FD.COM WILL RELEASE RESULTS OF A SIMILAR SURVEY NEXT WEEK, FINDING THAT DAUGHTERS WHO STRONGLY DISAPPROVE OF THEIR PARENTS HAVING SEX ARE LESS LIKELY THAN OTHERS TO MAKE IT TO ADOLESCENCE

Today's Science Times highlight: "A new study has found that adolescent girls who have good grades and girls who perceive that their parents strongly disapprove of their having sex are less likely than others to contract sexually transmitted diseases by the time they reach young adulthood."

Which is, of course, good news. On the other hand, "The predictors did not apply to boys," who maintained an interest in nailing anything that moves no matter what their parents told them.

IT TAKES A TOUGH MAN TO MAKE A TENDER CHILD

The National Fatherhood Initiative this week is sharing excerpts from a book by Chik-Fil-A founder S. Truett Cathy, "It's Better to Build Boys Than Mend Men." In the excerpt, Cathy advises parents to teach respect in their children, promote trust, develop their common sense, and help them establish "A Good Name":

Children and teenagers seek an identity, a name, larger than themselves to call their own--a family, a peer group, a troop, a team, a company--and they adapt their behavior to fit the group. Dads, model integrity and humility to your children. By doing so, they will try to model your behavior in their relationships--producing the fruit of a "good name."

The sentiment is valid, but we're not sure how many folks are going to take advice about producing a good name from "Mr. Cathy," the guy who came up with "Chik-Fil-A."

ALSO, THE PONTIFF SAID, THE BOOKS ARE TOO FREAKIN' LONG

Lining up to buy the new Harry Potter book this weekend? Just don't do it on the way to church. The new Pope, Benedict, offered his judgment on J. K. Rowling's series a couple of years back:

those are subtle seductions, which act unnoticed and by this deeply distort Christianity in the soul, before it can grow properly ....

Although Benedict told a correspondent, "I can gladly allow you to refer to my judgment about Harry Potter," somehow we don't think his review is going on the dust jacket.

OUR LONG NATIONAL NIGHTMARE IS OVER. BUGS BUNNY HAS PUPILS AGAIN

Warner Brothers went back to the drawing board to redesign the characters in its upcoming bastardization of the venerable Looney Tunes franchise, "Loonatics Unleashed." As we've discussed before, the beloved characters - Bugs, Daffy, Taz, Wile E., and Road Runner - will appear in the new show as superheroes defending the Earth in the year 2772. The initial designs were so scary, they inspired an online protest which appears to have convinced the WB to alter the characters before the show debuts to mostly negative reviews this fall.

But let's leave the last word on this sorry incident to one of the WB's own senior executives:

"I think there was a misunderstanding," said Betsy McGowen, the senior vice president and general manager of Kids' WB. "They thought we were updating and changing the original Looney Tunes. We love Looney Tunes the way they are." She added: "We always thought of these as new and different characters. We always thought about this as an extension of the exciting brand, not a replacement. O, my dark master, I have failed you! Your reign on earth shall not come in this millennium! As I drive this dagger into my heart, my liege, forgive me! As I return to you in the netherword, forgive me!"

 

BUT WE WOULDN'T WANT TO HAVE HAD OUR SECOND-GRADE TEACHER TWO YEARS IN A ROW. SHE TOLD US WE WERE "SING-SONGY" WHEN WE READ ALOUD, AND MADE US CRY

Looping is on the rise in schools across the country. No, teachers aren't playing the same Discovery Channel videos in class over and over again so they can grab a smoke. They're staying with the same group of kids for two years, to boost continuity, reduce review time, ease fall transitions, and offer better-targeted help to struggling students. It sounds like a great idea to us, except for the obvious risk of kids being stuck with a subpar teacher for two years.

July 12, 2005 | Permalink | Subscribe to RSS

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