"Smartphones now have hundreds of applications meant to educate kids -- from graphic calculators to animation programs that teach spelling and phonics.

And while most public schools don't allow the devices because they're considered distractions -- and sometimes portable cheating tools -- some school districts have started to put the technology to use.

The key, educators say, is controlling the environment in which they are used.

In St. Mary's, Ohio, a school district of 2,300 students is continuing a pilot program where third-, fourth- and fifth-graders are assigned PDAs, or personal digital assistants, for use as a learning tool in the classroom, and at home. They use applications created by a company called Go Know! to draw pictures and create sketches, journal and write essays, said Kyle Menchhofer, the district's technology coordinator. Other applications create flash cards for spelling and math."

Discuss on Urban Baby: What do you think about schools adding smartphones and PDAs to their curriculum?

"I'm not sure if most parents who have children on the cusp of adulthood would willingly subject themselves to a performance of "Hair," where other children on the cusp of adulthood jump off the stage, run sweatily around the Broadway theater and dance in the faces of those unfortunate enough to have aisle seats.

I'm not even sure why my husband and I did it.

And yet, there we were the other night, enduring the dawning of the age of Aquarius, when suddenly my silenced cellphone started to buzz.

By the time the first act ended, I had three missed calls, two voice messages and a text message.

They all came from my 18-year-old daughter, Ella, who was home in Northern California. And they all concerned my 20-year-old daughter, Zoe, who was overseas working at a medical clinic in Haiti."

"A decade or two ago, life was simpler for teens who didn't like their looks. Girls pushed socks under their sweaters, and awkward, acne-faced boys hid behind shaggy bangs. And for better or worse, kids grew out of or adapted to their bodies. These days, more youngsters are altering the body parts that give them angst by going under the knife or laser or lipo tube to get the look they want.

According to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, 160,283 children 18 and under had cosmetic interventions in 2008. The figure was even higher in 2007, tallying 205,119, but industry experts say a slowing economy probably forced the numbers down in 2008. In 2000, the number was just 145,094."

The Miami Herald
June 3, 2009

"When Annamarie Saarinen needed to soothe her ailing daughter, she used a rattle -- downloaded to her iPhone.

Jeff Hilimire uses a white noise application on his phone to make shushing noises for his infant daughter. And Tracie Stier-Johnson lets her young daughters answer trivia questions on her phone while waiting in the doctor's office or at parent-teacher conferences.

'You can only play 'I Spy' so many times,'' said Stier-Johnson, 40, of Racine, Wis., whose daughters like the Who Wants to be a Millionaire? game she loaded on her iPhone.

Parents have handed their cellphones to children as distractions since they were invented, and toy versions tap into kids' love of pushing beeping buttons and playing with electronic gadgets like the ones their parents have."

Huffington Post
April 23, 2009

"Apple Inc. pulled a 99-cent iPhone game called "Baby Shaker" from its iTunes store Wednesday after its premise -- quiet a crying baby with a vigorous shake -- prompted outrage.

According to screen shots posted on several Web sites, "Baby Shaker" displayed black-and-white line drawings of a baby. The iTunes description included the line, "See how long you can endure his or her adorable cries before you just have to find a way to quiet the baby down!" Once the iPhone owner finishes shaking the device, the on-screen baby is depicted with large red X's over its eyes.

Public outcry ensued, with organizations including the National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome and the Sarah Jane Brain Foundation condemning Apple for approving the game's sale."

Ivanhoe
April 22, 2009

"Shoulder dystocia takes place when a baby gets stuck by the shoulders behind the mother's pelvic bone during delivery. This happens when a baby is already in the birth canal, so to ease the baby out, a doctor has to do immediate maneuvers. Shoulder dystocia is described in an American Family Physician research article as "one of the most frightening emergencies in the delivery room." Authors wrote, "Although many factors have been associated with shoulder dystocia, most cases occur with no warning." ...

Dr. Emily Hamilton of Montreal has developed an algorithm that, using multiple pieces of data about a pregnant mother and her baby, can calculate a probability of shoulder dystocia with injury occurring."