Imagine Learning has released a significant upgrade to Bookster™, an interactive reading app for kids. The popular app was designed to entertain young readers while helping them develop reading skills. The app now features a bookshelf with eight new books and is available for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch, as well as Android devices.
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The Consumer Product Safety Commission has acted upon this disturbing report about a child’s death which has been caused by window blinds. The institution, according to this New York Times article, is asking manufacturers “to devise a way to eliminate the risks from window cords or perhaps face mandatory regulations.”

It was apparently discovered that these manufacturers do not put safety as its main priority in the beginning. But because of the incident that left a 2 year old child hanging from the window blinds, they are now also taking action and have promised to fix this design flaw. Although a representative said that it may be unrealistic to expect it all from the side of the manufacturers, implying that it’s also the parents’ responsibility to make sure to take precautions especially around kids since window blinds are not meant for children to play with.

Still, there is a need to set up new regulations regarding this. And there is an ongoing debate between manufacturers and parents, as well.

This piece from the New York Times is actually quite telling, as a solution has already existed even before.

What makes the debate over window blinds so vexing is that a solution has been available for several decades: cordless blinds. But cordless blinds are more difficult to manufacture than corded blinds, and can cost considerably more in stores, by some estimates, twice as much.

In an interview, Ms. Tenenbaum said cordless blinds were part of the solution. But the additional cost, she said, had prompted her to push manufacturers to find cheaper alternatives, too, like retractable cords or cords that are covered and therefore inaccessible to children.

Ralph J. Vasami, executive director of the Window Covering Manufacturers Association, said it was unrealistic to expect the industry to eliminate every possible hazard. Window blinds are not children’s products, he said, nor are they defective. His trade group urges parents of young children to install cordless shades.

“The objective is to minimize the hazard as much as possible,” said Mr. Vasami. “I don’t know if you have it in your power to eliminate every hazard for every product.”

More on this here.

Pediatricians are warning parents about an alarming rate of soda can ‘stay tabs’ being swallowed by children.  While there was a replacement due to kids removing the older version and putting them in their soda as to not litter, it seems that the new version isn’t much safer.

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Image courtesy of Life123.com

The parenting column in the New York Times today discusses the problem of kids and stealing.  Is it a normal phase kids go through, o r does it presage issues of character or behavior that parents need to worry about?  I remember being about 5 years old and seeing a candy bar that had fallen underneath the display case in the grocery store.  I somehow got it into my head that those fallen candy bars were free, so I took it.  Of course, a few minutes later, when my mom found out, I was marched back into the store, and made to tell the manager what I had done and to give the candy bar back.  The thing was, I didn’t think I was stealing, I just thought those were free candy bars.

Apparently that sort of thing is pretty normal, according to pediatrician Perri Klass’s article.  Different things are going on with kids at different ages, though.  For a toddler, boundaries have to come from the outside, because they aren’t able to set them on the inside.  A toddler’s entire thought process is “I see it, I want it, I take it, it’s mine.”  Toddlers have to be taught–patiently and consistently–that not everything they see or want is theirs.

Klass then goes on to talk about kids who are a little older–old enough to know that what they’re doing is wrong and to try to cover it up by lying or hiding.  These kids are testing, she says.  They want to be caught.  They need to be caught.  She quotes Dr. Barbara  Howard of Johns Hopkins, who says, “Kids are trying to find out what happens if you get caught, and one of the biggest problems is if you don’t catch them. They’re trying to find out what the rules are, and if nobody catches them and says, ‘That’s wrong, you have to give that back or pay for it,’ they don’t get a sense of being properly supervised.”

So if stealing is a fairly normal developmental phase, are there times when parents should be concerned about stealing?  Yes.  When a child is stealing as a means of acting out, he may need help dealing with the underlying issue.  Stealing something of a sibling’s or classmate’s could indicate self-esteem problems or underlying resentments that must be addressed.  In those cases, stealing is only a symptom.

For the most part, stealing needs to be dealt with gently but firmly, with boundaries set and reiterated and consequences immediate and consistent.  But pay close attention; if your child needs extra help dealing with some kind of emotional problem, it’s your job to notice that, too.