The school district that approved McDonald’s-sponsored report cards has a hot new partnership with Bus Radio, a friendly company that advertises to kids as they ride to school!
kids
JetBlue Flight Attendant Takes Revenge On Passenger Who Asked Her To Stop Speaking Loudly
By 12.29.07
A JetBlue flight attendant threw a hissy fit when a passenger failed to return her jammed seat to the upright and locked position. The stewardess admitted that the seat’s spring was broken, but still gave the passenger a “warning card” and had airport security meet the plane at the gate. Why? A fellow passenger explains, after the jump.
12 Year Old Kid Flying Alone? Don't Expect Too Much Help From Southwest
By 12.17.07
Southwest escorts children 5 through 11 who are traveling alone, but “once you hit 12, you’re considered a youth and not an unaccompanied minor,” said Teresa Laraba, the airline’s vice president for ground operations.
Unlike most airlines, Southwest is nice enough not to charge for escorting younger kids, but you’re out of luck once your precious little brat turns 12. So what should you do?
By 12.14.07
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The CEO of Toys “R” Us tells the AP that all this testing of toys by advocacy groups is frustrating: “We’ve had many, many cases where we have taken the products and retested them and found them to be totally safe.” Stupid advocacy groups! The toy store will protect us! [Associated Press]
Toys Are Super Dangerous!
By 12.5.07
We can probably all agree that there haven’t been enough tainted-toy stories this year, so the Wall Street Journal is reporting that tests on about 1,200 toys by consumer and health organizations have revealed that about a third contain not just lead but “other potentially harmful chemicals, including mercury, cadmium and arsenic.” Oh, they must be talking about the new Bratz Heavy Metal dolls, R’senic and Mercurie.
Honey Better Than Dextromethorphan At Treating Coughs
By 12.3.07
Score another win for folk treatments: a new study says that honey is more effective than over-the-counter dextromethorphan syrups at treating a child’s cough: “The results were so strong that we were able to say clearly that honey was better than no treatment and dextromethorphan was not.”
Congress Set To Ban Soda, Junk Food From Schools
By 12.2.07
Snickers and Cokes would be a thing of the past at school cafeterias and vending machines if the Senate approves an ambitious amendment from Senators Harkin (D-IA) and Murkowsky (R-AK). The amendment to the Farm Bill would establish strict federal guidelines limiting the sale of deliciously unhealthy treats brimming with sugar, salt, and fat.
The nutrition standards would allow only plain bottled water and eight-ounce servings of fruit juice or plain or flavored low-fat milk with up to 170 calories to be sold in elementary and middle schools. High school students could also buy diet soda or, in places like school gyms, sports drinks. Other drinks with as many as 66 calories per eight ounces could be sold in high schools, but that threshold would drop to 25 calories per eight-ounce serving in five years.
What Are They Feeding The Kids At School?
By 11.30.07
The always feisty Center For Science In The Public Interest has released a school lunch report card and while no state received an “A”, only Kentucky and Oregon are close to the CSPI’s standards. Oregon went from an F to an A-, but it wasn’t easy:
Nintendo Replaces Soused DS Lite Free Of Charge
By 11.18.07
“While moving to our new house last week a friend who was helping us accidentally spilt beer on my son’s DS lite and it stopped working. I knew that his DS was still under warranty, but I also knew that I would not cover physical damage caused by neglect. After checking Nintendo’s website, and confirming that spilling liquid on it would not be covered and that I would have to pay for the repair.”
10 Ways To Make Traveling With Children Tolerable
By 11.15.07
And by “tolerable” we just mean “nobody has to die this year.” Kiplinger offers 10 ways to prepare yourself for traveling with kids now that cough syrup is frowned upon. We think one of the best is “team boarding”—don’t pre-board an airplane, because all it really does is increase the time your children are stuck in their seats getting all bouncy. Instead, if you’ve got another adult with you, one of you should board early and get the luggage stowed, pillows arranged, etc., while the other stays in the airport for as long as possible trying to run the kids ragged enough that they’ll promptly fall asleep once they’re settled in.
By 11.13.07
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Starting in 2010, high school students in Ohio will be required to take a personal finance class before graduating. [WTOL11]
German Advent Calendar Features Serial Killer
By 11.8.07
A cartoon advent calendar for kids, sold by the city of Hanover in Germany, has a tiny drawing of local serial killer Fritz Haarmann, who murdered 24 people during the 1920s. He’s holding a meat cleaver and peeking out from behind a tree, while happy men, women, and children enjoy the holiday all around him. He’s one of 24 famous people from Hanover who appear on the calendar; “It’s part of our history,” says Hans Nolte, the director of the town’s tourism board.
6 Basic Things Teens Should Know About Credit Cards
By 10.25.07
Organizations like the Jump$tart Coalition and NFCC have rolled out programs that help you teach your kids about the ins and outs of credit cards, credit ratings, interest rates, etc., but Janet Bodnar at Kiplinger says that there are some basic facts that you should focus on. She thinks too much detail bores a kid; we think it depends on the kid, but agree that at the very least, hitting each point on the following list would give your offspring a decent foundation for making good credit decisions.
Barbie Teaches Credit Cards 101: "You Never Run Out Of Money!"
By 10.8.07
Fashion Fever Shopping Boutique, the correctly named Barbie toy, features a built-in credit card swiper and a life-size credit card for young children to use when buying outfits for their dolls. According to the Amazon website, “Once the balance hits zero, it will reset so you can continue to shop.”
Money Lessons For Your Kids
By 10.2.07
If you have kids and aren’t teaching them about money, you’re setting them up to be one of those clueless college kids with a free burrito and $12,000 in credit card debt. Don’t do it!
By 9.26.07
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Health organization Kaiser Permanente has launched an online game for kids that teaches them about nutrition and healthy lifestyles, then “locks” the kids out of the game after 20 minutes so they’ll go outside and play. We imagine the lock-out functionality won’t be needed, as the educational aspect of the game should organically repel the target audience of 9- and 10-year-olds in 10 to 15 seconds. [Reuters]
Over 10,000,000 Items Recalled For Lead Contamination In 2007
By 8.30.07
With the recall of some Thomas & Friends and Sponge Bob toys on August 22, the total number of products recalled due to lead contamination in 2007 reached 10,020,300, according to data from the Consumer Product Safety Commission. None of the items were manufactured in the US, so the recall responsibility and cost falls squarely on the shoulders of the US importers. We took at look back at 2007’s lead recalls to try to understand the scope of the problem.
FDA Says No Cough Syrup For Toddlers Without Doctor Approval
By 8.17.07
“Questions have been raised about the safety of these products and whether the benefits justify any potential risks from the use of these products in children, especially in children under 2 years of age,” the agency said.
