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We talk a lot about the discrimination women face in science and engineering, but a new study says there may be a bigger reason why women don't rise higher in these fields: motherhood. Right now, science and engineering departments don't know how to deal with profs, postdocs, and grad students who might also want to be moms. But there are some simple changes they could make that would help a lot. More »
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There are plenty of schools that have banned kids from wearing certain kinds of clothing—everything from short skirts to baseball hats and even pajama pants—but one Virginia school district is considering taking things to the next level. The Suffolk school board has proposed banning children from "cross-gender dressing," and, as with many misguided efforts, they're saying it's meant to protect the affected children, not punish them. More »
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Presumably tired of staid bake sales and well-behaved silent auctions, some frisky parents at a British school decided to raise funds for their kids' education by hosting a ladies' night complete with male strippers. Unsurprisingly, some parents didn't approve. More »
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In news that will most likely desiccate the last little puddle of faith you have in human rationality, some enthusiastically religious parents in Queens are asking a judge to nullify a law that would keep their children out of school if classmates are carrying communicable diseases such as measles, mumps, and chicken pox (which, to my daily mounting terror, I've never contracted). Lawsuits filed last week in Queens Supreme Court by parents Fabian Mendoza-Vaca and Nicole Phillips have been transferred to Brooklyn Federal Court and could be resolved as early as next week in an emergency hearing where some secular-minded necromancer will hopefully raise Clarence Darrow from his grave so he can give everyone involved a proper finger-wagging. More »
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A new study shows that for low-income couples, moving into separate homes doesn't necessarily mean a breakup. And staying together — even if they don't live together — can be good for the kids. More »
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Dear Mom and Dad, More »
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Child abuse is a dark and depressing reality in American life, but until now, it's never been clear just how widespread a problem it was. A new study, led by Dr. John Leventhal of Yale University, offers the first comprehensive estimate of serious injuries caused by child abuse in the U.S., and the results are pretty horrifying. More »
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Today in studies that would've made my eighth-grade self feel vindicated, we learn that kids who feel ostracized when playing games are less likely to exercise. And unsurprisingly, there are way better ways to get kids moving than shaming them. More »
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Match.com's latest survey on single people and their attitudes busts some myths about commitment-phobic, baby-hating men. It has also brought out the trolls. More »
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Ahh, peeing in bed. Many of us have unpleasant memories of doing it as children, and no doubt many of you have been woken to change the sheets after one of your children let loose his or her bladder while deep asleep. There are plenty of reasons why kids wet the bed, but now scientists have discovered that there's something which could be causing a lot of this night-leaking that never occurred to anyone before: constipation. As odd as it sounds, the study, which was published in the journal Urology, found it played a big role: More »
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A few days ago, a Kenyan man named Omari was released from the hospital after recovering from injuries sustained while defending an orphanage from a band of roving thugs— by himself. They slashed him in the face with a machete, leaving him with a large wound that required stitches. After the incident, a founder of the Longonot Education Initiative appealed to community members of Reddit, asking for $2,000 so the orphanage could build a wall to protect them. A modest request for a worthy cause. So, how much did they raise for Omari and the orphanage? More »
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Here's a little something for you from the department of counterintuitive findings: It turns out that selling junk food in schools doesn't actually have anything to do with making kids being obese. Are you fucking kidding me? After the countless hand motions we've all wasted scrolling through articles urging us to purge every last french fry and 4,246-ounce bottle of Mountain Dew from our schools, now just nevermind? Apparently so. More »
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In Monday's Republican Presidential debate, Newt Gingrich doubled down on his fabulous idea that the best way to wean families off of government assistance is to let poor kids work as janitors. At a recent town hall meeting, a Republican Senator suggested that letting kids handle pesticides and operate farm equipment just might be the key to solving the country's obesity epidemic. What's with this mini-trend of Republican politicians publicly pushing for kids to get jobs? More »
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Another Chinese-American mom — this one also a psych researcher — has come forward to challenge Amy Chua's famous/infamous suggestion that "tiger" parenting is the best way to raise successful kids. Shockingly, she says moderation is actually best. More »
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Have you ever wanted a kid to be quiet and stop drawing on the drywall with their own poop? Well, according to one psychologist, you need to knock that off this instant, because your prejudice against children— or "childism"— is ruining everything. More »
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Viktor and Aneta Urich have just welcomed their 100th grandchild into the world. Their newest grandson, Henry, was born two weeks ago, and the couple, who live in Grande Prairie, Alberta, are thrilled to add yet another grandkid to the list: "We were happy and we were waiting for it. We want to have a party in the church with all the family together." More »
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It became apparent that the story of Jhessye Shockley, the 5-year-old Arizona girl who's been missing for more than two months, wasn't going to end well when police said last month that her mother lied about her disappearance and they don't expect to find her alive. Today authorities released more information about Jhessye's possible fate, and said they still consider her mother, Jerice Hunter, the number one suspect. More »
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Lego is universally beloved because it's a toy that's fun and surreptitiously educational. Instead of just allowing kids to reenact scenes from superhero movies or shoot their sister with a foam dart, Lego bricks let children develop their motor skills, solve problems, and use their imaginations to create anything they want. There's nothing gendered about the most basic sets, which just contain colored blocks in different sizes, yet Lego is considered a toy for boys. Now after extensive research, the company is releasing a new line to woo girls, but the way they're going about it may give you the urge to kick over your brother's Tatooine playset. More »
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We really want Michele Bachmann to leave us alone and stop trying to ruin our lives, and we're adult women who've never met her, not teen girls under her care. Yesterday, Michele Bachmann offered some insight into the plight of her three biological daughters and 412 foster children while promoting her book on Sean Hannity's radio show: More »
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It's well known that experiencing or even just witnessing abuse as a child can have a significant effect on a person's development, and now researchers are looking into exactly how violence changes children's brains. A new study found that children who've been exposed to violence at home have such a profound reaction to the abuse that their brains function like soldiers who've been exposed to combat. More »
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Last month police in Amherst, New York concluded their investigation into the bullying Jamey Rodemeyer suffered before he committed suicide at age 14 in September. They decided not to file charges, but now Williamsville North High School has suspended an unknown number of students. Superintendent Scott Martzloff says the students are facing "a minimum of suspensions," which means they were suspended for a week or less with the possibility of handing out longer suspensions after a hearing. The students are too young to expel, but apparently they've learned a variety of gay slurs in their brief time on the planet. One female student was already suspended in September after she put herself in the running for Most Horrible Teen on the Planet by telling friends of Jamey's sister that she was glad her brother killed himself. More »
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Last week during a geography lesson at George W. Miller Elementary School in Nanuet, NY, children in Leatrice Ann Eng's class told her that they know about the North Pole because that's where Santa Claus lives. Deciding that it was high time the second-graders faced reality, Eng informed them that Santa isn't real and their Christmas presents are purchased by their parents. (Special message to junior Jezebel readers: This lady was sorely mistaken. And in case you were wondering, Santa has a toy factory in China and he and your mom just have remarkably similar handwriting.) Eng is now calling each child's parents to apologize for making this an exceptionally uncomfortable holiday and planting seeds of doubt about the Easter Bunny and Tooth Fairy. More »
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If you want evidence of how out of control sexual harassment laws have gotten, look no further than the story of a 7-year-old Boston boy who's been accused of sexual assault for kicking a bully in the groin after he choked him and stole his gloves. This ridiculous tale provides a great opportunity to unleash a hearty online rant about the evils of liberalism — unless you stop to consider the facts. More »
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Recently Dr. Oz whipped parents into a frenzy by reporting that apple juice contains dangerous levels of arsenic. The FDA fired back that America's resident poop expert had flubbed his results by testing for both safe organic arsenic and harmful inorganic arsenic, and said issuing warnings about kids drinking juice was irresponsible. However, yesterday Consumer Reports released its own study that found apple juice and grape juice contain unacceptably high levels of arsenic, and suddenly the FDA's decided that reexamining the amount of toxins allowed in juice is an excellent idea. More »
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A new study may identify a major source of maternal stress: moms multitask more than dads do, and they also hate it more. More »
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We now know how things would go down in a real-life Home Alone situation. Rather than being left in his parents' mansion as they jetted off to France, a forgotten child wound up in a parking lot while his dad drove home with the groceries. While leaving a Kentucky Kroger, a dad loaded his bag and his two kids into his car and drove off, leaving his 6-month-old in the shopping cart. Before the baby had time to get into any holiday-themed antics, a couple spotted him and called 911. A few minutes later the police got a call from the dad, who was "totally distraught" about what he'd done. No charges will be filed, but social services will investigate, and both father and son can expect to be mercilessly mocked at Thanksgiving dinner for the rest of their lives. More »
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Last week a former Australian MP and mayor was convicted of having sex with a 12-year-old and taking pornographic pictures of her, however he won't be serving any jail time. Terry Martin says medication he was taking for Parkinson's disease made him hypersexual and he believed the girl was actually an adult. Now a judge has agreed that Martin holds no responsibility for his behavior, especially because the victim looked and acted like an 18-year-old sexpot. More »
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The U.S. Census Bureau recently released a report on employment and parental leave for first-time mothers, showing how little time women now take off when they have kids. The data also show that the least-educated women in America have the least access to paid leave. More »
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For years conservative legislators have argued that abstinence-only sex education is the best policy, because if there's one thing we know about teenagers, it's that when you tell them not to do something they listen. However, today scientists have come out with information that may come as a shock (if you like to plug your ears and rock back and forth whenever someone suggests there's a teen pregnancy problem). Researchers found that states that teach kids about contraception as well as abstinence have much lower teen birth rates than those that still insist "just say no" is cornerstone of a good sex education program. More »
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Though the idea that vaccines are linked to autism has been disproven by multiple studies, an increasing number of parents are sending their kids off to school without their required vaccines, citing fears over autism and other health problems. Now doctors are concerned that growing resistance to vaccination could lead to a comeback from a variety of retro illnesses they've already beaten. More »
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Yesterday new details emerged about missing 5-year-old Arizona girl Jhessye Shockley, who police now believe is dead. Police still won't say exactly what information convinced them that her mother, Jerice Hunter, was involved in her death, but it seems likely that an interview with Jhessye's 13-year-old sister was a factor. She says her sister suffered horrific abuse, and their mother coached her and her siblings to lie about the last time they saw Jhessye. More »
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Recently in two widely-reported missing children stories, both sets of parents complained that the police were treating them like suspects, not victims. Now it turns out that at least one girl's mother was right, and tragically, it seems there's little chance that the case will end with the girl's safe return. More »
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A new study has determined that acupuncture is safe for children, which is great because there's nothing kids love more than being poked all over with needles. Actually, only 168 of 1400 kids in the study had "a mild adverse reaction, such as crying or pain" — those troupers! While this should reassure parents who are wondering if the procedure is safe, there are a few caveats. Dr. Raymond Pitetti says you should probably not let anyone put a needle into your child's heart, spinal cord, or brain. More »
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We've seen lots of research on the effect of birth order on children — but what about birth spacing? A new study shows that spacing kids out may be good for them — or at least the older ones. More »
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It's been reported that as a result of the Penn State child abuse scandal, more people are coming forward to report that they've been molested. Now we have a sign that it may be influencing how companies deal with reporting possible sex crimes involving children. Recently it was discovered that a man who works in casting on Hollywood films, including many requiring young actors, is a registered sex offender. Rather than quietly letting him go, executives quickly went to authorities and made the incident public, even though there are no reports of children being harmed. More »
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A new store in a Colorado's Greeley Mall has agreed to stop selling pairs of thong underwear after parents questioned what the panties were were doing in a place called Kids N Teen. Erin French, who recorded video of the frilly undergarments, says that while in the store with her daughter and son, "we saw crotchless panties, and I was mortified. My first initial response was, 'Am I really seeing that?'" It's a bit unclear from her grainy cell phone video, but it appears that the store was selling tiny thongs with a split down the crotch. The owner defended herself by saying 25% of her merchandise is for teens. If the underwear that's obviously meant to be used during sex was intended for a 14-year-old's wardrobe, that's a different story. More »
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Sweden became the first country to outlaw physical punishment of children in 1979. Now, the first generation of Swedish young adults to have been raised in a spanking-free society is in its thirties. Contrary to what your cantankerous, defensive grandpa might suggest, the entire country hasn't turned into a bunch of spoiled namby pamby brats. But would similar anti-spanking laws ever fly stateside? More »
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As you'll recall, last month police pulled over a 9-year-old Michigan girl who was acting as her allegedly inebriated father's designated driver. She told cops, "What did you stop me for? I was driving good," making this a confusingly adorable criminal act. More »
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The Boy Scouts of America's Atlanta Council has launched a new campaign telling boys that that if they get drunk on squishee and accidentally join the Junior Campers, it won't be the end of the world. The Scouts teaches you to "Be One With The Wild," which will apparently make you the first boy in Fourth Grade with a long, healthy beard. The ads above are aimed at boys, and there's a beardless version for parents who don't want to tinker with their child's development of secondary sex characteristics. More »
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Last week, Michigan finally passed anti-bullying legislation, but don't break out the party hats and start blaring the Lady Gaga music just yet. At the last minute, Republicans inserted a line into the legislation that exempts anyone who makes a comment based on their religious beliefs. Republicans say they're against seeing children get taunted, but felt it was important to protect the right to tell a gay kid that they're going to rot in hell. More »
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