Radio, books, TV, school

Has "where did you learn that?!" been one of your lines to your kids/nephew/niece/little brother/little sister/grandchild? Some parents actually wonder where their children pick up all sorts of ideas or irreverent new words that they (the parents) had no way of teaching the little ones. These days, a parent or guardian meets more and bigger challenges in guiding those under his/her care, especially the ones with very impressionable minds. The environment has become much more aggressive, and what your kid learns from it is not always sound.

What do you do? Be a more hands-on parent! Get more involved in your kids' everyday lives! Network with like-minded parents and families and help each other provide a better environment for young people (starting with your own). Be one step ahead (better if it's several steps ahead)! Here are some clues as to how erroneous ideas are making their way into the young ones' psyche:

From porn club to school board
A man who managed a sexually explicit “adult” club would make a fine school board president, according to the Asbury Park Board of Education (APBE) in New Jersey.
Concerned Women for America

Dr. Laura
Dr. Laura loudly pronounced, "This bastard! That's what he is, I'm sorry, but he's a bastard!" Okay, so I agree with her sentiments, but don't really want my 4-year-old to learn that word just yet. I quickly changed the station and glanced in the backseat to see if my daughter was paying attention.
A family runs through it

Novelists pen risque tales for teen, tween readers
Publishers peddle mature themes to adolescents with trashy books on the young, rich and racy
The Detroit News

And here, the good news -- one concrete way you can begin on your quest for a better relationship with your children and a happier, healthier atmosphere in the home:

A television in your child's bedroom? Just say 'no'
Isn't it satisfying when what passes for petty parental prejudice is vindicated by research? After enduring years of argument about our refusal to let our children have televisions in their bedrooms, I was able to flash a Times headline to them on Tuesday: “Take TV out of child’s bedroom, parents are told.”
The London Times