Kids

Posing for a photograph, which then becomes the subject of a "sext," is not a criminal offense, according to the federal court of appeals.

The court finalized its first ruling concerning "sexting" earlier this week, The New York Times reports. This decision allows parents to block the prosecution of their children on child pornography charges for posing in photographs found on classmates' cell phones.

"Sexting," the sharing of sexual explicit material via text message, is a fairly new craze among teens and preteens, and has been causing controversy across numerous school districts.

The case that called for the new ruling, Miller v. Mitchell, began in 2008 in a Pennsylvania school, The Times reports. School officials found nude and semi-nude pictures of girls as young as 12 on students' cell phones. The officials took the phones and gave them to the Wyoming County District Attorney's Office.

1991, the Wiggles released their first album and the monochromatic Aussie quartet became that decade's megastars of children's music. Almost two decades later, they're still at it, having just put out their, oh, let's say 300th CD, Hot Poppin' Popcorn. But children's music has changed a whole lot in the past 20 years -- assuming that success back then will lead to success today is like assuming Alta Vista is still a go-to search engine. Let's see how the new Wiggles album sounds and compare it to some other new releases (a couple of which are fantastic).


The Wiggles: Hot Poppin' Popcorn
If you're anything like me, you find calliope-style organ tooting to be one of the most grating sounds capable of being presented in tune form. And there's a lot of it on this circus-themed album. The organ overload may not be typical of all Wiggles music. Still, it actually manages to make Hot Poppin' Popcorn sound even more traditional than the Wiggles usually do. Among those old-school songs, though, there are a couple of (non-organ) gems, like "Murray's Guitar Saved the World," which is a great, way more modern tune. But the Wiggles are more than just musicians -- they're characters; they don't just record CDs--they put together production number-studded shows. And when you play the disc for a three-year-old (which I did), you see that kid dance with a big smile on his face. So while the Wiggles may not excite today's hip music-savvy parents, they still know how to reach kids. More power to 'em.
Where are they in relation to everyone else: Let's put the Wiggles squarely in the middle of the modern kids' music spectrum, with bands to the left being more traditional (think "Wheels on the Bus") and bands to the right being more hip and contemporary.

You want to be very careful when you go on an airplane trip with children.

Remember the famous case of the McCallister family in 1990? In the rush of the family leaving for Paris, a young Macaulay Culkin was forgotten and left "Home Alone." We all had to endure three sequels before that nightmare was finally over.

The Web site travelingwithkids.com has a checklist for the bazillion things you need to remember before you go flying with little ones. A whole three months ahead of time, the site recommends you do everything from visit the travel agent with your child to check with the airlines on their car seat and sky cot policies.

Then, a month before you take off, the site suggests you find a container and create an in-flight first aid kit. Of course, the kit can't contain much more than Band-Aids. Airport security won't allow you to take any of the usual contents of a first aid kit on board, such as tubes of lotion or tiny scissors.

The Food and Drug Administration yesterday issued a final rule intended to curb smoking and smokeless tobacco use among minors by restricting the sale, distribution and promotion of these products.

In addition to other restrictions, the new rule, which goes into effect June 22, prohibits the distribution of free samples of cigarettes or smokeless tobacco, and prohibits tobacco brand name sponsorship of any athletic, musical or other social or cultural events.

The FDA says it will work with states, territories and retailers to help them comply with the rule.

"Today, we're addressing a larger public health effort to prevent our children from becoming the next generation of Americans to die early from tobacco-related disease," says HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. "This is a great step toward a healthier America."

FDA Commissioner Margaret A. Hamburg, M.D., concurs, noting, "Every day nearly 4,000 kids under 18 try their first cigarette and 1,000 kids under 18 become daily smokers." She adds, "Putting these restrictions in place is necessary to protect the health of those we care most about: our children."

Related: Hey Kids: Smoking Blows; Teen Anti-Smoking Ad Inflames the French

Can a two-year-old choose an NCAA bracket better than a seasoned sports reporter?

NBC Chicago sports reporter Paula Faris decided to challenge her daughter Caroline to a bracket throwndown.



Here's a sample of their intense selection strategy discussion:

Paula: "Georgetown or Iowa, honey?"

Caroline: "Daddy!"

In the Robert Morris-Villanova match-up, Paula picked Villanova, the two seed, and Caroline went with the underdog. Mom was right, but it looks like neither of them predicted that Ohio University would upset Georgetown.

Related: Grown-up Reporter Dunks on Little Lad and Makes Him Cry

As you begin your journey into parenthood and the inevitable duties that come with it, just know that thousands of diaper changes are in your future. Now is the time to consider the eternal question: cloth or disposable?

When deciding which type of diaper to use, you'll find there are pros and cons to each method. From financial and environmental standpoints, cloth diapers are decidedly cheaper and better for the environment. Around $400 is a conservative estimate of the initial cost for purchasing cloth diapers and coverings, and once you've paid for them, you just need to wash and dry them for the next use and next child.

Cloth diapering has become infinitely more easy to use over the years -- bulky baby pins are a thing of the past. Instead, coverings now wrap snugly around the white cloth diapers using Velcro.

What you need: Construction paper, aluminum foil and/or chocolate coins.

How to play: Cut circles out of construction paper and decorate to look like coins -- you will need around five coins per player. Then, select two or three coins to be gold or silver. If you go with silver, just wrap these in aluminum foil to look shiny. You can also use chocolate coins for gold coins. Select an area or room in which to hide the coins for your game. Depending on age, it can be easy or difficult; however, you want to make your gold or silver coins the hardest to find.

The rules: Tell the players the story of Leprechaun Willy who was visiting this morning and shared a tale of woe. He was out the other day with his Pot of Gold when he was distracted by a rainbow. Leprechaun Willy wanted to see the rainbow, so he put his Pot of Gold down to get a better look. While Willy was away, some squirrels came upon his Pot of Gold and thought the coins in his pot were nuts, so they took the coins and hid them. When Willy returned, he was shocked to see someone took all his gold and silver coins. Willy has been searching for his coins all day, but has yet to find them. Ask the kids if they would like to help Willy find his coins, tell them that you remember seeing Willy in the room where you hid the coins, and that Willy mentioned he lost a lot of them -- a few were even gold (or silver). Willy is willing to give a prize to whoever finds the most coins.

How to win: The player who finds the gold or silver coins is the winner.

Related: How to Play: Leprechaun, Leprechaun, Where Is Your Shamrock?

What you need: Music, a room with four corners, a hat or box and two copies of four St. Patrick's Day-themed images, such as an Irish flag, a leprechaun, a gold coin and a four leaf clover.

How to play: Place one St. Patrick's Day image in each of the four corners of the room. Then, let the players know that when the music plays, they can move around. However, once the music stops, they need to proceed to one of the four corners. Once the players have selected a corner, the music operator pulls out an image from a hat and those players standing in that corner are eliminated from the game. Then, start the music back up, mingle and repeat the process.

The rules: The St. Patrick's Day image you pulled from the hat is returned before the music starts again, so this game can have as many rounds as necessary.

How to win: The last player remaining is the winner.

Related: Celebrating St. Patrick's Day

What you need: A group of children and a cut-out paper shamrock.

How to play: The children sit in a circle, and one child is chosen to be the leprechaun who sits in the middle with his or her eyes closed. One of the children in the circle gets the shamrock and hides it behind his or her back. The children in the circle say, "Leprechaun, Leprechaun, where is your shamrock? Somebody has it in his pocket! Guess who? Maybe you? Maybe a monkey from the zoo? Come on, Leprechaun, find your shamrock!" The leprechaun opens his or her eyes and gets three guesses to discover who has the shamrock. Whoever has the shamrock becomes the next leprechaun.

The rules: An adult should hand out the shamrock to be sure everyone gets a turn.

How to win: Correctly guess who has the shamrock.
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Dude, your roommate's a girl. Awesome.

Mixed-gender student housing is catching on at colleges nationwide, and about 50 colleges are now offering the option, says Jeffrey Chang, who co-founded the National Student Genderblind Campaign in 2006, to encourage gender-mixed rooms.

UC Berkeley, Stanford, Cornell, Dartmouth, Sarah Lawrence and the University of Michigan are among the participating schools, The Los Angeles Times reports. Couples are discouraged from participating, and most heterosexuals in the programs are platonic friends, according to officials.

The mixed-gender housing movement was started in an effort to accommodate gay, bisexual and transgender students who may feel more comfortable living with a member of the opposite sex, according to college officials, the Times reports.

Stop the presses. Literally.

Students at Mounds View High School in Minnesota are refusing to put out a school paper if Principal Julie Wikelius insists on approving each issue before it goes to press.

The Student Press Law Center reports student journalists published a story about two classmates who were disciplined after posting a "joke" picture of a teacher on Facebook.

Wikelius confiscated copies of The Viewer, the school newspaper, and insisted on reviewing future issues before they go to press.

Such prior restraint is a violation of the First Amendment in the adult world; the 1931 U.S. Supreme Court case of Near vs. Minnesota specifically addressed the issue.

Students in public schools once enjoyed the same First Amendment rights as everyone else. But in the 1988 Supreme Court case of Hazelwood vs. Kuhlmeier, justices ruled that public school districts -- as the publishers of their school newspapers -- have a right to censor content.

Move over Marlboro Man: Camel No. 9 is here, and he's garnered the attention of the "Gossip Girl" crowd.

Cigarette manufacturer RJ Reynolds took its campaign into the heart of chic-girl culture, and ran ads for the pink camel-bearing brand in magazines that are teen faves such as Vogue, Cosmopolitan and Glamour. Some of the ads resemble magazine fashion pages. A new study published in the April issue of Pediatrics shows the approach grabbed the attention of teens.

"This follows on early work we did in the '90s," the study's lead author, John Pierce, the Sam M. Walton professor for Cancer Prevention at the University of California San Diego, tells ParentDish. "We demonstrated they were targeting kids, and they've done it again."

Between 2003 and 2008, researchers from UCSD and the American Legacy Foundation tracked more than 1,000 adolescent boys and girls to see if they could name the brand of their favorite cigarette advertisement. The kids were all between 10 and 13 years of age when the survey began, Pediatrics says.