Web Marketers Cautioned The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) last week advised Internet site operators that they must obtain parental consent before collecting information from a minor and cautioned that using such information for other than the stated purposes is considered deceptive. The FTC’s action came in response to a call for protection of children’s privacy from the Center for Media Education, a nonprofit public interest group. According to the center, many sites offer prizes or free gifts in exchange for such personal data as a child’s name, e-mail address, and street address. They then send unsolicited e-mail advertising their products or sell the information to third parties. Express your view on the ParentTime bulletin boards. On Our Minds ...	Miscarriage Treatment Examined A treatment offered to some women who have a history of miscarriage may not be effective in some cases and might actually increase the risk of premature birth in others. A team of researchers, led by Dr. Carl Laskin, director of obstetric medicine at the University of Toronto, followed the pregnancies of 202 women with a history of miscarriage. Their study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, found that the women who took a combination of aspirin and the steroid prednisone did not successfully carry a baby in significantly greater numbers — 65 percent to 56 percent — than those who were given a placebo. Furthermore, about 62 percent of the treatment group gave birth prematurely, while just 12 percent of those in the placebo group did. Express your view on the ParentTime bulletin boards. Health Matters Bulletin Board
School Choice in Action When given the choice, most Michigan public school students opt to stay home. In their home school district, that is. Last year — the first year of open enrollment in the state — only 1 percent of students crossed district boundaries. While opponents of the program see the low numbers as reflecting lack of public support, proponents of school choice note that parents didn’t have much time to plan for a switch once the law was passed. The fact that transportation is not provided for students attending school outside their home districts was an added deterrent.	Smoking Breeds Bad Behavior Expectant mothers who smoke are much more likely to have a child who lies, cheats, steals, and sets fires before reaching puberty than women who don’t smoke while pregnant, according to a new study published in the Archives of General Psychiatry. Researchers, led by Lauren Wakschlag of the department of psychiatry at the University of Chicago, evaluated 177 boys between 7 and 12 years old who had been referred to a psychiatric clinic. Even when researchers took into account other risk factors, such as socioeconomic status and maternal use of alcohol during pregnancy, they found that the connection still held. Study authors point out that maternal smoking may have adverse affects on the developing fetus or may be characteristic of some other factor in the mothers that increased their child’s risk of behavioral problems. Express your view on the ParentTime bulletin boards. Child-Rearing & Development Bulletin Board
A Gem of a Recall Creative Products of Skokie, Illinois, is recalling about 28,000 toy jewelry sets that become choking hazards if they break. Three jewelry assortments are involved in the recall. One set contains four brown hair combs and a necklace with brown beads separated by black and white disks. Another set has a brown-bead bracelet with matching necklace; the beads are separated by bamboo-shaped pieces, and the center of each necklace and bracelet has black and brown triangle-shaped ornaments. The third set contains earrings, a necklace, and a bracelet that feature orange sunburst ornaments. The jewelry was sold at discount stores from August through November 1995 for about $1. Consumers should call Creative Products at 800/366-6686 for more information.	Go Overseas Without Leaving the House International field trips you can embark on from your living room. Dig up some dinosaur bones in Mongolia or paddle a canoe up the Amazon?á It’s easy to do with these cyber field trips.á We’ll steer your kids to some of the best ones going oná this summer.á And, the best part is that you won’t have to fill out a permission slip or pack a lunch!á Click here for the whole story. Software that Bugs You Backyard adventures with the help of some truly buggy software. Have some fun in your backyard with your kids and learn the difference between a praying mantis and a grasshopper at the same time. A look at some software that’s much, much more than just an insect guide, with features cartoons, puzzles, a painting program and so on. Click here for the whole story.