Free Republic

One of the biggest and most divisive debates among parents of young children and preteens deals with the age at which children should be allowed to have their own smartphone. The advent of kid-friendly apps and the ability to watch streaming videos in the palm of your hand have made the decision even more difficult for parents. A recent survey conducted by mobile service provider Zact found that 56 percent of children ages 10 to 13 have a smartphone, while a shockingly high 25 percent of children ages 2 to 5 have a smartphone. But should children so young have...

With their biological clocks ticking, time poor and cash rich 40-something singletons are turning to the internet to find their man. But these broody women are not looking for a relationship - instead they are looking for someone to father their child. More and more people across the U.S and UK are opting for the so-called 'co-parenting’ relationships – biological parents who have an otherwise platonic relationship, but who both contribute to raising the child. Emma Elms reports on the rise of the unconventional trend. WANTED Male co-parent to father at least one child with an attractive, financially independent 42-year-old...

Think the anti-sleepover movement is the result of overprotective parenting? Read on to learn the seven top reasons that some moms and dads are just saying "no" to sleepovers. Click for slideshow

You can drive through residential neighborhoods and never see a single child out playing. We should worry about what this means for the future. There are still kids in those neighborhoods to be sure; you can see them at the schools getting dropped off by their moms. Few kids seem to walk to school anymore. My old elementary school got rid of the bike racks and turned the enclosure into a garden. Maybe it’s the phenomena of helicopter parenting. It’s not the cool helicoptering of Wagner and “Ride of the Valkyries” but the lame kind of Barney and songs about...

My dad used to say, "Life is a great trainer. You make your choices, and you live the consequences." Did you hear any of these statements in your home? "No pain no gain." "Don't buy what you can't afford." "Waste not; want not." "You hang out with trouble, you get trouble." Mom would add, "You're not leaving the house dressed like that!" We had parents who weren't afraid of "destroying" our self-esteem by lecturing us, disciplining us, and letting us experience what comes from handling our own disappointments and obstacles. When a teacher called, my parents didn't blame the teacher;...

Assembly member Tom Ammiano has introduced a bill that would require public schools to allow children to change their gender identities, and then have access to the bathrooms, locker rooms and sports teams of that gender. I have nothing but sympathy for people who feel they are trapped in the wrong body. I cannot think of anything that would be harder for a person to do than tell the world that he is a she or she is a he. Still, I do not like Ammiano’s bill because it overrides parental authority and basically encourages kids to change their gender...

California's marijuana advocates need to inhale a breath of fresh air and take a long look at their judgment -- or lack thereof. On Monday, I attended the "International Summit on Cannabis" news conference at the Sir Francis Drake Hotel in San Francisco to hear why Vicente Fox, former president of Mexico, supports legalizing marijuana as a means of curbing drug cartel corruption and violence. Also onstage were Oakland medical marijuana biggie Steve DeAngelo, a Washington state lawmaker, a budding marijuana venture capitalist, an attorney -- and Oaksterdam University Executive Chancellor Dale Sky Jones and her 2 1/2-year-old son. What,...

RICHMOND, Va. (WTVR) — As Father’s Day approaches, children are reminded to appreciate their dads and the impact on their lives. Today dads around the city were honored a week in advance of Father’s Day. Celebrate Fatherhood 2013 was held this afternoon at the Collegiate School Aquatics Center. While these dads and their children enjoyed the moon bounce and competed in contests, an alarming amount of children in the area won’t have fathers around to celebrate the holiday. First Things First, an organization dedicated to keeping dads involved in kids’ lives, reports that 60 percent of all families in the...

(article photo) Stephanie Pappas, writing for LiveScience.com, recently penned an article titled, “Why Gay Parents May Be the Best Parents” (2012). In that article she attempted to make the case that same-sex couples provide an environment that is better for raising children than the environment provided by heterosexual couples. To bolster her case, she cited various studies, quoted numerous “experts,” and fleshed out the details with copious statistics. Her thinly veiled attempt to appear unbiased about the issue is extremely transparent, and her clear agenda to advance tolerance for homosexuality, in spite of its real impact on society, was...

A new group is emerging that may finally change the way Family Courts treat mothers and fathers. Currently, the default in most states is to award the lion's share of the time with the children to mothers, and require the father to pay child support. This is unfair to fathers, and has resulted in massive abuses within the system, leading to fathers committing suicide and being imprisoned. A new organization I am a part of, Leading Women for Shared Parenting, seeks to remedy this inequality by having women and mothers speak up in favor of shared parenting. When legislators realize...

PANAMA CITY, Fla. —Police arrested an Oxford couple accused of drinking in a Florida bar while their children waited outside in a car. Employees of Coyote Ugly Saloon said they found two small children inside an unattended vehicle early Friday morning in the bar's parking lot. Police said they found an 11-month-old boy and 3-year-old boy inside the vehicle. Officers said 35-year-old Michael Webb and 29-year-old Staci Hall were inside the bar drinking alcohol. Police said they had been inside the bar for more than an hour while the children waited outside. Bar employees told police that the couple had...

The news has sucked this week. From the bombings at the Boston Marathon on Monday, to poison ricin discovered in the President's mail, and the explosion of a fertilizer plant in West, Texas, has any stretch of five days better epitomized life in post 9/11 America? Fear, violence, explosions, and chemicals. As I write this, my Twitter feed buzzes in the background; the city of Boston remains on lockdown as police engage the surviving suspect of the bombing. Yet as Dennis Lehane wrote in an Op-Ed in The New York Times on Tuesday, we'll recover from acts of terror like...

The other day, the father of a classmate of my son’s called to ask if he could join a group of fourth-grade boys practicing a comedy sketch for their school’s talent show. Like any parent coordinating a child’s schedule, I asked the basics: What time? Where do you live? When should I pick him up? Then I stammered out a final question, apologizing in advance for its personal nature: Do you keep guns in your home? Long pause. “No,” he replied, “but it’s a valid question.” The events of the past few days only reinforce the need to ask these...

In case you missed it, MSNBC doesn't think the children you feed, clothe, discipline, educate, and raise belong to you.This is a play off of "all your base are belong to us." It's a meme that has been around for a long time, but I suspect many may not know it.

This undated photo provided by Shawn Moore shows his son Josh, 10, holding a rifle his father gave him for his 11th birthday, at their home in Carneys Point, N.J. (Shawn Moore) TRENTON, N.J. – New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is asking the attorney general to probe the state's visit to the home of a man who uploaded a photo on Facebook of his 10-year-old son holding a military-style rifle.

A new study that finds children of a gay or lesbian parent may be more likely to have social and emotional problems has sparked controversy on both sides of the same-sex marriage debate. The study, from Mark Regnerus, an associate professor of sociology at The University of Texas at Austin, surveyed more than 15,000 Americans between the ages of 18 and 39, asking them questions about their upbringings. Its findings are published in the July issue of Social Science Research. One survey question asked whether a parent had been in a same-sex relationship during a child's upbringing; Regnerus wanted to...

<p>New Jersey police and Dept. of Children and Families officials raided the home of a firearms instructor and demanded to see his guns after he posted a Facebook photo of his 11-year-old son holding a rifle.</p> <p>“Someone called family services about the photo,” said Evan Nappen, an attorney representing Shawn Moore. “It led to an incredible, heavy-handed raid on his house. They wanted to see his gun safe, his guns and search his house. They even threatened to take his kids.” Moore was not arrested or charged.</p>

What happens when a local police department and a state child protective services agency overreact and abuse their authority? In one such case, Walmart ended-up being sued. The story began in 2008. Lisa and Anthony Demaree of Peoria, Arizona (a suburb of Phoenix) visited a vacation destination that’s popular among Arizonans – San Diego – and took their three young daughters with them. When they returned home, they brought photos of their then 5, 4, and 1 ½ year old girls to a nearby Walmart store to obtain prints. It all seemed pretty innocent productive. But some of the...

Readers — The story below makes me so sad and so angry, and you will see why. If anyone at Child Protective Services or the police department would pick up a single book written before predator panic swept the country, they’d see that 6-year-olds were always part of the neighborhood scene, scampering, playing, or even — in many eras and areas — working! The idea that a 6-year-old can’t be outside without constant supervision is new and warped. It also seriously underestimates kids. Is there a law requiring parents to stunt their children’s curiosity, competence, maturity and independence? I fear...

According to CBS, St. Louis, Pastor Rodney Francis, of the Washington Tabernacle Baptist Church, wants to keep kiddos away from guns, so this summer his church is planning a “toy gun buy back” program. How quaint. I kid you not: A. Toy. Gun. Buy. Back. Sounds like he’s setting up the next generation to be victimized slaves to bad people and policies. Yep, Reverend Rodney “feels” he needs to do “everything (he) can to not allow our kids to get exposed to (guns) too early.” Aww ... ain’t that sweet? Hey, maybe he could also hand out during that...