San Carlos #KinderCare Cited for Numerous Violations (VIDEO)

My kid used to attend #KinderCare back in the day, in Fountain Valley and Irvine. It's such a nightmare sometimes. If you don't have family in the area, and you have a career --- as both my wife and I do --- it's a bummer to put your child in the hands of strangers. You have to be super vigilant. With luck, you'll wind up with excellent caregivers. We finally found a daycare center in Irvine with the owner who had her own special needs children, so she made sure our son got the attention he needed. But it takes a while until you can find the right place. This center in San Carlos should be shut down. Either that, or parents should bail out until it goes out of business.

At ABC News 10 San Diego:

Four-Year-Old Girl Falls Out of Moving Bus on Highway, Rescued by Volunteer Firefighter (VIDEO)

How could this possibly happen?

Who's supervising the children?

That child is lucky to be alive.

At CNN:

Have More Children

Hey, we wanted more, but kids aren't cheap, and we have no family nearby to help at home with the children.

But yeah, folks should have more. Environmentalists love abortion because women can murder their unborn children because climate change. (Yeah, leftists are evil like that.)

At Quillette, which is a great magazine (that I don't read enough):

If You’re Reading This Essay, You Should Probably Have (More) Childrenhttps://t.co/tQ1uGRS8D8

— Quillette Magazine (@QuilletteM) February 2, 2017

Lisa Damour, Untangled

In bestselling books, at Amazon, Lisa Damour, Untangled: Guiding Teenage Girls Through the Seven Transitions into Adulthood.

BONUS: Nancy Jo Sales, American Girls: Social Media and the Secret Lives of Teenagers, and Peggy Orenstein, Girls and Sex: Navigating the Complicated New Landscape.

Books About Those 'Hot and Sexy Girls'

If you're up for some hip ("au courant") literary exegeses of the teenage Facebook/Instagram culture.

See Nancy Jo Sales, American Girls: Social Media and the Secret Lives of Teenagers, and Peggy Orenstein, Girls and Sex: Navigating the Complicated New Landscape.

I'm glad I'm not a teenager in today's day and age.

Seriously. It's hard out there.

60 Percent of Teens Have Created Online Accounts That Their Parents Don't Know About (VIDEO)

Well, my oldest son had all kinds of social media accounts, and I'm sure a couple I didn't know about.

Too late now. He'll be 21 in January, lol.

My youngest son just turned 15 and started high school last week. He doesn't use social media. He doesn't even have a Facebook account. We'll see how long that lasts. I'm glad, though.

In any case, watch, at CBS This Morning, from the other day, "A new survey of teenagers and parents finds that 60 percent of teen internet users have created online accounts that their folks don't know about. That's more than twice the percentage of parents who suspect their teens have secret accounts. Wired magazine contributor Mary H.K. Choi joins "CBS This Morning" to discuss her latest article, "Like. Ghost. Flirt," and how she met with five teens across the country to learn how high schoolers actually use social media."

Here's the piece, at Wired, "Like. Flirt. Ghost: A Journey Into the Social Media Lives of Teens."

What Teens Need Most from Their Parents

Well, they need a tremendous amount of attention and supervision.

I didn't realize how much until I wished I'd done more for my oldest son, who's having some early adulthood challenges now. (He'll be 21 in January.)

Yes, that's life, I know. But you always wish you'd done more to guide your kids, and provide a strong moral foundation.

It's weird when you think back on it, although my family's blessed that we're all together, doing well and healthy. You just think about it. Could you have done more? Have I been a good parent?

In any case, at WSJ:

The teenage years can be mystifying for parents. Sensible children turn scatter-brained or start having wild mood swings. Formerly level-headed adolescents ride in cars with dangerous drivers or take other foolish risks.

A flood of new research offers explanations for some of these mysteries. Brain imaging adds another kind of data that can help test hypotheses and corroborate teens’ own accounts of their behavior and emotions. Dozens of recent multiyear studies have traced adolescent development through time, rather than comparing sets of adolescents at a single point.

The new longitudinal research is changing scientists’ views on the role parents play in helping children navigate a volatile decade. Once seen as a time for parents to step back, adolescence is increasingly viewed as an opportunity to stay tuned in and emotionally connected. The research makes it possible to identify four important phases in the development of intellectual, social and emotional skills that most teens will experience at certain ages. Here is a guide to the latest findings...

Keep reading.

British Toddler with 'Worst Case of Chickenpox Ever Seen' Turned Away from Doctors; Mum Told Not to Worry (VIDEO)

The scariest case of chicken pox I've ever seen.

And the doctor's office told the mum, "every mother thinks their child has bad chickenpox," so stop freaking out already.

At Pajamas, "Toddler With 'Worst Case of Chickenpox EVER Seen' Turned Away from Doctors."

I had to check around to make sure the kid was okay.

Thankfully, yes.

At the Mirror U.K., "Tot with worst case of chicken pox ever entertains This Morning hosts with his bored antics."

Here's the video, "Severe Chickenpox Put My Child In Hospital - This Morning."

I had chicken pox. The itching just about kills you, but you'll survive.

But both of my sons were vaccinated, so thank goodness they didn't have to go through it.

The Virtual Reality Zombies

Hey, it looks pretty freakin' cool. I can't wait to try VR, heh.

At the New York Post, via Irritated Woman on Twitter:

The VR Zombies... - The VR Zombies... (Second column, 4th story, link) https://t.co/jWN65PlhnJ

— IrritatedWoman™ (@irritatedwoman) May 1, 2016

9-Year-Old Reporter Hilde Lysiak Breaks Crime News, Sparks Backlash on Parenting

I don't see what the problem is. We push kids so hard in school, with high school algebra and what not pushed down to K-6, and now folks are upset by a precocious kid who likes to cover the news?

More power to this kid and her mom, who were on "GMA" yesterday.



And see the Washington Post, "9-year-old reporter breaks crime news, posts videos, fires back at critics."

Priceless Halloween Ads Featuring Disabled Children

At Yahoo, "'Priceless' Target Ad Goes Viral for All the Right Reasons."

Hat Tip: Daily Signal, "Halloween Advertisements Featuring Disabled Children Go Viral."

Courtney Friel Makes Little Boy Cry on First Day of Pre-Kindergarten (VIDEO)

I was terrified when my mom dropped me off for the first day of preschool. I can remember to this day bawling and refusing to get out of the car. Kindergarten wasn't too bad.

At Twitchy, "Awww! Former Fox News anchor Courtney Friel accidentally made a 4-year-old cry on his first day of school [video]."

Also at London's Daily Mail, "Courtney Friel makes kindergartner cry when she asks if he will miss his mom."

Ms. Friel is the 10:00pm anchor on KTLA News 5 Los Angeles, and was a former regular on Fox News in D.C.

Folks may remember her from back in 2009, "Courtney Friel, Political Scientist."

Many Youth Say They Are 'Almost Constantly' Online. Is Internet Addiction a Concern?

Of course it's a concern.

Spend some time around teens and you'll see why. Internet addiction crowds out everything else, and it's not just teens.

At the New York Times, "Is Internet Addiction a Health Threat for Teenagers?"

And see previously, "Screen Addiction Takes Toll on Children."

Screen Addiction Takes Toll on Children

Well, I imagine it could be worse, at least in my household.

My wife and I have raised pretty normal kids, despite the odds. It's definitely a battle fighting screen addiction. My oldest son's 19 now and I can't get him to read books. He says he's just "not interested." Oh well, at least he knows it's important, even if he's not into it. He's talking about wanting to move out with his best friend soon as well. Maybe when that happens some of the more "adult" life lessons we've been trying to impart will kick in, especially those about the importance of education and intellectual pursuits. I'm fighting the culture with him, that's for sure. As I've mentioned here many times my son's a real hipster with popular music and all. He goes to a lot of concerts, even seeing big stars like Taylor Swift multiple times. It's hard to top that with pleas for him to read some history books. I was a young hipster once, so what can you do?

As for my youngest boy, who'll be turning 14 next month? Well, he's an entirely different case. As I've mentioned before, he's got attention deficit issues, so too much screen time can be especially dangerous for his development. He plays outside a lot in the summer, which is good. But he's not reading enough when he's back inside. That said, he's not getting shortchanged for personal interaction, as he's surrounded by family all the time, and we have regular sit-down family dinners and so forth. Plus, he's still kind of a cuddly bear of a kid, and he likes to hang out with his dad a lot. We spend a lot of quality tine together. Indeed, that's one of the main reasons I don't like teaching in the summer.

I think he's going to be alright.

In any case, that's my family's travails. I consider it a continuing project.

But see the New York Times, "Screen Addiction Is Taking a Toll on Children":

Before age 2, children should not be exposed to any electronic media, the pediatrics academy maintains, because “a child’s brain develops rapidly during these first years, and young children learn best by interacting with people, not screens.” Older children and teenagers should spend no more than one or two hours a day with entertainment media, preferably with high-quality content, and spend more free time playing outdoors, reading, doing hobbies and “using their imaginations in free play,” the academy recommends.

Heavy use of electronic media can have significant negative effects on children’s behavior, health and school performance. Those who watch a lot of simulated violence, common in many popular video games, can become immune to it, more inclined to act violently themselves and less likely to behave empathetically, said Dimitri A. Christakis of the Seattle Children’s Research Institute.

In preparing an honors thesis at the University of Rhode Island, Kristina E. Hatch asked children about their favorite video games. A fourth-grader cited “Call of Duty: Black Ops,” because “there’s zombies in it, and you get to kill them with guns and there’s violence … I like blood and violence.”

Teenagers who spend a lot of time playing violent video games or watching violent shows on television have been found to be more aggressive and more likely to fight with their peers and argue with their teachers, according to a study in the Journal of Youth and Adolescence.

Schoolwork can suffer when media time infringes on reading and studying. And the sedentary nature of most electronic involvement — along with televised ads for high-calorie fare — can foster the unhealthy weights already epidemic among the nation’s youth.

RTWT at that top link.

4-Year Old Girl Sneaks Out, Grabs the Bus, for Late-Night Slushie

Unreal.

At MyFox 11 Los Angeles, "4-Year-Old Girl Sneaks Out at 3 A.M. to Get Late-Night Slushie."

Late-night? Actually, it's early morning, but I'll go with it at the headline, lol.

Michigan Couple Sentenced to Life in Prison for Raping Baby: 'To a person, this is the worst, one of the worst [child sex cases] they’ve had to work...'

Progressive values.

At the Other McCain, "Life Sentences for Michigan Couple Who Raped 1-Year-Old Girl on Video":

Human life is cheapened [in] a nation that accepts more than 1 million abortions a year as “a woman’s right to choose.”

If it is not wrong to kill an unborn baby, is anything wrong?

The Left: Destroying and Terrorizing America One Five-Year-Old Child at a Time

Another reason why radical leftism is the scourge of modern existence.

From Darleen Click, at Protein Wisdom, "School officials abuse 5 year old who drew something resembling a gun":

Bullying kids into believing there is no such thing as gender: Good Terrorizing kids about drawing guns or engaging in any fantasy play about weapons: Bad and needing psychiatric “help.”

Tar, feathers and a rail just doesn’t seem to enough to visit upon these child abusers.

Click through for the full report.

Parenting as a Gen Xer: We’re the First Generation of Parents in the Age of iEverything

An interesting, if somewhat pathetic, piece, from Allison Slater Tate, at WaPo:

The truth is, my generation of parents are pioneers here, like it or not. We’re the last of the Mohicans. We can try as hard as we want to push back and to carve space into our children’s lives for treehouses and puzzles and Waldorf-style dolls, but in the end, our children will grow up with the whole world at their fingertips, courtesy of a touch screen, and they will have to learn how to find the balance between their cyber and real worlds. It is scary. I don’t think I even believe there is a “right way” to parent with technology. But acknowledging that what we are doing is unprecedented – that no study yet knows exactly what this iChildhood will look like when our children are full grown people – feels like an exhale of sorts.

RTWT.

Should Children Be Held Back for Kindergarten?

Well, we held back our youngest son, who has ADHD and other neurological issues. And remember, I used to be skeptical of all the reports of ADHD, especially among my own students at college. But until you have a child with severe developmental issues, it's really hard to comprehend what kids --- and their parents --- go through.

So, keeping a kid back depends on the kid. Our oldest son is an outstanding student, basically a regular kid. He went to kindergarten when he was 5. But we kept back our second son and I'm glad we did. It's been helpful.

Either way, check the Wall Street Journal, "Many parents are holding back their 5-year-olds from school for a year, but the benefits are doubtful."

5-Year Old Has Meltdown When She Learns Her Baby Brother's Going to Grow Up

I think this clip caught some viral action earlier in the week.