parenting

Estimates of the prevalence of childhood depression range from 1% to 2% of all children in the United States, and for adolescents this figure may be as high as 8%. While public awareness of this issue is growing, the long-term economic costs of childhood psychological trauma are largely unknown.

The fact that smoking has direct negative effects on health is well documented.  Smoking could also adversely impact the health of others in a family through substitution effects within a household’s expenditures.

As U.S. schools struggle with funding cuts and the requirements of the test-centered No Child Left Behind Act, music and other arts programs are often put on the chopping block. Because these courses are frequently seen as “impractical,” they’re often the first to be trimmed or eliminated altogether.

Millions of dollars of instructional videos for infants have been sold to hopeful parents in the past decade, many promising accelerated learning. While children may enjoy watching such products, are there any real educational benefits, or are they just “electronic babysitters”?

Since the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan and the 2003 start of the Iraq war, hundreds of thousands of U.S. soldiers have served increasingly long and difficult deployments overseas. Beyond the physical risks troops face, their absence can have significant negative impacts on family members.