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• Update: School Reinstates Tag After "Reorientation"

  The Virginia elementary school that banned tag may again allow kids to be "it". A few weeks ago, principal Robyn Hooker outlawed the game, saying it had gotten out of hand, with students being tackled and piled on and dragged into games unwillingly. Some outcry among parents ensued, and so school administrators instituted a week of "reorientation lessons on playground safety" (sounds so ominous, like "reprogramming") in P.E. classes, and should be allowing the game to begin again today.   Now clearly we are a blog divided on this issue, and I have the feeling...   Read More... Posted Apr 25 2008, 12:32 PM by Kelly Mills with | with no comments Filed under: games, education, discipline, strollerderby, Virginia, schools, violence, principal, Washington Post, rules, recess, ban, Tag, libertarian, elementary

• Chuck E. Cheese Is Hotbed of Crime

  So what exactly is it about Chuck E. Cheese, um, entertainment centers that inspires violence and crime? Perhaps it's the infernal noise of fifty video games beeping wildly. Maybe it's the fact that there's a giant mouse walking around and everyone pretends that's normal, just like they do at Disneyland--and someday I'll tell you about the time the guy in the mouse costume actually groped me. It could be the animotronic creatures that line the walls, punctuating the din with even noisier singing and clacking (though to be honest, I don't even know if they have those animals anymore, this is a childhood memory we are mining here.) Could be the wretched pizza, the sticky floors, the crying and the ultimate frustraton that is skeeball. What the hell am I talking about? Well... Read More... Posted Apr 11 2008, 04:01 PM by Kelly Mills with | with 3 comment(s) Filed under: entertainment, activities, parents, crime, violence, police, birthdays, party, arrest, restaurant, Chuck E. Cheese, fight, brawl

• Two Moms Brawl at Chuck E. Cheese

  You know how it goes: One minute you are hosting a birthday party for your kid, and the next thing you know, you are in a fistfight with another mom. Two mothers are going to court soon over a tussle at a party at Chuck E. Cheese. I'm pretty sure part of the defense strategy will be, "Your Honor, there are mitigating circumstances to consider. After all, my client was at Chuck E. Cheese, and I doubt anyone has spent time there and not wanted to strike someone." Of course, it all started over a video game... Read More... Posted Mar 03 2008, 06:02 PM by Kelly Mills with | with no comments Filed under: children, kids, video games, crime, moms, violence, parents behaving badly, birthdays, words, party, sharing, fight, court, brawl, chuck e cheese, fistfight

• Elmo Doll Makes Death Threats

  This is a strange turn of events. After all, I imagine many talking Elmo dolls have had to listen to muttered death threats from parents weary of that cloying little giggle, that high-pitched voice with the mechanized edge. In fact, I sort of imagine the Elmo dolls sneak out at night and meet at a bar somewhere to drown their sorrows and share stories of the creepy things parents say to them when the kid leaves them wedged between the couch cushions and the parent accidentally sits on Elmo, causing Elmo to say "Elmo loves you" and the parent to say...well, stuff we can't reprint here. But clearly one Elmo has had enough, and fully lost it. A mom is reporting that her son's Elmo Knows Your Name doll says in a sing-song voice, "Kill James." Raise... Read More... Posted Feb 22 2008, 05:33 PM by Kelly Mills with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: toys, elmo, mothers, recall, moms, violence, names, children and divorce, dolls, elmo knows your name doll, death threats

• Pregnant Woman Attacks Bartender

  This is a super extreme case, and I'm totally not justifying this woman's actions at all, so make no mistake about that. I don't think anyone would recommend drinking in pregnancy to the point where the bartender cuts you off, or getting violent and seriously hurting someone as a solution, so what happened here is totally not right. But when I read the story, I couldn't help but think about how people are always giving you dirty looks for drinking coffee or tsk-tsking about what you do when you are pregnant, and how the hormonal rage makes your eyes cross, and so on... Anyhow, a bartender refused to give a pregnant woman another drink...   Read More... Posted Feb 15 2008, 05:34 PM by Kelly Mills with | with 4 comment(s) Filed under: pregnancy, alcohol, pregnant, coffee, violence, hormones, starbucks, alcoholism, arrest, drinking during pregnancy, fight, latte, rage

• Football Players And Wrestlers More Violent Off The Field

  I'd already decided to strongly discourage my sons from playing football, even before I read the new study of student athletes out of Penn State.  It just seems like the likelihood of serious injury in football is much greater than it is, for example, in tennis.  Now I have a new reason:  football players and wrestlers are much more likely to be involved in fights than other athletes.   Read More... Posted Jan 26 2008, 09:34 AM by asflutz with | with no comments Filed under: violence, football, wrestling, tennis

• Violent T.V. Leads to Aggression in Boys, Not Girls

  Watching violent television programs between the ages of 2 and 5 years of age is clearly linked to aggressive and anti-social behaviors in boys when they reach age 7 to 9, including cheating, being  mean to others, feeling no regret, being destructive, disobedience, and having trouble with teachers. Read More... Posted Nov 18 2007, 02:00 PM by Alisyn with | with 3 comment(s) Filed under: violence, study, t.v., kids and violent t.v., preschool age, anti-social behavior

• Six-Year-Old Suspended For Drawing a Kid Shooting Another Kid

  When my kid was in preschool, one of the parents approached me while we were waiting to pick up our kids. "Uh, I, um, just wanted to let you know your daughter told my child she was going to kill her." I think I made a choking sound. It's not exactly what you want to hear as a parent. However, my kid has yet to torture small animals or obsessively watch Columbine footage--she was just in the process of learning that words have power. And of course, preschoolers do not generally carry out such threats. And either do first graders, like the one who was suspended from a Little Butte school for drawing a stick figure shooting another stick figure and threatening to shoot other students. Now, there's a few things that go into this case. Read More... Posted Nov 17 2007, 10:20 AM by Kelly Mills with | with 3 comment(s) Filed under: violence, suspension, school attack, the simpsons, first grade, six year old

• Talking to kids about the news, in 8 easy steps

  I'm happy to talk about sex with my kids. Masturbation, penises, vaginas, why Bratz dolls are sluts. I don't care! What sends me into incoherent explanations while sweating and shaking and trying to change the subject is talking about the news. But here it is, an easy 8 step guide to talking to your children about the news. I read the first step, "Explore the age appropriateness of the news you allow your children to see" with great interest because I can never seem to determine what is or isn't okay for them to see and how about we watch Sesame Street guys? Let's go back to simpler times. Yes I know you're eight-and-a-half.  According to the site "Talking With Kids About Tough Issues",  preschoolers are too young to know the difference between fantasy and reality when they watch the news so that a car wreck on the news is the same as a car wreck on a television show. Of course they are likely to be as afraid of the things they see on the news as they are to be scared of fictional things like ghosts or dragons. Kids between the age of 6 and 10 (there's us!) are most vulnerable to what they see on the news because they lack perspective. When they see troubling news (kidnappings, school shootings, deadly weather) on the television they are likely to believe these things happen more frequently than they really do. In fact, I know a lot of adults who fall victim to that kind of thinking. The important thing at this age is helping your children develop perspective on the frequency of tragic events. With kids 11 or older you have less control over what they see and most have the ability to critically watch the news. It is important to check in with your teenagers though and get their opinions and thoughts on things. The rest of the tips are great as well, I love lists. They make me feel as if every problem has a solution. Posted Apr 23 2007, 12:28 PM by Melissa Summers with | with no comments Filed under: news, media, violence, media influence

• Guns for Books: School Attempts to Counter Violence

  In response to an increase in neighborhood gun violence, a local elementary school in Salinas, California is offering to exchange toy guns for books and other "safe" toys.  The assistant principal notes that he's interested in showing kids alternative nonviolent playtime activities. Promoting peace is a serious business, exemplified by this nation's current occupations.  But I wonder how much of it, violence, is primal? Natural even?  Having spent the majority of my 30s around small violent people, I wonder how much toy guns beget violence?  My brother prohibited toy guns from his house and his two boys used sticks to shoot at one another.  And you heard me, I said "boys."  Violence is intrinsically part of human nature (boy-girl-whatever), and sometimes playing it out is healthier than sublimating it to be expressed later (ouzi anyone?).  I'm not saying it's fabulous to give kids guns.  I am saying that they will make guns and hats and balls out of any old thing anyway.  If you want to teach your kids nonviolence, the best method is refraining from violence yourself. Posted Mar 23 2007, 01:32 PM by Rachael Brownell (Redsy) with | with 4 comment(s) Filed under: peace on earth overrated, guns, violence, toy guns, teaching peace, nonviolence, children and violence

• Gas To Drive Son To Fight: $8. Cheering As Son Beats On Younger Kid: Priceless

  Renee Honnold of Folsom, CA, must've been campaigning hard for the Mom of the Year Award when she chauffered her son to school, played cheerleader as he beat on a smaller kid, and attempted to take down anyone who tried to stop the fight.  Way to go, Mom! A student caught the whole altercation on video, and cop on the scene Kurt Knudsen said "I [had] never seen anything like this... you can hear her on the tape shouting, 'Hit him! Hit him!' The kid [was] throwing serious punches."  A witness parked in a nearby car attempted to help the boy Honnold's son was pinning down and whaling on, but told police that "[Honnold] told me to mind my own business. She was out of control..." Renee was arrested Thursday on suspicion of two felonies, endangering the life or health of a child and criminal conspiracy, as well as contributing to the delinquency of a minor, a misdemeanor. Her son was cited for suspicion of misdemeanor battery. Both boys involved in the fight were suspended for 5 days, and Renee lost the Mom of the Year Award to Britney Spears.  (Better watch your back, Brit...) Posted Mar 10 2007, 09:18 AM by Alisyn with | with no comments Filed under: parents, fighting, California, violence, folsom

• Working at Disneyland: Not Just a Job, An Adventure

  According to my calculations, based on age, time spent living and/or visiting California, I've been to Disneyland no fewer than 35 times. Add up the ticket prices for myself (and now my family), factor in inflation, and throw in several hundred pounds of churros and Mouskapops, the total amount of cash that I've either spent or had spent for me would equal the gross national product of Djibouti. I used to love going; these days, I'm decidedly less enthusiastic about The Mouse. That said, I couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy for the poor bastards who don the costumes and head out onto the mean streets of Fantasyland to greet the kiddies. Having working at a fairly well-known aquarium for a few years, I've seen firsthand the abuse that costumed employees take - at the end of the day, the guy that dressed up like Shamu frequently looked like the loser of a UFC match. So this article, detailing the punishment inflicted upon Mickey, Goofy, Donald, and the rest, really didn't surprise me. According to the story, over a third of the 1,900 actors and actress who work as Disney characters have suffered some sort of injury while working. Sadly, one employee died on the job, crushed by a parade float. (Disney was fined $6,300, which is about what Disney CEO Robert Iger made in the time it took you to read this sentence. Ok. I'm exaggerating. NOW he made $6,300.) In an attempt to reduce hazards to their employees, Disney has solicited NASA engineers to help them design safer costumes. Of course, it goes without saying that parents should also keep an eye on their kids - as the picture to the right illustrates, it's only a matter of time before Mickey exacts his revenge. Posted Mar 07 2007, 10:20 AM by JasonAvant with | with 3 comment(s) Filed under: disney, Disney World, violence, bad children, mickey mouse, Disneyland

• New Study: Violent Video Games Don't Make Violent Kids

  Maybe I've drunk too much of the media Kool-Aid on this one, but I'm having a little trouble digesting the recent findings of a sociologist who claims that there's no truth to the widely-accepted notion that kids who play violent video games grow up to be violent people.  Her findings?  A study of FBI statistics and newspaper coverage revealed that youth violence has actually plummeted while video game play has skyrocketed in the past several years.  She posits that placing the blame on video games exonerates the environment that a child lives in that might nurture violence, such as poverty, instability, family violence, unemployment, and mental illness.  In other words, there appears to be no direct connection, other than perhaps in a few widely-known cases, between run-of-the-mill violence and the playing of violent video games. So maybe I'm wrong.  I still don't like them.  Posted Mar 02 2007, 10:19 AM by Karen Murphy with | with 4 comment(s) Filed under: kids, video games, violence, juvenile crime

• Father Flings Boy's Wrestling Opponent; Oh Memories ...

  My freshman year of high school, I weighed all of five pounds. I also had a strong desire to wrestle for reasons that still baffle me. Thankfully, I wasn't the lightest person on the team -- no, I just wrestled with her. While my teammates practiced takedowns and pins, I spent two hours each afternoon desperately hoping my practice uniform would conceal my raging freshman hormones. So I looked upon this story with a different eye. It seems a father leapt into the middle of a wrestling match to fling an 11-year-old competitor of his boy, who was seconds away from being pinned. "I mean, there is a lot of different ways to stop a match," said the flinged boy's father, "Not to pick up my son and launch him 5 feet, 10 feet in the air." The flinging father, coach Ray Hoffman, says he learned his lesson and would likely never coach again. Parents all over the country thought "how disturbing!" after watching this video. But somehow I'm left with the vision of a scrawny freshman and his long-haired, Jasmine-scented practice partner, who on more than one occasion probably wished Ray Hoffman coached at our school. Posted Feb 18 2007, 04:39 PM by Mike Adamick (Cry It Out!) with | with 3 comment(s) Filed under: news, attack, school, dads, sports, bad parenting, video, bad parents, violence, fathers and sons

• Who's on Your List of Best Horror Show Children?

  A few nights ago, our almost 10-month-old daughter looked up from a pile of blocks, smiled eerily and hissed the word, "Daaay-Naaa." It was her first word -- but it scared the living hell out of us because of the way she said, as if some poltergeist had invaded our sweet child's body or she had suddenly acquired the ability to see dead people. It wasn't until we put her down for the night and flipped on the television that our prognosis was confirmed: Our child is possessed. The good news is she could be a movie star. You see, we saw a trailer for the new movie "The Messengers" -- which stars the creepiest looking boy this side of "Webster." The promo said something like children are "susceptible" to paranormal phenomena and they are trying to warn us. While that's certainly kind of them, the idea creeped us out to no end -- we even considered locking our bedroom door, just in case our daughter decided to "warn" us with a knife, a hockey mask or a gloved hand full of razors. Read More... Posted Feb 02 2007, 12:12 PM by Mike Adamick (Cry It Out!) with | with 7 comment(s) Filed under: entertainment, Movies, parents, secret language of babies, babies, celebrity babies, advertising, violence

• Kids + Medication = Violence, Some Say

  Last week's fatal stabbing of a student in a New Jersey high school by a fellow student allegedly taking prescription medications to control various symptoms of Asperger's Syndrome has focused new attention on the question of the side effects and efficacy of such medications.  Asperger's patients are often "treated for depression and anxiety with anti-depressants - drugs some advocacy groups claim can cause violence."  The Food and Drug Administration currently includes a warning on certain drugs used to treat depression, known as SSRIs (Prozac, Zoloft, etc.), stating that studies have shown increased risk of suicide particularly among teens and children.  This risk does not necessarily translate into violence toward others, of course, but many believe otherwise, stating that "how patients react to the drugs is essentially a crapshoot". Read More... Posted Jan 30 2007, 02:49 PM by Karen Murphy with | with no comments Filed under: children, teenagers, asperger's syndrome, SSRI's, anti-depressant drugs, violence, prescription medications