This is the question being considered by the teachers' union in England. Standardized testing has being debated heavily in the United States but the possibility of boycotting them is decidedly a Britsh solution. The thought is that if enough children don't take the test, then the results couldn't be considered valid. The union is currently considering asking parents to hold their children out during the testing. Read more here.

(Tip: You could used this story with 4th and 5th graders to discuss whether civil disobedience is ever acceptable. The union is, after all, asking parents to use their children as "chips" in their battle with their government.)

Sue Shellenbarger, the Work & Family Columnist for the Wall Street Journal had an article last week commenting on the practice of parents sedating their kids with over the counter antihistimines for long airplane trips. The news this week is in her latest column which states (here http://online.wsj.com/article/SB114610352223637228.html?mod=todays_us_personal_journal for a fee) that 2-to-1 readers supported parents who do this.

Now in the interests of full disclosure I can recall using Benedryl on my then 2 year old first born Christopher (he's now 20 and a High School Valadectorian Freshman at the Universtity of Minnesota). But what Sue says this week is really quite good. She suggests ALTERNATIVES:

1.  Time flights to coincide with a child's sleep patterns.

2.  Buy a seat for the baby.

3.  Don't overdo medication–of course that goes without saying!

4.  Ease Ear Pain

5.  Keep a Sense of Humor!

Good stuff from a wonderful columnist that consistently has applied good advice for parents!

SmartWear Technologies LLC in San Diego, which uses the "radio frequency identification" technology that Wal-Mart Stores Inc. relies on to manage its inventory and that cities deploy to read water meters wirelessly, plans in the next few months to begin selling RFID tags that can be sewn into children's clothing or embedded into a wristband. Using a "reader," parents can keep track of their children's movements as much as 600 feet away; the whole package costs $260.

This may be a reaction of parents to MySpace.com to get control of our kids lives. Or should we use this at church instead of pagers and name tags? What about Day Camp?

Visit www.nintendo.com and click on the video for Nintendo's new Wii console. Orginally named "Revolution", Nintendo's latest brand emphasizes the themes of connectedness and team that characterize the Millenial Generation. Be sure to read Nintendo's explanation about the brand. This new console appears to be wired to support online gaming. So what is Nintendo selling?

Community.

Here's a pair of leadership Podcasts for your Ipod…

The Catalyst (A Christian Leadership Conference for Next Generation Leaders); and the Leading Edge (Craig Jutila's leadership/children's minsitry training).

Just open itunes, visit the "Podcast" page, and enter "Catalyst" or "Leading Edge" in the search feature.

You'll have free, high quality training delivered to mp3 player for your workouts, car, or for when you are mowing the yard.

USA TODAY Bedtime rituals are believed to provide children with needed structure and can reduce those power struggles that often come with trying to get children to bed on time.

USA TODAY reports a new study that claims the mere prescense of an older sibling can provide a bad influence on the younger siblings. Older siblings can expose their younger brothers and sisters to inappropriate media, negative friends, and illicts substances reports the study.

What is behind the split decisions that we make all the time? What mental processes go behind our first impressions and our snap judgments?

 Questions for children's ministers: — How can "thin slicing" get in the way of our abililty to truly welcome visitors or identity potential volunteers? — What criteria can you use to accurately evaluate the health of a classroom in seconds? Smiling children? Noise Level? The presence of discussion?

There's a great article in the Wall Street Journal (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB114548007541530338.html?mod=todays_us_the_journal_report) correlating the volunteers who are older with better health! But it also makes a point of saying that too many older volunteers are stuck in really lousy positions (which is idiotic considering their huge experience and potential contribution):

The hard work could pay off in more ways than you think. A two-year study of 128 volunteers between the ages of 60 and 86, who were working with children in Baltimore schools, found that the volunteers — when compared with a control group — were in better health, burned more calories each week, watched less TV and reported having more people in their social networks.

WANT TO HELP?

If you're seeking ideas about volunteer work, try these groups and Web sites

• United Way (unitedway.org) Click on the "Volunteer" button to find positions in your area.
 
• Volunteer Match (volunteermatch.org) A popular Web site that lists thousands of ways to volunteer.
 
• Hands On Network (handsonnetwork.org) Click on "Volunteers" for links to local groups with volunteer opportunities
 
• Next Chapter Initiative (civicventures.org/nextchapter) A directory of Next Chapter centers across the country, many of which offer retirees guidance on volunteering.
 
• Newcomers Clubs (newcomersclub.com) Newcomers clubs often invite guest speakers from nonprofit groups.
 
• RespectAbility Initiative (respectability.org) This initiative is evaluating nonprofit groups that work well with older volunteers.
 

Source: WSJ reporting

There's a great article in tomorrow's Wall Street Journal ("Disney Races To Get Boys Hooked on Cars" http://online.wsj.com/article/SB114583179646733591.html?mod=todays_us_marketplace, for a fee) about how many of the movies this summer (from the latest Superman and Pirates of the Carribean movies) appeal directly to Boys ages 3 – 8 (7 – 11 for their interactive games). John Lassiter, the former Director of Animation at Pixar (now Disney) makes a case for preference for boys based on Disney's long history of appealing to girls. Hey, I say, it's about time! He notes that he got the idea for Toy Story by watching a boy grasping a "Woody" doll.

"It hit me that this character wasn't mine anymore. It belonged to that kid," Mr. Lasseter says. "In every movie now, I think of that little boy and what that character meant to him."

Great idea Huh! Ever since Larry hit us with the viewing trends of kids last week (and my staff just ate it up) I've been thinking how kids both boys and girls view their experience in our church! Do we see kids as a monolith or can we actually separate them in order to meet ALL our children's needs!

One interesting point about the movie "Cars" is the appeal of the main character "Lightning McQueen" but Lassiter thinks that boys will love the goofy and dirty tow truck "Mater".

 By the way, Thanks Larry for the link to the book on customer service by Disney! They still have it in terms of appeal to families and this book will be on my list of staff must-reads!