Welcome to the first wikichild blog! Not wanting to start out on the wrong foot, this blog, far from being the conscious stream of a budding journalist, is a carefully scripted gift to blog regulars. Not true to the meaning of a blog? Possibly, but as you will see I still have much to learn.
Wikichild is the third wiki to blog on the progblog. And though it may sound hackneyed, in terms of progress, children’s issues are central because ‘children are our future’ (don’t try and say that too fast – or indeed to cynics). Children’s issues are becoming increasingly important to governments. Children will mould the society in which today’s adults will age. Children are the citizens, the workers, the tax-payers, the law-makers, and the carers of the future. Every hour and every dollar invested on child development is designed (explicitly or otherwise) for the purpose of progress.
Wikichild is for the community engaged in the development of concepts, data collection, analysis, and research on children’s issues. It draws its inspiration from the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, and has been supported in its inception by UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre, the International Society of Child Indicators, ACYA (Action for Children and Youth Aotearoa) and the University of Auckland Business School, New Zealand. The purpose of wikichild is simple, to help the community interested in child research and children’s issues to share better and learn more for the benefit of all children.
Maybe it’s the nature of the child research community (maybe it is better described as the outcome of my maiden e-voyage into the unknown) but the result is not all bells and whistles: and perhaps rightfully so. Wikichild is simple; it offers you a forum to share your articles on children research and child issues. Without too much in the ways of ‘techie treats’ wikichild instead provides a non-technical easy-to-use environment for those who find WORD a challenge in itself.
I strongly encourage readers to take a look at the site, and for those with something to add, please register and contribute your knowledge. As you well know, wikis depend on your contributions, particularly in the early stages.
Future wikichild blogs will review the new wikichild content, and address some of the pressing issues in child well-being, policy and research. Recently we have seen that lifestyle choices taken in childhood - drinking, smoking and teenage pregnancy - have been hitting the headlines. As have issues of intergenerational transmission of education and earnings (How do family environments impact on children’s adult outcomes, and do these vary country to country?) and child health policies. All of which are important issues for children, and for the progress of societies.
Until next time,
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