Latest news with #kindergartners
Fox News
09-07-2025
- Health
- Fox News
US measles cases hit highest level in more than 30 years, CDC data shows
The current number of measles cases in the U.S. is at its highest level in more than 30 years, according to new data released Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC said 1,288 confirmed cases have been recorded as of Tuesday throughout 38 states. Texas leads the nation with more than 700 cases. Last year, the CDC reported only 285 measles cases. In 2019, there were 1,274 recorded, but this year's total so far is the most since 1992, when there were 2,126 cases. "There have been 27 outbreaks reported in 2025, and 88% of confirmed cases (1,130 of 1,288) are outbreak-associated," according to the CDC. "For comparison, 16 outbreaks were reported during 2024 and 69% of cases (198 of 285) were outbreak-associated." Measles cases this year have led to three deaths across the U.S. -- and 92% of those who have contracted the virus are unvaccinated or have an unknown vaccination status. Of this year's cases, 13% have required hospitalization. Those under the age of five are the most likely to require additional medical care, the CDC said. "The measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine is very safe and effective. When more than 95% of people in a community are vaccinated (coverage >95%), most people are protected through community immunity (herd immunity)," it added. "However, vaccination coverage among U.S. kindergartners has decreased from 95.2% during the 2019–2020 school year to 92.7% in the 2023–2024 school year, leaving approximately 280,000 kindergartners at risk during the 2023–2024 school year." The states with cases are Alaska, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and Wyoming. The CDC also said "Measles was officially eliminated from the United States in 2000, meaning there is no measles spreading within the country and new cases are only found when someone contracts measles abroad and returns to the country." Health officials said measles symptoms begin to appear 7 to 14 days after contracting the virus and include a high fever, coughing and rashes. "Measles can cause serious health complications, especially in children younger than 5 years of age," the CDC said. "Common complications are ear infections and diarrhea. Serious complications include pneumonia and encephalitis." "Measles is very contagious," the CDC warns. "It spreads through the air when an infected person coughs or sneezes. You can get measles just by being in a room where a person with measles has been. This can happen even up to 2 hours after that person has left."
Washington Post
11-06-2025
- Health
- Washington Post
Nutrition program for Americans on food stamps at risk in GOP bill
BALTIMORE — A group of kindergartners sat attentively in a bright elementary school, ready to learn the keys to living a healthy life. One of the four main pillars, nutrition educator Karen Turner told them, was to drink lots of water. 'What about Pepsi?' Turner asked. 'No!' the kids screamed. 'What about Capri Sun?'
Washington Post
10-06-2025
- General
- Washington Post
Cram schools for kindergartners are the latest in South Korean college prep
SEOUL — The South Korean kindergartners squirmed through their English-language writing class. They were not doing their ABCs. They were getting a head start on a defining moment more than a decade in the future: their college entrance exam. Write a paragraph of five to eight sentences using five synonyms for 'large,' said Ms. Keri, their teacher. The kids began jotting down ideas in neat handwriting. But their minds wandered easily. 'Make a stinky paragraph!' one girl yelled in English. The class erupted into uproarious giggles, echoing: 'Stinky! Stinky!' South Korea has long been notorious for its hothouse education system, where kids go from classes at middle or high school straight to after-hours tutoring at cram schools, often until 10 or 11 p.m. These private programs prepare students for extremely difficult college entrance exams. Getting into an elite university is often seen as the golden ticket to a stable career at a top-tier company or government ministry. But the race to the top schools is intensifying amid a widening income gap, fueling parents' anxieties about their children's future job security, experts say. As a result, some parents think it's never too early to start preparing for college. Nearly half of children under 6 are now receiving some type of private education, most commonly English classes, according to a government survey released in March. 'The opportunities to succeed keep dwindling, but there is one rare path that remains available, which is going to a good university,' said Won-pyo Hong, a professor of education at Yonsei University in Seoul. 'Then, of course, the competition to get into a good university becomes fiercer.' The 6-year-olds learning from Ms. Keri — Keri Schnabel, a 31-year-old from Rhode Island — are among a growing cohort of South Korean children who are enrolled in private early-education programs. Such programs are almost always focused on developing English fluency — a must-have for social mobility and a marker of intellect and wealth. Some curriculums claim to teach math skills so advanced the kindergartners would be on track for medical school. There are even classes that train toddlers to sit without fidgeting for up to an hour at a time to build study habits early. These niche programs have become increasingly popular in the most affluent areas of Seoul, where some families shell out upward of $1,400 for the classes and related fees every month. They are now spreading throughout the country and gaining attention from the broader public, sparking debate over South Korea's cutthroat education system and the private education boom. 'We need to seriously consider the excessive desire for private education, excessive investment, and excessive academic and psychological pressure on our children,' Hong said. The skyrocketing cost of giving a child the best shot in life is one of the reasons South Korea has the world's lowest fertility rate and is facing a demographic crisis. Government surveys show the rising cost of private education is one of the factors deterring couples from having more than one child or starting a family at all. Critics of private education say the industry is stoking parents' anxieties by creating a sense of urgency and desperation. These early-childhood English classes are usually taught by native English speakers, like Schnabel, who teaches at Twinkle English Academy in the affluent Seoul neighborhood of Mokdong. The 5- and 6-year-olds in her class learn about idioms, similes and parts of speech from U.S. textbooks, including one for American second-graders. They speak in fluent English to each other and their teacher — sometimes about 'eating lava,' sometimes describing black holes as a 'giant singularity.' By the end of this program, they will write two-page essays with an introduction, three body paragraphs and a conclusion — the skill level of an American third-grader. Doing well in cram kindergarten will help them get into an elite cram school in first grade. 'The point of the English kindergarten is to do well in the next level, which is in elementary school,' said Kim Hye-jin, 37, whose 5-year-old attends English classes in Daechi, where private educational institutions are concentrated, in the ritzy Gangnam district. 'For the top cram schools, you have to get in early because the other schools don't come close to how good their programs are. So if you enroll later on, it becomes more difficult to follow their curriculum,' said Kim, an office worker. Those places have long wait lists for prospective first-graders, who are required to take entrance exams. A recent documentary by the broadcaster KBS found some of the entrance tests are at the English and math level of high school freshmen. 'Only the few top cram schools offer these tests, so they don't have many spots open. So the door to enter those schools gets smaller and smaller,' said Lee Mi-ae, an education consultant in Daechi. 'Parents' dreams and ambitions, and those academies that fan these flames, have led this industry to balloon.' This has given rise to 'prep' programs, mostly in Daechi, to specifically train kids to take entrance exams for elementary-level cram schools. Some of these programs teach children to memorize entire essays to regurgitate later. Prep schools pepper social media with advertisements claiming high success rates, and there is even a black market for entrance exams to help kids study. The Education Ministry last month launched an investigation into these marketing practices and extreme prep programs. In Daechi, buildings are lined with signs for an assortment of 'study cafes' and cram schools — English, math, coding, debating and more. There are even rest areas for students to take a breather between classes, including a 'screaming zone' where they can vent. The neighborhood is known for its relentless academic focus, extreme even for South Korea, and for launching kindergarten cram classes. 'They say children these days don't meet friends at playgrounds; they meet them at cram school,' said Kim, the Daechi parent. 'That's how unavoidable it is. As a parent, I just have to try to make the best decisions I can.' Kim and other parents are worried about their kids burning out. They also worry about their kids falling behind compared with their peers, or otherwise being left out of a system that promises to set their children up for elite education and a successful life. 'All of these mothers are pouring so much energy and attention into their children who are just [6 years old],' Kim said. 'So I worry a lot about how much worse it will get once they start elementary school.' More psychiatric and alternative medicine clinics are cropping up in the Gangnam area, according to domestic media reports. The number of health insurance claims for depression and anxiety among children 8 and under in the area has more than tripled in the past five years, according to figures released in April by the education committee in South Korea's legislature. Seo Dong-ju, 41, whose 5-year-old attends a less intensive English school in the Gangnam area, is not convinced that a competitive cram-school path is the right one for his son. 'My kid still loves dinosaurs and animals, so much that we always take him to the aquarium,' said Seo, a thoracic surgeon. Seo said he is concerned about the long-term physical, psychological and societal impacts of excessive schooling on little children. 'I think this culture needs to change dramatically,' Seo said. He hopes to see policymakers overhaul a system that he believes is a disservice to the nation's youngest. 'This is the biggest problem facing our children's generation right now,' he said. 'The most pitiful thing is that by the time it materializes into societal problems, it will be too late for them.' So Jin Jung contributed to this report.
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Kindergarten vaccine rates in Idaho appear to have fallen from year prior
May 17—Idaho continues to report some of the lowest vaccination rates in the country. This past school year, data submitted in the fall showed that, on average, 70% of Idaho kindergartners had received all their recommended vaccinations, according to a report released by the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare. That's a drop from an average of 76% among kindergartners the same time the year before, and well below the 95% recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to ensure herd immunity. More than 14% of kindergartners statewide had recorded vaccine exemptions, which is the same as last year's rate. However, that doesn't mean all other students are up to date, said Shawn Tiegs, Superintendent at the Moscow School District. In his district, about 7.4% of kindergartners have a vaccine exemption. "You're in the 93% range for nonwaiver kids, that doesn't guarantee they're all vaccinated," he said. Some students may not have records of being up-to-date on vaccines but have not actively sought an exemption, he said. The school district works to provide vaccine information for those individuals, he said. Tiegs, who previously worked at the Nezperce School District before coming to Moscow, said he feels conversations around vaccines have become more polarized. But, he said, public schools are there to serve everybody regardless of political leanings. "I mean, in this environment, we can always find someone that agrees with what we think. Like, I can do the same thing," he said. "And then it can become pretty easy to get kind of rigid and say like, 'well, no, I heard somebody saying something I agree with.' " Daily headlines, straight to your inboxRead it online first and stay up-to-date, delivered daily at 7 AM While Tiegs' district remains on the high end of vaccination for Idaho, some other local schools in the health district vary widely. In the North Central Health District, kindergartner vaccine exemptions varied anywhere from 28.2% in Idaho county, to 10.4% in Nez Perce county. There was also a wide range of variance on a school-by-school basis. Kamiah reported that 9.5% of its kindergartners had an exemption. Some schools in the health district shared their numbers, but asked to not be named because the information would be identifying based on the size of their class. One school reported zero exemptions. Another reported 25%. Some had a specific exemption for the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine. Idaho law allows a broad range of reasons for vaccine exemptions in school, including health, religion or "other grounds." Exemptions are also extremely easy to acquire in Idaho, Tiegs said, and lacking vaccine records doesn't prevent students from being enrolled in school "We do have an official (vaccine exemption) form. But Idaho law requires that an exemption — I mean, it could be written on the back of a receipt, or a half torn piece of paper or something," he said. So far, Tiegs said, he hasn't heard about any local measles outbreaks. If there was one, the school has the legal authority to prevent unvaccinated children from attending. But that's never happened that he's aware of, and it's probably even less likely today than years past. " I don't know, in today's environment — talking as a superintendent — that you would go down that path," he said. "I think you're probably more likely to say we're closing school because of overall spread." Sun may be contacted at rsun@ or on Twitter at @Rachel_M_Sun. This report is made in partnership with Northwest Public Broadcasting, the Lewiston Tribune and the Moscow-Pullman Daily News.
