Public International Law and the Regulation of Private Spaces: Does The Convention on the Rights of the Child Impose an Obligation on States to Allow Gay and Lesbian Couples to Adopt?

Opposition to the adoption of children by gays and lesbiansis invariably based on the claim that such a practice is contraryto the rights and best interests of children. The aim of thisarticle is to examine this claim in light of the provisionsof the United Nations Conventions on the Rights of the Child.It will be argued that an approach to the interpretation ofa child's rights and best interests which is based on empiricalevidence reveals that there is no basis for sexual orientationto be a relevant consideration in assessing a person's suitabilityto adopt a child.     

The Positive Psychology of Youth and Adolescence

Journal of Youth and Adolescence -     

The effect of bicycle helmet legislation on bicycling fatalities

A number of states passed legislation in the 1990s requiring youths to wear helmets when riding bicycles. The effect of this legislation on bicycling fatalities is examined by subjecting data from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System to a panel analysis, using a control‐group methodology. A helmet law reduces fatalities by about 15 percent in the long run, less in the short run. There is no evidence of spillover effects (to adults) or substitution effects (youths choosing other methods of transportation) associated with implementation of a helmet law. Through 2000, existing helmet laws have saved 130 lives. If all states had adopted helmet laws in 1975, more than 1500 lives would have been saved. © 2004 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management.     

NATIONAL AND STATE COORDINATION OF AUSTRALIAN COLLEGES OF ADVANCED EDUCATION

Abstract: Until recently little work has been done on the government of post-secondary education in Australia. The development of the present arrangements for the coordination of post-secondary education is thus described and analysed, as are the structure and functions of the two national agencies and the various State bodies which have responsibility for coordination of colleges of advanced education. This analysis shows the growing size, complexity and costs of this sector of education, and the increasing involvement of the Commonwealth government in an area of traditional State responsibility. Yet there is still no single agency to coordinate the various activities of the Commonwealth government in higher education and only two States have such agencies. For the colleges of advanced education there are two national coordinating bodies, and at State level the arrangements vary markedly. There is also great variety in the relationships between individual colleges (which themselves differ greatly) and their State agencies, but overall there appears to be tension and dissatisfaction. In three ways could these relationships be improved: creating a greater degree of mutual recognition of rights and responsibilities; a revision of areas over which control is exercised; and a revision of the actual mechanics of coordination. Further, the assumption by the Commonwealth government of full financial responsibility for all tertiary education in January 1974 has added new sources of tension in the relationships between Federal and State governments and their agencies. The present pattern, however, is not static, but in a process of change.