Elizabeth Hartley-Brewer, whose eight books on children have sold half a million copies worldwide, has aimed her latest work at parents looking to understand and nurture young friendships.

To get the job done, the London-based researcher interviewed dozens of kids for “Making Friends: A Guide to Understanding and Nurturing Your Child’s Friendships.”

Here, Hartley-Brewer offers some insights on the experiences of children up to age 12 as they make the transition to the larger social world:

AP: How important is friendship to young children?

Hartley-Brewer: As an adult, you might think children’s friendships are transitory and not so important, but in fact I was surprised to learn how much friendship matters to younger children.

Friends provide a kind of structure to their lives. Friends help them feel safe in relationships and learn about having fun. Children can feel quite exposed in a school environment, and friendships protect against bullying and other people.

AP: ‘Making Friends’ describes four phases of friendship. What are they?

Hartley-Brewer: The first phase, up to age 4, is when children become socialized and get used to being around others. It’s not until ages 5 to 7 that real friendships develop, when children play together, have fun and make each other laugh. Those encounters often are encouraged by their moms.

Eight- to 10-year-olds become really hungry for friends of their own gender; they need friends to confirm they’re OK and likable. They also need to choose their own, so parents have to take a back seat.

The last stage, before the teens arrive, is when identity becomes closely linked to friends.

AP: What role should parents play as children choose their friends?

Hartley-Brewer: When children are very young, parents are inevitably instrumental in who the child comes across. The children are pretty undiscriminating at that age, so in most cases they just kind of run along together.

If a relationship seems to really be growing, then you should encourage it. I don’t think it’s appropriate when the child is age 4 or 5 to start manipulating who the child should see or shouldn’t see. No child that age is going to be diverted for life because they’re spending a few hours playing together with someone the parent just doesn’t take to.

AP: Some kids seem to make friends naturally, while others struggle. How can parents help?

Hartley-Brewer: If the child is happier spending time alone than with other people, and it’s their choice, that’s fine. It may be a developmental thing; they’re just taking a little bit more time to open up. But if it seems something to do with a lack of confidence, gently encourage contact and help the children by having a playmate over. Then, set up in advance what they’re going to play instead of leaving it to the child to take responsibility.

Sign your child up for some group activities, where the focus is organized, so the child gets used to being with people and learns to negotiate.

AP: What do you do if you suspect your child is being bullied, but the child doesn’t want to talk about it?

Hartley-Brewer: You might want to check first with the teacher. If the teacher hasn’t noticed anything and says your child seems fine, and seems to play happily in the playground, then it’s not something you would necessarily follow up with your child.

If it’s confirmed, you need to create some safe time, some quiet time to talk. You might say, ‘This happened to me,’ and refer back to your own experiences. Or get a book that’s about a child being bullied.

If a child is not talking about it, that suggests they feel a bit of shame about it. It would be important to make it clear that this does happen and it’s not the child’s fault.

By Cassandra Spratling, Detroit Free Press

DETROIT — It might look like loose change to most kids, but to 13-year-old Justin Connally, pennies, dimes, nickels and quarters add up to major savings.

He keeps big jars at his grandma’s house that they toss change into. His grandmother, Ann Connally, started the practice when Justin was a toddler. He began adding to it when he was a preschooler.

When he emptied one of the banks for the first time last year, Justin was surprised to discover he had $300.

“Little things add up,” he says. “I learned that saving the smallest amount eventually can go far.”

That’s just one of the lessons Justin has learned from his grandma and his parents, Jody and LaTonya Connally of Detroit.

He learned even more by taking money management classes taught by Gail Perry-Mason, co-author of “Girl, Make Your Money Grow!” (Harlem Moon, $12.95), and from Money Matters for Kids, a nonprofit initiative to teach children about money.

Perry-Mason of Grosse Pointe, Mich., a mom herself, and other experts believe that teaching financial literacy to children is just as important as teaching them to read.

“We live in a society that encourages buy, buy, buy,” Perry-Mason says. “But if kids learn good habits early on, they won’t make the same mistakes we’ve made. I tell my kids learn to save your money and it’ll save you later in life. Too many people work for money rather than learning to make their money work for them.”

Erica Tobe agrees.

Tobe — program leader for youth financial education at Michigan State University’s Extension Service — says, “You can start teaching children at 4 and 5 years old how to recognize coins. We educate youth in a lot of different areas. This is one of the most critical areas for them to learn so when they get out of on their own they know how to manage their money.”

Starting with banks at home helps children see their money grow. As they get older, they should have their own savings accounts. Shop with your child for banks and credit unions that offer the best deals. Some credit unions, in particular, offer giveaways and teaching tools for young people.

Budgeting is another essential lesson, Tobe and Perry-Mason say.

“When children see how bills are paid month to month, they understand there are limits and money doesn’t grow on trees,” Tobe says.

“Some kids think parents are their personal stimulus package or a bailout plan,” Perry-Mason says.

Tobe advises parents to periodically talk with their children as they are paying the bills.

During Perry-Mason’s Money Matters for Kids camp, children spend a day in a make-believe scenario designed to dramatize the importance of budgeting. They get a set amount of money and have to pay the mortgage, utility bills, car insurance, groceries and other bills.

“It was difficult because we had to pay bills and at the end of the session we couldn’t have a negative balance,” Justin recalls. “It taught me what my parents go through on a regular basis in terms of paying bills.”

Budgeting is another essential lesson, Tobe and Perry-Mason say.

“When children see how bills are paid month to month, they understand there are limits and money doesn’t grow on trees,” Tobe says.

“Some kids think parents are their personal stimulus package or a bailout plan,” Perry-Mason says.

Tobe advises parents to periodically talk with their children as they are paying the bills.

During Perry-Mason’s Money Matters for Kids camp, children spend a day in a make-believe scenario designed to dramatize the importance of budgeting. They get a set amount of money and have to pay the mortgage, utility bills, car insurance, groceries and other bills.

“It was difficult because we had to pay bills and at the end of the session we couldn’t have a negative balance,” Justin recalls. “It taught me what my parents go through on a regular basis in terms of paying bills.”

___

Several Web sites offer guides to helping kids learn about money

–Jumpstart Coalition, a national personal finance coalition, www.jumpstart.org, has free and low-cost resources to teach financial education searchable by topic and age. The Michigan branch is at mijumpstartcoalition.org

–The National Endowment for Financial Education’s Web site aims at improving the financial literacy of middle and high school students. It offers information for teachers and parents as well. www.hsfpp.nefe.org

–The Canadian Foundation for Economic Education created a site for youth, parents and teachers in English and French: www.moneyandyouth.cfee.org.

–Young Investor teaches young people about investing. www.younginvestor.com

–The Girl Scouts of America offers workshops and a Web site, Money Smarts, www.girlscouts.org/moneysmarts.

–Young Money is aimed at older teens, college students and young adults. www.youngmoney.com

–The Stock Market Game makes learning fun by helping kids invest a large hypothetical amount of money. www.smg2000.org/index.html

–Junior Achievement Student Center has a section, run by the Goldman Sachs Foundation, to help students learn about money management: www.ja.org/studentcenter

–Money Matters for Kids, an online curriculum at www.moneymatters4kids.com.

–The Credit Union National Association offers a program to help preschoolers called Thrive By 5. Available in both Spanish and English, it’s at www.creditunion.coop/thriveby5

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(c) 2009, Detroit Free Press.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ star Bill Nighy says his latest movie is the first of its kind and he might be right, ‘G-Force’ is about a elite squad of guinea pigs battling to save the world.

MALCOLM RITTER, AP Science Writer

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — She was sociable and happy in high school. But in college that changed abruptly: Depressed and withdrawn, some days she couldn’t get out of bed.

And that wasn’t all.

“I had really odd thoughts,” recalled the woman, now 21, who asked that her name not be used. While walking across campus at the University of Southern Maine, “sometimes I’d feel like people were just right behind me (who might) jump me or something.”

She knew it wasn’t true, but she couldn’t shake the feeling.

Sometimes, while driving, she saw imaginary, shadowy people on the sidewalk. And now and then, out of nowhere, there would be a woman’s voice in her ear during class, or random soft noises like knocking or the fizzy hiss of a newly opened soda can.

When she visited the university health service and talked about feeling depressed, a nurse practitioner saw another problem: a possible case of schizophrenia in the making.

This schizophrenia “prodrome” — the early signs — involves a troubled mental state usually found in teens and young adults. It can lead to psychosis, the loss of touch with reality that marks not only schizophrenia, but also some forms of depression or manic-depression. The prodrome can linger for weeks, or years, before it gives way to psychosis — or mysteriously disappears without a trace.

Researchers have known about this warning phase for decades, but they’re still working on how to treat it. Now they’re calling in tools like brain scans, DNA studies and hormone research to dig into its biology. They hope that will reveal new ways to detect who’s on the road to psychosis and to stop that progression.

In the prodrome, people can see and hear imaginary things or have odd thoughts. But significantly, they understand these experiences are just illusions, or they have a reasonable explanation.

In contrast, people with psychosis firmly cling to unreasonable explanations instead. When someone interprets an odd halo of light over a bedroom doorway as an urgent message from a dead relative, “that’s when they have gone over to the psychotic side,” said Dr. Thomas McGlashan, a Yale University psychiatry professor.

Some early signs of the prodrome are subtle. “Sometimes kids will (say) light seems different,” and windows are too bright, said Ann Lovegren Conley, the family nurse practitioner at USM who spotted apparent prodromal symptoms in the student on her campus.

That can signal “this is not just typical depression or situational stress,” Conley said. “There’s something more here.”

After hearing the student’s story, Conley put her in touch with the Portland Identification and Early Referral program, called PIER, one of about 20 clinics in the United States that focus on treating prodrome cases. PIER has trained her and thousands of other school nurses and counselors, pediatricians and others in greater Portland in how to spot them.

PIER emphasizes non-drug therapies for its patients, ages 12 to 25, although about three-quarters of them take anti-psychotic medication.

The treatment regimen includes group meetings in which patients and families brainstorm about handling the condition’s day-to-day stresses. It also focuses on keeping patients in school and in touch with their families and social networks.

With a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the PIER approach is also being tried in California, Oregon, Michigan and New York.

Even before treatment begins, a patient’s encounter with someone who understands can be dramatic. McGlashan recalled that one young woman at the Yale clinic burst into tears when being asked about symptoms, explaining, “I thought I was the only person in the world who was having these experiences.”

Or, when asked if they’ve felt like the television was speaking to them personally, young clients may reply, “How did you know?” McGlashan said.

Studying the schizophrenia prodrome has been tough for the small but growing group of researchers in the area, because the condition is relatively uncommon. A typical community may get only one new case per 10,000 people each year, and only a fraction of those people would end up in a research study.

A federally funded project kicked into gear this year to uncover biological signals that will help identify people headed toward psychosis. There’s already early evidence, for example, that combining brain scans with a standardized interview can greatly help, said Tyrone Cannon of the University of California, Los Angeles.

Such research should also point the way to better treatments, by exposing the biological roots of psychosis, Cannon said. He’s the principal investigator of the project, which is being carried out at several medical centers.

When it comes to treating the prodrome, scientists say they have some promising approaches but no firmly proven treatments to prevent psychosis from appearing.

Low doses of anti-psychotic drugs dampen symptoms. But it’s not clear whether those drugs can actually prevent psychosis. Side effects like serious weight gain are a problem, especially since many treated patients would never have developed psychosis anyway. What’s more, the weight gain can turn young people away from anti-psychotic drugs, even if they move on to become psychotic and clearly need them.

Researchers are finding promise in psychosocial treatments, like those aimed at helping patients learn to manage stresses in their lives or understand and interpret their symptoms. Efforts to help young people complete their education, hold a job and stay connected to peers will help them avoid unemployment and social isolation later on, whether they progress to psychosis or not, experts say.

In fact, keeping up social contacts may help manage the prodrome. “We’re convinced that if they start closeting themselves, coming home after school and just spending time in their bedroom, that will accelerate any process toward psychosis,” McGlashan said. “If you dim your social life, it makes it easier for your brain to hallucinate and develop strange ideas.”

The PIER program, which began eight years ago, hasn’t yet published detailed results on its effectiveness. Its goal is to cut the rate of hospitalizations for first episodes of psychosis in Portland. Dr. William McFarlane, who directs it, says early analyses of the results look promising but that it’s too early to draw conclusions.

And results from other locations trying the PIER approach won’t be available for a couple of years, says Jane Lowe of the sponsoring Johnson foundation.

Still, in Portland, McFarlane said, “we see kids getting better every day.”

One of them was the college student Conley referred. With the help of individual counseling, antidepressants and an anti-schizophrenia drug, “gradually I opened up to people,” the young woman said.

She started playing tennis, joined a sorority and began exercising in the school gym. She wasn’t sad all the time any more. And she stopped hearing and seeing things that weren’t there.

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On the Net:

PIER and similar programs: www.preventmentalillness.org

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.

By Krista Jahnke, Detroit Free Press

DETROIT — Joy Passatta loaded her two children, a 12-year-old daughter and a 6-year-old son, onto their bikes on a hot summer morning. They rode a mile to swim class, where the kids burned off more energy in the pool. Then they biked home.

Later, she had more active plans: a T-ball game and a mile-long walk with the dog.

And despite all that, Passatta, 37, still worries her kids don’t play outside like she did growing up.

“We rode bikes everywhere, and we knew everyone in the neighborhood,” the Roseville, Mich., resident said. “At night, you’d hear my mom scream down the block, ‘Hey, the street lights are on, come in already!’ You don’t hear moms screaming for kids to come home anymore. In the summer, I don’t think I was in the house at all. At least part of the day, they want to watch TV and play the Wii.”

Her kids are not alone. It’s no secret that even in the warm, sunny days of summer, children don’t play outside like they used to.

U.S. children spend 50 percent less time outdoors than they did 20 years ago, says the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan.

The lack of running or biking or splashing around in the sprinkler is one likely factor in rising childhood obesity rates, said education professor Rhonda Clements, who conducted a 2004 study, “An Investigation on the Status of Outdoor Play,” for Manhattanville College in Purchase, N.Y. In it, 85 percent of mothers reported their children spend less time playing outside than they did growing up.

And obesity is not the only concern.

“One of my fears is that next generation won’t appreciate the out of doors,” Clements said. “Summer vacation used to mean you could get outside and play with your friends. … This generation, when they won’t experience that, they won’t see the need for public parks. When it comes time to say, ‘What do we need for the city, more parking spaces or a new public park?’ they’re going to vote parking spaces. The next generation is the one I personally worry about most.”

What’s keeping kids indoors? No doubt, technology plays a part. With video games, hundreds of TV channels, DVDs delivered to your doorstep, endless Internet browsing and clips of hilarious cats on YouTube, kids have many more entertainment options than previous generations.

But Clements said fear plays a role, too. With tragic headlines — such as the recent story of Nevaeh Buchanan, who was taken from her Monroe apartment complex and found dead weeks later — parents are often reminded about the danger of letting kids roam free. So Clements said, they tell their kids they can’t play outside alone. And that carries a dangerous message of its own.

“You don’t want to become the hovering parent,” Clements said, “so protective and fearful of letting kids go outdoors and making use of play spaces.”

Jill Kathan’s daughter is 2, but the 32-year-old mother from Livonia, Mich., is already conscious of trying to encourage her to be active and play outside. She takes her outdoors every day for walks, wagon rides or just to play in the yard.

But she admits that as her daughter grows, she isn’t sure how comfortable she’ll be letting her, say, ride her bike around the block on her own.

“I live on a dead-end street, and we know all the neighbors,” Kathan said. “But we live right off a mile road, and I’ll still be strict, not wanting her to go near that road. I don’t know when I’d let her go to the mall to walk around, or go to the park by herself. We did that in third grade. But everything is so different.”

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HOW TO GET CHILDREN MOVING

Set a positive example by having an active lifestyle yourself.

Make physical activity part of your family’s daily routine, such as a daily family walk.

Provide equipment that encourages activity — sporting goods, jump ropes, water guns.

Be positive about what physical activity your child does.

Make it fun and suited for your child: That might mean a structured activity like Little League or free time to ride a bike.

Institute “no electricity time,” when the kids can’t turn on the TV or video games.

Busy parents who can’t supervise their kids outdoors could form playgroups and take turns playing baby-sitter.

Sources: CDC.gov, parent Joy Passatta of Roseville, professor Rhonda Clements of Manhattanville College

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(c) 2009, Detroit Free Press.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

MELISSA KOSSLER DUTTON, For The Associated Press

Kay Martin decided early on that she wanted special celebrations for her children’s birthdays. For her, that meant homemade, hand-decorated cakes.

“I bought a cake-decorating book before my first kid was even born,” said Martin of Plain City, Ohio. She wowed guests at her daughter’s first birthday with a three-dimensional cake shaped like alphabet blocks. “It got rave reviews,” she said.

Since then, she has created cakes resembling a country cottage, Legos and Noah’s ark for her two daughters.

For a growing number of parents, making creative, even over-the-top birthday cakes has become a treasured family tradition. A survey by the Craft and Hobby Association, using data collected through March 31, said the number of U.S. households decorating cakes rose from 9.5 million in 2008 to 11.3 million in 2009.

“We’re seeing a lot of interest in food crafting,” said Victor Domine, spokesman for the Elmwood Park, N.J.-based assocation. “Millions of people across the U.S. decorate their own cakes not only as a way to save money and celebrate economically, but also as a creative outlet.”

Amy Dunn figures she has saved hundreds of dollars over the years by making her own cakes. The mother of three also enjoys the challenge of finding the right cake to fit the theme of the child’s party.

Dunn doesn’t like to use decorating tools, so she usually relies on cookies, candies and ingenuity to bring her cakes to life. She once used Twinkies and cookies to create a cake depicting six girls in bed for a sleepover party.

“I don’t make any claim to professional-looking cakes,” said Dunn, of Apex, N.C. “The cakes look homemade. That’s part of the charm. They’re made with love.”

The sleepover cake remains a favorite of Caroline Dunn, 11.

“My mom made each girl attending my party in cake form,” she said. “I loved to look at each piece of cake and how it resembled her.”

Every year, Dunn also makes Caroline a doll cake using the same figurine and pattern that her own mother used for her birthdays when she was growing up.

Dunn’s first attempt at cake decorating was a teddy bear for her oldest son’s first birthday.

“We lived in Florida at the time,” the 49-year-old said. “I wasn’t sure who would melt first — me under the pressure, or the cake.”

First birthdays often prompt moms or dads to try cake decorating, said Nancy Siler, a spokeswoman for Wilton Food Crafts, an Illinois-based company that specializes in cake-making products. Many even take cake-decorating classes to prepare for the big event, she said.

“It’s an opportunity to show family and friends that you love your child and that you’re a good mother,” she said. “It is an expression of love. It is your creativity coming out.”

When Leslie Green’s daughter, Emma, was turning 3, mom spent hours making a Sleeping Beauty cake. When Emma was turning 4, Green tried to talk her into cupcakes, but Emma insisted on a Little Mermaid cake.

“She said, ‘I don’t want cupcakes. I want a pretty cake like last year,’” recalled Green, for whom cake-making then became a tradition. Party guests marvel over her creativity. She said she has lost sleep over her cakes, but loves doing them.

“You can make people so happy,” said Green, of Tampa, Fla.

Martin’s 6-year-old daughter, Lexi, is already looking forward to her next birthday: “I go to school, so I’m going to have a school bus cake.”

Martin said she’ll start researching school bus cakes a few weeks before her daughter’s birthday, checking out various Web sites where proud moms post photos of their creations and offer tips.

“When I start, I will not know what it will look like,” Martin said. “There’s always a certain point where I ask, ‘Why did I get into this mess?’ and I think about scrapping the whole thing. I like to take on the challenge of it.”

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On the Net:

http://www.coolest-birthday-cakes.com/

http://familyfun.go.com/recipes/special/specialfeature/cakefinder-birthday/

http://www.wilton.com/forums/categories.cfm?catid=4

http://www.easy-birthday-cakes.com/

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.

CHARLES BABINGTON, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — After weeks of urging lawmakers to embrace his health care agenda, President Barack Obama is taking his case back to the road Thursday as the public’s qualms about the plan seem to be growing.

In his comments Wednesday and at scheduled events Thursday in Cleveland, the president is speaking directly to families about their pocketbook and medical concerns, urging them to ignore political opportunists and naysayers in order to achieve sweeping changes, which previous administrations could not attain.

“If we do not reform health care, your premiums and out-of-pocket costs will continue to skyrocket,” Obama said Wednesday night, looking past the dozens of reporters assembled for his White House news conference and peering straight into the TV cameras. “If we do not act, 14,000 Americans will continue to lose their health insurance every single day.”

On Thursday in Ohio, the president will undertake two more events focused on health care, the issue dominating his administration even as the economy still suffers and wars continue in Iraq and Afghanistan. For his supporters, Obama’s stepped-up pace is coming not a second too soon.

For all his efforts, which have included public statements each weekday for the past few weeks, Republican lawmakers and other critics sense momentum building against Obama’s plan. They particularly cite nonpartisan cost projections that have not predicted the savings the White House promises.

“What I heard last night was a president that seems somewhat frustrated that people do not understand what this government health care plan is all about,” Rep. Eric Cantor of Virginia, the House Republican whip, said Thursday on NBC’s “Today” show. “I think people still have a lot of questions about what a (new) health care plan means for them and their families.”

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, another leading Republican, said on CBS’s “The Early Show” that he “liked a lot of what he (Obama) had to say last night.”

“I think he’s actually … his marketing is the best part of this,” Jindal added. “You listen to what the president said. He said he does not want to increase the deficit, does not want government control of healthcare. He wants people to keep their insurance. He wants to crack down on the abuse, the over-utilization. All that’s great. The problem is, that’s not what’s in the House Democrat bill.”

The number of Americans who disapprove of the president’s health care plan has jumped to 43 percent, compared with 28 percent in April, according to the latest Associated Press-GfK poll. Obama still holds a strong hand, with most Americans favorable to him in general, and half supporting his health care agenda.

But it’s the negative trend that worries his supporters, and some want the president to be even more forceful and visible in pushing his top domestic priority.

“He’s the great communicator,” said Rep. Jim Cooper of Tennessee, a moderate Democrat who wants lower costs but supports the overall thrust of Obama’s efforts. “If anybody can explain this, he can.”

“The White House needs to assert more authority,” said Cooper, who has focused on health care for years. “I’ll be relieved when they take over the marketing of this, because Congress has done a terrible job.”

It’s hard for Obama, or anyone, to succinctly advocate health care changes just now because multiple versions are slowly moving through the Democratic-controlled House and Senate.

“The case has not been made” for a particular version because the eventual legislation is unclear, said Rep. Artur Davis, D-Ala. With critics seizing on the confusion to attack the Democratic proposals’ costs, enhanced government role and uncertain benefits, Davis said Wednesday, the administration soon must decide whether to accept a partial victory that might leave room for a later push for the rest.

For now, Obama keeps insisting on all the major elements of his far-reaching proposal and warning of dire consequences if they are not enacted.

He cited a Colorado woman with cancer that her insurance company would not cover. He referred to a “middle-class college graduate from Maryland whose health insurance expired when he changed jobs.” He used the word “families” 22 times in 55 minutes.

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Associated Press writer M.R. Kropko in Cleveland contributed to this report.

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.