Written by Adrienne Hedger and Shannon Seip for NickMomKids act the same whether we eat in our own kitchen or go to a restaurant – they throw their food, complain and spill at least three different things on us. So even though other childless tables may groan and shake their heads at us, there’s a reason we still take our kids out to eat: We don’t have to clean up after!Read More…
More on The Playroom
Eating Out With Kids vs. Without Kids [CARTOON]
Public education’s new quick fix
When her dyslexic second-grader landed in a failing public elementary school in Pittsburgh, single mother Jamie Fitzpatrick spotted trouble right away. Her daughter’s teacher spent class time shopping online for clothes while the kids bullied one another. Though other teachers wanted to do right by the kids, their union wouldn’t allow it; teachers were forbidden to offer any extra help to the students outside of class, and because their pay was based on seniority, some of the worst made the most. So despite working two jobs, Fitzpatrick somehow found the time to persuade other parents to sign a petition to turn the school into a nonunion charter. Most teachers joined the effort, perfectly content to give up their union protections. At the new charter school, magic happened. The kids began to get a proper education. Fitzpatrick’s daughter learned to read almost immediately.Continue Reading… … Read More
Teacher Suspended For Allowing Student To Play Gay Marriage Song In Class
Susan Johnson, an eighth grade performing arts teacher at Centennial Middle School, was asked by a student if he could play the song Same Love…. … Read More
7 disturbing trends in junk food advertising for children
Ever wonder why one-third of all children in the United States are overweight, if not dangerously obese? According to a slew of recent reports, the cornucopia of junk food advertising to children plays a substantial role in creating this public health crisis. From bribing children with toys and sweepstakes to convincing them to eat a “fourth meal,” the industry is glutted with examples of perverse, profit-chasing schemes to capitalize on children’s appetites at the expense of their long-term health. Here are 7 most perverse trends in junk food advertising to children.1. Bombarded!Junk food marketing to children and adolescents has become billion-dollar industry. According to 2006 data, the most recent numbers available, kids experience at least $1.6 billion worth of food advertising a year–the vast majority of the ads geared toward pushing high-calorie and low-nutrition snacks down kids’ throat.Continue Reading… … Read More
For Mom and Dad: The Parent Rap
If you’ve got kids, then this one’s for you. … Read More
Newark’s School Turnaround Strategy Changes Course
This piece comes to us courtesy of The Hechinger Report.She thought of herself as an ordinary mother of four, one who did what she could to advocate for her kids in Newark public schools.But Carol Tagoe’s advocacy caught the eye of a New York University education reformer. And suddenly, the disarmingly friendly Trinidad native was working for the Newark Global Village School Zone, a partnership that heralded the promise of both educational and community revival in the city’s impoverished Central Ward.Read More…
More on Education Reform
Is Wal-Mart the enemy?
It’s been a week since the Wal-Mart strike of Black Friday. Strike, perhaps, is a misnomer. No one tried to stop sales at any Wal-Mart stores. There were no picket lines to cross. And the essence of a strike, to withhold labor, did not happen. These were protests organized to generate headlines on the most important shopping day of the year. And they did generate headlines. If that’s all they did, then Wal-Mart won. If they are the start of something, the beginning of an organizing “marathon,” they will be a turning point. It’s impossible to know now. Because what Wal-Mart really fears, strikes to shut down their ability to generate massive profits, isn’t what the organizers are seeking. Black Friday did not show a real fight. It was like shadow boxing, or a test to gauge the strengths and weaknesses between workers and Wal-Mart.I spent some time at one of these megastores last week, and what I really noticed were the kids. The best way to understand Christmas in modern America is to watch how children react to the intense marketing directed their way. Kids are the purest representation of our values, because they haven’t yet learned to disguise their desires and feelings. They don’t yet know they are being marketed to, they want what they want, and they are going to bug their parents to get it. In fact, piggybacking on innocence is a standard tactic in children’s marketing, known as accentuating “the nag factor.” But they also want to be adults, to help, to be taken seriously.Continue Reading… … Read More
