Kids

We'd be a better country if adults stopped hitting kids, and despite what the cynics and hard-heads say, we're already on the way. A comprehensive national report issued in February found a significant and unprecedented drop in child abuse since 1993. The main reason cited was greater awareness and public intolerance of the problem. More people are paying attention. Social workers, cops, teachers, principals, doctors, nurses and daycare workers have all been trained to recognize abuse and report it. More people are speaking up. More people are getting the message: Stop hitting kids.

Now that August has arrived, I'm starting to get the kids ready for going back to school. I'm trying to get them to bed earlier. I'm nagging them to finish their summer reading assignments. And I have the 11-year-old practicing his multiplication and division. The kids are whining that I'm being too mean, but they don't know how easy they have it. I read a recent report from the National Retail Federation that says the average 13-to-17-year old will spend $36.48 on pens, papers, lunch boxes, etc. as they get ready for school.

Despite Tuesday's searing heat and humidity, Howard County police officers spent the day outside, bringing a trailer full of games and activities to the first of five neighborhoods where kids out of school want something fun to do. The county police helicopter and the department's armored car were on display as hot dogs and hamburgers cooked on a grill behind Stonehouse, the Long Reach community center, though few neighborhood kids showed up...

Even before the ink dried on the six-year contract extension Nick Markakis signed with the Orioles in January 2009, the budding star right fielder vowed that he would make as big an impact off the field as on it. Four months later, Markakis and his wife, Christina, announced the formation of a nonprofit organization called The Right Side Foundation, whose mission was to improve the lives of distressed children throughout Maryland. In just six months, the Markakises have hosted children from the Ronald McDonald House on a trip to the ESPN Zone and aquarium, led a group from the Living Classrooms Foundation on tours of Camden Yards and the Sports Legends Museum, and organized a day at the Ravens practice facility for patients from the Mt. Washington Pediatric Hospital.

It's the final week of summer vacation for many kids, including my boys. I've been trying to get them on schedule that at least resembles the East Coast time zone, but it's been hard. I'd like for the tween to be in bed by 10 and the teen in bed by 11, but both are still staying up until midnight or later. Even worse, I fear, is that they have grown accustomed to sleeping until noon. A friend with boys almost the same age as mine has a different philosophy. She's been letting the boys sleep late as a final indulgence of the summer vacation.

I post a lot of pictures of my kids on social media. I know it's probably too much, but it's like I can't help myself. Hopefully I haven't ended up on stfuparents.com or anything, but you never know. That said, there's now a way for my overburdened friends and contacts to de-baby their newsfeeds: Unbaby.me . A couple of dudes built an extension for Chrome that replaces the baby pictures in your Facebook feed with "awesome stuff": default is cat pictures, but there are other options, too. Now I can spread the word and feel less bad about the whole situation.

A friend of mine who used to work for another airline likes to make snide comments when I say something about flying Southwest, referring to their seating policy as "cattle call. " But after flying without the kids this past weekend -- and preparing to fly with them in a few weeks -- I made some observations (purely unscientific, of course) and decided that I much prefer flying with open seating when I've got the kids. Here's my psychoanalysis of the situation. As a parent flying with kids, I feel it's my responsibility to get checked in as soon as possible, so I can get us on the plane as quickly as possible so that our fellow passengers can decide for themselves whether they want to sit by us. (Since Southwest does family boarding after the A group, I endeavor to be as early in the A group as possible.)

There's this thing kids have been doing in the neighborhood lately. I've noticed it at my business, I've noticed it when I'm shopping at other businesses in the neighborhood. I've noticed it when I've been trying to enjoy a meal at local eateries. You're inside minding your own business and then you hear this very loud "Boom" as a pack of kids walk by. What they have just done is hit the front window as hard as they can, I assume because they think it's funny. I also assume it's because they aren't getting enough attention at home.

When letter writer Susan Brown turns 75, sells her family home and moves to a quiet retirement area, she will be better equipped to opine whether or not she thinks a 700-seat elementary school is appropriate in her backyard ("Mays Chapel school would be an asset to the area," March 11). If she is like the several thousand people who actually live here and have signed the petition to stop the building, she quite possibly would even join our protest. The planned unit development to which she refers was signed many years ago, before Mays Chapel North became an area to retire to after you sold your family home.

In sport, fittingly enough, there are two competing schools of thought on the nature of athletic competition. "Winning isn't everything, it's the only thing," is the credo of one of the schools of thought. "It's not whether you win or lose, but how you play the game," is the noble proclamation of the other. It's possible to make a credible argument that either sentiment is at the heart of what makes physical competition such a vital part of what it means to be human. Indeed, it is possible to conclude that the ideal of winning doesn't necessarily mean running faster, jumping higher or scoring more points against a worthy opponent, but that winning is simply the act of performing at the highest level possible.