my publishing job gave me a surprise shower before I left to take my leave. They showered me with gifts and offers of good luck with my soon to be newborn. I’ll never forget my mentor pulling me aside and whispering in my ear: “You’re one of the best marketers I’ve ever worked with during my entire career.” One of my fellow colleagues had recently left after having a baby and I suppose he wondered if I would do the same. I left my job looking forward to my new chapter. I knew I’d be back, at this job that loved and revered a few short months later, and his words stayed with me until the baby was born.

And then she arrived, and my heart was torn, and I guess I forgot what he said. I knew my time was limited at home. I breastfed “on demand” and was all of a sudden more needed by anyone that I’d ever been in my life. She and I spent our days getting to know each other and I lovingly fumbled my way through the early days of motherhood.

Then my time was up. I hired a babysitter and headed back to work. When I got there, I was granted the first real office I’d ever had with my name on a plate outside the door. I put a photo of my daughter in a frame by my desk, pumped my milk and took the 1-1/2 hour commute back and forth from work for as long as I could.

But I didn’t last long. The tri state black out hit NY during my first week back and it immediately put me in the mindset that I would quit my job and take some time off. I’d go back to work when I was ready, with no problem.

What was I thinking? Within a year, I had another child and wanted to go back to work when he was about one. With two babies crying, I knew I’d be a better mother with time away from home. I craved independence and stimulation.

A colleague had provided me with a contact in publishing on my last day at work, and sure enough they offered me a job immediately. It was a part-time situation that worked out perfectly. I had the best of both worlds. My colleagues resented me for working less than they did, but I ignored it. I did my work and thought I’d achieved balance between my two worlds.

That job lasted three years. It was the same kind of work I’d been doing before I had a baby and it led to several more freelance positions after that…many that have been long term. There has hardly been a gap on my resume since I left the work force. I’ve never stopped working, but I’ve worked part-time for the last eight years and my resume is a bit clunky. I’ve worked in the office, out of the office and at Starbucks. I haven’t missed a beat with the kid’s activities. I’ve been there for everything, and now I’m ready to go back to work fulltime. Working part-time isn’t a cup of tea. I’m always the first to be let go, the first for my hours to be cut, the first to put in more hours and not get paid for my extra time, the first to jump when the boss needs something. I’ve had to prove myself time and time again to these companies, but for what? At the end of the day, how truly marketable am I? I’ve advanced my skills. I’m more efficient than I’ve ever been. How could I not be? I’ve juggled conference calls, school pick-ups and deadlines all at the same time. But have I advanced my career? Without being fulltime and able to climb the same ladder as my colleagues, I think not.

So, what about me? I’m young, I have many years left to work in this world and I yearn for the kind of passion I had at the job I gave up eight years ago. I crave interaction and work with like-minded professionals in an office. I have no gap on my resume, really, but I do have a number of part-time jobs that have led to a dead end.

I don’t choose my kids over my career, I want both. I’ve tried to have both but I’m not sure where it has gotten me. I’m ready to go back fully committed to an office job.

But where do I start? Who will hire me?



Born in Atlanta, Georgia, Holly Rosen Fink has spent the last 17 years in NYC working in all facets of media, from MTV and Lifetime Television to the world of traditional and online publishing.  Now working as a Marketing Consultant, she blogs about travel, theater, film, art, books, advocacy and more at The Culture Mom.  She is also a partner at MamaDrama, a social media boutique specializing in culture and advocacy.

 

Give The Money Back, PAHO! Influence, Transparency and Ethics in Global Health Policy

Last month, Reuters reported that the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), which has a dual role as the regional office for the World Health Organization for the Americas and the health agency of the Organization of American States, began taking hundreds of thousands of dollars from the private sector for the first time in its 100+ year existence. According to the Reuters article by Duff Wilson and Adam Kerlin:

Accepting industry funding goes against WHO's worldwide policies. Its Geneva headquarters and five other regional offices have been prohibited from accepting money from the food and soda industries, among others. "If such conflicts of interest were perceived to exist, or actually existed, this would jeopardize WHO's ability to set globally recognized and respected standards and guidelines," said spokesman Gregory Härtl.

But the Pan American office - known as PAHO, based in Washington and founded 46 years before it was affiliated with WHO in 1948 - had different standards allowing the business donations.

Even so, not until this February did PAHO begin taking industry money, Reuters found: $50,000 from Coca-Cola, the world's largest beverage company; $150,000 from Nestle, the world's largest food company; and $150,000 from Unilever, a British-Dutch food conglomerate whose brands include Ben & Jerry's ice cream and Popsicles.

In a press release following the Reuters article, PAHO claimed that they need to work with all sectors, including governments, academia, civil society, and the private sector, to tackle challenges such as reduction of salt intake, prevention of cancers, tobacco control, diabetes prevention, promotion of physical activity and so on. That is certainly true, but consultation, cooperation and collaboration can take place without the private sector companies giving a large sum of money.

Taking money from companies that are directly contributing to the challenges that PAHO and WHO are trying to address on both a regional and global scale, is a conflict of interest, regardless of what PAHO's apparent "strict guidelines" say. Companies like Nestle, Coca-Cola and Unilever should be invited to suggest solutions and also asked to be part of the solution. But when they are writing a cheque, it would be very difficult for PAHO to speak out against those companies and to directly implicate them as a big part of the problem. What if solutions that are suggested include limiting advertising of junk food or infant formula? Or adding taxes on foods containing high amounts of sugar or sodium? Will those companies, and their money, still be willing to sit at the table as those provisions are suggested, accepted and implemented? Based on past experience, that is highly unlikely. They will fight it tooth and nail.

The World Health Organization disagrees with PAHO's position on taking money. In a press release, it explained how it works with the private sector:

When WHO works with the private sector, the Organization takes all possible measures to ensure its work to develop policy and guidelines is protected from industry influence.

• WHO may engage with the private sector on occasion, but according to WHO policy, funds may not be sought or accepted from enterprises that have a direct commercial interest in the outcome of the project toward which they would be contributing.


• All experts on WHO advisory groups for developing norms, standards and guidelines are required to disclose interests regarding the advisory committee’s area of work. If a declared interest is potentially significant, then the expert is either excluded from the meeting or given a restricted role.

For this reason the Organization does not accept funding from the food and beverage manufacturers for work on NCD prevention and control.

That is an organization that has a good understanding of how to act in a responsible and transparent fashion. On twitter and facebook, the WHO spoke out directly against the approach taken by PAHO:



Having opted to take money from Nestle, Coca-Cola and Unilever, PAHO is stepping into very muddy waters.

• Nestle is the single largest violator of the WHO Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes in the world, has been awarded "salt lick" awards for the high sodium levels in its Gerber toddler meals, and sells a wide variety of unhealthy food products around the globe.


• Mexicans drink more Coca-Cola than any nation in the world and Coke has plans to double its sales in the country within the next ten years, despite saying it is committed to helping fight the obesity epidemic there and pretending not to market to children.


• Unilever's bottom line depends on getting products like sugary desserts into the hands of children and getting them hooked on the brand for life.

Would these companies really give money to PAHO if they didn't think those funds would buy them some influence? It is highly doubtful.

As in the past, these companies are likely to push for physical activity as the solution to everything, ignoring the fact that overeating and poor eating has a much bigger impact on our weight than exercise does. As in the past, these companies are likely to fight any policy agenda or legislation that could have a negative impact on their ability to increase the sales of their products, even when they've been found to have negative health effects. As in the past, health policy is likely to be watered down in order to not upset the sensitivities of large multinational corporations.

A petition on Care2's Petition Site is urging PAHO to give the money back to Nestle. I would urge you to sign this petition, but also to put pressure on PAHO to return the money from ALL of these organizations and to realign itself with WHO guidelines on working with the private sector. Otherwise PAHO's work, and even PAHO's contribution to WHO's work, will be tainted by the possibility that policies, actions and solutions were watered down through a pseudo bribe from companies that have a direct interest in the outcome of that work.

What do you think the role of the private sector should be in the development of health policy and programs?

Image credit: vlauria on flickr.

I Bet You Think This Song Is About You...

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