Strollerderby : report

Report Finds Individualistic Culture Harms Kids—Because It Leads to Working Moms

Hannah Tennant-Moore — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 20:00:00 GMT

A three-year study by a British charity called the Children’s Group has uncovered some unsurprising problems with individualistic culture. The report, called A Good Childhood, found that children are suffering from “a belief among adults that the prime duty of the individual is to make the most of their [sic] own life, rather than contribute to the good of others."

Thanks to a me-first culture, the study contends, people are more accepting of excessive materialism and widespread economic inequality that leaves millions of children in poverty; are unfazed by harmful advertising aimed at children; and see school as a place to compete rather than make friends and have fun.

This all makes sense to me. What boggles my mind is the solution proposed by the study’s authors: keep women in the home. According to the report, “excessive individualism” has lead women to get all uppity, believing they should take on paid jobs other than child-rearing and housecleaning. This is bad for children because clearly all working moms neglect their kids. Plus, women now have the freedom to break up families with their selfish desire to end unhappy marriages.

The study’s authors write: “Women's new economic independence…has made women much less dependent on their male partners, as has the advent of the welfare state.” Hold on a second here. I thought this report signaled the need to have compassion for others, which would mean supporting welfare for needy families and other government programs that help the less fortunate succeed.

Then, of course, there’s the little problem with the assumption (which I thought died circa 1950) that women should be dependent on men for all their basic needs. This way, even if men are physically abusive or alcoholic or can’t hold down a job, women would not be able to divorce them since they would have no means of caring for themselves. This would be good for kids, because divorce is an evil that must be smote out.

Oh, did I mention that the study’s authors have ties to the Church of England?

Image: phawker.com

Whites Quickly Becoming Minority in U.S.

Hannah Tennant-Moore — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 16:18:00 GMT

Here's another fun demographic fact uncovered by the new Census Bureau report: not only are American whites of European descent having less babies, but Hispanics are having more. With 2.3 kids per mom, Hispanics are having more children than other ethnic group in the U.S. Still, Hispanic women today are having less children than their mothers did, mirroring the nationwide trend of reduced fertility.

High birth rates among minorities combined with immigration mean that by 2042, whites will be a minority group in the U.S. While the African American population is projected to remain pretty constant, Hispanic and Asian populations will double by 2050, to 30 percent and 9 percent, respectively.

Perhaps we Americans will be forced to learn a language other than English after all. And we were doing so well getting every other population in the world to speak our Mother Tongue....

Photo: arlingtonva/us

Motherhood? I’ve Got Other Things to Do

Wha? School Starts Sex Abuse Investigation Based on Psychic's Tip

Kelly Mills — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 16:02:00 GMT

File this one under, "If it happened to me, my rage would know no bounds." Colleen Leduc has an eleven-year-old daughter, Victoria, who is autistic. Last month, shortly after she picked up her daughter from school, she got a call from the teacher saying she should come to the school immediately for an urgent matter. When she arrived for the meeting with the teacher, principal, and vice-principal, the teacher told her an educational aide in the classroom had been to see a psychic over the weekend, and that the psychic said a little girl with the initial "V" was being sexually abused by a man in his twenties.

Ridiculous, no? Well, by the time the meeting took place, the school HAD ACTUALLY REPORTED IT to Children's Aid Services, opening an investigation. Oh, and they gave Colleen a list of behaviors Victoria was exhibiting--like gyrating on staff members--and said that while these behaviors were consistent with autism, they were part of the report. When Colleeen asked if other autistic kids in the calss did these things, she was told yes, but none of those kids were reported because there was no psychic tip.

Fortunately the CAS worker on the case closed it immediately, so hopefully no more fall-out. But it sure is an example of how "zero tolerance" towards even a hint of abuse can veer into the profoundly idiotic in the wrong hands. I sure hope Colleen gets an apology from the school very, very soon. I might be tempted to tell them, "A psychic told me to bitch-slap you."

Mom Fights Church On Behalf of Autistic Son

Autistic Boy Voted Out of Kindergarten

5 Reasons Wives Do More Housework

Cole Gamble — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 13:00:00 GMT

A recent study found wives do seven times more housework than their husbands. As I write this post my wife is folding laundry, and I wonder, can this be true? Do wives really do more housework? Nah, crazy talk. Oh honey, while you are tackling that mound of freshly laundered clothes, could you grab my coffee mug? It’s sooooo far away.

Okay, okay who thinks this comes as a big surprise? It's a stereotype, a running joke, a real screw job for women, but I think I have some legitimate reasons why women do more around the house.

First, let me give you a little background. I am actually quite domesticated. I grew up in a house where the father cooked more than half the meals and definitely did his share of chores. It's funny, because I thought this was normal. I think many guys of my generation grew up under similar circumstances; homes where both parents work and so the men were needed to pitch in to a greater degree. So in an age of more enlightened men, why do women do more? Here are my theories:

Old Fashioned Sexism. Not until I met my in-laws did I discover some people really see a difference in “women's work” and “men's work.” Dishes, vacuuming, windows—my father-in-law won't touch them. The only kind of chores he'll consider are those masculine enough to present a potential for physical danger (i.e. changing lawn mower blades, knocking down a hornet's nest). I would suggest he wash all the knives in the house after having five or six whiskey sodas if he requires that Fear Factor element, but I don't think he would buy it.

Men simply have a different tolerance for disarray than women. I see it whenever my wife goes out of town. Am I disgusting when I am left to my own resources? Do I allow plant and animal life to flourish in pools of spilled orange juice on our counters? No, but I certainly don't do much in the way of housework but every other day (a thought that cause's my wife's throat to close up and sends her into coronary palpitations). Where am I saving time? Oh, I suppose one could start by not making the bed in the morning (I'm going to mess it up in fourteen hours anyway). Simple corner cutting practices like this streamline my life when I am on my own so I can literally drive to work still half asleep. When it comes to finer cleaning like water spots on the mirror or dust on the bookshelf, women might think men just don't give a damn. Not necessarily true, we are just unaware of it. When my wife says, “This place is a dump” I look around and see a perfectly ordered house with everything in its place. I literally can not see the squalor she sees. For a man to see the dust, it has to be within six inches of his nose, so unless he finds himself trapped under a collapsed bookcase, said bookcase will not see Mr. Pledge until the dust is as thick as a dictionary.

Women don't like how men do it. I mentioned my wife is folding laundry. Help was offered by me but Nicole declined it. She usually does, as did my step-mother when I was a kid, because both women can't stand how I fold laundry. I honestly don't know what I am doing wrong; there is some kind of perfect geometry to underwear folding I apparently can't get my head around.

Some chores have higher point values. My wife has zero interest in cleaning the cat box. Who does? So the job falls upon me and because of the sheer grossness factor of the chore we've agreed my turd sifting contribution is worth three of her preferred tasks.

Women just want to take care of us because they love us so much. Do I really mean this, or am I just baiting for comments?

Photo: www.theage.com

Weekly Check-Up: Your Stress Makes Your Kid Sick

Kelly Mills — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 18:32:00 GMT

Feeling anxious and depressed? Well, now you have one more thing to angst about, because a new study suggests parental emotional stress can make kids more vulnerable to illness. Like it is enough that stress makes you more likely to get sick, now your children have to be felled by the latest bug as well. I totally knew that stomach flu my kid got was my fault, I just hadn't figured out how I caused it yet.

Researchers based the finding on both reports from parents on instances of their children's sniffles and fevers and so on, and on measurements of immune cells in kids. The scientists admit that parental reports might be slightly skewed, but say the study still suggests a link. However, one stress and health researcher says parents shouldn't get too upset just yet, and that more longterm studies are needed because it's possible there aren't lasting effects. "I believe that children are highly resilient, and their systems are sufficiently robust to cope with this. Although it is a good study, parents should not let it worry them unduly." Especially because if you get anxious about it, your kid might get sick. Heh heh, catch 22.