Parents

A prominent Idaho businessman has lost his job after allegedly slapping a toddler on a plane when the child wouldn't stop crying. While many parents and fliers can agree that "Toddlers on a Plane" would be a terrifying premise for a film, most of us can figure out that hitting a stranger's child is not OK. But what steps can parents take to lessen their children's impact on other passengers? Some people swear by slipping kids a little Benadryl , but I've never gone this route.

In response to the article about the parents protesting the arrest and handcuffing of their children ("Four children arrested, handcuffed after playground fight," March 30), I think that the parents should worry more about the seriousness of what those "children" did. They held one child's head underwater? Forced one to lie on the railroad tracks? These are violent actions from young hoodlums in the making. They should worry more about getting these kids the help they need to allow them to grow into decent citizens.

A s a financial planner, Christopher Brown's job is helping clients prepare to pay for retirement, college for their kids and the unexpected. But even he was caught off-guard earlier this year when his 75-year-old father was hospitalized. The elder Brown has been the caregiver for his 80-year-old wife, who has osteoporosis. Suddenly, the son was dealing with his parents' financial and health care issues, while raising his own family and running his Rockville business. "When this happened to me, my aunt said, 'Welcome to the sandwich generation.

The parents of a 23-month-old Howard County girl who died of heat stroke after being left in the family car for several hours on June 25 will not be prosecuted, Howard County State's Attorney Dario Broccolino said Wednesday. Broccolino said that his office had recommended that the parents be charged with involuntary manslaughter and reckless endangerment, but that the grand jury declined to indict the Ellicott City couple, whose names have not been made public. According to police, "a change in routine" led to some miscommunication between the parents about who was taking the toddler to day care.

Parents who think that taking the keys of teenagers that they are allowing to drink in their homes solves their problems are just kidding themselves ( "Parents that party," Dec. 15). First, they are breaking the law. Second, if one of the "safe" teenagers manages to get his or her keys and leaves (or has a second set of keys) and gets into an accident and is hurt or hurts someone else, the parents will be on the wrong end of a huge lawsuit. Third, there is a likelihood of unwanted sexual advances, flaring tempers and many other problems associated with teenage drinking.

As physicians who treat overweight children in Maryland daily, we strongly support the views expressed by Horizon Foundation CEO Nikki Highsmith Vernick in her recent commentary on childhood obesity ("A healthier way to snack," May 15). We urge parents to speak with their pediatricians about healthy food and beverage options for their children. We further suggest that parents advocate for their child's school to provide healthy alternatives to sugary foods and beverages that are often found in vending machines and school cafeterias.

Now that the teachers have ratified their union contract that implements pay for performance ( "City teachers OK landmark pact," Nov. 18), what about the other two parties to the educational contract, the students and the parents? Where is the contract that would implement some form of punishment on the students that do not perform? Where is the contract that would penalize the parents if their darling sons and daughters do not do the assigned homework, disrupt classrooms, skip school, and do not put forth 110 percent effort to be educated?

As we watch rebellion roll through the Middle East and in Wisconsin — propelled by Facebook and Twitter — parents have to be wondering what their own kids are up to about now. Considering the amount of time our children spend on their social networks — and how removed those conversations are from our prying eyes — they could be fomenting revolution right under our noses and we, like the oppressive oligarchs teetering all...

Parents shouldn't try to shield their kids from the hard work of getting a good education by protesting the tediousness of math. Math is not just a bunch of abstract equations, it is the language we use to describe how things work. We are surrounded by systems that have inputs and outputs. Math is the only tool we have to understand them and describe how they work. Without math, kids would be thrown into a world with no skills to even appreciate, much less to understand, the complexities of what is going on around them.

I am sorry that Marta H. Mossburg and her family are leaving Butchers Hill in search of better schools for their kindergartner ("Bye-bye, Baltimore; we'll miss you, but it was time to go," July 18). Parents, before you leave Southeast Baltimore take a look at the innovative school in your own backyard! Archbishop Borders Catholic School is a dual-language, pre-K-to-8th grade school, moving in August to the Sacred Heart parish campus at Foster and Conkling streets. For less than $5,000 tuition per year, Ms. Mossburg's child could have joined the new model of Spanish-English immersion in a loving, orderly and enriching environment.