The use of AI in education is uncharted territory. This legal case is becoming a catalyst for discussion about its use in schools.

As artificial intelligence (AI) companies rapidly release new models and major tech firms restructure to accelerate their initiatives, the debate over the use of AI in schools is intensifying.

A Massachusetts family is suing a teacher at Hingham High School, along with district faculty members, after the school claimed their son cheated when he utilized AI on a history project and dropped his grade on the assignment to a "D."

The family’s attorney argues the student had used AI similar to a Google search engine, and only in the outline stages. There remains an open dispute between the two parties as to what the school's AI policy is and whether it was breached. 

The incident brings attention to the use of AI in schools and what's acceptable.

The Kinders to College initiative by Federal Way Public Schools (FWPS), launched during the 2023–2024 academic year, aims to introduce college and career readiness to the youngest scholars in Federal Way. At the heart of the program, every kindergarten student can explore higher education by visiting a local Seattle college campus.

“I wanted to launch Kinders to College in FWPS because all scholars, from as early as kindergarten, should be aware of the college and career opportunities available to them,” stated Superintendent Dani Pfeiffer. “With repeated exposure to multiple post-secondary pathways, over time students will build an appetite for success,” she said, noting, “They’ll also know the avenues to take to get there.”

The program was part of a broader initiative that provides South King County students with college-related activities throughout the year. Devised as a component of Goal 5 of the district’s strategic plan, Persistence to Graduation: High School Graduation through Successful Transitions, the program aims to connect every student with successful transitions to prepare for post-secondary experiences.

As parents, we hold our children's hands as they navigate the world, hoping they will be safe, loved, and valued. We send them to school expecting a safe community to support their academic journey.

Nex Benedict, a 16-year-old non-binary student, attended Owasso High School in Oklahoma, where instead of being received by a safe and welcoming community, their family says they were relentlessly bullied for months over their gender identity.

On February 7, during an altercation with three other students in the bathroom, Benedict reportedly blacked out while they were beaten on the bathroom floor. They died the following day.

Nineteen days later, the Associated Press reports more than a dozen Owasso students walked out of class in protest. They say they want action against discrimination and bullying of transgender and nonbinary students. There have been vigils held in Oklahoma and across the country.

Season 6 of Love is Blind is currently airing, and it's been making headlines for a unique reason: it features the first single mom participant, Jessica Vestal. Early in the initial batch of released episodes, Jessica expressed her fear about revealing to the male contestants that she is a mother.

"I'm super nervous about how some of the guys are gonna receive that I have a child,” she shared with the group.

Co-host of the Netflix show, Vanessa Lachey, asked, “Do you think that that’s something that you’re going to wait to tell someone, or you think that you’re going to come out of the gate, you know, and be like, by the way, I have a kid?”

To that, Jessica responded, "I want to give people the chance to get to know me individually first, because even though I'm a mother, and it's the most important thing to me, it doesn't define me. Like, I feel like I'll just know when the time is right to tell somebody."

As the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) seeks to grow and improve maternal and infant health by connecting more people to the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, known as WIC, outreach has been stymied by a Congress that keeps kicking the funding can down the road in six-week increments.

“We’re in a bit of a dilemma where it’s difficult to grow if you don’t have the additional funds,” said USDA Deputy Under Secretary Stacy Dean to the Emerald. “Congress has given us the ability to spend more of last year’s money in the early part of the year, and that’s been very helpful. All states have the resources they need. But we can’t do that forever because we’re going to run out.”

Barbie Summer is about to become Barbie Fall, as this month Barbie recognizes Wilma Mankiller as the newest addition to the Inspiring Women series. In honor of Mankiller’s upcoming birthday on November 18, Barbie collaborated closely with Wilma's family, friends, and the Cherokee Nation on the doll's creation. Designed from an iconic photograph of Wilma taken by her husband Charlie Soap in 2005, the Wilma Mankiller Barbie doll holds a woven basket and wears a richly pigmented turquoise dress with ribbon striping that represents the four directions: north, south, east, and west.

“I am thrilled to see Wilma Mankiller as Barbie. Growing up in the 80’s my sisters and I were passionate about playing with Barbies and I could never have imagined that one day I could see Principal Chief Wilma Mankiller as Barbie,” said Colleen Echohawk, organizer and CEO of the Native-owned Eighth Generation. Echohawk reflected to Parents, “Principal Chief Mankiller is a role model and icon for ALL women and girls who believe that we can achieve greatness by seeing the humanity in every individual and opening the doors of opportunity.”

As Jews enter the first of the high holidays of Judaism, Rosh Hashanah, many prepare for the 10 Days of Repentance, or, Asseret Yemei HaTeshuvah. During these 10 days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, Jews reflect, atone, and practice teshuvah.

“The Hebrew term teshuva is a derivation of the Hebrew root for returning,” writes Samuel J. Levine, “highlighting the purpose and dynamics of a process through which humans are able to renounce and repair the improper actions that have led them astray, thereby returning to God and to their own true selves.”

Teshuvah is a comprehensive practice, not a general or vague quest for forgiveness from another. While I have certainly received a phone call in my past consisting of, “Hey, if I happened to harm you this past year, sorry about it!”, teshuvah is actually a full process of accountability. It calls for responsibility and commitment to change. To me, it is the work of transformative justice.

As the academic year kicks off, parents and guardians across Seattle fill out last-minute paperwork, pack backpacks and lunch sacks, and remind countless children to set out their clothes the night before. While adults nudge children and teenagers to grab a sweater on their way out the door, many can forget to actively check in and stay engaged with their kids’ mental health.

“Adults often have trouble understanding what students are going through,” said Natalya McConnell, executive board director of the Seattle Student Union and senior at Franklin High School. “We have never had such a widespread pandemic, and this has isolated a lot of students,” she continued, adding that many students are still in a state of crisis. That the past three years have been difficult for students to navigate is largely understood; Seattle recently approved a $4.5 million investment in the Student Mental Health Supports pilot.

Almost a quarter of Seattle parents are raising their children in co-parent or single-parent households, and the percentage of blended families nationwide is on the rise. While every household structure comes with unique challenges and struggles, some hit harder than others. Just financially, the median income for married couples with children under 18 in Seattle peaked at $237,300, but for single mothers, that number drops down to $58,600, well below a living wage in this city for an adult with children.

While information is not tracked on how many single-parent-led households are actively co-parenting, most parenting plans resulting from a divorce or separation in Washington involve shared custody agreements. Lucia Ramirez Levias, collaborative divorce lawyer and partner at DuBois Levias Law Group, said, “Our courts have generally looked at kids needing both parents in their lives, to the extent that those parents are fit and able to care for them.” The movement toward 50/50 parenting plans ensures dads are also recognized as valuable, important parents in kids’ lives.

I boarded the ferry with my son in my arms, crossing over the Puget Sound to where his father waited on the other side. After handing over our little one, I waited on the dock for the return ferry to begin loading. Back on the ferry, watching the shoreline grow smaller and smaller, I felt as though my heart and limbs were missing. My introduction to co-parenting was less conventional and rather cinematic.

In the beginning years of co-parenting, we all feel the loneliness and pain of not having our child with us every day. While the years have passed, and my son’s father and I have grown and evolved along the journey, I know firsthand just how heavy an emotional toll co-parenting can take on all.

Parents new to this world, are sharing powerful videos on TikTok conveying these challenges. One of the most immediate experiences a new co-parent has is coming home to silence.

A trending TikTok video posted by Max Areeg shows two parents preparing for their son's birthday. The couple in the video playfully blew up balloons, hung decorations together, and the video ends with one tossing a pillow at the other. If it wasn't spelled out, one would never know that the couple was in the middle of a divorce. Areeg is seen on her soon-to-be ex-husband's shoulders, rubbing balloons onto his hair to generate static electricity to cling the balloons to the ceiling. The laughter and fun times shown are certainly not the common narratives of modern divorce.

I can attest to the necessary ingredients of a successful co-parenting relationship, having co-parented for more than eight years. Co-parenting is always a shared journey, whether it is a 50/50 split, or like mine, more of an 85/15. Separated parents who still have to child-rear together need healthy communication, plenty of patience, and the establishment of clear boundaries.

Hate and bigotry apparently don't just trickle down, they can rise up as well. Tianna Bastien, a mom and TikTok-er under the handle @thecuratedlobe, lives just outside of Toronto. She recently shared with Parents that the ongoing escalation of anti-LGBTQIA+ legislation and the anti-gay climate rising in the states have had the impact of empowering bigoted voices and are increasing hateful anti-gay sentiments and rhetoric in Canada.

Bastien's newest TikTok features her children and a friend attending the Drag and Brunch show at CommunityResto. "I decided that the voiceover that I was going to do for the video was going to take a sarcastic tone to highlight how ridiculous people who are against drag queens are actually sounding."

The Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) held an emergency meeting Thursday, Feb 9, after receiving significant public blowback to their considerations of making students' menstrual cycle information mandatory on athlete eligibility paperwork. The FHSAA oversees interscholastic athletic programs across the state of Florida and had been considering adopting a form that would have made these previously optional questions mandatory.

The questions, masked under a concern for students' health, would have forced athletes to disclose personal, private medical information about whether the student had a menstrual cycle, when their first menstrual period was, the dates of their most recent period, and the number of periods they had in the previous 12 months. This data would have conceivably been accessible by coaches, school districts, and third-party digital platforms.

I am walking toward the tall wall of seemingly endless rows of barbed wire. I see each step of mine, the foot of a child, exposed, frail and swollen. My fingers graze the fence as I begin a frantic climb. Advancing upward, my hands are shaking as each new grasp cuts abrasions into my skin, widening and deepening with each fresh slice. My head gets light, and blood drips from my palms as I clamp down to muffle screams of pain. I hear shouting in the direction of the guard tower, followed by a gunshot. Then, another. My body freezes, my muscles are shocked. As I fall, everything turns black. Abruptly, I wake up. This is always where I wake up.

Today is International Holocaust Remembrance Day, memorialized as such by the United Nations General Assembly in 2005, approximately 24 years after I was born. Before 2005, I remembered the Holocaust in the ways many other Jews of my generation have; from recurring childhood dreams, to the shaking tattooed arms of elders, and comprehensive Hebrew school history lessons. Genocide was nothing one forgot — it was in your bones, in your body, and in your blood.

The type 2 diabetes drug, Ozempic, has become a household name for weight loss because of social media. Here's what you should know about this dangerous trend and example of toxic diet culture.

Social media trends come and go, and sadly, so do weight loss trends. Allied Market Research valued weight loss sales in 2019 at $192.2 billion, with projections set to reach $295.3 billion by 2027. The diabetic medication Ozempic, developed for the treatment of type 2 diabetes, is currently making headway in the weight loss category with an average retail price of over a $1,000 a month for the weekly injection.

Public policy and laws in the United States have not historically supported pregnant people or people who have recently given birth. Pregnant workers have never had the guarantee to be able to continue to earn income and have a healthy and safe pregnancy at the same time. This changed with the 117th Congress this past December 22, 2022 when the most racially and ethnically diverse Congressional body in history, a body made up of just over 25% of women with an additional 11 openly LGBTQIA+ members, made more political history.

Come June 2023, employers will now be required to grant reasonable accommodations for pregnant workers under the bipartisan Pregnant Workers Fairness (PWFA) and Providing Urgent Maternal Protections Acts (PUMP). Both acts were passed in the flurry of amendments to the $1.7 trillion omnibus bill at the end of last year, and are a huge victory for pregnant workers and families.

Jellyfish parenting is back in according to social media trends and is battling for top parenting style next to tiger and dolphin parents. So, what is a jellyfish parent?

Writer Emma Brockes calls the style "boneless, diaphanous and endlessly flexible." Kristene Geering, director of education at Parent Lab, describes it as "practicing the art of really tuning into your kid." The Internet warned me that jellyfish parenting is "too permissive" and can lead your confused children into nefarious activity and promiscuity. That's quite the range! So what does it mean to be a jellyfish parent?

For the first 3 years of my son's life, I lived in a rural area where community was hard to come by. Like many, I sought out connection with other new moms and parents online, from mom groups to focused mom pages that featured writer moms, artist moms ,and moms who work. Mothers filled pages across screens with acronyms I did not know yet: AI, BD, NIP—all the letters that made me thankful Google existed. They shared stories, they shared problems, and, at times, openly shared judgment.

In my early years of being a first-time parent and a new mom, I realized something else was happening to my mental health and stress levels from certain online spaces. I was seeing and comparing myself, my child, our experience and our lives to other people. I had found myself in toxic online spaces.

My grandmother looked me in the eyes and said, "There is no sex after 40." I was young enough that I had not experienced my first kiss yet, let alone sex, but old enough that the statement registered as grave and sad. Over the years, as I steadily climbed toward 40, I often thought back to this moment. How many women have closed the sex chapter of their life by middle age? Perhaps for many of a certain generation, my grandmother's comment might have been true.

Grandma gets an important lesson on how to love kids for exactly who they are and how they want to express themselves.