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"It's had serious repercussions," Swihart said. "These young adults who were raised in the '80s, now in their 20s and in the workplace -- those who received praise, rewards and prizes for everything they did without working very hard -- often are very entitled and self-absorbed

Tom Cruise takes education seriously -- he's reportedly splashed out a whopping $1 million on classes for his two-year-old daughter Suri. According to the Enquirer, Cruise and his wife Katie Homes are keen for the cute tot to have a rounded upbringing, so have decided to spend a fortune on private tuition. A source reveals, "It doesn't matter what Suri is doing, Tom wants her to be able to do it better than any other child. All parents think their kids are special, but Tom and Katie firmly believe Suri is gifted. "She is learning French and Spanish and has...

Recent earthquake activity in Alaska provided “CBS Early Show” co-hosts with a ready-made metaphor for a segment on the personal lives of some of the those surrounding Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. But their quake turned out to be barely a ripple. Hosts Harry Smith and Maggie Rodriguez couldn’t contain their smirks as they introduced the piece. “There's been an earthquake rumbling outside Anchorage, but there is some other rumblings, as well, near Wasilla,” Smith snickered. “Oh, indeed,” Rodriguez chimed in with her eyebrows raised. “Sarah Palin says that she is focused on one thing, governing Alaska. But it has been...

She knew? You betcha, says the baby daddy of Sarah Palin's grandson. The Alaska governor most likely was aware before her daughter, Bristol, became pregnant that the teenager and her hockey hunk boyfriend were having sex, Levi Johnston said in a bombshell new interview. "I'm pretty sure she probably knew. Moms are pretty smart," said Johnston, 18, the father of the governor's first grandchild, in an interview that will air Monday on "The Tyra Banks Show." Johnston said he and Bristol Palin practiced safe sex "most of the time."

Prescription for raising children by Russell Grigg and David Catchpoole 2 April 2009 A study by the Mapping America project has found that children have fewer behaviour problems when they live with both biological parents and attend religious services frequently.[1,2] “Children who worship at least weekly are least likely to have their parents contacted by school teachers or administrators about school-related problems,” the report said.[2] Those who live with both parents and frequently attend religious services are five times less likely to repeat a grade, and more likely to be cooperative and understanding of others’ feelings. The data were collected...

From CatholicInsight.com Features The Frankfurt School: Conspiracy to corrupt By Timothy Matthews Hardcopy Issue Date: March 2009 Online Publication Date: Mar 17, 2009, 22:36 Western civilization at the present day is passing through a crisis which is essentially different from anything that has been previously experienced. Other societies in the past have changed their social institutions or their religious beliefs under the influence of external forces or the slow development of internal growth. But none, like our own, has ever consciously faced the prospect of a fundamental alteration of the beliefs and institutions on which the whole fabric of social...

(CNSNews.com) – A federal court in New York on Monday expanded teenagers’ access to Plan B – also known as the morning-after pill or emergency contraception. The court gave the Food and Drug Administration 30 days to make Plan B available over the counter to 17 year olds. Right now, the pill is available over the county only to those 18 years and up. Pro-life groups are dismayed that 17-year-old girls will now have unrestricted access to a drug that can produce abortion by preventing a fertilized egg from implanting in the uterus. But abortion rights groups celebrated the ruling,...

Many parents feel "excluded" by their children's reluctance to tell them anything about their time spent at school, suggests a survey. The survey from the government's educational technology agency, Becta, suggests children do not like to be "hassled" by parental inquiries. It found that 82% of parents wished they had more information about their children's school life. Only 16% of children volunteered information about their day at school. The involvement of parents has been highlighted as an important element of children's achievement at school. [snip]

One week from today, the star of "Luau Orgy," "Gazongas" and the ahead-of-its-time "Wanda Whips Wall Street" will walk onto the campus of Truman State University in Kirksville to debate a pastor on the subject most dear to his heart: porn. It will fall to the Rev. Craig Gross to rebut actor Ron Jeremy's arguments that pornography is a harmless activity that most people pursue in the privacy of their own homes. "If Ron was right, I wouldn't have a job," said Gross, founder of XXXChurch.com — a Christian website dedicated to battling pornography. "Porn rips apart homes and families."...

Why have we not yet heard from the Myerson family cat? Every other occupant of Julie Myerson's house seems to have given their own personal take on the furore caused by the author's new book on her son's cannabis addiction. Asked by one radio interviewer if she was cashing in on 20-year-old Jake's misery by rushing out The Lost Child, Julie pointed out that all this amazing free publicity would not come again. 'My publisher decided that it's not fair on that poor book,' she said. That poor book? Now which do you feel more sorry for, I wonder. Julie's...

She is bright-eyed, pig-tailed and resplendent in Girl Scout green and a multitude of merit badges. Wild Freeborn -- adorable and age 8 -- has caused considerable hubbub with entrepreneurial spirit and a little homemade video. "Help me help others. Buy cookies. They're yummy," little Wild says in her one-minute sales pitch for Thin Mints, Samoas and other traditional mainstays of Girl Scout cookie cuisine. The modest message included an online order form, was videotaped by her father, Bryan Freeborn, in the family living room in Brevard, N.C., and posted at YouTube.com But not for long. • Click here for...

The online version of a popular board game from many Americans' childhood includes an option for players to choose homosexual marriage and child-rearing as a way of life. Through the Shockwave.com website, even children can download and play a free trial version of The Game of Life, the first game ever created by Mr. Milton Bradley in 1860. The player's first option in the online version is to choose a persona based on pictures that clearly depict men and women. Shortly thereafter, the game invites players to choose a spouse, regardless of the potential spouse's sex. One concerned mother wrote...

PHOENIX — The Arizona Court of Appeals Thursday upheld the constitutionality of Arizona’s corporate tax credit tuition program being attacked by the American Civil Liberties Union. Alliance Defense Fund attorneys filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the case in defense of the program on behalf of the non-profit student tuition organization School Choice America. “Parents should be able to choose the right school for their children. When it comes to our children’s education, the ACLU suddenly drops its talk of ‘freedom’ and ‘choice,’” said ADF Senior Counsel Gary McCaleb. “This program gives Arizonans a broad range of educational choices. To block...

A North Carolina judge has ordered three children to attend public schools this fall because the homeschooling their mother has provided over the last four years needs to be "challenged." The children, however, have tested above their grade levels – by as much as two years. The decision is raising eyebrows among homeschooling families, and one friend of the mother has launched a website to publicize the issue. The ruling was made by Judge Ned Mangum of Wake County, who was handling a divorce proceeding for Thomas and Venessa Mills.

A North Carolina judge has ordered three children to attend public schools this fall because the homeschooling their mother has provided over the last four years needs to be "challenged." The children, however, have tested above their grade levels – by as much as two years. The decision is raising eyebrows among homeschooling families, and one friend of the mother has launched a website to publicize the issue. The ruling was made by Judge Ned Mangum of Wake County, who was handling a divorce proceeding for Thomas and Venessa Mills. A statement released by a publicist working for the mother,...

Daily Blog When Does Life Begin? BY Tim Drake Wednesday, March 11, 2009 4:52 PM “How do you know when a baby’s life begins?� That’s the worthy question that starts off this scene from the film “Come What May,” which is available on DVD beginning next week. Produced by the Advent Film Group, a core team of 40 home-educated students from 16 different states worked on the movie, which examines the issue of life. It’s a film our President should watch. “Life doesn’t begin incrementally,” says the young man’s father in the movie clip. “It’s radical. It’s an event,...

When Saints Formed Children Written by Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira    Thursday, March 05 2009 "GOD MADE ME TO KNOW, love, and serve Him in this world in order lo be happy with Him in the next." Thus does the child correctly answer the catechism question of why God made him. In consonance with this basic notion, Catholic education has traditionally meant fashioning the child's whole personality for the practice of virtue. It thus produced children with consciences, in marked contrast to the troubled and problem children so prevalent today. Modern schools have, for the most part, lost sight...

When hard times reached the Schneider household in central Oregon, the longtime stay-at-home mom took action — getting a job at a Subway sandwich shop to offset a drop in her husband's earnings. What she didn't do was also notable: She didn't stop homeschooling her three teenage children.

It’s the subtle stuff that often knocks me for a parental loop. Like when my good, conscientious, Christian family doctor offered birth control pills to my twelve-year-old daughter. I’m not making this up.

“Collecting blood money from kids” LOS ANGELES -- In response to a Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that struck down a California law designed to prevent the sale of adult video games to minors, the Parents Television Council has called on its members to voice their support for California state Sen. Leland Yee’s call for the decision to be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

In her new book, I'm Not Your Friend, I'm Your Parent: Helping Your Children Set the Boundaries They Need...and Really Want, former Fox News anchorwoman E.D. Hill says while there are difficulties and pressures associated with parenting, children must have boundaries and guidelines so they will not be at a disadvantage.

Most people probably don't picture kids when they think about who's viewing pornography. But according to statistics cited by the non-profit advocacy organization Enough Is Enough, the largest group of viewers of Internet pornography is children between the ages of 12 and 17. And there's more. The average age of first exposure to Internet pornography is 11.

"NetSmartz actually provides safety materials, both real world and Internet safety materials, for kindergarten through twelfth grade -- youth of that age range -- and then also for parents, educators, law enforcement, all target audiences," she explains.

Friday February 20, 2009 Council of Europe Propagates Anti-Family Yogyakarta Principles By Piero Tozzi & Katharina Rothweiler NEW YORK, NY, February 20, 2009 (C-FAM) - A special committee of the Council of Europe (CoE) is meeting this week in Strasbourg, France, to promote the implementation of the Yogyakarta Principles on sexual orientation and gender identity among the CoE's 47 member states.  One controversial item on the agenda for the Committee of Experts on Discrimination on Grounds of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity calls for a "hate speech" ban, focusing "special attention" on "politicians, opinion leaders, religious dignitaries and the...

Monday January 5, 2009 Doctors Urge Puberty Blockers for Children Considering Sex Change By Kathleen GilbertCHEVY CHASE, Maryland, January 5, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - An international medical organization has recommended that children as young as 12 who question their sexual identity should be given drugs to block the physical changes of puberty.The New Scientist reports that the injunction comes as part of a set of guidelines, the first of its kind, published last month by the Endocrine Society.  The “Guidelines For Health Organisations Commissioning Treatment Services For Trans People” call for healthcare administrators around the globe to provide full coverage...

Most faithful Catholic colleges are also the most affordable, reports study Manassas, Va., Feb 18, 2009 / 06:15 am (CNA).- In an effort to assist parents and students who are weighing various college options, the Center for the Study of Catholic Higher Education has commissioned a study to find the “best buys” at Catholic colleges and universities. The study found that the most faithful colleges are also some of the most affordable for students. The Center for the Study of Catholic Higher Education, the research division of the Cardinal Newman Society recently conducted the study which compares the faithful Catholic...

LONDON (Reuters) – A British bishop was arrested on suspicion of child cruelty after he helped his two young sons to perch on top of the chimney of their house to read a book as part of a school project. Bishop Jonathan Blake, of the Open Episcopal Church, took pictures of his sons Nathan, eight, and Dominic, seven, while they sat on top of their two-storey home. The children were calmly holding a book called "The Killer Underpants" for a school competition to find the most unusual place where a pupil had read a book.

Each year, the number of young Internet users continues to grow, as social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace become more popular and information for school and research are more accessible. But if parents aren't careful, the Internet can also be a threat to children.

published by:Public Discourse: Ethics, Law and the Common Goodhttp://www.thepublicdiscourse.com view article in original form David Ogden and the New Pornographers: Why the Senate Should Reject His Nominationby Matthew Schmitz February 12, 2009 David Ogden has impressive legal credentials, but his long career as a pornography-industry attorney casts doubt on his ability to enforce laws meant to protect children. David Ogden graduated from Harvard Law School, clerked for Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun, and worked in the Justice Department under President Bill Clinton. He brings to his Senate confirmation hearings a long résumé that shows him to be an effective and...

Seattle, WA (LifeNews.com) -- Massive online retailer Amazon.com has dropped its listing for a controversial Japanese video game called Rapelay that involves raping women and forcing them to have abortions. The so-called "rape simulator" game was sold on the web site and included a graphic description of the gameplay. Although a listing for the product is available through online searches, the link to it on Amazon's web page no longer functions. Gaming web sites that have reviewed the simulation describe the "tears glistening in the young girl's eyes" as the player attacks her in graphic detail.

I have a friend with a 2 week old newborn who's starting to loose it. Hubby is in Iraq and the baby is waking up every two hours all night long. I know there are strategies to help babies, even as little as this one, to start sleeping for 4 or 6 hours at night, but I don't know what they are. (I failed miserably at this with my own kids and my daughter woke up every two hours until she was 15 months old.) I remember FReepers giving good advice on this issue a few years ago and hope...

Nevada City, CA -- The parents of a 12-year-old girl have filed a lawsuit against a California school district after local school officials forced their daughter to submit to a pregnancy test. Attorneys with the Pacific Justice Institute are representing the student and her parents, who had no knowledge of the test.

Friday February 6, 2009 Child Porn Pandemic as Police Estimate 600,000 Americans, 65,000 Canadians Trading Child Porn Online By Kathleen GilbertTORONTO, Ontario, February 6, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Ontario police yesterday celebrated the results of a province-wide child pornography bust, the largest in Ontario's history - yet officers acknowledge they have only scratched the surface of the massive underworld of child sexual abuse in North America.  Police officers said at a press conference Thursday that the sweep led to the arrest of 31 child sex offenders between the age of 14 and 60, as well as the rescue of two...

www.catholicnewsagency.com Parents say love of their children led to objecting to state-imposed school course Fermín Civiac and Maite Escudero Madrid, Feb 6, 2009 / 04:38 pm (CNA).- The organization Professionals for Ethics is making public the testimony of some parents who are objecting to the state-sponsored course Education for the Citizenry, saying love for their children and concern that they receive a proper moral formation are some the main reasons they are rejecting the controversial course promoted by the  Socialist government.Marta Carmona Soriano, who objects to her children taking the course, says the opposition by parents is just the beginning.  This...

Recently, I wrote an article regarding three misconceptions about homosexuality. The response to this article, published on Christian Post, was voluminous and intense. On the plus side, some readers were relieved to see these misconceptions addressed, but on the down side, others attacked my orthodoxy and competence. Given this response and the admittedly brief treatment of each of the misconceptions, I plan additional articles which will elucidate each point. Although this deeper examination may raise additional questions, I hope to address some issues provoked by the initial article on misconceptions in ministry. The first misconception I identified was "all gay...

CBN.com – True Love Waits. You’ve heard it before, and maybe you even signed a pledge card promising that you would “wait” until you were married to have sex. Sounds simple enough, right? But in today’s culture it’s not always as easy as it sounds. Christian recording artist Rebecca St. James understands your struggle. As a single woman herself, she is familiar with both the Christian dating scene and the longing to keep oneself pure until marriage. She hopes her new book, Pure, will encourage Christians who are striving to live a life of purity. In the book, written in...

readingeagle.com Reading teachers balk at condom lesson for middle-schoolers By David Mekeel Reading Eagle 1/30/2009 Reading, PA -  Safe-sex advocates preach that there are ways to make sex with condoms fun, but some Reading middle school teachers are uneasy about discussing the topic in class. Teachers union President Daniel Grim is questioning whether a planned teen-pregnancy program in the health curriculum is appropriate for students in sixth, seventh and eighth grades. Grim told the school board that some teachers feel the material is too graphic and they are uncomfortable teaching it. "I recommend you take a look at this," Grim said at...

Wednesday January 28, 2009 "Stimulus" Bill Still Includes $335 Million Handout for Condoms, Sex-Ed Programs By Kathleen Gilbert WASHINGTON, D.C., January 28, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Just one day after millions of dollars in contraception and abortion handouts in Obama's nearly $1 trillion economic stimulus package were made public and immediately discarded, news has come to light of another $335 million set aside for condoms and sexually explicit "STD prevention" programs. The Drudge Report headlined the discovery of another chunk of stimulus money headed primarily for promoting sexually-transmitted disease (STD) prevention programs, via the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention...

Maryland Residents - Please contact your state representatives and urge them to support the Shared Parenting Bill now being debated in the Judiciary Committee. Maryland is only one of 13 remaining states NOT to support the right of father's to have shared custody of children in divorce. Many fathers such as myself have had their children stolen from them by the courts as a result of a contentious divorce. I was personally denied all access to my 4-month old son by a judge in Montgomery County for nearly 16 months and am still only permitted to see him one hour...

Ok, I was debating on whether or not to post this because it is that saddening and sick...but it is also an accurate reflection of what will happen to our society unless things drastically change and we go back to the ideals, values, and morals we once had. Apparently, a couple in Chicago, who are fans of a clown-themed rap group called Insane Clown Posse, had an infant who died and thought it appropriate to dress their dead child up as a 'Juggalo' (The Insane Clown Posse equivalent to that of a Kiss Army fan) and have an Insane Clown...

http://www.zenit.org/article-24829?l=english ZE09011805 - 2009-01-18Permalink: http://www.zenit.org/article-24829?l=englishCleaning Up The Internet Concern Over Harmful Effects of Pornography By Father John Flynn, LC ROME, JAN. 18, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Governments in a number of countries are raising concerns over the way in which the Internet is allowing unlimited access to all sorts of pornography. China recently warned a number of online portals and search engines that are making it easy for Internet users to come into contact with porn, CNN reported Jan. 6. CNN revealed that the move comes as several Chinese government agencies, including the Ministry of Public Security, launched a month-long campaign to...

By Emily StimpsonFame and misfortune Why teens thirst for celebrity in today's culture Blame it on reality TV.Blame it on the entrenched loneliness of postmodern America.Blame it on an educational curriculum that was designed to promote self-esteem but ended up overshooting the mark.Pick your cultural poison. The result remains the same: American teenagers are fixated on fame. More than a third of them would prefer it to beauty, intelligence or strength.Even more problematic? Those teens aren't just dreaming about being famous: They're planning on it. Thirty-one percent of American teenagers expect they'll be famous one day.Pipe dream or not,...

By Maryann Gogniat EidemillerGender Specific The place of all-boys and all-girls schools in the Catholic educational system Dr. Leonard Sax didn't have a very supportive response when a patient in his private practice in Maryland told him that her son's academic performance improved when she placed him in an all-boys Catholic school."I told her that with all due respect, I regarded single-sex education as an antiquated relic," he told Our Sunday Visitor. "She told me, 'With all due respect, you have no idea what you are talking about."Curious, he visited a similar school and was surprised to see that...

Tuesday January 13, 2009 Scottish Government Considers Investigation into Playboy Marketing Products to Children By Kathleen GilbertSCOTLAND, U.K., January 13, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Scottish Parliament members have called for an investigation into sexually-themed merchandise marketed to young children.The Equal Opportunities Committee said more research should be undertaken in response to complaints about the sexually themed children's T-shirts, animal-print high-heel slippers for babies, and pink pencil-cases emblazoned with the Playboy logo."We do need more research. I think there is some evidence to show that the goods we're talking about do sexualise children," said Nationalist MSP Sandra White.  Other members were less...

HOME-SCHOOLING: U.N. treaty might weaken families Michael Smith, president of the Home School Legal Defense Association (Courtesy of hslda.org) One of the issues American families could face this year is the ramifications from a treaty called the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). You may ask, "How could a treaty directly affect internal decision-making by American families?" We generally think of treaties as agreements affecting international relations between countries. The U.N., however, has initiated treaties that not only affect international relations, but also the domestic relations of member nations as well. These treaties, sometimes called "conventions,"...

Start "building" your ideal teenager long before the teen years start. We had our first snowfall here in Denver last night. I'm sure my niece and nephew are very excited. Not because they get to go sledding or make snow forts (there really isn't enough snow for that.) No, they're excited about snow because it means they're getting older. Their birthdays are both in December, so they know that snowfall means their birthdays are close. And they love that. Me, not so much. While they're anxiously counting the years until they can do "grown up stuff," I am desperately wishing...

For most, they are innocent tales that define childhood. But some parents are ditching fairytales, believing they are politically incorrect or 'too dark' to read to children, a survey has found. One in four mothers has abandoned the likes of Cinderella and Rapunzel in favour of The Gruffalo or The Very Hungry Caterpillar, written in 1969 by Eric Carle. One in ten parents even said Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs should be re-titled - because 'the dwarf reference is not PC'. Rapunzel is considered 'too dark' and Cinderella outdated, because she is forced to do the housework. The poll...

- Catholicism.org - http://catholicism.org - Ten Ways to Make a Delinquent (Guaranteed to Work!) Posted By Sister Maria Philomena, M.I.C.M. On January 7, 2009 @ 11:24 am In Columns, Marriage and Family | No Comments The police department of Houston, Texas, gave the following ten rules for raising delinquent children. 1. Begin with infancy to give the child everything he wants. In this way he will grow up to believe the world owes him a living.2. When he picks up bad words, laugh at him. This will make him think he is cute. It will also encourage him to pick...

A homeschooling movement is sweeping the nation – with 1.5 million children now learning at home, an increase of 75 percent since 1999. The Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics reported homeschooling has risen by 36 percent in just the last five years. "There's no reason to believe it would not keep going up," NCES statistician Gail Mulligan told USA Today. A 2007 survey asked parents why they choose to homeschool and allowed them to provide several reasons. The following are the most popular responses:

Link only to USA Today article