Web Lets Parents Peek Into School Day

Some kids quick to 'unfriend'; others call it 'sensible'

(NEWSER) - For some parents, Facebook has become a window into the lives of their children, a means for mom and dad to monitor—and sometimes admonish—their kids. “It's so much easier to keep track of what they eat and when they pick their nose this way,” notes one parent. Some kids don’t mind the virtual relationship, the Wall Street Journal reports, while others have “unfriended” their parents in a bid for independence—or as a way to avoid their "pestering," says one 25-year-old who was chided for posting photos of barhopping then asking dad for cash. More»

(NEWSER) - The delightfully profane dad who's the unwitting star of the August Twitter sensation "shitmydadsays," where his recently-moved-back-home son posts his cranky rants about making messes and dodging chores, may not be quite as clueless as he's been made out to be. Sam Halperin is actually a 73-year-old with a long career in nuclear medicine, the Los Angeles Times reports, and his Justin, is actually a writer at Maxim. More»

At least if official recommendations are any guide

(NEWSER) - If doctors' recommendations are accurate, then kids have been sleep-deprived for more than a century. Researchers reviewed dozens of sets of sleep guidelines dating from 1897 to 2009 and compared them to data on how much sleep kids actually have gotten over the years. They found that kids have consistently slept about 37 minutes less than experts suggested, the Wall Street Journal reports. They also discovered that the recommended amount shrunk by about 0.71 minutes each year. More»

Don't feed them pureed meals: study

(NEWSER) - Babies may face a lower risk of obesity if they feed themselves finger food when they're first learning to eat solids, a study suggests. Researchers found that babies who were spoon-fed pureed food developed more of a propensity for sweets than did their finger-fed counterparts; the kids who munched finger food, in a process known as "baby-led weaning," showed more interest in carbs like pasta and rice, AFP reports. More»

He's a great, lovable role model: Mary Elizabeth Wiliams

(NEWSER) - A new study suggests SpongeBob is a menace to kids' attention spans, but he won't be disappearing anytime soon from the TV screens in Mary Elizabeth Williams' house. "The study—and the response to it—say much about adult expectations of children," she writes in Salon . Kids who can stay quiet and still are praised as angels. "But most 4-year-olds, mercifully, are a lot more like SpongeBob," she writes. They like to have a little fun. "That's part of why SpongeBob is such a delight—he's eminently relatable." More»