Top 10 Parenting Scandals of May, 2011

May 2, Osama bin Laden dead. What do we tell the kids?

U.S. Navy Seals kill Osama bin Laden, and parents face the morally ambiguous dilemma of showing their kids how to react. Strollerderby’s Danielle Sullivan expresses concerns with celebrations in her Brooklyn neighborhood: “Many of the kids were barely old enough to understand what has happened, yet they were cheering that someone was dead. It was unsettling.” A day later, a Pennsylvania fifth grader was threatened with school suspension for wearing face paint that “depicted a flag, the date of bin Laden’s death and the letters U-S-A.” Meredith Carroll writes: “I think parents are doing their kids a disservice if they’re focusing on bin Laden’s death as a party instead of talking about what it probably means to the families of the victims of 9/11.”

Get the full story here

May 8, BPA-free products not so safe after all?

Parents hear worrisome news about the health risks of chemicals in popular baby products. In a May 8 New York Times op-ed, Dominique Browning writes that the chemicals being used to replace Bisphenol-A or BPA, which has been linked to reproductive and neurological disorders, have not been adequately tested. A study in Environmental Health Perspectives finds that they may be more harmful than BPA itself. And a report published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology finds the cancer-causing chemical chlorinated Tris in baby products containing polyurethane foam, including pillows, car seats, changing table pads, and high chairs.

Get the full story here and here

May 9, Wall Street Journal: Eliminate child support, save marriage?

The Wall Street Journal poses a provocative question: Would marriages last longer if child support didn’t exist? Sure, writes Strollerderby’s Carolyn Castiglia, especially abusive marriages. Castiglia, who escaped that kind of relationship herself, writes: “A woman in an abusive relationship who has stopped working to raise her children and isn’t sure she can find suitable employment after leaving her husband would of course be reticent to walk away if she knew she wouldn’t have her husband’s financial help raising their children.”

Get the full story here

May 11, From Disney princesses to a mall near you, the early sexualization of girls continues

Considering the sexualization of Disney princesses over the years, and the marketing machine that has successfully engineered their worship by little girls everywhere, I’m relieved to have a son. And Disney isn’t the only entity subtly instructing little girls to vamp it up. A Kenyon College study of girls’ clothing on 15 popular American stores’ websites finds that 29 percent of the apparel demonstrated “sexualized characteristics.” In a glaring example, Skechers introduces body-shaping shoes targeted to girls as young as 8 years old. Following an outcry from parents, the company argues that the shoes echo the positive messages of First Lady Michelle Obama’s national fitness campaign, but the product disappears from the Sketchers website. (The Today Show reports that, as of May 16, the shoes are still available in stores).

Get the full story here and here

May 13, Want to play, kids? That’ll cost you

Ah, the free things in life: sunshine, fresh air, and exercise. Wait, not so fast! In an effort to pay for £55M in budget cuts, the council of the borough of Wandsworth in London decides to charge children £2.50 for weekend access to its playground. Critics wonder if it’s a veiled attempt to keep out kids from less desirable neighborhoods. Strollerderby’s Danielle Sullivan laments the craziness, as well as some equally counterintuitive policies in the U.S., from New York’s recent kickball and freeze tag ban to a Florida apartment complex forbidding outdoor play.

Get the full story here

May 17, OB-GYNs refuse to treat obese pregnant women

Whatever happened to the Hippocratic oath? A South Florida Sun Sentinel poll of 105 OB-GYN practices reveals that more than 10 percent of them turn away pregnant women who are overweight. Many of the offices define “obese” as weighing 200 pounds or more, according to the newspaper. Strollerderby’s Danielle Sullivan writes, “While a few of the doctors said the main reason was their exam tables or other equipment can’t accommodate people over a certain weight (which is doubtful at best), at least six said they were trying to avoid obese patients because they have a higher risk of complications.” According to one doctor who participated in the study, it all boils down to — surprise! — eliminating the risk of getting sued.

Get the full story here

May 18, "Botox Mom" scandal: Media may be the big winner

Try to follow along: California mom Kerry Campbell says that she injects her 8-year-old daughter with Botox (to dominate the kiddie beauty pageant circuit). Child Protective Services takes her daughter away and investigates. Next, the reality show-obsessed mom (who now claims her real name is Sheena Upton) says the whole thing was a publicity stunt — reportedly to help her land a reality show. Oh, and that the UK tabloid The Sun paid her $200 for the story — which the newspaper denies. Strollerderby’s Rebecca Odes sums up what’s really wrong with this picture: “Whether we are a part of the media machine that profits from this, or the audience that hungers for it, we are all part of this equation.”

Get the full story here

May 21, Rapture FAIL: Homework (and life) goes on

That scream you heard on May 21st was the sound of schoolchildren around the world facing the reality of having to do homework after all. Shockingly, Harold Camping’s Judgment Day prediction proves false. Watching the day pass Rapture-free must have been especially disappointing for the families who went to extreme measures to prepare. Adrienne Martin, a pregnant 27-year-old mother of one, joined her husband in “[budgeting] everything so that, on May 21, we won’t have anything left.”

Get the full story here

May 23, Parents raise "genderless" baby, nosy neighbors protest

Deciding that the world places unnecessary restrictions on children based on gender, the parents of a four-month-old baby in Toronto decide they won’t tell anyone whether their child is a boy or a girl. As Strollerderby’s Madeleine Holler explains, “Only Storm’s two big brothers, Jazz, 5, and Kio, 2, parents Kathy Witterick, 38, and David Stocker, 39, the two midwives who attended Storm’s birth, and Storm stormself know what lies beneath the diaper.” Most of the baby’s extended family and friends support the decision, but others, Holler writes, “like the neighbor across the street, hassle them, complain or behave as if Storm’s secret identity is an affront to others” … showing that, while their behavior is just a wee bit odd, the parents might be on to something here.

Get the full story here

May 24, Casey Anthony murder trial's surprising turn

In a twist befitting the most tragic of soap operas, the defense attorney for Florida mother Casey Anthony, accused of murdering her two-year-old daughter Caylee, suddenly announces that the little girl drowned in the family swimming pool in 2008. The ensuing cover-up of the girl’s accidental death, he says, spiraled out of control. “The defense attorney threw a bombshell and suggested that Casey Anthony was sexually and physically abused by her father George Anthony … [and that] from a young age, Casey was conditioned to tell fibs and lies because she feared the wrath of her mother and father,” writes Sunny Chanel. “Is this just a last ditch attempt to try to give a shadow of doubt to the jury?”

Get the full story here