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To exasperate means to “stir up”. To frustrate, vex, annoy or make angry. There might be battles, children with parents; there might be struggles within. If we find that we are warring with our children – fighting battles with them on the home front, or if we see signs of unhappiness, or difficulty, we might discover that one or more of these 30 Ways is the cause:

1. Physical Abuse

Nobody would argue that harsh physical abuse is a one way ticket to a broken child, but physical abuse is so much broader. It ranges in anything from violent beating to repeated hitting. Parental authority should never be abusive. No child should ever be subjected to cruel punishment. Physical violence has no place in the family. A parent needs to ask themselves what their discipline accomplishes and be concerned about the after affects. No child should feel frightened or abandoned, or that they are inherently wicked.

There is a very strong argument that says that there should never be a raised hand to a child – be it a spanking, a caning, use of the hair-brush or slipper.

Being sent to boarding school, I was subjected to corporal punishment, several times subjected to the cane and leather strap. There are some who have the, “it didn’t do me any harm” view, but I can not subscribe to that. It did me a lot of harm, affecting my self-esteem and my view of authority. I harboured feelings of resentment and revenge. In my young mind I wouldn’t have cared if some of those masters had met an untimely demise. This is not a feeling I would want any child to have to deal with.

2. Verbal Abuse

Words Are Powerful. The written word carries much weight, but the spoken word is extremely powerful. Words can embolden and strengthen – but words can also cut like knives. When there is little thought given to how words might affect a child, we could be in danger of saying things which could harm our young ones. Given the more definitive list of fractious words that gain entry to these 30 Ways, this point is somewhat broader. It might include the snarled “Come on!” to the child lagging behind, the hissed “Shut up!” to a child who is too loud for comfort. The gradual wearing down of a little one’s spirit, the relentless chip, chip, chipping away at their self-esteem. The Chinese speak of Death By A Thousand Cuts, and verbal abuse in all its forms could result in the decline of out children’s self worth and desire.

I wonder whether this would include words said in jest, or teasing. If a young child declares, “I want to be a surgeon,” is she met with, “You can’t even cut the bread straight. Did you not see the mess you made of the play dough?” Or the young boy who dreams, “I want to be a fireman!” Is he ribbed, “But you can’t even hit the toilet!” Surely these would be examples of taking away a child’s hopes and dreams, and that is not something we, as parents, would want to do.

Perhaps it is best if jokes are left in the playground. A child needs to return home to a safe haven, knowing that everything said at school can be taken light-heartedly because, at least at home, Mum and Dad believe in me.

In summary: A parent who uses abusive and hurtful speech may raise an angry child, who in turn may grow up to become an adult full of rage. I don’t think anyone would argue that children who are continually screamed at and subjected to psychological indignities, emotionally battered and constantly criticized are having their spirit destroyed.

3. Name-calling

Surely it would be best for parents to refrain from calling their children names. Idiot, dolt, clot, chump, stupid and names of this sort are the mental equivalent of water torture. It might be funny to begin with, but before long it begins to irritate, then aggravate, then anger. I also wonder whether some terms of endearment might be guarded against. Names that we think of as affectionate, might be too much for children to bear. Prince or Princess – more especially, “My Prince/Princess” – terms that might become a habit for us, can begin to irk. I said to my daughter, “Hey, Gorgeous,” and, at two-and-a-bit, she replied, “I’m not gorgeous.” For me, I had to take that seriously, not question it, or argue it, just cut back or refrain.

It made me think that we need to be careful of terms that we understand, but are alien to our children, or terms that might be misunderstood. I still remember being called “pointy-head”. I have lived with it for years. Only recently I looked it up, and it discovered that it’s a reference to being intelligent. However, I know that it was one of those witty reverse-name type things, like when you call a tall child “Titch”. And even if it wasn’t, it doesn’t alter my perception of it. I wonder why a person should have to live with something as simple as name-calling for so long? It is evident to me that the names we call our children – even when we stop using them, can very easily be picked up and continued by them.

4. Labeling

Name-calling can easily turn into labeling. We should not underestimate the power of our words. Children may call each other “stupid” and know it is a joke, but when your mother, father or teacher calls you stupid, then you think it’s true because they ought to know. Labeling a child’s personality could be a factor in a teenager’s low self-esteem, depression and non-communication.

Is our child “lazy”, or “clumsy”, “shy”, or “sensitive”? Have we considered that we could be prompting a self-fulfilling prophecy? If we see our child in a particular role, then we could be inviting the danger of the child adopting the role by default

We might not label them to their face – a tragedy of great proportions – but if we see our child in that role, privately labeling them in some way, then it will make itself known in one way or another. Our child will pick up the vibes, the signals, and and this could cause them to begin to wilt under the branding.

5. Sarcasm

It has been called a sound barrier to learning. The trouble with sarcasm is its invitation to a stinging comeback. It might stir children to a preoccupation with revenge fantasies. There is confusion, resentment, a feeling of being made fun of. Are any of these mental challenges welcome in a family home?

6. Nagging

The connection has been made that parents who habitually make mountains out of molehills, nagging their children mercilessly about trivial matters, are inevitably going to have children who not only lie but are good at it. Habitual, long-winded, or cruel nagging rarely stops the children from doing the things they’re being nagged about. It could, however, stop the children from taking responsibility for their own actions.

This might include the relentless words of warning – every pen or pencil picked up is accompanied with the reminder not to write on walls, or not to run with it. Every plug socket is dangerous, every radiator and oven is hot, every step taken is with a charge to “be careful”. Perhaps, all a child is thinking is “nag, nag, nag, nag, nag, nag, nag.”

If we have a nagging suspicion that we are nagging – we probably are.

7. Threats and Bribery

“If…then…”, “Wait ’til your father gets home.” Predictions on how a child will turn out if they pursue a certain course. “You’ll never get anywhere with grades like that.” “You’ll never if you…”, “If you carry on behaving like that you’ll end up in prison.” Promising a child a beating or some other punishment. Counting – to whatever number – is perceived as a threat. Threats are very likely to be met with the defiant retort – spoken or not – “Let’s see you try.”

Bribery is the promise of some reward if something is accomplished. Sweets for good behaviour. The problem with this could be the child only doing something because of the promise of reward. The added danger of “If…” is the message it sends: “I don’t think you can.” This might, in turn, lead to a child’s doubting their own abilities.

Above all, a child should never be threatened with abandonment. It can be too easy to let slip, “Okay, well you stay here then. We’re going.” Or jokingly, “Right, I’m calling the removal people, and they will come and take you away.” Threats like this unnecessarily draw on a child’s fear of being abandoned.

8. Blaming and Accusing

“You’re always answering back”, “you never listen”, “You are a real embarrassment to me.” Phrases like these could encourage an atmosphere of blame and accusation. They focus on the individual, rather than the problem to be addressed.

Blaming and accusing would also include those questions which could be described as The Invitation To Lie: The parent knows the answer to something, yet they ask their child about it to see what answer they get. It can be confusing and irritating for a young one to be faced with this no-win situation. “Who did it?” is also a question which rarely has a satisfactory outcome.

9. Fault-finding, Being Overly Critical

When our child makes an effort at something, do we first point out the flaws? When the child puts on their own shoes: “Oh, you’ve got them on the wrong feet.” Every defect must be highlighted. The child successfully feeding themselves is told, “Look at you, you’ve got it all down your front, you messy little thing.” The result could be children who are frightened of taking any kind of spontaneous action, helpful included, because they worry that their parents will find some fault in what they have done. They might be criticized, or even punished. Criticism by parents might lead to deep-seated insecurity, or play a part in developing a child’s shyness.

10. Rules, Rules, and More Rules

Do we have rules for everything? Rules which then have to be adhered to, repeated and barked. Rules which tie down and constrain. Rules which have to be explained and numbered. Rules which make living at home seem like living under a dictatorship, under the family society. Already I feel hemmed in and unable to breath. At the same time, children need boundaries, which means that their parents need to set rules and sometimes enforce these rules by discipline. Even so, children must be helped progressively to see the underlying reason for these rules: their parents love them.

11. Praise

It seems as though praise of any kind would be a good thing. However, broad, unspecific praise – “You are such a good boy”, “You are always so kind to your sister” – could result in tension and misbehaviour. A child may not be able to accept this kind of praise because his own idea of himself is quite different. Try it on yourself: “You’re a great father!” How do you deal with that? You didn’t feel so great when you snubbed your child because you wanted to complete some task, or you unthinkingly called him a name. And you know it probably won’t be the last time you do it. Now imagine a child trying to cope with those feelings.

On the other hand, a lack of praise can also lead to insecurity. Sometimes praising in a new way, or praising at all, can take a conscious re-education of the way we parents think and speak. We have to find a more insightful method of praise, one which draws attention to the child’s accomplishments, rather than his personality.

12. Comparing

Comparing to a sibling. Comparing to others at school. Comparing to ourselves as parents. The danger with making comparisons is that it can lead to competition, and experience tells us that intense competition can lead to physical symptoms, emotional troubles, anxiety and hostility. As parents, we want our homes to be havens from this kind of stress.

13. Ignoring Uniqueness

Ignoring uniqueness is not the same as comparing, but it is closely allied with it. It differs, though, in object. Wise parents likewise find ways to express appreciation for each child’s unique qualities, abilities, and accomplishments.

14. Not Respecting Their Struggle

One way to exasperate children is to fail to understand their daily problems and tests.

Growing up is hard work, learning how to do things, how to cope. When parents express how easy certain tasks are – even the ones easy for us, like buttoning a coat, or getting the lid off something – it can be exasperating for children. Homework is not that easy, learning to play the piano or guitar is not that easy.

15. Not Listening

Communication is a two-way discussion. Parents cannot really get to know their children’s needs unless they listen to them. If parents constantly tell children what to do without encouraging them to express themselves, their children may become less and less willing to communicate.

16. Being unreasonable

Are we flexible? Open to discussion? Can we be reasoned with, so that if a child feels that something is unfair, we are approachable and can reason on a matter, perhaps even changing our mind or making an exception to a rule. The inability to do this – the “my way or the highway” approach on all matters – is likely to cause warfare and rebellion in the house.

17. Silent Treatment

Sometimes we need to be silent. Sometimes we feel angry about something, and need moments of silence to collect our thoughts, or even to let the young child recognise that what they have said or done is unacceptable – it has caused a grievance. The danger comes when we use silence as a weapon. Filling the house with an unsettling atmosphere of power and fear.

18. Quick to Anger

Do we fly off the handle quickly? Are the children scared to do anything because of our wrath? Do they need to tiptoe around us lest they set us off?

19. Withholding Independence

Right from the start children naturally desire more independence. This manifests itself from a very early age – putting on their own shoes, taking off their coat, which may be painfully slow to the adult trying to get out the door. However, when a child is often prevented from engaging in activities and assuming responsibilities for which they are ready, this can lead to frustration and resentment

20. Unrealistically High Standards

Being constantly put down by a parent or being measured by unrealistically high standards can be exasperating for children. The inability to live up to high parental expectations could cause significant loss of self-esteem. Our children need to feel it is safe to come to us when they have failed at something, or when something is making them unhappy.

21. Over-permissiveness

Parents must be fair and set good examples, but children need regulations and discipline. A growing child needs a sense of boundaries and limits. If parents condone wrongdoing in their children, they are bound to lose the children’s respect. As parents, we may later find that we have compromised the line of communication.

22. Lack of Headship

When the father – or other significant adult – lives up to his responsibility, the whole family is drawn closer together and strengthened. When parents give in to children, or rely too much on their child’s giving of love, if they are scared of losing their child’s love and affection, or if they are scared of upsetting them, the child might end up assuming the position of head of the house, “ruling the roost”, as it were. It is a position the child does not want and emotionally cannot handle.

23. Inconsistent Discipline

This can consist of disciple that bears little or no relation to the crime being punished – it might include the naughty step, or naughty chair. It can include meting out discipline for a misdemeanour one time, and then not doing so when the same thing is repeated. It does not mean we cannot listen to our child, and our instincts, and sometimes make an exception.

24. Public Discipline

Punishment by ridicule before friends makes the child downhearted, even hostile. It is embarrassing and annoying for children to be disciplined in front of people, the danger being that it is done for the benefit of onlookers rather than the child. As parents we do not want to be viewed as “letting them get away with it” and this is a moment that can tax our determination not to expose our child to public shame and humiliation.

Demanding good manners in a public forum can be demeaning to children, and an affront – “Say ‘Thank You’ to Auntie (Whoever)” or “What do you say?” Of course, we want our children to be polite, so this is another challenging area for parents.

Chastising children in front of their friends, reminding them about an assignment, finger-wagging, can all be terribly embarrassing for a youngster.

25. Hypocrisy

It is irritating and frustrating for children to be told that they should be kind and considerate, and yet they see their parents argue, gossip, act rudely, or get easily upset. Can they be blamed if they act in the same manner? Children can spot hypocrisy from a long way. They are not so young that they cannot spot double standards in adults. As an example: The grown-up who smokes, but fumes when they discover their child smoking.

26. Self-righteousness

This invitation to battle is closely allied with hypocrisy. How can it fail to be. When we demand certain standards we will soon find ourselves unable to meet them. Self-righteousness shows itself in parents ability to lecture and moralise. Going on and on about something. Needing to appear as if we never do a thing wrong, and yet pointing out wrong-doing in others. A self-righteous attitude may not be demonstrated against our children, but if they hear us speaking in a self-righteous way about others this might have a detrimental effect.

27. Passive Aggression

This emotion can often be seen when we act against our better judgment. Then we have pent up feelings of anger which seep out into our activities. We might say we’ll do something when we don’t feel like it, and then sabotage efforts to get ready. Or allow the irritation to build up within us, until it explodes into something else entirely. A good rule of thumb: We can be a little bit nicer than we feel, but not much.

28. Absenteeism

If we disappear from our children’s lives, if our job routinely takes us away from the family home for days, weeks or months, we cannot be surprised that our children will react negatively. Not only will we exasperate them but we may well undermine their self-worth, making them feel unloved and unlovable.

29. Lack of Self-Control

A lack of self-control is not just seen in an ability to get angry quickly, reacting to the merest hint of wrong-doing. It is not only seen in an overindulgence in alcohol or some other habit. A lack of self-control can be seen in a variety of areas, it manifests itself as a general character trait. Self-control is the ability to say “no” to yourself, to be self-disciplined. The parent who lacks self-control, cannot be surprised if he has a child who resists discipline.

30. Spiritual Neglect

Children are curious. They want answers. At some point, they are going to want answers to the big questions in life: “Who are we? Why are we here? What is the purpose of life?” Parents who avoid these questions, or show that such things are unimportant to them, could find themselves with difficulty at home, especially through the teenage years, when young adults are at their most vulnerable.

Further Reading

Between Parent & Child and Between Parent & Teenager Dr Haim G Ginott

Liberated Parents, Liberated Children and How To Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk by Adele Faber & Elaine Mazlish.

Rory Sullivan writes Hamelife [http://hamelife.com], a website dedicated to helping parents negotiate the unpredictable waters of parent-child communication. With the 30 Ways at its heart, Hamelife encourages parents to avoid exasperating their children by embracing empathy, respect, and patience.

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The poet Oscar Wild, wrote these moving lines: “Children begin by loving their parents. After some time, they judge their parents. Rarely, if ever, do they forgive them”. It is a well known fact that the well-being of today’s children is inseparable from the peace, progress and prosperity of tomorrow’s world. It is, therefore, important that children be nurtured in an environmentally sustainable pattern to promote national and global peace and progress. The importance of their welfare was underlined during the World Summit for Children in September, 1990, held under the auspices of the United Nations International Children Education Fund (UNICEF) where world leaders maintained that “unless the investment in children is made, all of humanity’s most fundamental long-term problems will remain fundamental long term problems”.

Put succinctly, children are a country’s most precious assets and they demand the highest priority on both national and international investments. In spite of this open acknowledgment of the importance of their survival to our collective global future, evidence abounds that children are facing the worst tragedy in the world today. In a recent seminar organised by the United Nations non-government liaison services in Geneva, participants at the seminar from more than 120 countries were in agreement that “millions of children around sub-Saharan Africa live under especially difficult circumstances where special protection measures are required to enable them enjoy fulfillment of their basic rights”. These children in addition to being poor, are exploited, abused, abandoned, neglected, disabled and deprived of liberty.

The greatest manifestations of child abuse, exploitation, deprivation and neglect are very obvious in situations where children are used as a veritable source of cheap labour, soldiers, and prostitutes against their innocent and passive will. Many children seldom report cases of such abuses against them and most child abusers rely on this fact to continue in their wicked acts. Child labour thrives in our societies today mainly because some employers consider it cheaper to employ and over-work children who have very weak resistance to exploitation and oppression than adults. Such employers often betray and take undue advantage of the innocence of children’s dependence and trust. Families also use child labour to make additional income. While some of the hapless children are engaged in domestic duties of hawking goods, others are made to do hard labour meant for adults. Some Non-Governmental Organisations, (NGOs) have continued to express their concern over this unfair practice that is conducted not only in Nigeria, but also in other countries of the world. In an interview granted to a newsmagazine, Mr. A.C. Onukwue, a director of Media Environment Initiative (MEI) in Nigeria said that “children as young as eight years old are being subjected to a bland agreement by their parents to serve as slaves all their childhood and youths in the name of apprenticeship”.

Those working as domestic servants are the most exploited and most difficult to protect. Most of them are girls who live with their employers and are totally dependent on them. The United Nations Organisation (UNO) and the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) have made some legal provisions in their bid to checkmate this growing monster. Article 32 of the United Nations Convention of the rights of the child and article XV of the Organisation of African Unity Charter on the rights and welfare of the child, unanimously condemn child labour in all its ramifications. The two articles recognize “the rights of the child to be protected from economic exploitation and from performing any work that is likely to be hazardous, or to interfere with the child’s education or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social developments”. In Asia, South America and some migrant communities in the United States, it has been reported that children even as young as five years of age are forced into what can be termed “slave labour”. They work like little robots in dreadful conditions that damage their immature bodies and minds. Most of them have no education, are homeless and deprived of parental love and care.

Children as Child-Labourers

Most people have argued that the main cause of child labour is poverty. Others are economic and social inequality, war, unemployment, broken homes and juvenile delinquency. The merchants of children peddle stories of pleasurable life awaiting the kids in the cities in order to entice their victims from their poverty-stricken parents. Most poor parents swallow such stories hook, line and sinker and so inadvertently release their children to the slave merchants. Because of the nature of their minds, children believe what they are told by adults without reservation. Some of them on hearing such false stories of bright future awaiting them at imaginary lands, sometimes sneak away from their homes to be taken away without their parents’ knowledge. Most of them also follow child merchants because their parents find it difficult to feed, clothe and train them in school. Though many children in the advanced industrial nations and in some urban centers of the Third World countries enjoy good care and welfare, yet it is obvious that majority of them in some rural and urban areas whose parents are living below subsistence level are more often exposed to this risk. The situation has been considered dangerous enough that it was brought to focus in 1997 at a forum organised by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the United Nations International Children Education Fund (UNICEF) for jourlalists in Lagos to deliberate upon. The theme of the forum was The Impact of Child Labour on Development. Participants at the forum agreed that child labour exists in Nigeria as in other parts of the world. It is interesting to note that most of these unsuspecting children lured from their homes in Nigeria are taken to Gabon in Central Africa and other neighbouring countries where they are subjected to the highest form of child abuse.

Children as Articles of Trade

But how widespread are cases of child abuse? Let us at this stage, embark on a historical excursion in order to reveal the extent of abuse and danger our children had been exposed to. On May 30, 1995 when 330 Nigerian deportees arrived in Calabar from Gabon, 109 of them were children below 16 years of age. Again, in March 1996, four students of Ikono Ibom Comprehensive Secondary School, Ikot Aya, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria were cajoled into embarking on a trip to Gabon by a fellow student. But these students, made up of three girls and a boy whose ages were between 10 and 14 years were lucky as they could not reach their destination. As fate would have it, officers of Nigerian Immigration Service intercepted their boat at the Oron Creek. And in January 1997, 150 Gabon-bound children were rescued from a camp at Mkpanak near Ibeno. Among the children aged between 11 and 18 years were 20 Nigerians. The rest of them came from neighbouring Togo, Benin Republic and Ghana. In February 1997, 86 under aged children were freed after a raid on an uncompleted building at Ibeno, Akwa Ibom State. It was reported that the nefarious dealers on children had intended to ship them to Gabon before they were rescued. A breakdown of the rescued children’s nationalities showed that 25 were from Nigeria, 23 from Togo while 38 were from Benin Republic. Of the 86 kids, 46 were girls.

It is also sad that not all of these children had been lucky. The hapless ones do not get to their destinations and do not live to tell their stories. In January 1996, more than 200 persons perished in the high seas of Ibeno Beach. About 73 per cent of the victims were school children, some of whom were in their school uniforms. These difficult circumstances represent serious hazards and risks to the survival and development of our future generation.

Children as Sex Tools

Apart from child labour and trafficking, sexual harassment is another area of high risk that confronts our children. Convincing indication of the enormity of this crime was tendered at the World Congress Against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children held in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1996 which was attended by representatives of 130 countries. For instance, it was documented that in several parts of the world, there are millions of young girls, some even as young as 10 years of age who are constrained to work as call girls. After years of physical, mental, and emotional molestation, these girls are scarred for life. In most cases, they surrender to this atrocity simply because they want to eat and stay alive. The option is like choosing between six and half a dozen. As a result of such abuse, some children develop social and psychiatric problems later in life. Furthermore, the activities of pedophiles who occupy influential positions in our society do not help matters. Pedophile refers to a psychological disorder which causes adults to be sexually attracted to children whose sexual experience is nil. In August 1997, a Dublin Chief Judge, Cyril Kelly, committed Reverend Berndan Smith a 72 -year old Roman Catholic priest to 12 years imprisonment for a case involving 74 count charges of indecent and sexual assaults against children. Rev. Smith who admitted to a 36-year career of sex offenses against a total of 26 children in the Republic of Ireland, pleaded guilty to the charges. The Daily Telegraph of June 2, 1998 carried a report on a 44-year old soccer coach who used his position of trust to abuse young boys. He was jailed for nine years after pleading guilty to 23 specimen charges against children. The Chester Crown Court was told that from 1978 to 1992, the coach invited boys from the North West and Midlands to stay with him or go on holiday to North Wales and Spain where the offenses took place. According to The Daily Telegraph: “Benndell would take the boys into his trust by offering them the chance of not only training with his teams but also an occasion at Grewe Alexandra and Manchester City”.

Children As Child Soldiers

Compounding the tragedy further, there has been an increase in the use of child soldiers in guerrilla armies. Children are easily kidnapped, separated from their parents and siblings and conscripted into the army to fight wars. In such situations they are systematically brutalized, at times by being forced to watch gruesome murder. Some have been ordered to kill their own parents, brothers and/or sisters. Where they find it difficult to carry out these bloody assignments as a result of their innocence, such children are encouraged and compelled to take drugs in order to heighten their killer instinct. In Freetown, Sierra Leone, child soldiers whose innocence had been destroyed by the crimes of a protracted civil war resolved that they were not going to hands-off arms. They took the resolution in October, 1998 when Carol Bellamy the then UNICEF’s head in Sierra Leone, asked them in Bo to surrender their weapons. The child soldiers belonged to the hunter militia group known as Kamajor. In addition, children generally suffer a high death rate during civil or international wars. Most of them die of hunger or hunger related diseases such as kwashiorkor. Because they are fragile and defenseless, they are easy victims in war situations. On August 31, 1997 about 21 children fell into a swimming pool in panic and got drowned in Nsele, 60 kilometers east of Kinshasa, capital city of the Democratic Republic of Congo when some armed troops tried to maintain order in the area. In Northern Uganda, rebels of the Lords Resistance Army (LRA), headed by Joseph Kony, who have been fighting against the Ugandan government have continued to carry out atrocities against children in that country.

It is interesting to note that children are gradually becoming aware of the injustice and oppression against them by the adult world. In July 1997, Eric Ndelema, a councilor from Kaziso, West Rand, was stoned to death by an irate mob of about 200 primary school children. The mob also set his house ablaze. Mary Martins, a sergeant and South African Police spokesman, confirmed the incident that occurred in Johannesburg but said that the motive for the attack was not yet known. If the cause of the attack was not known, perhaps the peaceful demonstration that was carried out by children from January 5 to June 4, 1998 is enough proof that children are gradually getting fed up with the whole game. Pakistan played host to the global march against child labour in April, 1998 as part of a campaign to draw world attention to children’s rights. The campaigners, numbering about 45,000 children from various countries, walked through Manila, Vietnam, Thailand, India and Geneva into the boarder town of Wahgah, 25 kilometers from Lahore, capital of Pakistan, amidst cheers from the citizens. Kailash Trithay, the leader of the demonstration said his group was carrying a message from every working child that “the world should be free of child abuse”.

In spite of the above facts, which are by no means exhaustive, it appears that not many countries of the world have taken definitive stand against this global monster of child abuse which is threatening to turn our God-given children into slaves and make this world an unsafe place for those who are undoubtedly our leaders of tomorrow. The situation quickly calls to mind, the admonition of an erudite scholar, Martin Luther King, who once remarked that “the world is full of evil today not because of those who do evil, but because of men who keep silent and watch evil being done”.

I strongly advise everyone interested in this article to purchase my new book titled – MASTURBATION:How to Overcome and Quit the Habit. You can get the ebook version from the following link, http://stores.lulu.com/store.php?fAcctID=3962841

While those interested in having the printed and bound copy of the book should send me an email via: donationsglobal@yahoo.com Please quote REQUEST FOR BOOK on the subject line, to distinguish your mail from spam mails.

Victor Izuogu was born on February 8, 1973 in Egbema, Imo State, Nigeria. He attended Egbema Secondary School, Egbema where he obtained his West African School Certificate. He holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Secretarial Administration from the Rivers State University of Science and Technology, Rivers State, Nigeria.

Victor has worked in many reputable organisations as a an Executive Secretary and a Banker. Because of his humble beginning and experience in life, he has a passion for charity and humanitarian services. In order to execute his dream project, Victor formed a charity organisation, GLOBAL INTERCHANGE VENTURES. The proceeds of his literary works go to charity homes, churches and hospitals, e.t.c. You can support his charity and humanitarian services by sending your donations by mail to: GLOBAL INTERCHANGE VENTURES, P.O. BOX 1291, PORT HARCOURT, RIVERS STATE, NIGERIA.

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I. Overview of Topic

How to blog is a question on many people’s minds these days. Blogging has taken the world by storm. Since 2004, when it first made its appearance, this popular medium of having your own little corner of the world to express yourself has turned into a veritable deluge. Today there are more than 120 million blogs that are currently tracked by the Tecnorati blog search engine. No wonder then, that owning and maintaining a blog has become almost a fashion statement, especially in the U.S.

When first embarking on a blogging journey, there are some knotty questions that usually beset one’s mind regarding how to blog. Let’s start with the basics.

What kinds of topics can be the subjects of blogs?

Just about anything. Simply put, a blog is an online personal diary on just about any topic you care to write about, ranging from politics to sports and fitness to religion, health, freelancing, literature, or whatever suits your fancy. But picking a subject you have solid experience in will enable you to write meaningful content that will pull in an audience for your blog. Without an audience you’ll soon tire of your blog and it will join the millions of abandoned blogs lost in cyberspace.

How are blogs categorized in blog search engines?

Blog search engines like Technorati and IceRocket categorize them by subject. The most general categorization, though, is personal vs. business-oriented blogs. Yours will probably fit into the former of these categories.

Are blogs only text or can they have other features as well?

Though basically consisting of text, many blog users make their web pages more attractive by adding pictures, audio and video files.

How can I make my blog easy to navigate and attractive to readers?

A successful blog usually follows a clear simple format with its articles plainly delineated, archives (in a sidebar), and a place at the bottom for visitors to leave comments. Some also include blogrolls, which are just lists of links to other similar blogs. The best bloggers are usually people who are able to connect with their visitors’ emotions, by means of artistic expression in many cases. To learn how to blog with the winners your number one teacher is other blogs – read and study a lot of them before starting your own. A good place to research blogs on your topic is Icerocket.com.

What are some tips for setting up a blog?

- First, remember your blog is a reflection of your personality. Pick a theme or a topic close to your heart or one you know something about. Correction, one you know a lot about.

- Be consistent. If you want your blog to get really popular you need to connect with your visitors on a regular, predictable schedule. Plan on publishing at least twice a week. If that sounds like too much work, once a week is the absolute lowest you can go, say blog gurus.

- Connect/network. Connect with other blog writers by leaving comments on their posts and by providing links to their blogs on your website. This kind of networking will do wonders for your traffic.

- Keep it simple. Don’t clutter up your blog with meaningless details. Select a simple clean appealing design. Use fonts and colors which increase text visibility. Add videos, audios, photographs and music files only if these make your blog more attractive and/or useful.

- Don’t stick your neck out – or not too far anyway. Blogs can get opinionated, which is fine, but don’t put yourself at risk of a heavy-duty defamation suit. It’s fine to express your opinions – so long as you make it clear they’re just that, your opinions — and always be sure that your blog is not defaming somebody, divulging sensitive information, or giving away corporate secrets.

Okay, I get the feel about how to blog. Now where do I go from here?

To get started, you first need to select suitable weblog software. This is necessary in order to create and manage your blog. There’s quite an assortment of blogging software out there. Some offer ease of design and development while other programs offer more elaborate features, for example, allowing you to add discussion forums, message boards etc. Some weblogs can be downloaded and installed directly on your system. Freeware and open source software are available, though these programs are not as feature-rich as some of the paid proprietary software. Here’s a rundown of the most popular blogging software:

WordPress

WordPress is the number one blog publishing software. Why? — because it’s freeware, easy to install, and has a minimal learning curve. Its extensive documentation and step-by-step installation guide make it a cakewalk even for a novice user. Among its most salient features are –

Easy installation – Even a newbie can get WordPress up and going in 5 minutes. Moreover, web pages are generated dynamically by using thousands of built-in templates thereby greatly reducing your time and effort.

User Management – Restricts access to users while you’re making modifications in your weblog. So in effect you have separate access for readers and administrative users.

Saves precious bandwidth through its Gzip feature, which reduces blog transmission size.

Enables you to place RSS feeds into your blogs and also aids in inter-blog communication by providing features like pingback and trackback.

Comes with lots of plugins making it possible for you to incorporate any feature you want. You can also integrate WordPress with Akismet, a popular anti-spam software program used to protect blogs from spammers.

Other useful features include a database of visitors, capability to save previous drafts, blog previews, and easy formatting.

Want to see some popular blogs that use WordPress. Two to start with are: Ilovetypography and Problogger.

OTHER WEBLOG SOFTWARE

Typepad

Created and owned by Six Apart Limited, Typepad is a blog hosting website currently used by many large organizations in the US, such as Sky News, BBC, and MSNBC for hosting their weblogs. Launched in October 2003, Typepad today can boast that it’s the number one paid blogging service worldwide. Available in multiple languages in different parts of the world, users have three different subscription options: $4.50/month for a basic subscription to $14.50/month for the pro edition. Among its features: The software enables you to associate each article in your blog with a URL, and easy uploading and sharing photo albums from multiple authors have made this a vox populi among professional bloggers. So if writing is your passion and you want to make it a profession, you can start by signing up for Typepad.

Movable Type

The first blogging system developed by Six Apart Limited in 2001, Movable Type hosts some of the world’s top blogs, such as Huffington Post and Boing Boing. Developed using Perl, Movable Type supports LDAP protocol for efficient user management and automatic provisioning of blogs. This blogging system is extremely useful if you want to run multiple blogs using a single installation. The system is enriched with all possible features you could possibly think of, such as a customizable template library, ability to create categories and sub categories of articles, efficient user management directory servers and hordes of independent plugins that can be used to support different services, like creating discussion forums. This blogging system is an attractive choice if you have a technical bent.

Text Pattern

Developed by Dean Allen as an open source content management system, this is one of the simplest blogging systems available today. The most useful feature of Text Pattern is textile that helps in converting simple text documents into stylish HTML web pages using built-in style sheets. Text Pattern has a built-in CSS editor that simplifies the task of changing your web site’s designs, fonts, position of the text and the background color. You can also password-protect certain sections of your blogs and keep regular track of visitors and their comments. The date and time stamp of each article is adjustable and you can save drafts of your blogs for future publication. What makes it most attractive is that Text Pattern provides a built-in search engine and the users can also link XML feeds into their blogs. The simplicity of Text Pattern is its USP. For most beginners choosing this service is almost a nobrainer.

Blogger

Developed by Pyra Systems and bought by Google in 2003, Blogger is one of the most popular blogging systems to date. Google subsequently acquired Picasa in 2004 and integrated the latter’s photo sharing feature ‘Hello’ into Blogger. Alexa ranks Blogger as the 9th most visited site worldwide, indicating its enormous popularity. Blogger offers multiple author support allowing the user to create group blogs. Bloggers can even earn revenue from Google AdSense by integrating it into their blogs. Another interesting feature provided by Blogger is a free add-in for Microsoft Word called “Blogger for Word” that helps blog users save their blogs directly in Blogger from their Word document. Bloggers can also customize their blog templates as per personal preferences. For users having a Google email account, it is a pretty simple matter to link to Blogger and then start writing and maybe earning some extra income.

In addition to the above five blogging systems there are a number of up-and-coming lesser-known blog systems which include all the aforementioned features but don’t require any plugins for extending their feature list. Some of the best of these second-line blogging systems are:

Habari

Habari, meaning ‘news’ in Swahili, is one of the most promising new blogging platforms and one of the finalists in the ‘Best New Projects in 2008′ Sourceforge Community Choice Award. Habari allows the user to launch multiple blogs using a single installation, supports multiple writers and has a modular structure for easy extendibility. All these features will make Habari a formidable competitor in blog publishing.

Symphony

Created for ultra-serious bloggers, Symphony has been developed in XML and XSLT. This is a blogging system for web developers and has an MVC architecture which gives the blogger full control over their website. An extremely versatile system, Symphony can be customized to a high level making it popular among bloggers who want to keep a tight grip on all aspects of their website.

Pixie

Positioning itself as a small, simple website maker, Pixie is also a great blogging platform for all of you who are new to the world of blogging. Ease of installation, lots of creative CSS themes, search engine optimized clean URLs for your website, spam protection, a file manager which supports tags for easy sorting of files and a small memory requirement of just 1 MB are some of the features which explain

Pixie’s fast-rising popularity.

That’s it, our ten minutes are up (okay, maybe eleven or twelve). Below are additional resources on How to Blog.

II. FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Following are additional research resources on “How to Blog.”

Tumblr

Tumblr is a popular micro-blogging site where users create and share small posts of about 140 words or less. What makes these micro-blogs, popularly known as tumblelogs, all the rage is their ease of customization and the freedom they provide for posting everything from photos to quotes, to emails, and even links. Moreover, signing up for Tumblr really does take only about 10 seconds. More and more people are attracted to micro-blogging due to its capability for posting short, incisive and hopefully witty messages about the poster’s latest doings, inventions, discoveries, observations, misadventures, etc. Tumblelogs even make it possible for people to post their art works and music audios and videos for public viewing.

Clubmom

If you are a homemaker who loves sharing recipes, health tips, beauty secrets and child care advice and also love getting similar words of wisdom from others, Clubmom is the place for you. It’s a blogging site/forum where moms can meet and share their experiences while at the same time having a chance at winning exciting gifts. From family anecdotes to home remedies, careers to kids, this is a bonding place for moms of all age groups. Joining Clubmom means connecting with individuals at a personal level and sharing information which benefits all.

Joseph Ryan is editor of Web Search Guides (http://www.websearchguides.com), which provides 10-minute guides on how to conduct online research on a wide variety of topics of current interest.

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Africa has been marked by a dearth of books, especially picture story books for younger children reflecting an African environment both in textual context and illustration. Problems militating against a rapid growth in writing and publishing for children in Africa include the following:

(1) The bulk of reading matters available to the African child are textbooks rather than books for pleasure and enjoyment.

(2) Most children’s books are still imported. Such imported works are mostly insensitive to local culture, and unreflective of the social realities of the African child and his aspirations.

(3) Not enough African published children’s books are available.

(4) If they are available the illustrations in them are either

(a) of poor quality

(b) not in full colour

(c) Do not have beautiful dust jackets.

(5) And if they are in full colour, and of good quality, they are either much too expensive or for an elitist few and well beyond the reach of most African children, especially those in the rural areas.

(6) Most serious African authors do not bother to write for children since it is not accorded the same status as writing for adults.

Africa has very little concern for written literature. Even Nigeria which is rich in award-winning authors is marked by neglect of her authors. Writers are seldom as honoured.as footballers are. Hardly any foundations exist to boost the creativity of African writers. Prizes for literature are also in short supply. Book Development Councils seem to be either non-existent or collapsing except in Ghana. In Sierra Leone and the Gambia its absence is still being bemoaned. Whereas in Nigeria where one was once set up to develop indigenous book publishing, it hardly made any impact until it was swallowed up by the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council. In Africa generally adults seldom read children’s books – not even parents. Compared to the over 2,000 titles published every year for children in Britain, the output in Nigeria is hardly up to 60.

In spite of the over 100 publishers in Nigeria the situation remains bleak for children’s literature. This is due mainly to their textbook orientation which makes them lazily rely on a captive school market. It has been proven that if only African children had access to more books they would read outside the classroom. An illustration of this fact could be seen from the 1985 Ife Book Fair where the Children’s Literature Association of Nigeria (CLAN) held a special exhibition of books

Visitors to that stand were fascinated by the colourful poster illustrations of folktales decorating the wall, the top and back of shelves. Some even wanted to buy the poster-sized illustrations made by a very gifted woman artist from the Nigerian television authority. The festive air given to the stand by the balloons decorating it along with the colourful posters attracted many children. There was the astonishing sight of three children of varying ages reading one picture book at the same time, visibly very fascinated by this picture book entitled No Bread for Eze by Ifeoma Okoye and published by Fourth Dimension in Enugu. It was one of those picture books where both story and illustrations were ideally integrated. It was about a young boy Eze who loved bread and could not eat enough of it. He wanted bread all the time. So his exasperated parents made him eat nothing but bread. Eze was at first very happy. Nobody was pressurizing him to eat nourishing food. But he soon grew tired of eating bread all the time and pleaded with his parents to give him other types of food. But they would not relent. So Eze became tired of bread and stopped eating. He grew hungry and weak and could not even play football with his friends. In the end his parents relented and Eze began to enjoy a balanced diet, having learnt that boys shall not live by bread alone. This emphasizes the importance of illustrations in children’s books, for those children were fascinated not only by the story of Eze but also by the imaginative and sometimes humorously drawn pictures. If children are to acquire the reading habit, they must be given attractive books which also mean well-illustrated books. Even a two-year old baby can enjoy looking at a picture book. Picture books could indeed be expensive to some extent if one insists on printing in four colours which is ideal as could be seen in the lavishly illustrated folktale The Drum specially written for children by Chinua Achebe. But even line and wash drawings could be so well drawn that they too could be captivating.

Half-tone illustrations as in Adagbonyin’s The Singing Ashes (1981) can also be effective due to the masterly shading of the artist. Even one-colour children’s books could infectiously hold young readers as does Just in Case (1983) By Sandra Slater, illustrated by A.L. Satti.

Other good picture books include the colourful Amina the Milkmaid (1988) by Fatima Pam illustrated by K. Ofori Pam, a Ghanaian, The First Coin (1989) by Mabel Segun illustrated by the same artist and How the Leopard Got His Claws (1982) by Chinua Achebe and John Iroaganachi. This has two illustrated versions, the one in full colour being by Adrienne Kennaway.

Although Nigeria has a few good illustrators, most of the good illustrations there have been done by expatriates. It appears that many Nigerian illustrators cannot draw children’s faces and have problems with interpreting texts. In order to remedy these defects, CLAN has run two illustrators’ training workshops with UNESCO funding and published a book on Illustrating For Children (1988) edited by Mabel Segun.

But this problem can only be solved permanently by integrating text and illustrations, a feat best accomplished by an author illustrator The cost of publishing in full-colour could even be reduced through co-publishing with, a number of publishers working together to increase print runs and reduce the unit cost of books. Sometimes a book is published with texts in different languages using the same colour illustrations. In Nairobi, five publishers across Africa including Nigeria’s Daystar Press came together in 1983 under the auspices of the World Association for Christian Community (WACC) and co-published a number of children’s books in full colour under the imprint DUCCA.

The dearth of good children’s authors is also militating against the publishing of children’s literature in Africa. For, writing for children, is much more difficult than writing for adults, for not many adults can either enter into the child’s world and interact with him with understanding and lack of condescension whilst adapting the contents and language of her writing to the child’s age, experience and background… A good writer for children must understand a child’s psychology for the story not to ring false. Good children’s literature arouses a child’s imagination and extends his horizon giving him a knowledge of the past in relation to the present and imbuing him ideals and values necessary for national development. Work ethics. selflessness, loving relationships, acceptance of responsibility are amongst the values which can be so taught, not in a didactic, off-putting manner but with subtlety so that children can be mobilized towards national and international development. Good children’s literature develops a child’s creativity and inventiveness without which a people cannot hope to move into the technological age.

Good literature can also give a child personal identity in a continent which has been subjected to cultural imperialism through mass importation of foreign literature. Achebe does this through his well-written folktales such as The Flute, The Drum and the earlier How the Leopard Got His Claws co-authored with John Iroaganachi and published in 1972 by Nwamife Publishers. The latter was one of the first children’s picture story books published in Nigeria and remains one of the best and most successful ones, with an East African Publishing House. Chinua Achebe is quoted as saying it.. ‘Is one of the best things I have ever done.’ Mabel Segun does this through character-building books such as Olu and the Broken Statue (1985).

In neighbouring Ghana many other problems including the country’s balance of payments difficulties which cause constant short supplies of essential raw materials and

spare parts to repair defective printing equipments. Amongst The Ghana Publishing Corporations’ substantial number of children’s books published, one of the earliest and most attractive was Mesheck Asare’s picture story book, Tawia Goes to Sea published in 1970. This was probably the first African-published children’s book to gain world-wide recognition and it was also the first book from an African publisher to be translated into Japanese. Better still was the welcome news that a Ghanaian children’s book was the winner of the 1982 Noma Award. This $3,000 prize went to Mesheck Asare, for his engaging picture story book The Brassman’s Secret published by Educational Press and Manufacturers United of Kumasi in 1981.The jury in selecting it were impressed by its’ exciting and unusual children’s story, beautifully and imaginatively illustrated by the author, himself an artist, to bring out important aspects of his Asante culture. They also thought it remarkable that a book of such high quality was produced under such difficult conditions then prevalent in Ghana. Asare has like Achebe been rehabilitating the African child’s mind through literature designed to reveal to him his cultural heritage through all these fantasies as well as the adventure book Chipo and the Bird on the Hill and his more recent Sosu’s Call

Another G.P.C. item Mercy Owusu-Nimoh’s The Walking Calabash published in 1977 was singled out for ‘Honourable mention’ in the first Noma Award for Publishing in Africa competition

Inspite of its many problems Ghana manages to maintain a lively and enterprising local book industry. Firms such as Aframs Publications, Adwinsa Publishers and the Wielerville Publishing House are among those whose list includes occasional children’s books.

In East Africa, the bulk of the children’s book publishing output is from Kenya. The East African Publishing House in Nairobi in particular, has an extensive list of picture-story books illustrated in full colours, as well as readers, and traditional stories and folklore. Especially appealing is their series called ‘Lioncubs.’ Charity Waciuma, Pamela Kola, Asenath Odaga and Cynthia Hunter are amongst the most prolific authors in the EAPH list. Another prolific children’s writer is Barbara Kimenye who publishes with the East African branch of Oxford University Press, some titles one of which is Martha the Millipede recounting the story of Martha who fed up with getting sore feet decided it was about time to get herself some shoes.

The Kenyan Literature Bureau taking over from the East African Literature Bureau has produced a few children’s books among which is Ray Prather’s A is for Africa A Colouring Book for Africa which contains forty full-page drawings depicting the various people of Africa, accompanied by small maps showing their geographical locations.

Foremost Kenyan writer, Ngugi Wa’Thiongo has joined his Nigerian counterpart, Achebe, in writing and publishing his first children’s book but unlike Achebe in his native Gikuyu language but later translating it as The Great Hero and the Flying Bus.

In Southern Africa, Zimbabwe Publishing House have already built up a most impressive collection. A government supported private commercial undertaking, it publishes books on education, politics, literature and creative writing, Zimbabwean history but with books for children featuring prominently. It sponsored a splendid magazine for children ANTS started by a panel of Zimbabwean children but which I have learnt with much regret has stopped publishing more than 15 years now.

Other publishers catering for children here are Mamba Press and the Zimbabwe Literature Bureau, the latter having a wide range of materials in Shona and Ndebele comprising novels, poetry, short story booklets, children’s comics and material for literacy development.

In Malawi another firm actively developing children’s books in the indigenous languages publishes the popular publications of Limbe.

In Lesotho the church-sponsored Mazenod Book Centre similarly has a substantial list of books for children in African Languages,

In Zambia and in Tanzania some children’s material is coming from the National Educational Company of Zambia and the Tanzania Publishing House.

In South Africa initially the small local market did not make it feasible to publish local children’s books in English. English children’s books written with a South African background or by a South African were usually published in England. Jock of the Bushveld (1907) written by Sir Percy FitzPatrick, is generally regarded as the first English South African children’s book. .This was published in South Africa during the second half of the twentieth century. Only during the 1970s did local publishers realize the need for indigenous children’s books in English and start exploiting the market. This change was brought about single handedly by the writer Marguerite Poland with her Mantis and the Moon which was published in 1979. The rise in price of imported children’s books made the publication of indigenous material more competitive. The political changes during the 1980s then brought improvement of the quality of education of African children and the decision that they could receive tuition in English. This created a large potential market for English children’s books in which some publishers specialize. At the end of the 1980s English children’s books were prominent in dealing with the political and socio-economic conditions in the country. The English children’s book was more explicit with regard to criticism of apartheid. with authors like Lesley Beake, Dianne Case and Lawrence Bransby taking the lead.

As a result of the small local market, few original books with full colour illustrations are published. Collaboration with overseas publishers and the simultaneous publication in various indigenous languages is often the only way to make a publication viable. Also, publishers of children’s books concentrate on the publishing series, beginner and second language readers.

The change in government in the country and the elevation of the African languages to official status, one should have expected would have led to the development of children’s literature in the African languages, but for several reasons this has not yet occurred. The rise of African consciousness and nationalism in the battle against apartheid has rather led to the identification of English as the language for education and freedom. For many African children prefer to read in English, and many African authors prefer to write in this language. Also only a small minority amongst African children read for recreation. Some publishers nevertheless try to publish children’s books of a high quality in African languages, but due to a shortage of indigenous writers most books are translations from English or Afrikaans.

This suggests the problem of language as another factor hindering the rapid development of children’s literature in Africa. The language problem posed by writers being forced to write in foreign languages which they have not really mastered raises the issue of writers being trained to write in their indigenous languages. But then this creates yet another problem as some of the authors of books written in African languages cannot distinguish between concepts for adults and concepts outside the experience of children. Similarly they use an off-putting adult language.

There is also an imbalanced attention to the various ages of childhood. For far more books are being written for the middle-aged (8-12) while very young children remain largely neglected. Very few books for adolescents have been written. One is Angi Ossai’s Tolulope (1979). Another is Joined by Love by Joy Ikede. The Kenyan Asenath Odaga’s work Jande’s Ambition is about choice of career which should be a prime concern at that age. Macmillan’s Pacesetter Series also appeals to young adults but their works are said to be of varying quality, featuring crime, espionage and love tangles.

There is in addition the chronic absence of children’s magazines in most parts of Africa. In Sierra Leone the attempt by The Sierra Leone Writers and Illustrators to establish one did not survive its second issue. But the invaluable role they could play in inculcating the reading habit in the child because of their wide variety of subjects, the form of presentation and the fact that children love to read what their peers have written and thus start having similar creative impulses is recognized.

Most parts of Africa are not book-friendly for there are few if any bookshops where the African child can buy books. Neither is his access to libraries especially so in rural areas easy. School libraries are a phenomenon of a distant past. Where public libraries are still available and functioning their children’s sections are poorly housed, poorly furnished, poorly ventilated, poorly equipped, poorly staffed and poorly sited. There is therefore an obvious need for thorough overhauling of library services in Africa. And efforts should be made to make it an essential public service from the central on to local government levels so as to give every community the opportunity of accessing and growing on books. Similarly every school should have a library that is well stocked and well-equipped.

The distribution of books is another area of difficulties. For this is usually left to private enterprise although some governments purchase textbooks in bulk to distribute to schools. Wholesale bookselling is best handled by private entrepreneurs trained in the discipline. But the main problem hindering this is that the book distributors tend to restrict themselves to using distribution methods more suited to countries with a high level of literacy where the wider citizenry is already converted to books. In Africa, publishers and book distributors cannot afford to wait for buyers to come to them. They must rather take their products to the people wherever they are. In Tanzania, therefore, enterprising publishers take books to the local markets. There shoppers mingle with books and enjoy lively discussions with the publishers on all aspects of books. The huge sales at these exhibitions have proved the usefulness of such innovative activities. This kind of promotion will no doubt create in adults an awareness of the need for literature.

Efforts made to promote and sell books in the West could be extended with adaptations, if necessary, to intra-African book distribution so that print runs will be longer for the prohibitive costs of books to be brought down. Why cannot children in Nairobi, for instance, read literature published by an indigenous publisher in Nigeria? Much is lost through the compartmentalization of African children’s literature. In 1976 an attempt to sell African books from all parts of the continent at the Second Pan African Trade Fair in Algiers collapsed when 4,000 such books had to be brought back because the Algerian government’s imposition of a 120% tax on the books had made them too expensive. Such tariffs need to be removed with communication and transport systems improved to facilitate trans-African movement of books.

The situation however seems poised for major changes with the intervention of a series of bodies and institutions thus complementing the efforts of others such as UNESCO that had been working assiduously in the field. There is a wide network of organizations geared towards supporting the growth of publishing in Africa. One of them is APNET which network exists to help strengthen book publishing by Africans in Africa. APNET has been working closely with the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA) and has been supported by Bellagio. The Bellagio Group of donors has been exploring ways of improving support for a number of cultural industries, which it is hoped will eventually include African books for African children as there is now recognition among policy makers that culture of which books are an integral part is much of a key to development.

Book Fairs in Africa have been fastly becoming established institutions with a concerted series of initiatives to redressing the otherwise parlous state of books in Africa. The Pan African Children’s Book Fair (PACBF) started in Nairobi, Kenya in 1991 through the initiative of the Foundation for the Promotion of Children’s Science Publications in Africa (GHISCI). The fair has been trying to stimulate a learning environment that captures and nurtures the African child’s inherent qualities of imagination, curiosity and creativity. It has created a dynamic atmosphere to enhance the preciousness of books in the learning life of the child. Through a variety of activities such as art, toys, fun with science, debates, quizzes, creative writing, story-telling, and reading aloud, Kenyan children have come to love and comfortably identify with this event with increasing numbers thronging it every year. In 1994 a children’s library introduced within the fair further whet the children’s appetite by enabling children who could not buy books to have the opportunity to read a couple of books at the fair. Since 1994 the Reading Tent has been a major attraction to all children visiting the fair. This has resulted in other African book fairs widely emulating this innovation. Exhibitors also have been steadily improving their marketing skills thus reaching out to the children in more proactive ways, engaging them into books with new titles introduced. The 1998 PACBK had a spectacular advance with each stand becoming a mini library. Yet another innovation – A Children’s Home Library Campaign – was launched with children responding with tremendous enthusiasm, buying books and promising to start their own home libraries.

The Zimbabwe International Book Fair has been another important stimulant for the development of the book industry in Africa.The1998 fair was of especial significance because its theme and that of the accompanying Indaba was ‘BOOKS AND CHILDREN’

At the sessions of the inaugural Indaba it was emphasized that up to the 1990′s book production for children has been weak if not non-existent in some countries. But since 1987 spectacular growth in children’s publishing, in both European and African languages have been reported. In Kenya, Uganda and Nigeria production has notably increased in the last ten to twenty years. Print runs have also increased significantly averaging 3,000 to 5,000 copies per title with possibilities of frequent reprinting.

This progress has been attributed to the following:

1. The creativity of African publishers enabling them to produce well-made children’s books in terms of content, production quality and price.

2. Continuing increases in state purchases of books for schools and libraries.

3. Appreciable support being provided to publishing and book acquisitions by development agencies, international organizations and N.GO’S.

4. Noticeable increases in sales resulting from efforts publishers are making to promote their books nationally and internationally.

5. Co-operation between publishers and distributors enabling the development of export sales.

But in spite of this difficulties still remain or have been created in the following areas:

1 Wide differences between countries. The situation in South Africa, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Kenya and Tanzania is very much better than in other countries in their regions. In francophone West Africa, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Mali and Togo stand out clearly.

2 Difficulties in finding good authors and illustrators still persist.

3 Readership is not sufficiently developed, given the level of illiteracy and the lack of a reading culture or habit.

4 Even where a readership exists, its purchasing power is limited. For books is not as high a basic priority as basic needs.

5 The library network is not developed, especially in the rural areas.

6 The distribution network is not developed.

7 The intense political situation in Zimbabwe has negatively affected the most favorable climate created there for the growth of books not only there but the whole of Africa and has robbed The Zimbabwe International Book Fair of its international flavour.

Arthur Edgar E. Smith was born, grew up and was schooled in Freetown, Sierra Leone.. He has taught English since 1977 at Prince of Wales School and, Milton Margai College of Education. He is now at Fourah Bay Collegewhere he has been lecturing English, Literature, as well as Creative Writing for the past seven years rising to the rank of Senior Lecturer.

Mr Smith is widely published both locally as well as internationally with his writings appearing in local newspapers as well as in West Africa Magazine, Index on Censorship,Focus on Library and Information Work amongst others .

He was one of 17 international visitors who participated in a seminar on contemporary American Literature sponsored by the U.S.State Department from June to August 2006. His growing thoughts and reflections on this trip which took him to various US sights and sounds inLouisville,, San Francisco, Cincinnatti and Washington D.C. could be read at http://www.lisnews.org

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Don’t we all dream of owning a sports car? Although buying a used vehicle does not come with a “new car smell,” owning a vintage sports car is a fantasy for a lot of us. Better yet, there are great advantages to buying a used sports car.

There is something special about buying an older model sports car. Many older sports cars are even collectibles and their classic style holds great value. Sports car enthusiasts recognize quality and seek to preserve it.

There is never a guarantee you are going to purchase a winner as opposed to a lemon, there are many things you can do to increase your chances of success. The two most important things you can do is research and investigation. Do your homework first, look into the type of sports car you would like to purchase first. Then, when looking at used cars make sure to really investigate the car before making an offer.

Start your conquest by researching the car of your choice. The first place you should look is Kelly Blue Book to determine the estimated value of the sports car you want to buy. Then ask around about the car, maybe a local mechanic, or a friend with sports car knowledge. The internet is an outstanding resource as well. What kind of problems does the car experience? Find out what you need to look for when inspecting the car for yourself and what kinds of questions you need to ask the salesman and a mechanic. It is also important to look at numerous resources to determine an appropriate price the make and model of the car you are researching.

Developing a notebook with questions and notes is a handy tool. This way you can bring your notebook when looking at used cars. You will know what questions to ask about the car and appear organized to the seller.

The next step is investigating the real live car. You have a good idea of what to expect and what to look for when looking at used sports cars, now it is time to put your research to work.

Ask the current owner for service records, or even invest in a vehicle history report on the internet if it is not provided. Ask lots of questions about the car you are looking at and find out everything you can possibly think of.

Now is the time to take a close look at the car itself. First check the condition of the car, inside and out. Look for problem areas that you wrote down in your research. If you are not a car expert, have the car checked by a trusted mechanic. Often they will give it a once over for free or minimal charge. This could save you a lot in the long run. Note areas that need fixing and about how much it is going to cost you. Consider this when looking at the price tag of the car.

Take the car for a test drive. Look for any issues with the transmission. Are there any other things you should be looking for indicated by earlier research? Beware of sellers that do not let you take the car for a test drive or to a mechanic for a check up, they are probably trying to hide something.

Finally, if you are happy with your inspection and all other reports show that the car is in good condition, it is time to make an offer. Consider any problems noted on the car and what needs to be repaired when making an offer on the sports car.

If everything works out, the research and investigation you did will be well worth your time and effort in the long run.

Jake Newberry sells for NuStar Motors, a used car Sacramento dealer, which specializes in lifted 4×4 trucks and fast cars such as Mustangs, Cameros, and Honda V-techs.

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