It seems that when you scream at your kids and call them “garbage” and “fatty” on a regular basis, you often end up with depressed kids. That’s not an enormous surprise. What is surprising, however, that Amy Chua’s technique—which advises explosive anger and name-calling when a child falls short of expectations, amongst other things—doesn’t even get results. “[T]iger moms produced kids who felt more alienated from their parents and experienced higher instances of depressive symptoms. They also had lower GPAs, despite feeling more academic pressure.” Chua, who originally wrote that “the solution to substandard performance is always to excoriate, punish and shame the child,” has back-pedaled slightly since her book was published in 2011.
In a move intended to give parents greater control over data collected about their children online, federal regulators on Wednesday broadened longstanding privacy safeguards covering children’s apps and Web sites.
Members of the Federal Trade Commission said they had updated the provisions to keep pace with the growing use of mobile phones and tablets among children. The regulations also reflect innovations like voice recognition technology, global positioning systems and behavior-based online advertising — that is, ads tailored to an Internet user’s habits.
Unsurprisingly, a number of marketers are unhappy with the new proposal and will likely challenge it in court. It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out, as conservatives are typically against the introduction of new business regulations; however, neither party wants to appear unconcerned with the privacy/protection of children. What do you think of the new rules?
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Photo Credit: REUTERS/Michelle McLoughlin
Dozens of people, including children, are reported killed in a mass shooting at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut.
This is such a tragedy.
Who would do this? Why? What reasons?
» Between 1897 and 2009, 32 separate sets of sleeping guidelines for kids gradually suggested that children get less and less sleep — at a rate of about 0.71 fewer minutes each year. Despite this, parents over the year managed to fail at these declining expectations, with children getting on average of 37 fewer minutes of sleep each year. Why’s that? Depends on the era — at the turn of the 20th century, it was artificial light, radio and cinema; in the ’90s, it was video games, cell phones and the Internet. Let’s update these standards slightly: We blame Twitter and the iPad.
Call us when Cap’n Crunch calls a press conference about this. Thanks to a recent study from the Environmental Working Group, we now know how much sugar is in some cereals. The amount of sugar, by weight, is highest in Honey Smacks (55.6%) and Golden Crisp (51.9%). Did anyone still consider typical kids’ cereals to be healthy? Feed ‘em some Total instead. (This message is not brought to you by General Mills.) (photo by Horia Varlan on Flickr) source
Not the best move, dude: Shawn Weimer’s early-morning October 8 outing wouldn’t have drawn quite so many eyebrows … had his daughter been a decade older. She wasn’t, and as a result, he’s been getting negative national attention for the incident. But is it a momentary sign of bad judgment on the Michigan dad’s part … or a sign of something worse? With Weimer’s trial delayed for now, the father has some time to contemplate — as does the public. source
» On the plus side, that number’s falling: Between 1990 and 2008, roughly 7.3 children and teens per 100,000 fell out of windows each year, which is actually down — especially in areas that have pushed safety campaigns to prevent this from happening. However, it’s not the case in every city. In New York and Boston, previous studies have shown 96 percent declines. In this study, that level is much lower.
Nearly 1 in 5 children lived in poverty in the U.S. in 2009. That’s 15 million kids. Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi ranked lowest on the study’s 10 indicators of child well-being. New Hampshire, Minnesota and Massachusetts ranked highest.
A sad number, even sadder in graphical form.
Parents, journalists, and community activists who dare to speak out about lead are detained, harassed, and ultimately silenced.Joe Amon, a director for Human Rights Watch • Voicing charges of large-scale deception by the Chinese government in informing its citizens about (and keeping them safe from) lead poisoning. The report comes on the heels of a major lead poisoning incident near a tinfoil factory that struck 103 children; it finds that the Chinese government would tell parents, among other things, that eating eggs and drinking milk was a sufficient treatment for lead poisoning. One parent describes being told his child wasn’t poisoned but not being allowed to actually examine his tests. This sounds like a case of putting an industrial economy above the health and safety of citizens — the level of safety regulation for factories in China is generally very poor. source (via • follow)
Yahoo wants to buy Hulu now too. They’re going on an “I...
I’m moving back to New York in a few days. Unlike past...
OMG. I got so...
In this week’s Newsweek, a little...
Tumblr this morning. [h/t anne]
#@#$%!.tumblr.com
Here’s a hidden feature that shipped in...
I want to speak directly to Mr. Burns and Mr. Simon: Do another season of “The Wire.” That’s actually at a minimum… If you don’t do a season, do a movie. We’ve done HBO movies, this is a series that deserves a movie. I want another season or I want a movie. I have a lot of power, Mr. Burns and Mr. Simon.Attorney General Eric Holder • Giving voice to the innermost hopes and dreams of “The Wire” fans everywhere. Holder was at an event featuring members from the revered HBO series, which used clips from the show to illustrate the perils children face in areas rife with drug abuse, when he made his forthright demand. We second this wholeheartedly! Also, for all we know, this could be a message from the top — President Obama himself has made his love for the series known (his favorite character is Omar). source (via • follow)
Know how this book hit No. 1 on Amazon? A great title. Also, a pirated PDF. Really. source
» The disgustingly evil are unabated: A 54-year-old man, name hitherto unknown, admitted to Swiss authorities that he had sexually abused over 100 people in the course of his career as a therapist to disabled adults and children. The police say they’ve identified 122 of the victims, and that the youngest was 1-year-old at the time of the abuse. Stories like these make everyday life harder and harder to stomach. Anybody know how to build an evil detector?
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