Jarrod Partridge

US public schools carried an estimated $271.6 million in unpaid student meal debt after the 2024-25 school year, and 92% of districts that don’t serve free meals to everyone reported some unpaid balance. Only 24 states plus Washington, D.C. have laws banning lunch shaming; in the other 26 states, a school can still legally stamp […]

The American Academy of Pediatrics released its own 2026 childhood immunization schedule this month, and for the first time in decades it does not match the CDC’s. The AAP schedule keeps protection against 18 diseases, including flu, RSV, hepatitis A and B, meningococcal disease, and rotavirus, all of which the CDC dropped or narrowed for

Apple’s iOS 27 update, released this week, blocks gore and violent content in Messages and live FaceTime calls, not just nudity. A new “Ask to Browse” setting requires parental approval before a child under 13 can open any website in Safari for the first time. The American Academy of Pediatrics helped shape the new age-based

U.S. measles cases have topped 3,100 this year, more than all of 2025 combined, while CDC data shows kindergarten vaccination rates continuing to slide below the level needed for herd immunity. Vaccine exemption requests for kindergartners rose to 4.2 percent this year, up from 3.6 percent the year before, even as flu, COVID, and RSV

The Baby Safety Alliance has launched a national campaign called “Before You Try, Verify” after watching viral baby hacks spread faster than the safety facts behind them. The group’s three-step check, pause, verify with a trusted source, and use the product as intended, applies to almost anything a parent sees trending on social media. Roughly

A new analysis of more than 50,000 U.S. children and teens found that four or more hours of daily screen time was linked to sharply higher rates of anxiety, depression, and ADHD. Physical activity turned out to be the biggest buffer in the data, accounting for close to 40 percent of the link between screen

A new review of 1.9 million people found that people with ADHD are almost 50 percent more likely to have gastrointestinal symptoms than people without it. Constipation is nearly twice as common in people with ADHD, and irritable bowel syndrome is 58 percent more common. Researchers say gut complaints are easy to miss in a

California just signed the country’s toughest law on AI companion chatbots, named after a 16-year-old who died after months of conversations with a chatbot that validated his suicidal thoughts. The same package bans social media platforms from giving kids under 16 autoplay and algorithm-driven feeds built on their history and profile. The rules apply to

A candy company just recalled 2.3 million liquid candy bottles after regulators found the rolling ball on top can pop off and choke a child. A separate recall pulled nearly 180,000 finger light toys off shelves: kids can pry open the case and reach the button batteries inside. Neither company has reported an injury yet,

Parents who have a second child consistently describe doing less scheduling, less second-guessing, and less structured stimulation than they did the first time, without their older child appearing worse off for it. Self-compassion researchers find that mothers who let go of rigid first-time parenting rules report better postpartum well-being, not worse outcomes for their children.

A new study found GLP-1 prescriptions for children ages 8 to 11 with obesity rose from 0.03 percent in 2019 to 9.3 percent by June 2026, a jump researchers describe as more than 300-fold. 94 percent of the children prescribed the drugs had severe obesity, and about 65 percent already had a related condition such

The CPSC has recalled or issued warnings on high chairs from Harppa, Bicystar, Babimoni, Rotinyard, MJKSARE, Funlio, Costway and Graco through 2026, citing missing restraints and gaps that can trap a child’s head. Two defects keep showing up: chairs sold without permanently attached crotch and waist restraints, and openings between the tray and seat that

A Virginia mother, Karyann Parkinson, was convicted of a misdemeanor after she let her 5-year-old son walk two streets alone to a pond in their gated neighborhood. Virginia passed a “reasonable childhood independence” law in 2023 that says letting a mature child walk somewhere alone on their own isn’t neglect. Parkinson believes the delinquency charge

A viral Instagram thread called “Oreogate,” about one mom asking other parents to stop packing Oreos in their kids’ lunches, has all the marks of a paid AI-generated ad rather than a real group chat. Real or not, millions of parents recognized the tension in it: what to do when your child sees a classmate

A new survey of 1,240 U.S. mothers found they check an average of 3.3 different sources before buying baby and parenting products, and most say that much research adds pressure instead of confidence. 58 percent of moms said information overload creates real pressure, and 39 percent said the sheer volume of conflicting advice is a

Sports medicine doctors say the first few weeks of a new fall season are the single most common time for young athletes to get hurt, more so than midseason or playoffs. Ankle sprains, muscle strains, growth plate injuries, and stress fractures spike when kids jump from a low-activity summer straight into daily practice. A preseason

An eight-year Finnish study of more than 260 kids found that more screen time in childhood tracked with better cognitive processing at age 15, not worse. Researchers say what a child does on a screen appears to matter more than how many minutes they spend on it. Girls in the study got a working-memory boost

The Country's Biggest School District Just Hit Pause on AI. Here's What Changes for Your Kid. If your child attends public school in New York City, or if your district is watching NYC the way it watched NYC on cell phone bans two years ago, this policy is worth understanding now rather than after your

The Chart Isn't the Point. The System Behind It Is. A chore chart with dollar signs next to each task looks simple enough to draw on a napkin, and plenty of parents do exactly that, then wonder why the enthusiasm dies out after two weeks. The chart itself rarely fails. What fails is a system

The Fix Isn't a Longer Activity List. It's a Different Question. Your 12-year-old has said "I'm bored" four times before lunch, and every suggestion you offer gets shot down. A bike ride, a book, a puzzle, all rejected within seconds. It's a familiar loop for parents of tweens: you offer, they refuse, you offer something