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The world can be a dark place for many children: the "lost boys" from Sudan, refugees fleeing the conflict in Syria, child sex workers in Brazil, baby girls abandoned in China, kids pulled into gang drug wars in the United States. Such suffering by children is more common than most people might think and represents what some believe to be one of our biggest public-health crises of all time. A study published in January in the journal Pediatrics puts that violence into stark perspective by estimating that as many as half of the world's 2 billion children experienced physical, sexual or emotional violence in the previous year. (Cha, 7/12)

The summer meal program rolled out by the co-op [Southeast Gwinnett Cooperative Ministry] is one of hundreds trying to fill a growing need around the state. Nearly 60 percent of Georgia's public school children are eligible for free or reduced lunches, but once summer rolls around, fewer than 15 percent of them have access to those meals. (Sweeney, 7/12)

Bullying can take many forms, and there are varying degrees of it. Sometimes it consists of one person taunting and insulting another when they interact. Sometimes it takes the form of repeated physical abuse. And nowadays there’s cyberbullying. Through online connections and social media, a person can be targeted and constantly tormented by an individual or group, often anonymously. One form of bullying found largely at schools is hazing — mistreatment of students being initiated into fraternities, sororities, sports teams and other school organizations. Such abuse runs the gamut from verbal humiliation to physical degradation to outright violence. (Kanne, 7/12)

The new leader of the state's beleaguered child welfare system had a clear message for Texas lawmakers Tuesday: Time has run out for business as usual. “I was hired, bottom line, because our governor was sick and tired about reading about infants and toddlers who were severely injured or killed while or after they were involved with Child Protective Services,” said Hank Whitman, who was appointed by Gov. Greg Abbott to head the Department of Family and Protective Services in April. (Smith, 7/12)