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»

Yale professor warns against becoming a 'click-vegetable'

(NEWSER) - The Internet and iPads and smartphones are great for adults—but we need to take a hard look at what they're doing to our kids, warns a computer science professor at Yale. It may be tempting to let them sit down with an iPad come June, but such technology is preventing their minds from doing what they need to do: "rest and work," writes David Gelernter in the Wall Street Journal . Rest means "wandering freely," while work requires a climb up a "mental rope." More»

Adorable 'facial cues' fade at that age: researchers

(NEWSER) - No one's saying that 5-year-olds can't be adorable—but it appears that they're past their prime, in cuteness terms. Researchers in Canada and China polled adults on the cuteness factor of kids from infancy to 6 years old. Subjects called the younger children cuter, with a big shift at age 4½. At that point, key "facial cues" like big eyes and heads combined with small noses and mouths become less apparent, Time reports. More»

Bodies found at campground, handgun nearby

(NEWSER) - A mother and her three young daughters were found shot to death near a Missouri campground in what police believe was a triple murder-suicide. Each was killed by a single gunshot, and the weapon was found near the bodies, according to police. The four were not staying at the Bourbon campground, but the mother's vehicle was found nearby. They were identified as 37-year-old Christine Adewunmi, and daughters Lauren, 8, Samantha, 6, and Kate, 3. Christine's husband and the father of the girls reported them missing last week, according to KMOX-TV . "There was no indication of any problems," a neighbor told Fox2. More»