Strollerderby : innocence

Kids to Obama: Read Books, Eat More Ice Cream

JeanneSager — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 15:36:00 GMT

Ah, if only life were this simple. A collection of letters written by children to President-Elect Barack Obama were highlighted in the New York Times last week.

Their number one pick? A series of junk food suggestions from a little girl who thinks the president elect needs to put on some weight.

The letter is, of course, pure kid - "You look too skinny. You should eat more food. this is what you should eat:" followed by a list of foods I'd love to eat but only let my daughter have on special occasions. You can get all upset that this child doesn't value "healthy" foods, or you can look at it purely from the eyes of a child. She thinks the president looks hungry. She likes him enough to suggest he eat better. And, hey, who wouldn't want a buddy to fatten up on ice cream, buttered popcorn and cotton candy?

Others in the list were written by older children, and with that comes a bit more worldliness. Most moving to me is the letter from a twelve-year-old who says her parents are split down political lines, with one highly conservative and the other ultra-liberal. "Thank you for bringing my parents somewhat closer together. :) You are my idol Mr. Barack," she says.

I admit it; it doesn't take much to get me all weepy about the future of our country. But that letter in particular brought on the little pricks in the corner of my eyes. Because after reading about the parents who refuse to let their kids attend school on Tuesday lest they see the wrong (in their eyes) president inaugurated, it's nice to know there are parents out there who don't agree with the president-elect and are still raising kids to be thoughtful, accepting, and productive members of society.

To read the whole list - from suggestions that he get more kids reading to requests to help their families get jobs, check out the Times piece. Bring the tissues.

Image: New York Times

Via Jezebel

Entire School Board Recalled By Angry Students

Protect Children: Prohibit Divorce

U.S. Military Making Virtual Mom and Dad

Linda Ellerbee Says Kids Should Skip School To Watch Inauguration

Students Watch Autopsy of Teen From School

JeanneSager — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 15:04:00 GMT

I'm not really crazy about sending my kid out to watch an autopsy to begin with. Yes, even in the name of science. But when the body a class of teens is watching the medical examiner cut up belongs to a fourteen-year-old from their school district, you've lost me completely.

It's exactly what happened at a Michigan ME's office; even after the teacher was warned that the teenagers in her high school science class would be subjected to the autopsy of a middle school student from the same school district who had committed suicide.

The Detroit News reported the teacher put it out to her students, kids in the eleventh and twelfth grades at Waterford Kettering High School. None of the kids actually knew the girl, although one student knew the deceased's brother. The ME's office in Oakland County has decided to stop all future high school tours because of the case, but I'd say all the adults involved here need to be reviewing their actions. Kids watching dead kids be examined? It's the stuff that can cause some pretty severe nightmares, not to mention a host of issues for the child's family.

That older teens might be sent to see an autopsy as part of their exploration of potential careers is one thing. Personally I think that kind of thing should be limited to kids who have expressed an interest in the medical field, not required viewing for a regular upper-level science class. If kids feel they're going to be upset by watching a body carved up, by all means, let them stay back in the school building and do busy work.

And the kids who choose to make the trip? They should not be watching the process being done on another child, especially one who they might know in one way, shape or form. Adults have a hard enough time stomaching the thoughts of harm having come to a child. Professionals who deal with this type of thing on a daily basis, despite all their attempts to become immune to the horrors specific to the loss of a child, still struggle. Ask any district attorney who has had to prosecute the case of a child's death if he doesn't go home at night and hug his kids just that much tighter. To expect teenagers, still kids themselves, to process that sort of thing - or to think that asking them beforehand if they're OK with it and expecting their teenaged-bravado not to get in the way - is a failure to protect a piece of their innocence.

Yes, they can see this sort of thing on CSI. But a fake body on a screen has nothing on a real body laid out in front of them, the body of a child they know has walked through the same halls where they once studied math and science.

Let's let kids be kids - as long as we can.

Image: The Detroit News

Would You Give Gifts Bought At Wal-Mart Where Man Died?

Mom Gets Hate Mail for Ending Kids Thanksgiving Party

Nintendo Scrabble Game Drops the F-Bomb

They Say: Children 'Programmed' to Share

JeanneSager — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 18:29:00 GMT

I'm not sure what prompted the first snort of derision. The headline to yesterday's Scientific American article that read "Why Children Like to Share" or the part about how our kids are "programmed" against inequality. Bad Mommy says what?

Fortunately, reading the article confirmed I'm not the Bad Mommy I sometimes fear I am. Kids aged three to eight are still toywhores who'd rather wipe their boogers with their sleeve than share a Tonka truck. Phewww. My kid's still in the running for most normal brat of the year. And despite the Manchurian Candidate-type ring to the subhead, no one's plugging a microchip into our kids' brains and programming them to believe they need to hand over the roll of Smarties just because the other kid asked.

What the study out of the University of Zurich actually states is that our kids are becoming more likely to give up their own rewards in life in order to stand up for inequality. It reiterates what I've always figured - kids are inherently good . . . until adults screw them up.

Image: Family Violence Institute

Sixth Graders Disciplined for Hit a Jew Day

Mom Plans to Burn Book her Son's Library Book - Really

Part II: Why Parents of Boys Have It Better (And Why They Don't)

School Board Member Uses Gay Slur, Says Student Said it First

Middle Schoolers Exposed to Curse Words, Parents Shocked

Teenager Arrested For Kiddie Porn - The Pictures Were of Herself

Do You Tell Your Kids to Fight Back?

How Low Will They Go?

Middle Schoolers Exposed to Curse Words, Parents Shocked

JeanneSager — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 14:03:00 GMT

Parents of middle schoolers in Fresno, Calif. were shocked, shocked, I tell you, when they learned their kids had been exposed to curse words. Imagine, 12 years old and seeing f*%k in all its glory. Where have these parents been in the past 50 years?

Watching offensive language usage rise in his classrooms, the principal at Tioga Middle School said told teachers to write a list of four-letter words on the whiteboard in each classroom let kids know exactly what words would not be tolerated. Then the mother and future stepfather of 12-year-old Phoenix Hawkins complained. They want to protect his innocence, they say.

The principal's pulled the plan, but I hope Phoenix isn't riding a bus to school. That's where I learned "motherf***er" at 5 and "time of the month" at 7. Maybe Phoenix's parents should consider homeschooling? And no TV, naturally. No books. No movie. Definitely no trips to the grocery store or even outside the house.

Awww, s**t, let's just bring on that bubble.

Source: San Luis Obispo Tribune

Image: Calvin

When They Can Curse in Context

Does Quoting Steve Martin's The Jerk Make This Politician a Racist?

Babble Talk: My Daughter Gets Her Happy Ending at McDonald's

Angelina Buys Her Kid a Knife. What's Next, Maddox Jolie, Tomb Raider?

Do You Leave Your Kids in "Car Care?"

Top 5 Worst Sweet-to-Sexy Toy Makeovers

Rachael Brownell (Redsy) — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 18:31:00 GMT

As if thong-wearing Bratz weren't already securing the kiddie toy sexual revolution, toymakers continue to try and wrest sexay from remodels of iconic toys from the 70s and 80s. Pictured right is the original Holly Hobbie. See her disturbing modern makeover after the jump.

She is only one of the Top 5 Worst Sweet-to-Sexy Toy Makeovers:

1. Strawberry Shortcake - No longer the dumpling gumdrop five or six-year-old, she is now a tween, likes to sit sexy sidesaddle, and wears her hair to her waist. Hard to imagine her playing soccer or doing anything but sitting passively and looking pretty.

2. Holly Hobbie - Like her friend Strawberry, Holly is now a tween with attitude (and long hair). Check her out. It's a sad day when we forsake prioneer girls like Laura Ingalls for Hannah Montana lookalikes.

3. Barbie - Hard to imagine that Barbie would some day seem tame compared to her slutty doll counterparts. Nevertheless, she's doing her best to keep up with the times.

4. My Little Pony - These sweet little purple and pink-haired quadropeds have a newer modern relative, the Strutz. The new horsies have implied cleavage, high heels and wear tons of makeup.

5. Trollz - Remember those crazy plastic statues with the weird furry hair? Take a look at their new incarnation.

If trolls can look like Bratz and Holly Hobbie has forsworn her pioneer girl roots, then surely the kiddie toy sexual revolution is complete.

Sex and Santa: When Should a Parent Tell the Truth?

Rachael Brownell (Redsy) — Mon, 05 Feb 2007 00:57:00 GMT

A homeschooling and philosophizing parent writing on Nashoba.com, ponders the right timing for uncovering the truth about Santa and sex, especially when it comes to her youngest children. She points out that while many homeschooling parents choose to educate their children outside of the public school system in order to protect their innocence, by schooling all different ages together, the younger children are sometimes exposed to more advanced information (insemination anyone?).

Homeschooling parents aren't the only ones concerned about the sex-kittenish behavior of the under 10 set and most of us can appreciate the effort it takes to stand between your child and the over-sexed world around them, but I don't think sex and Santa are equal affronts to innocence, especially when it comes to the under 6s.

The questions burning the brains of the youngsters in my family have more to do with "Where's the magical fairy person?" and "Mommy, can I have wine too?" and "Does Santa know I hit Violet?" So far, my house is free of sexual curiosity, but perhaps a little bit of homeschooling would solve that problem.

Strollerderby : innocence

Kids to Obama: Read Books, Eat More Ice Cream

Parents Criticize Schools for Celebrating Inauguration

Entire School Board Recalled By Angry Students

Protect Children: Prohibit Divorce

U.S. Military Making Virtual Mom and Dad

Linda Ellerbee Says Kids Should Skip School To Watch Inauguration

Students Watch Autopsy of Teen From School

School Security Guard Teaches Biology Class

Would You Give Gifts Bought At Wal-Mart Where Man Died?

Mom Gets Hate Mail for Ending Kids Thanksgiving Party

Nintendo Scrabble Game Drops the F-Bomb

They Say: Children 'Programmed' to Share

Middle Schoolers Exposed to Curse Words, Parents Shocked

Top 5 Worst Sweet-to-Sexy Toy Makeovers

Sex and Santa: When Should a Parent Tell the Truth?