When your dad is The Daily Show writer Daniel Radosh, odds are your school career is not going to go off without at least one or two standout moments. Assuming this was his first, son Milo managed to make it all the way to 8th grade before going viral. But then poor Milo’s book club sent him home with a permission slip which required dear old dad’s signature in order to read Fahrenheit 451. You know the dystopian novel by Ray Bradbury about book burning and censorship? Cue Alanis Morissette’s poignant lyrics about irony and free rides and good advice and wedding day showers and all that.
Because trying to censor children from the ability to read a book about censorship leaves the door WIDE open for satire.
Radosh, sensing the ironic nature of the request as well, sent back his own note underlining the ludicrousness of such a request, which said:
“I love this letter! What a wonderful way to introduce students to the theme of Fahrenheit 451 that books are so dangerous that the institutions of society — schools and __parents — might be willing to team up against children to prevent them from reading one. It’s easy enough to read the book and say, ‘This is crazy. It could never really happen,’ but pretending to present students at the start with what seems like a totally reasonable ‘first step’ is a really immersive way to teach them how insidious censorship can be. I’m sure that when the book club is over and the students realize the true intent of this letter they’ll be shocked at how many of them accepted it as an actual permission slip. In addition, Milo’s concern that allowing me to add this note will make him stand out as a troublemaker really brings home why most of the characters find it easier to accept the world they live in rather than challenge it. I assured him that his teacher would have his back.”
Understandably there is some adult content and, according to Milo a “large amount of cursing,” but I can’t imagine he is being exposed to content any racier than what is played on the radio or, say, being said in the 2016 election.
Radosh posted his son’s permission slip on Twitter, which read in part, “tfw your kid’s school makes you sign a permission slip so he can read Fahrenheit 4.”
Twitter appropriately responded with an onset of praise for Radosh’s response.
@danielradosh you should have burned it
— natebuckwell (@natebuckwell) October 24, 2016
A+ for irony 10/10 would shop for irony here again https://t.co/AUKtQOH1RJ
— Amy Laurens (@InkyLaurens) October 24, 2016
@danielradosh you are a gift and wish you could father us all
— Erica Dasher (@Erica_Dasher) October 26, 2016
@danielradosh @PetiteKaybee so then I guess you have to sign the opposite of a permission slip so he can read 1984 #upisdown #wrongisright
— Get Bullish (@GetBullish) October 24, 2016
Thank you, Mr. Radosh. Because sometimes it feels good to shake your head at the absurdity of it all.
I’m a mom of four kids: One of whom has anxiety and one of whom has sensory processing difficulties. Three of my four children are in school, which means like many parents, I’m absolutely overwhelmed most days with the number of papers that come home in their book bags, demanding our time and attention.
And I’m not the only one.
Two of my three school-aged kids cannot tolerate homework. And no, it’s not a matter of effort, parental discipline, or even desire. It’s not laziness, either. What a night with homework boils down to for us was a whole lot of unnecessary stress, frustration, and dwindling self-confidence.
So that’s why we skip it. Eighty-percent of the time, anyway. (For my daughter, who has anxiety, I’ve spoken to her teachers — unless she’s in a healthy place, we aren’t doing homework. For my kindergarten son, homework is optional.)
Now, our homework-free evenings are filled with playtime, peace, and positivity. And if we do attempt homework during the school week, it doesn’t involve learning. Instead, I keep things light, adopting a “check it off the list” attitude motivated only by the meager prizes the school offers, like a sticker or a play dollar to spend at the school reward store.
Many of my friends say the only way they can handle homework is to set their kids down immediately after school (or after one of their kids’ many activities) and have the children “get it over with.” It’s torturous, but the later they wait in the day, the worse the homework experience gets.
If the skipping homework thing seems a bit out-there, believe me, it’s catching on: In recent months, many schools have opted to eliminate homework altogether. Several teachers have even written viral letters on why homework isn’t just unnecessary, but detrimental. As a former educator myself, I’m a longtime proponent of not giving homework until a child is in high school — especially since learning to do homework at that point prepares the child for the realities of college, where much of the student’s academic work is done independently.
But assigning hours of homework to kids as young as 7? Please.
Instead of agonizing over a math worksheet or a tracing page, my kids and I do things that instill the skills and lessons they actually need to learn — giving them self-confidence, reassurance, and joy in the process. The attitudes they have bleed over into the evening, affect how they sleep, and making them happier the next next morning when they head off to start a new school day.
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Here are just some of the ways we spend our homework-free nights:
Sipping hot chocolate while I read a library book to them.
Riding bikes in the driveway.
Showing up at a local park and make new friends.
Attending a weekly gymnastics class.
Following a recipe and baking muffins for the next morning.
Facetiming with Dad at work.
Painting!
Getting into our PJs and reading bedtime stories.
Eating popcorn and watching a holiday movie.
Playing catch.
Drawing with sidewalk chalk on the driveway.
Eating dinner together, talking about our day, and what weekend plans we hope to have.
Visiting a store so the kids can spend their allowance.
Doing chores like picking up and sorting toys, gathering trash, and putting dishes in the dishwasher.
Writing thank you notes for a thoughtful gift or to someone who went above and beyond for us.
Playing in our sensory rice bin (that we made together!), with molding clay, or Playdoh.
Putting on a fashion show with our dress-up clothes or putting on a concert with our musical toys.
Busting into an impromptu dance party in our kitchen.
Jumping on the trampoline outside.
Snuggling in bed and playing made-up games.
They may sound simple, but believe me, these are not futile activities. Baking with my kids teaches them how to follow directions, weight and measure, and patiently anticipate the finished product. Eating dinner together and talking about our day builds social skills, manners, and empathy. Having popcorn while watching a favorite movie helps us all de-stress and relax after a long day. Allowing the kids to visit a store and spend their allowance teaches financial literacy. Involving our kids in household chores teaches them about responsibility and community.
The most important thing at the end of the day is that all of these activities are done as a family and promote the kinds of attitudes my children need to have in order to have a great day at school tomorrow. And so far, our “no homework” policy is working like a charm.
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Whether you’re waiting with bated breath for Nov. 8 to arrive, or actively trying to pretend it’s not happening, one thing’s undeniable: We’re getting a new president come January — whether we like ’em or not. And if the 24-year track record of one mock student election is any indication, we may already know their name.
Channel One News, a digital content provider geared towards young readers, has conducted a nationwide mock student election every four years since 1992, when Bill Clinton faced off with George H.W. Bush. But get this: The outcome of the mock election — which polls thousands of students in grades 4 through 12 — has predicted the real one every. single. time.
So who are they saying will walk away victorious next month?
The winner is … drum roll please … Hillary Clinton. By a landslide, too.
Hillary Clinton wins in landslide as 300,000 school kids vote in mock election #KidsKnow https://t.co/mqyDwYRgM2
— Richard Hine (@richardhine) October 25, 2016
Channel One polled some 300,000 students from all 50 states to arrive at a winner, with Clinton carrying 47% of the vote and earning 365 electoral votes. Trump trailed behind with 41% and 173 electoral votes, while the remaining 12% went to various other candidates, including Jill Stein and Gary Johnson.
While some states fell in line as you might expect — with traditionally “blue” states like New York and Vermont going to Clinton and “red” states like Tennessee and Louisiana going to Trump — there were some surprises. Most notably: Texas, which usually leans Republican, went to Clinton. The former Secretary of State also laid claim to key battle ground states like Florida, Arizona, and North Carolina.
As for what issues were most pressing on students’ minds? No. 1 was terrorism, with 19% of voters noting it as the most crucial, followed by education and college, 12%. Immigration and gun control both tied at 11%.
While mock student elections have been held throughout the U.S. since 1940, Channel One’s election — known as OneVote — is the largest nationwide election of its kind, which makes its accuracy in predicting presidents so far pretty impressive. According to Nate Silver’s poll tracking site FiveThirtyEight — which has also accurately predicted election outcomes since its inception — Clinton is the candidate most likely to win. FiveThirtyEight has her at an 85% chance of winning versus Trump’s 15%.
You can check out the full breakdown on OneVote16.org, plus plug in a zip code to see how your local schools voted, if they participated.
If there’s one thing we can all agree on when it comes to this election cycle, it’s this: It needs to END. Like, yesterday.
If you too have vowed to bury your head in the sand until Nov. 9 — or move to Canada, depending on the results — I am right there with you. Maybe you’ve been consciously scrolling past the latest articles about Hillary’s emails or Trump’s insults because you just can’t take it anymore. Maybe you’ve completely blocked your Uncle Gary on Facebook, because his crazy political statuses are starting to make you question your genetics. Or maybe you’ve taken to changing the channel whenever a new campaign attack ad flashes across the screen — because at this point, they’re getting downright vicious.
Trust me, I don’t blame you.
But do me a favor: If you come across the latest campaign ad for Gerald Daugherty, please — stop what you’re doing and watch it immediately. It’s like a sweet breath of fresh air.
The Travis County Commissioner is running for reelection this year in Austin, Texas, promising to tirelessly fight for “better roads, lower taxes, and responsible county spending,” according to his YouTube page. But in the 1-minute spot, you won’t find Gerald talking about his opponent’s misdeeds or questionable spending practices. Nor will you see him awkwardly posing with his perfectly-coiffed family around a dinner table or talking to townspeople in overly-staged photo-ops. Instead, Gerald’s puttering around the house while prattling on about county spending and code violations; boring his neighbor to tears by prattling on about tax rates; hovering over his wife Charlyn as she does laundry and, well, generally annoying the crap out of her by always being underfoot.
But here’s the thing: Gerald clearly knows his stuff.
“He’s always trying to fix things,” Charlyn tells the camera dryly, before the ad cuts to a clip of her husband yet again talking her ear off about the need for better roads.
And while she clearly loves the guy (as you will too, by the end of the clip), Charlyn just has one simple plea for Austinites: Please, please reelect her husband. If for no other reason than to get him out of the house before she loses her damn mind.
“How __parents Give Their Kids Chores Around the World” originally appeared on Fatherly, and was reprinted with permission.
Image Source: Asian Development Bank via Flickr
Despite what your kid might argue, asking him to make his bed every morning and help load the dishwasher after dinner doesn’t violate any international child labor laws. A small sampling around the world shows American kids actually do a lot (in case you thought yours were the laziest on Earth). But if they’re whining how much housework you hand them, let them know that plenty of kids around the world do a hell of a lot more. Here’s how your Chore Boy (or Girl) stacks up against kids in Spain, Great Britain, India, Canada, Kenya, China, and Japan.
Japan: Where students minor in the custodial arts.
Japanese kids are expected to be super independent and self-reliant, which means taking subways by themselves, running errands, and lots of chores. Kids as young as 5 bond over making meals and folding laundry with their families. Some schools even have students bust out mops and scrub brushes to clean their own classrooms on the regular. They don’t even see clapping erasers together as punishment!
Spain: Legislating (home) labor laws.
Forget timeouts — if you lived in Spain, you could threaten your kid with jail time if he refuses to do his chores (sort of). In 2014, the Spanish parliament drafted a law requiring children to pitch in on household chores, do their homework, and respect their __parents and siblings. The country actually has a history of taking vacuuming and dusting super seriously: In 2005, they updated their civil marriage contracts to include a clause requiring men to help with housework. That’s why Spanish kids are always yelling “I learned it from watching you, dad!” while they Swiffer the bathroom floor.
Great Britain: Kids are bigger punks than the Sex Pistols.
A 2016 report found British kids are some of the best in the world at avoiding doing chores. More than 17,000 8-year-olds across 16 countries were surveyed about their home life, family, and friendships. Only 47 percent of British kids reported helping out around the house every day, compared to as many as 70 percent in other countries. To be fair, those children of Brexit have it rough. (Maybe if they’d stayed in the EU, some of that Spanish discipline would’ve rubbed off.)
Canada: Family farm hands or full-time employees, eh?
Kids’ chores were a hot topic in Canada a couple of years ago when officials banned a family in Saskatchewan from letting their 8- and 10-year-old girls do work on the family farm. The family called the girls’ roles in the chicken-processing plant “chores,” the government called it “child labor.” Classic tomato … go pick that tomato. It was an unusual case, since farming is usually an exception to child labor rules in the Great White North. Also, a recent survey by Whirlpool Canada found that 59 percent of Canadians think their kids have less chores than they did growing up. However, 82 percent of those respondents used the phrase, “back in my day” while shaking a cane.
Kenya: Helping out isn’t a choice.
Kids in Kenya play a huge role in helping out with cooking, farming, and fetching water (which can require up to 4 hours of walking per day), to the point that many of them don’t get to go to school. If your kid hears that and tells you he wants to stay home from school so he can help with the chores, the comparable response would be asking him to go buy a jug of Poland Spring — two towns over.
India: Where women do 15 times the work.
A 2014 study on the “Gender Chore Gap” found that Indian men do the least housework anywhere in the world. The OECD reported that men spend just 19 minutes doing housework, while women slaved away for 298 minutes. That unfair balance extends to young boys and girls as well. Generally, boys are expected to help with bringing in household income and girls are expected to help their mothers with “family well-being” activities like cooking and cleaning. But men — they’re apparently expected to finish watching a full cricket match.
China: Choosing school over sweeping.
To the Chinese, housework has traditionally been seen as good physical and mental exercise. But some are worried that China is moving toward the opposite of the problem in Kenya. With such a strong focus on academic education, kids aren’t being required to do as many chores (or leave their desks to see the sun). But weirdly, studies show a lot of it is their indulgent grandparents’ fault. So a whole generation of Chinese dads are off the hook.
More from Fatherly:
How much time do kids around the world spend at school?
Here’s how to get your kids to behave without messing them up
I turned my kids’ lives into a game, and now they’re better behaved. These are the rules.
Motherhood is beautiful. But sometimes, as moms, it can be hard to see that beauty within ourselves.
Which is where Jenna and Aimee Hobbs of Hobbs Photography come in. The Hobbs sisters have made it their mission toshow mothers how beautiful they are through their photo series, “A Mother’s Beauty.”
Image Source: Hobbs Photography
Jenna, 31, is a mom of four kids six and under — including a set of twins — and Aimee, 34, is a mother and stepmother of four. They both live and work in Alberta, Canada and fell in love with photography after having children.
Aimee and Jenna, Image Source: Hobbs Photography
But as they began photographing families, they soon noticed a rather disturbing trend: the mothers completely avoided the camera.
“Over time, we began noticing that more and more mamas would either only want their children photographed, or when we sent them their galleries of images didn’t want any of the images with themselves in them,” the Hobbs sisters explain to Babble. “This just breaks my heart … we mamas are the centre of our kids’ whole universe — we’re their mothers — and that in itself is incredibly beautiful and definitely worthy of being documented and treasured.”
So the Hobbs women decided to start their own series dedicated to capturing the beauty of mothers on camera. “We set out to photograph real women and their children to push back against this era of fad diets and air brushing to show what real moms look like and hopefully make a little bit of difference, no matter how small,” they explain.
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Image Source: Hobbs Photography
When they initially put a call out on their Facebook page to gauge interest, Aimee says that they were a bit surprised to see how willing women were to be photographed.
“This year, our spaces filled within one hour which I think is a huge testament to how powerfully women relate to this idea,” she says. “They’ve had enough of being told they’re not enough. They don’t believe it anymore and they definitely want a different experience for their own children.”
Jenna and Aimee believe that labeling what is “beautiful” about a woman’s body is damaging, because it doesn’t usually include the physical ways that motherhood can change our bodies. “The reality is that a lot (I’ve read that it’s around 90%) of women get stretch marks through pregnancy, yet I have never seen one pregnancy related magazine showing so much as a hint of a stretch mark on a cover,” notes Aimee. “Of course that is going to have an impact on women.”
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Image Source: Hobbs Photography
Jenna agrees.
“I think the big myth is that society, from when we were little girls, put labels on what is beautiful and what we should strive for,” she says. “After we have babies our bodies just don’t look the same. We are often shamed into hiding what isn’t consider ‘typical beauty’ — stretch marks, lumps, bumps, curves and scars. It’s a myth that this is not beautiful. These mothers are beautiful and we just want to show them that.”
Image Source: Hobbs Photography
And the changes of motherhood aren’t always physical. Jenna tells the story of one mother who felt like she couldn’t participate in the project because she didn’t have any scars, excess baby weight, stretch marks or any other physical sign that she had given birth.
“I felt the same way four years ago when we first started the project,” explains Jenna. “However I was a mother, she is a mother. The effects of motherhood and childbirth are not always physical. She and I deserved to be a part of the project because we are mothers and we are beautiful in our own way.”
Image Source: Hobbs Photography
The physical changes are only one aspect, Aimee goes on to explain, and their photo series aims to capture the entire transformative experience of motherhood. “Year after year, it’s an affirmation that in many ways we are all the same and we’re not as alone in this journey as we sometimes feel,” she says.
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Image Source: Hobbs Photography
Despite their own journeys capturing “A Mother’s Beauty” behind the camera, Aimee and Jenna aren’t immune to their own body-image issues.
“After one and two kids I didn’t have much traces of childbirth or motherhood,” says Jenna. “However I still struggled with body issues — being flat chested and [having] wrinkles. After having twins, my third and my fourth, my body is not the same as it used to be, however I am so much more accepting of my body. I love my body and I think I am beautiful.”
Aimee, meanwhile, was a self-described “total gym rat” before having kids. “I assumed I would get pregnant and just keep up my usual routine for most of my pregnancy, have my baby and resume life as normal,” she says, followed by a hearty LOL.
“They say life gives you what you need and pregnancy was a big eye-opener for me. I had brutal ‘morning sickness’ that lasted all day everyday and could only be combated by keeping my stomach mostly full and avoiding any kind of smells. I felt like I was not in control of my body and couldn’t do so many of the activities I loved so much. However, I still thought I would have my baby and life would resume and things would get back to normal. It was a rude awakening. My boobs were three times the size of my baby’s head and I didn’t just bounce back despite resuming exercise. When I got pregnant with my second, I really began to appreciate my body and what it was capable of. Is my body the same as it was prior to my boys being born? Absolutely not. But, I love my body more now than ever.”
In the end, the sisters say that their goal is to showcase real women and their real stories.
“There is beauty in stories, stories that all of us carry with us everyday,” says Jenna. “Beauty is not a one size fits all thing — it is multifaceted and can be found everywhere. There is nothing more beautiful than a mother loving her child.”
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Image Source: Hobbs Photography
“A Mother’s Beauty,” say these sisters, comes from the fact that motherhood, in itself, is a beautiful experience.
“Creating a human being. It and it happens every single day,” says Jenna. “How we grow so big and provide everything this baby needs. Then produce milk. Then deliver. [It’s] amazing what a woman’s body [can do].”
Image Source: Hobbs Photography
“The whole act of growing a human is simply amazing and almost beyond comprehension,” echoes Aimee. “An everyday miracle that transcends age, ethnicity, and social class and provides a common thread that binds us all.”
Image Source: Hobbs Photography
The sisters say that they feel grateful to see the mothers they photograph open their eyes to their own true beauty.
“Seeing themselves not look like the cover of the magazine, but loving themselves [is] such a good feeling,” says Jenna.
Image Source: Hobbs Photography
The sisters are planning to put out their next call for mothers in the next week and they are hoping to represent an even more diverse group of mothers. “We would LOVE to diversify our sessions,” says Aimee.
For information on A Mother’s Beauty, visit their Facebook page.
Thanks to one generous donation, 89 students and their __parents no longer have to worry about their overdue lunch balances.
Jerry Fenton, owner of the Arrowhead Motel, donated about $700 to Grimes Elementary School in Burlington, Iowa, the same school he attended as a child.
“I find it hard to believe that in this day and age there are kids that go hungry, it’s just unfathomable in this day and age,” he told WQAD.
The overdue lunch balance was $458.63 at the time of the donation, so the extra funds will go towards future balances as well.
He shared his good deed on his Facebook page about a week ago, and has received 2.4K likes, over 600 shares, and almost 200 comments. But he didn’t do it to attract attention. “It struck me as something nice to do. I didn’t do it for any reason other than for myself,” he told The Des Moines Register.
Fenton received overwhelmingly positive comments on the post supporting his good deed:
“How awesome! Thank you so much for your kindness. No kid should have to stress about their school lunch account. Unfortunately though it happens daily!” wrote John Jaimee Sparrow.
“Always knew you had it in you. Keep paying it forward. Others may not catch on, but you will always feel love in your heart!!” Cindy K. DiPrima commented.
Fenton said that he was inspired to help out the school when he saw a Facebook post about a young boy who asked his mom for two lunches so he could give one to his friend, whose single mom had lost her job.
These kinds of donations are “extremely rare,” Alan Mehaffy, food service director for the school district, told The Des Moines Register.
Many of the students don’t even know that their lunch accounts are overdrawn, Mehaffy explained. The __parents receive a letter directly from the school, which can definitely cause tension at home. But thanks to Fenton’s donation, students won’t have to worry about their lunch balances, and they might not ever learn why.
“Now it’s your turn to do something good for your fellow man,” Fenton wrote. And we couldn’t agree more.
