After the COVID-19 pandemic pushed all levels of school to shift classrooms to online platforms in May, parents started to show concerns over their children’s online learning condition and the risk of getting Internet addiction. Some parents may also need to face reduced working hours or job losses. Still, these challenges would be magnified in the rural areas. CWLF conducted the “Online Learning and Living Conditions of Children in Rural Areas ” survey during the pandemic this year. It was found that in the rural areas, most families’ income reduced during the pandemic. Moreover, children needed to face challenges of access to digital device or Internet or lack of family support. Compared with children living in the cities with affluent resources, the urban-rural digital divide was alarming.

It was always sad to see child abuse incidents on news. Besides the wounds on children’s bodies, these adverse childhood experiences would cause long term harm on these children’s physical and mental health, even after they turned into adults. Since Center for Disease Control and Prevention of the United States published the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) study, the impact trauma creates on physical and mental health has drawn public attention. The ACEs study collected information from over 17,000 adults between 1995 and 1997. Respondents were asked ten questions relating their childhood experiences such as whether they were physically or sexually abused. One adverse experience counted 1 point. Each person’s final scores would be cross analyzed with their medical records. The results showed that respondents with higher ACEs scores had higher chances of getting heart diseases, liver diseases, cancer and depression. They were also more likely to experience issues such as obesity, substance abuse, social and emotional disorders, suicidal tendency, etc. Given to the possibility of cultural differences, we wondered what the results might be if the study was conducted in Taiwan. Therefore, CWLF also conducted an adverse childhood experiences survey on high schoolers in Taiwan. Through this survey, we hoped to understand the prevalence and effects of ACEs in Taiwan, seek ways to respond to trauma and prevent re-traumatization.

It is our pleasure to announce that today Child Welfare League Foundation (CWLF) joins The International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse & Neglect (ISPCAN) as a Country Partner!

With “Trauma-Informed Care” and “Infant and Toddler Parenting Support” as the themes, CWLF celebrates our 30th anniversary with an international conference which will take place on September 27-28, 2021.

Instagram and CWLF released A Parent’s Guide to Instagram (Taiwan) to help parents better understand Instagram and start the conversation about online safety with their children. Instagram invited CWLF chief executive officer Li-Fang Pai (白麗芳), parenting expert Dr. Daniel Huang (黃瑽寧), TV show host Claire Lin (林書煒) and her daughter Joycelin Tsai (蔡中泠) to the online release event and discussed about how parents can support and establish trusting relationship with their children, and how they can help their children safely express themselves, explore new ideas and have fun with Instagram.

On August 2nd, we launched the first public policy platform for children in Taiwan—CWLF 1420Hz Children’s Voice Platform (Link: https://www.1420hz.org.tw). On the same day, we also kicked off Let Good Things Be Heard|1420Hz Child Digital Policy Proposal Contest, and children from all around Taiwan were invited to submit their policy proposals. If the proposal receives support from 100 people before 9pm October 31st, it can successfully move forward to the final round of the contest. The winners of the contest will receive our support to advocate their ideas, realize their proposals and make social changes.

CWLF developed the first AR puzzle game about online safety in Taiwan. It is a game that requires two players working together to solve the puzzles. Player 1 and Player 2 will take on different characters and help each other with the photos and hints they received in their own storylines.

To understand how children from disadvantaged families in Taiwan learn digitally during pandemic, from the 16th to 25th of June, CWLF conducted a survey about learning resources in the primary schools from our rural school support program and received responses from 303 schools.

CWLF Won Silver and Most Innovative Awards in Wofoo Asian Award for Advancing Family Well-Being