#kony2012: Anti-Joseph Kony campaign backfires

When non-profit Invisible Children launched a social media campaign to highlight atrocities committed in Uganda by the Lord’s Resistance Army and its leader Joseph Kony, they probably had no idea of the impact it would have. The campaign, featuring a slick 30-minute film, aimed to bring attention to Kony and the Lord’s Resistance Army’s practice of abducting children and forcing them to join the Lord’s Resistance Army army of child soldiers, went viral and was watched by 14 million people around the globe in just two days. But as well as bringing Kony’s alleged crimes into the spotlight, the campaign drew unwanted attention to Invisible Children itself. Just days after the campaign began, critics lambasted…

Was gun-toting dad’s Facebook rant justified?

When Tommy Jordan posted a YouTube video of him shooting up his daughter Hannah’s laptop with a .45 after she criticized her parents on Facebook, he had no idea it would go viral and spark a worldwide debate about tough-love and parenting. Tommy Jordan’s YouTube video Facebook Parenting: For the troubled teen had more than 22 million hits on Tuesday. It was posted last Wednesday and had already racked up 2 million views by Friday. In the video, Tommy Jordan sits in a chair holding a cigarette and a printout of his daughter’s Facebook message with a gun holstered by his hip. “Hannah, you were grounded for three months for doing something similar to this…

French parents are superior: ‘Bringing Up Bebe’ author

Author Pamela Druckerman claims French parents are superior in her new book, Bringing Up Bébé (entitled French Children Don’t Throw Food in the UK). As she explains in a piece for the Wall Street Journal, Druckerman believes French parents are more skilled at raising children because of their laid-back approach. While many Americans obsess over every aspect of their young children’s lives, French parents tend to give their kids more space, allowing them to explore and learn things on their own. This also opens up opportunities for more “adult time” among spouses. Teaching children patience is also paramount in French homes. For example, restrictions are placed on snacking, and meals are only provided at their…

Cross-dressing 19-year-old guilty of assaulting two girls

Nineteen-year-old English girl Gemma Barker disguised herself as three different boys to approach girls she liked, and had sexual encounters with them. Barker met the two victims at school two years ago, she first pretended to be a boy named Aaron, and approached a 16-year-old girl A. As Aaron she wore loose clothing and deliberately lowered her voice. Later, she pretended to be another boy called Conner, and met 15-year-old girl B through A.

School stops school buses, frisks students for missing fees

School officials at a Taichung high school stopped school buses and frisked students in an attempt to find NT$16,000 worth of winter session fees that had gone missing during lunch break. Some parents were offended that the school had treated their kids like thieves. They called Apple Action News, which did this report.

Elf on the Shelf all the rage for Christmas 2011

A doll and accompanying book called The Elf on the Shelf: A Christmas Tradition is rapidly becoming a seasonal favorite among American families. The rub goes: moms and dads shell out US$30 for the package, and hide the infant-sized elf in a different part of the house each day between Thanksgiving and Christmas for their children to find. The elf keeps careful watch over the little ones throughout the season, supposedly reporting any naughty behavior directly to Santa Claus. The Elf on the Shelf is the brainchild of Carol Aebersold and her two daughters, who self-published the book locally in Kennesaw, Georgia in 2005 under the label, Creatively Classic Activities and Books. Word slowly spread,…

NMA threatened over ‘Elf on the Shelf’ satire

On Dec. 12, Next Media Animation released a satirical animation about The Elf on the Shelf, a doll marketed by Georgia book publisher CCA and B. It got attention of the company’s lawyers, who sent a letter to NMA threatening legal action for alleged defamation and trademark infringement. “Elf on the Shelf all the rage for Christmas 2011″ drew upon a publicly expressed sentiment that the infant-sized elf doll — which, according to the accompanying storybook, keeps careful watch over a household on behalf of Santa Claus — is nothing more but a creepy way to coerce children into behaving and parents into buying Elf on the Shelf products. These ideas were taken to their…

Asian college admission strategy: Don’t check Asian

Asian-American students applying to elite colleges have a new strategy: Don’t check Asian. They believe that the college admission process disadvantages Asians overachievers. Some even say colleges set a ceiling on the percentage of Asians in the student population. Is this discrimination? A study on data from 1997 conducted by Princeton sociologist Thomas Espenshade calculates that an Asian student has to score 140 points higher on the SATs in order to have the same chance of admission as a white student. No wonder more and more Asians, especially mixed-raced Asians, are choosing not to identify as Asian on their college applications. But the question remains…why is it still OK to discriminate against Asians in college…