Who's selling those Girl Scout cookies? The Scouts or the rents?
It was the best of times. It was the worst of times. It was Girl Scout cookie sales time. You love them, you hate that you love them, you can never say no to them. But, who are you buying them from -- the girls or their parents? Many of us moms remember throwing on that brown sash when we were kids and walking door-to-door, hawking cookies like nobody's business. Today though, we're more likely to buy them directly from our co-worker or a friend via Facebook, than we are to buy them directly from the Scouts themselves. Parents do it to help out, after all, an office full of adults is prime cookie-selling grounds. But are parents really helping the girls? According to the New York Times, Girl Scout leadership says no. Those girls should be selling the cookies themselves. Yes, they're a fundraiser, but they're so much more. Selling Thin Mint goodness teaches the girls about goal-setting, money management, people skills and business ethics. Depending on the age of children involved in fundraising activities, they may need some parental help, but many people say they should at least be involved in the process and learning to make the "ask" on their own. How much do you "help" with your kids' fundraising activities?
Home is where the disco is
One London family is taking house parties to a whole, new level. Wanting to keep an eye on their tween and teen kids, the family built a £1million house, complete with a nightclub. What could be dubbed Club Parental Oversight, is complete with an illuminated dance floor, flashing lights and a professional DJ booth. According to the Daily Mail, this soundproofed disco has been the home to many after-school clubbing sessions for their 12-year-old daughter and her friends and has given their 16-year-old son a chance to practice his DJ skills. Their house also offers the kids a screening room, where they can watch movies. The lucky kids' mom said, "This was our dream house, everything we ever wanted... It keeps the teenagers under your roof so you know where they are." The kids aren't the only ones getting down on the dance floor, though. Every Wednesday, mama and her friends claim the club for their own, hire a teacher and have some dance lessons. Extravagant? Perhaps. Fun? Most definitely.
Third Graders having oral sex?! No!!
Third grade is the time when kids usually learn cursive writing (assuming they're still teaching that) and multiplication. It's not usually the time kids learn about oral sex, especially not by watching two classmates engaging in the act at school. Yet that's exactly what happened in one Louisiana third grade classroom recently. According to the NewsStar, an elementary school teacher has been fired for not properly supervising her class after two kids were allegedly found having oral sex under a table in the room. The children involved are receiving counseling.
Sixth-grader faced suspension for pink hair
If you attend Shue-Medill Middle School, pink's an okay color to wear -- so long as it's not the color of your hair. According to USA Today, sixth-grader, Brianna Moore, improved her grades and made her school's honor roll for the first time recently. As a reward, her parents dyed her hair pink. However, her reward soon got her punished, as the school said it was against the rules to have "unnatural or "excessive" hair colors." When she showed up at school the next day with her pink 'do, she was turned away and school administrators told her dad her hair color was in violation of school policies. She was given the option of either bleaching her hair or being subjected to in-school suspension until the color faded. Instead, she and her parents chose to contact the ACLU, who took up her cause. After all, her parents had dyed her hair the previous year at a school in the same district, with no problems. Once the lawyers got involved, her suspension got waived and she was able to return to school, pink hair and all. Her father said he was glad the issue got resolved and thought "It's a crazy thing to get so uptight about." Do you think funky hair colors should be banned by schools for being a distraction or do you think schools have bigger things to worry about?
Dana Macario is a TODAY Moms contributor and Seattle mom to two sleep-depriving toddlers. Once properly caffeinated, she also blogs at www.18years2life.com.