 |
| |
Schools Should Ban Sodas and Junk Food
The Institute of Medicine issued a report yesterday urging federal government to ban sodas and junk food from schools, substituting them with healthier foods.
This proposal seems to be a no-brainer. We know that kids will perform better mentally (and physically) if they have a healthy diet. But, experts have been recommending similar measures for years now--and change comes very, very slowly. Why? Chew on This!, a new book co-authored by Eric Schlosser, makes a convincing argument that schools have become pushers of fast food and sugary sodas because it make them money--lots of it. Only with pressure from parents will we see this change.
 Stumble It!
Mean Parents
Thanks to Judith Warner, author and blogger for the New York Times, for the mention of the story I recently wrote about food allergies for Child magazine. Warner cites the anger and resentment against food allergy policies, which I reported on, as evidence of a meanness and lack of compassion in the culture today. As a result, she says, we're seeing more punitive measures against children and parents, rather than a determined effort to give people the assistance they need.
Worth checking out.
Stumble It!
Schools Close, Get Police Because of Columbine Fears
A friend just alerted me: The Tenafly, NJ public schools abruptly announced that their schools would be closed tomorrow. The reason: A bomb threat was received today, and tomorrow is the anniversary of the Columbine shootings. (Read the announcement from the school system here.)
Sadly, school bomb threats are nothing new. And in the wake of the Virginia massacre, many schools around the country have received threats. Schools in Massachusetts banned backpacks for the week and set up police patrols, apparently worried about violence on the Columbine anniversary.
But for a school system to close its doors for an entire day because of a vague threat is something new, and depressing. No doubt all the talk about whether Virginia Tech should have or could have taken more actions that would have prevented this tragedy is making schools worry about their liability.
But is this going to be the legacy of the Virginia shootings? And what message does this send to students? Doesn't it encourage disturbed individuals by showing them that vague threats can make a school district cower...to the extent that school is shut down?
Stumble It!
Pregnancy Discrimination on the Rise: The Solution
In the face of a record number of pregnancy discrimination complaints, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EECO) is talking about providing "guidance" for employers on how to treat working mothers.
I thought we already had guidelines--they're called laws. Perhaps the EEOC is seeing a 45% increase in pregnancy discrimination complaints because employers are feeling free to ignore the law. In that case, stepped up enforcement--from the EEOC--is what's needed. Not more talk about balance.
Stumble It!
Why The School Shootings Happen
As the stories start to pour in about the killer in Virginia, it becomes clear that he fits the profile of other school shooters: male, loner, seen as "different," and aggressive to women. (Read this or this. )
That reminded me of a provocative talk I had attended a few months back by Dr. Jessie Klein, Ph.D., a sociology professor at Adelphi University.
Dr. Klein, who is writing a book about the "bullying culture," argues that the increase in school shootings has to do with the culture. Boys are feeling more pressure to look macho and muscle-bound, and those who feel or are mocked for being "different" turn to intense violence to prove their masculintity.
I know that as the pundits question why this happened, the discussion inevitably is going to center on either a debate about gun control or the specifics of his situation (ie: did authorities miss the cues?). But Klein's work suggests that we might need to look at the larger pattern of these shootings, and if we do, we may discover that this injured masculinity is the cause. And that leads to not only these acts of mass murder but also the other kinds of violence against women that is so pervasive in this culture.
Stumble It!
Society of Professional Journalists' mention
I am honored to report that the Society of Professional Journalists cited my story, Allergy Nation, on its News Gems site, which features "the best in American journalism."
For those of you unaware of the site, it is worth a look for links to interesting stories from a range of publications. Thanks to Jon Marshall, a professor of journalism at Northwestern University, who is the creator and writer of the site.
Stumble It!
Meet the Robinsons: Adoption Debate
The adoption community is in an uproar over the new Disney flick, "Meet the Robinsons." This morning, I was forwarded a press release from Vicki Peterson of Wide Horizons for Children, warning parents not to take their kids to this movie.
The advertising for this animated feature makes it sound like a great movie for any young child, but this is misleading. ...The movie is filled with extraordinarily inappropriate messages about adoption. The basic story is about an adorable baby whose birthmother leaves him on the doorstep of an orphanage. Portrayed as loving, sweet, extremely smart and overly appealing, he spends the next 12 years of his life wanting a family and being turned down by one family after another. In all, more than 100 couples refuse to adopt him. One scene shows a prospective dad losing interest in adoption because this very smart little boy is more interested in science than sports. The prospective parents leave the disappointed child in an angry huff when he accidentally splatters them with some food from his science project. This is supposed to be funny.
Since no one else wants him, the child invents a time machine in order to go back in time to find his birth mother. The "bad guy" in his time travel journey turns out to be his best buddy from childhood, once his orphanage roommate. Now an emotional wreck resulting from being left behind when the orphanage was closed and shut down, the once-cute orphan is now mean and devious. Another chuckle. Various monsters attack the child as continues his birth mother search. You get the picture!"
The funny thing is, I had just taken my kids (one who had been adopted, the other had not) to see the movie and came to a different conclusion entirely. What the letter writer leaves out from her description is how the story unfolds and what the larger message of the movie is.
The boy spends a while searching for his birth mom until he realizes that he needs to "move forward" and when he does, he finds parents who accept him for who he is. I had a wonderful conversation with my kids about how we all have sad, unfortunate experiences in our lives, and we can either choose to dwell on them (and make ourselves miserable), or we can move on and forward.
To my mind, the sugary sweet stories with the Barney-like morals (we're all friends, we're all winners, etc) do more disservice because kids are having thoughts like, "Wow, I don't think everyone's my friend, I must be a bad person." Stories that tap into the dark fantasies lurking around the unconsciousness, whether they're the Grimm's fairy tales or Meet the Robinsons, give kids an opportunity to work out these fears safely.
Interestingly, the director of this film is an adult adoptee. In an interview, he explained why this story "spoke" to him. "As a child my parents were very open about the adoption. They told me very early on that I was adopted and said if I wanted to contact my parents that they would support me in that and they would be there with me to do that.... There was no doubt in my mind that when I hit 18 I was going to do that. Then one day I woke up and said…hey, I'm 24, I could have done that all these years ago. So why hadn't I? The realization was that that really didn't matter. The reason why I had lost track of that idea was that I was more concerned with my life right then and where I wanted to go with my career and I had a great loving family that I was adopted into. The past would not have changed any of that. And that's how the film's theme evolved, the ‘keep moving forward' idea. It came from thinking about my feelings and my experiences over the years. So that's how that came about."
Stumble It!
Hershey PA--Trip for Kids?
The new issue of Child has a short travel article I wrote about Hershey, PA. A reader named Janet wrote to me, asking: My husband and I would like to take our 2 1/2 year old son to the park this Spring. Do you feel that he is too young to appreciate this event?
This is an interesting question. I've seen many parents take their 2-year-olds and younger to Disney, and I have to admit I wondered: Why? Why spend all that money when the kid would be just as happy sitting on a swing somewhere and probably won't remember being there? Why not wait until the child is older?
But if money isn't an issue, then I would say Hersheypark probably would be a nice place to visit. There are quite a few rides that cater to toddlers, and the park is small enough to tackle in a day. If your child is a chocolate lover (as one of mine is), he will get a kick out of seeing all the Hershey characters and getting some free samples.
The other attractions in town are geared for school aged kids and up, so I'd suggest combining it with a visit to the Amish country. We stayed in a lovely farmhouse B&B (mentioned in the story), but the area is filled with many of them. Kids have an opportunity to do simple farmhouse chores and generally love it.
Enjoy!
Stumble It!
Why are some women so desperate to conceive?
In a recent New York Times story, Peggy Orenstein, a writer who admits she took all kinds of fertility drugs, FDA approved and unapproved, suggests that there is something ingrained in the female psyche that leads them to such extremes.
But, increasingly there are women, like myself, who are opting not to make ourselves guinea pigs and instead are turning to adoption.
Okay, some of us, myself included, already had bio kids, but you need look no further than the cover of People and see that adoption is becoming a mainstream choice. Orenstein writes as if the choices are simply childlessness or injecting yourself with every drug the medical establishment offers. The fact is, many women out there no longer believe that.
Stumble It!
|
|
| |
 |
|
| |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
