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• Australia to "Stolen Children:" Um, Sorry

  Australia plans to issue its first official apology to its indigenous people, known as Aborigines, for generations of inhumane treatment, including removing children from their homes. The apology seems to target the so-called "stolen generation" of mixed-blood children who were taken from their homes on the grounds that Aborigines were a "doomed" race and that it was the right thing to do, according to this Associated Press article.    Read More... Posted Jan 30 2008, 10:29 AM by Mike Adamick (Cry It Out!) with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: chilldren

• Baby Hatahs Unite!

  Things to never, ever to say in life: People with kids deserve special treatment. Or at least, you know, common courtesy. The Poop blog has a wonderful back-and-forth between people with kids and the people who hate them. The roughly 100 comments focus on everything from stupid parents, stupid haters, overpopulation and peeing on buildings. It keeps getting better and better, and may, eventually, become one of the few parenting discussions to invoke Godwin's Law. Are babies that bad? Or is it just the parents? Posted Jul 30 2007, 01:01 PM by Mike Adamick (Cry It Out!) with | with 5 comment(s) Filed under: childless, chilldren

• Ten-Year-Old Terrors Beat Down Homeless Man

  "Neighbors say they come from troubled homes." That's what the newsman said. I read this story -- about two 10-year-olds and a 17-year-old who beat down a homeless man and smashed a cinderblock on his eye -- and all I could say in response to the newsman was, "Ya think?"  You might read this story and wonder, "Where were the parents?" I look at it and think, "Where were the neighbors?" These kids "terrorized" the neighborhood, one resident said. Troubled homes, missing parents (the parents never showed up in court when the kids were charged with assault), pint-sized crime sprees -- does it really take an act of violence before someone else gets involved? I wonder what you can do, though? Just how involved in other kids' lives can neighbors be? Is it a neighbor's place to step up when clearly the parents aren't? Posted Mar 30 2007, 07:58 AM by Mike Adamick (Cry It Out!) with | with 3 comment(s) Filed under: arrested, criminal behavior, crime, criminals, anti-bully, chilldren

• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Movie? Aren't They 40 By Now?

  My younger cousins loved, LOVED the TMNT -- to the point that they dressed up like little reptiles and paraded around the house shouting something about Michelangelo eating all the pizza -- whatever the hell that meant. But that was more than a decade ago. My cousins -- the prime TMNT viewing audience -- are almost done with college now and have officially switched from dressing up like cartoon turtles and eating pizza to, um -- OK, fine, they're still eating pizza. But they've also started drinking beer and seem to not be able to dress themselves at all. I'm guessing that unless you can lick them and get a good contact high, turtles are the last things on their minds. So I found it odd to see a commercial for a brand-spanking new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie. Are those things still around? Or has every child in America officially flushed them down the toilet? I'd totally get behind a "Snorks" movie if Hollywood is going retro -- but Turtles? Really? Posted Mar 07 2007, 04:49 PM by Mike Adamick (Cry It Out!) with | with 10 comment(s) Filed under: Movies, toys, cartoons, children's television, children's TV, chilldren, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

• Anti-Spanking Law Gets Smackdown

  In fantastic news for baby beaters everywhere, a proposal to outlaw spanking in California is off to a rocky start, if this poll and the pro vs. con correspondence flooding state Assemblywoman Sally Lieber's office is any indication. As you may recall, Lieber proposed a ban on spanking kids -- with punishment for parents of up to a year in jail and $1,000 in fines. (Of course they'd call the ACLU if you spanked them.) In the past week, her office has received a deluge of pro-spanking responses -- a veritable smackdown, if you will, against the proposed law. At first, 95 percent of people rejected the idea (gee, wonder if spankers are prone to anger management issues knee-jerk reactions). Since then, the pro-spanking lobby has "mellowed" to about 85 percent. Try getting this one out of committee. Read More... Posted Jan 31 2007, 01:23 PM by Mike Adamick (Cry It Out!) with | with 84 comment(s) Filed under: parenting, laws, spanking, smacking, parents rights, pro-spanking, punishment, chilldren

• Kids Eat Like Crap, Says Report

  Here is a newsflash for you: American adolescents aren't making good decisions about their health. Christine Dell'Amore reports that "Only 2 percent of kids ages 11 to 15 met the guidelines for diet, physical activity and sedentary risk behaviors as laid out in Healthy People 2010" on the United Press International website. Now, I don't mean do be cynical here, (who am I trying to kid? Of course I mean to be cynical) but is anyone surprised that 13 year olds aren't making wise choices? When I was 11 I thought I was going to marry Simon LeBon. When I was 13 I would come home and eat an entire bad of Doritos for an after school snack. When I was 15 I wouldn't eat anything all day, then I would eat dinner and do sit-ups until I threw up. Does anyone really think that pubescents are thinking clearly? Isn't this why they can't vote yet? All mocking aside, as parents we really need to watch our pre-teens and help them make better decisions about diet and exercise. It is also our job to show our children by setting healthy examples. I know it is hard. I struggle with this constantly, but I know that if my kids see me eating well and taking care of my body that they in turn will grow up healthier.   Posted Jan 29 2007, 02:33 PM by Sarah, Goon Squad Sarah with | with 4 comment(s) Filed under: parenting, health, diet, chilldren