Youth

Atheist professor and author Richard Dawkins is set to moderate a panel examining what the American Humanist Association says are the harmful effects of religious fundamentalism on children at its 72nd annual conference in San Diego.

Sean Faircloth, director of Strategy & Policy at the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason & Science, said in a post announcing the news about the June 1 event that in his experience as assistant attorney general in Maine handling child protection cases, he has seen how "disheartening" it is for religion to be "used as a justification for policies that would never be acceptable – but for the imprimatur of religion."

In addition to Faircloth, some of the speakers  who will be participating on the panel moderated by Dawkins include Katherine Stewart, author of The Good News Club: The Christian Right's Stealth Assault on America's Children, and Janet Heimlich, author of Breaking Their Will: Shedding Light on Religious Child Maltreatment. more >>

The Utah teenager who is accused of punching a soccer referee in the head during a game was charged with homicide by assault after the official died over the weekend.

Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill announced the charges on Wednesday, and this particular charge is issued when an attack unintentionally causes death. The charge is less serious than manslaughter and can carry a five-year prison sentence for adults, but penalties can be less for juveniles.

The 17-year-old has been in juvenile detention since April 27 and the district attorney's office said it would attempt to try the teen as an adult. more >>

A new report shows that when it comes to the health of first-day infants, the U.S. ranks last among industrialized nations.

The annual State of the World's Mothers report was published by Save the Children and showed that more than 11,000 babies die each year in the U.S. within the first 24 hours of entering this world. That adds to the more than 1 million infants to die within their first day of life around the globe.

But the authors of the report contend that the problem seems to be worsening, given that in last year's report, the U.S. ranked 25th and this year's report showed the country fell to 30. There are several reasons that contribute to the high first-day infant mortality rate in the U.S., with the main factors being underutilization of inexpensive medical services as well as inconsistent access to pre-natal care, the report detailed. more >>

Public school students who've endured ridicule for their Christian beliefs created a newly released video, titled "The Thaw," in which they ask, "Why can't I pray in school? Why am I called names because I believe in marriage the way God designed it? Why can't Tim Tebow praise God after making a touchdown without causing a national uproar?"

These questions, and many others, are posed by Christian students who've experienced censorship from teachers and even bullying from classmates who ostracize them for their biblical worldview on marriage and the right to life.

Gary Brown, founder of Reach America, a national education organization based in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, told The Christian Post on Tuesday that one of the motivating factors that spurred the creation of the video happened last year, when a public school teacher asked students to write an essay, titled "I Believe," without using the names God or Jesus Christ in their papers. more >>

The exploitation and trafficking of children in India does not seem to be slowing even after international condemnation and newly passed laws to prevent such horrific acts.

According to official government estimates, roughly 90,000 children went missing in India in 2011- the most recent year that official government numbers are available- with only about 15,000 cases prompting local police to investigate the disappearance.

"The numbers are shocking now," Bhuwan Ribhu, a lawyer who works with the Save the Childhood Movement, told GlobalPost.com. more >>

A nonpartisan organization that advocates for well-enforced decency standards for entertainment media is holding a week for awareness of possible changes in television and radio decency standards.

The Parents Television Council has announced that this week is "#NoIndecencyFCC Week," which is part of their effort to convince the Federal Communications Commission to keep their current decency standards.

Tim Winter, president of the Parents Television Council, told The Christian Post that "#NoIndecencyFCC Week" is based on the belief that the FCC's proposal on changing its decency standards is "extremely troublesome." more >>