Children and Happiness: Discuss

Staff / Truthdig Jul 8, 2010 Those goofy social scientists, always trying to quantify life's seemingly immeasurable phenomena and solve intractable mysteries -- such as, for example, whether or not having kids makes people any happier. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

Study: Spanking May Lead to Aggression in Children

Staff / Truthdig Apr 13, 2010 Score one for the anti-spanking parental contingent: A study published in the latest issue of Pediatrics suggests there may be a link between the corporal punishment -- e.g., spanking -- of children and aggressive behavior on the part of those kids as they grow up. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Best Parents Ever Do Away With Homework

Staff / Truthdig Nov 19, 2009 A Canadian couple have negotiated something called a Differentiated Homework Plan with their children's school after learning that there is no guarantee that after-school toil does a lick of good. As a result, young Spencer and Brittany Milley of Calgary will not be judged on anything but their in-class performance. (continued) Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Parents: Stalk Your Own Kids on Facebook

Staff / Truthdig Sep 8, 2009 Parents everywhere may feel as if they're losing their kids to the Internet, or more specifically, to those mysterious "social networking" time-suck sites like Facebook and Twitter. However, take it from the chirpy hosts of "today NOW!" -- The Onion's eerily realistic spoof on morning-show blather -- parents can also use these sites to their stalking advantage. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

White House Releases Obama’s School Speech

Staff / Truthdig Sep 8, 2009 With some parents still reluctant to send their children to school Tuesday for fear that President Obama will indoctrinate them with his scary socialist ideals, the White House has attempted to ease the hysteria by releasing the full text of his speech a day early. Now doubters can do a close textual analysis for objectionable content. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

From the Annals of Retired Fascist Baby Names

Staff / Truthdig Nov 25, 2008 The Movimento Sociale-Fiamma Tricolore party in Italy has offered to pay $1,940 to parents who name their children after Benito Mussolini or his wife Rachele. The "purely casual" name game is meant to address low birthrates and not fascist nostalgia, according to the far-right party. Sure. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Calif. Court Cracks Down on Home-Schoolers

Staff / Truthdig Mar 9, 2008 As many as 166,000 children could be counted as truants in California after the 2nd District Court of Appeal launched a statewide initiative to ensure that home-schoolers were being taught by credentialed teachers. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Cyborg Parents From Hell

Ellen Goodman / Truthdig Nov 1, 2007 Pretty soon, we're going have to amend the favorite mom and dad moniker of the moment. Those much vaunted helicopter parents are turning into black-helicopter parents. The image of parents hovering over their kids is morphing into the darker image of parents spying on their kids. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Outsource Your Parenting Duties

Staff / Truthdig Jul 4, 2007 This fake news report from The Onion envisions a solution for busy, cost-conscious parents: Just ship your kids overseas and get day care for pennies on the dollar. There's something unnaturally cute and funny about the mom in this clip preparing her child for shipment. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

The Brand-a-Baby Biz

Staff / Truthdig Jun 26, 2007 From $50 for a list of suggestions to $475 for a numerologist to test the positive and negative associations of a certain name, the baby name business is booming. Sociologists and name researchers are reporting an increase in the level of stress that parents-to-be experience when choosing baby names, according to The Wall Street Journal. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Obama’s Father’s Day Sermon

Eugene Robinson / Truthdig Jun 19, 2007 The subject is absent fathers. The implications for black America are dire. The fact is that "there are a lot of men out there who need to stop acting like boys; who need to realize that responsibility does not end at conception; who need to know that what makes you a man is not the ability to have a child but the courage to raise one." Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Ellen Goodman: The Baby Bump Fixation

Staff / Truthdig Jul 27, 2006 "How did this fixation on celebrity babies, this upbeat bump beat, happen just as we are being told that parenthood is onerous and grueling and that parents are overworked and overwhelmed?" Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )